Guest who said the flask we had filled had spilt over their belongings

[Tina & Bernie Windsor]

Can anyone hep here? Two guests asked for their flask to be filled with tea. We handed it to them and they returned from their car to say that we hadn't put the top back on properly and the tea had spilled over their clothing.
They asked if we would wash them, which we agreed to do.
However, prior to loading them into the machine, we examined the clothing to ascertain if a stain remover would be necessary. We noticed some severe staing on one garment, but this looks old and has flatly refused to budge, despite our remover. It is our opiion that this particular stain could not have been caused by a very brief exposure to extremly weak tea!
Where do we stand if the guest insists that it was new and pushes for replacement?

[Joyce Taylor]

It sounds very fishy maybe they just needed their clothes washed and thought up this wheeze to get free laundry.Maybe you should have voiced your doubts about the origin of the stains before you washed the clothes (easy with hindsight )Why would anyone put a flask in with their clothes anyway? It is a good warning for the rest of us to give verbal or written notice that the managment cannot be held responsible etc. Sorry this is not a lot of help but it comes down to your word against theirs but it was daft to put a flask in with their clothes.

[Raincliffe1]

Yes, I think they were trying to pull a fast one. Freshly spilt tea does come out as and with the use of stain remover (Vanish oxi action etc) it will come out even if it has been dried on a while (on a valance sheet down the side of a bedside cabinet where it is not instantly noticeable). That is the bottom line. If they push for monetary compensation, I'm sorry but tea would come out, it's as simple as that. We know this as hoteliers because tea/coffee is spilt frequently.

Katherine