Family Heirloom Broken During showing (homes, buyers, cost of)

[SweetSydney]

We have our home on the market. On Saturday, a Realtor showed our home. My husband sat in our Jeep, and waited with our 3 & 1/2# Yorkie. He was parked in front of our neighbors house, and hidden from view by the abundance of trees. (I was up at a hospital, 45 minutes away, with my best-friend of 45 years.)

We received an e-mail, from our Agent, telling us that he received an e-mail from the Agent that showed our home. A tea pot was broken by a 3 year old. Our Agent is a very dear friend. We began using him back in '97, and he has become like family to us.

My husband said he saw 4 adults, a child, and the Realtor, enter our home.

The Agent "claimed" that when they went downstairs to the basement, the child's Uncle set her down, and she grabbed a pink hatbox, thinking it was a present, and lifted the lid.

To attempt to make a long story short, the tea pot was part of a collection, and each piece was wrapped securely in bubble wrap, and there was more bubble wrap in the box, to prevent the pieces from rattling in the box, and being chipped. The box was inside a box of teapots and tea cups & saucers, and that box was sitting on top of another box of tea pots. And it is very heavy.

The tea pot collection is a family heirloom. It is not replaceable.

One of my dearest friends, passed away, on April 11th, and her family gifted me with her collection. They knew their Mother would have wanted me to have the collection. (My darling, Kay, had Alzheimer's) In turn, I had planned to revise my Will, and bequeath the Heirloom set to Kay's great-granddaughter.

The problem with the Showing Agents story is that she "claims" they were by the furnace, but the area the boxes were stored are 18' away, and completely out of view of where the Agent says they were looking. And the box the set was in was behind a rolling suitcase. So, this 3 year old, had to be exploring our basement, unsupervised.

The Agent has the attitude that "little ones are curious". My age is going to show here, but I raised my son, not to touch what doesn't belong to him. Even as a baby, when he was crawling, and he would go to my Mother-In-Law's coffee table, he was taught, "No touch!"

The parents have asked what it would cost to replace the tea pot.

The Agent, however, has simply seemed to defend the child, and has offered nothing but, "I'm sorry this happened, nothing like this has ever happened during any of my showings."

So, my question: Who is responsible for this broken tea pot?

Our Agent has asked me how I would like to respond to the Showing Agent.

TIA
SweetSydney

P.S. Forgive me if I do not reply immediately-I will be at the hospital every day until my friend is released.

[Gwynyvyr]

Oh my! Such an awful thing to have happened!
I would lay the blame at the foot of the showing agent. That agent was responsible for showing potential buyers around AND ensuring no damage was done to your property.
Think of this: If that curious child had been injured during the showing while breaking the teapot, whose responsibility would it be? Yours? You weren't even there and your property (the teapot collection) was secured. The showing agent is supposed to show due care for your property.
Find out the replacement cost of the teapot, have your agent send the bill to the showing agent AND never allow that showing agent on your property again.

[SweetSydney]

Thank you, Gwynyvyr.
I am absolutely heartsick that the teapot was broken, and appalled at the Showing Agents attitude that "little ones can be curious". I have no idea how I am ever going to explain to Kay's children, that a treasured family heirloom was broken.

This Agent will never be allowed to step foot in our home again. She stated in her e-mail to our Agent, that they were by the "2nd furnace, closest to the washer". We don't have two furnaces. We have an A/C unit, and a boiler. (Our home was custom built, and we have hot water heat.) So, besides the tea pot being broken, we don't feel she has enough experience to be showing homes, when she doesn't know the difference between an A/C unit and a furnace boiler.

Again, thank you so much. Now, I need to shower & dress and head up to the hospital.