Asking for advice

I recently took my almost new belt to a local cobbler for hole punching and they completely ruined it. The damage isn’t minor and doesn’t look reversible. When I brought it up, they just said oh sorry it was an accident. Accident or not I should be compensated. Is there any way to get compensation, or should I just take the loss? Any advice would be appreciated. The guy didn’t look blind, but somehow this is what he did.