Ok, let me begin by saying this is probably not the response you would like to hear, which I get, nevertheless it’s how I see things. Maybe other contributors will see it in a totally different light, so it’s worth canvassing their responses too. Let me also apologize in advance for the length of this reply
Dust and used condoms and previous tenants, irrelevant in my opinion. What is relevant is the state of the 4 things below, at 2 times, being when you came in the house and when you left the house, that’s what’s at issue.
At those two times, did you take photos of the four things below? If so that will help greatly to resolve things
1. The vase, about how much $?
Ok, speaking candidly, if I let out my place and someone told me that a vase (an expensive vase?) simply “blew over in the wind” I would probably question myself quite seriously whether I could have a reasonable conversation with them. How did it blow over? Was it moved adjacent to the window, or window was left open amid a very strong breeze? Fans from the set? How?
2. The towel, about how much $?
What happened to it? What was the stain from? Perhaps not that relevant as you have said you will pay for it, but I’d like to know for the fuller picture.
3. The floorboard scratches, about $2k
“scratches on the floorboard (want us to pay 2000$ for this), which we really don't think we caused. Everything that was moved around the house, was moved by two men who ensured they lifted everything/ didn't drag anything to minimise damage.”
The interesting word here is “minimize”. Sure, let’s say they did minimize damage, that is not to say they prevented it altogether while moving stuff around for a chunk of time (few hours? few days?) You don’t sound that adamant when you say “... which we really don’t think we caused”. It sounds more like “... which we really don’t want to pay for” Sorry, but to my ears anyway, it does sound that way, please don’t shoot me
4. The table scratch, about $4k
“which we didn't cause as we only had 4 plates on the table for the entire filming process as this was part of the set design” Ok, here you are more adamant. As it was part of the set, do you have any film footage where the scratch is not there? If so, you know you caused it. Do you have detailed photos of the table before you moved into the house?
What you’re offering to pay for is the towel, which is what 50 bucks? All of the other expensive stuff (say, 7950 bucks) you’re saying it wasn’t you guys and already there. I don’t think it’s cool here to mention used condoms or dust as a sign that the house was in general in a poor state. Better to look for tangible, photo evidence of the four things above. Oh yeah, in my experience scratches to expensive pieces of furniture, even small scratches, cost A LOT. That’s why I asked about any scratches to the floorboards
I think maybe you guys did cause some of that stuff but you won’t pay for it (after realizing the actual cost of things) judging by the way you described the situation. Anyway that’s my read of the situation however I don’t know the full picture including your landlord, and anyway as mentioned at the very start, it’s likely other contributors will take a different take on this altogether
