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What to do when accidents happen?

At our holiday party an elegant elderly gentleman went to put his glass of red wine on our coffee table and something awful happened. The full glass of red wine tumbled and splashed on to our new beige Stark carpet. Being the distinguished gentleman that he is, he offered to pay for having the carpet cleaned. He said to please send him the bill or email him the amount and he’ll send us a check. The cost of the cleaning is a couple of hundred dollars.

The guest is many years retired living on a fixed income and we want to know the etiquette on handling the reimbursement? He won’t believe how expensive cleaning the red wine stains out of our carpet actually was.

–JG, Wilton, CT

What to do when accidents happen.

First off, serving red wine to people stationed on a new beige rug is risky business. Even if the red vino had splattered on ten-year-old light colored carpeting. You took the risk, you knew the consequences. Compromise. Email him to say that cleaning the rug cost you half of what you actually paid to have the stains removed.

Or let it slide. If I were you, I would not send him the bill or ask him to pay a cent. If, as you say, he is a gentleman, he’ll send you a small check or a glorious arraignment of flowers in return for your forgiveness.

~Didi