[Closed] "boy, five, sent £15.95 party no-show invoice"

EDIT Beaten to it - deleted.

I think Hora needs to nip onto Mumsnet and ask some pertinent questions on this issue. Or any other questions he may long have been seeking answers too

Like "Where do babies come from?"

I think Hora needs to nip onto Mumsnet and ask some pertinent questions on this issue. Or any other questions he may long have been seeking answers too

I like having my nuts attached to my groin thanks.

I'm following this with baited breath...
We're throwing a laser tag party for my lad at the end of the month, and want to know if I can rightfully sue everyone for the £12 per head if they no show...
(though that includes pizza, which I'll probably eat, but won't let the feds know that...)

DrP

with baited breath

It never surprises me how people can be so awful, and yet so entertaining.

Should be an STW strap line

I don't normally go in for stereotyping, but Derek Nash does look like he's a Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday. I need a picture of the birthday boys mother to decide who's at fault here.

???

Just seen this comment posted on BBC website:

'1134.Del - VAT will have been applied to the original invoice for the party. Unless the parent is VAT registered or the invoice was issued through a VAT registered company (My Son's Birthday Party Ltd for example) then VAT is not applicable to the attempted recovery of £15.95, assuming the party was arrangned through said company.'

The mill appears to be overflowing with grist.

I don't know if people have been followign the James Blunt story today as well but this ties the two together quite well;

@Claire_Phipps: [i]Perhaps James Blunt can pay the £15.95 for that kid's missed birthday party, then we can all get on with our day[/i]

I imagine they couldnt be arsed with getting a present, wanted to offload their spawn on the grandparents. Great though they are kids LOVE going to parties.

Or maybe the terminally-ill grandparents have come over from Australia and it's the last time they'll meet their grandson who adores them (and he hates the annoying kid whose party he's been invited too)? 😉

So, so, so happy I don't have kids

BoardinBob, you do understand that this sort of thing isn't a common occurrence don't you..?

facebook conversation has been printed on the Telegraph site for those having an afternoon coffee break..

Both parties are to blame in this, and there is more to it than meets the eye.

People who are 'no-shows' at kids parties (especially those where you have to pay 'per child') are rude, and it is out of order. (how long does it take to send a text apologising?)

I can see why the crazy mother was annoyed, but the invoice thing is ridiculous.

What's the difference between this and a mate buying tickets to a gig after you saying you'd go, and then you just not bothering to turn up, and not offering to cover the ticket cost.

Poor behaviour on the part of the mother of the kid who was double booked.

How on earth did the parent of the absentee child think it was a good idea to have the national news involved? That child is never going to get an invite to another party ever again, poor kid. Plus IMO it highlights what a twunt he is by taking it this far. I'm sure the 'invoice' was sent to the parents to highlight that it's rather impolite not to turn up when invited-and no doubt they've probably got form for it.

Won't someone please think of the children.

Meanwhile in the world... almost anything is more newsworthy.

She's a right consumer activist, found this on her FB from 8 months ago reviewing the Torpoint ferry in Plymouth.

Thanks for letting the car jump the queue and put him straight in the first lane off, so impressed ! NOT

ffs do these people seriously think this is worth the national media and do the national media seriously think this click bait is helpful? (yes I have followed every link and read every word , I also look at car crashes that does not mean we should have more car crashes)

These kids are going to be haunted by this , these parents on both sides will be remembered and judged for this. Loved the self important facebook exchange.

I'd like to see her try to get it to court. What a tvvat.

While it seems that the parents on both sides of that little dispute are indeed arseholes I'd say that pales into insignificance compared to those folks in the media that seem to think it's front page news!

Having read the facebook exchange, I'm siding with Tanya. Julie has just confirmed that she's an asshat. I feel sorry for her kid.
TEAM T!

Clearly this is a viral marketing campaign, but who for? Ski slopes?

#JeSuisTanya

Torygraph running with reprint of full Facbook exchange between the two mums: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11355215/Childs-birthday-party-no-show-fee-Parents-Facebook-row-in-full.html .Amazing lack of self awareness on both parts.

It's the most viewed story on the T's website. I can't disagree with anyone that says that this shouldn't be front page news, but also find myself strangely drawn to it as it develops, to see where it will go.

Might make an interesting case study on a journalism course idc.

Edit - Also the most read and shared story on the BBC website!

You are paying for 1 x child's party at the ski slope including snow tubing and tobogganing and lunch,

I reckon one of them will be on Celebrity Big Brother by the end of the week.

[edit] Associated Press have picked this story up in their international Twitter feed now 🙂

I can't disagree with anyone that says that this shouldn't be (front page!) news, but also find myself strangely drawn to it as it develops, to see where it will go.

Might make an interesting case study on a journalism course idc.

There's no story that can rival watching the aspirational middle classes letting themselves down, surely?

One of the first comments on the Telegraph piece says it all:

#jesuistanya

I'm with Tanya too, the invoicer deserves a national point and giggle, what a total idiot.
#jesuistanya

I notice the Fb link to Julie is broken now...
I really can't bring myself to read the Fb exchange linked to, it just comes across as a slo-mo car crash.
Having said that, sending a bloody invoice is just crass. 🙄

My kids have both been to the same £15.95 format party at same (local to us) "ski" "slope" (having "skied" there i use both terms cautiously) -they reckon they were brilliant fun parties.
Fwiw knowing the leisure centre and other parents who have held parties there, they will usually provide extra food or goes on snotubes/toboggan o the pther partygoers in lieu of kids that have not shown up, if mum had asked she could have got some more value out of her day. Apparently JNL are not best pleased with the 'publicity'. 🙁

Awesome, it's gone [url= http://www.tvn24.pl/ciekawostki-michalki,5/chlopca-nie-bylo-na-imprezie-urodzinowej-rodzice-dostali-fakture,507348.html ]international[/url]

This is not the first time Alex has not turned up to a party that he has been invited to, either. the amicable way round this I believe would be to pay me the money and let a lesson be learnt, I hope this is agreeable? Julie

How can anyone think that bitch slap will be viewed as agreeable?
Makes the exchanges on here look civilised

Boils my p*** that it has even risen above local paper level. Disgusted that it has reached nation telly level.

ChubbyBlokeInLycra - Member

Awesome, it's gone international

[url= http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/01/19/boy-fined-missing-birthday-party/21994519/ ]Yep, made the front page of USA today too[/url].

[i]USA TODAY Network reached out to the Plymouth Ski Slope and Snowboard Centre for comment.[/i]
[i]
and they told us: "eff off, we don't speak to anyone who 'reaches out to' us!"[/i]

😆

[i]Am I alone in thinking ...[/i]

Doesn't look like it but I'm certainly not giving the issue any more thought after seeing it on the bloody news.

This is 'news', but the killing of hundreds or even thousands by Boko Haram last week barely makes the news.

I weep for humanity, I really do.

I'm no expert but isn't VAT due?
Also, look at that invoice number - [i]how many[/i] kids didn't turn up? 😆
[img] [/img]
Sorry if someone else has already mentioned this, I couldn't be arsed reading the whole thread.

Poorly written on both sides, but a nice use of "none" by Tanya.

Foolish bint, that Julie.

This "story" is typical of the general media in the touch pad world in which we live. Attention grabbing headline that doesn't really reflect the facts but gets you to click on the link. Most of this thread shows that many couldn't even by arsed to actually click, they just drew their conclusions from the headline.
The Host booked an event at a cost of £15.95 per head. The no show kid's family said he would attend and agreed to cover the cost. The no show then cost the Host £15.95 which she is rightly trying to claim back.
Think of it this way, it's your birthday and you book a Karting event for 20 of your mates and they all agree to pay £50 as their share of the £1000 the event costs.
Would you just cover all the 50 quids of your "mates" who didn't turn up for your "birthday party"?

This is awesome.

The real headline is: "****less, naive parent surprised that a young child doesn't turn-up to birthday party, responds completely disproportionately".

Anyone that ever arranges any sort of group activity involving an up-front payment KNOWS that people aren't confirmed as attending until they hand over the cash.
You might trust your mates, but you certainly wouldn't trust your child's classmates (or their ****less parents who you don't know from Adam*). Surely everyone certainly knows this by the time they are able to breed?

*it's not known whether Adam attended either

The sixteen quid is just a tax on naivety.

Think of it this way, it's your birthday and you book a Karting event for 20 of your mates and they all agree to pay £50 as their share of the £1000 the event costs.
Would you just cover all the 50 quids of your "mates" who didn't turn up for your "birthday party"?

To use your analogy, would (in the above scenario) you issue an invoice (via your mates', child's schoolbag, obvs) to the mate that didn't show up, threatening to take them to court if they didn't pay? Or would you take them to one side, explain that you were out of pocket, and ask for the money? One of these approaches would identify you as a muppet, and worthy of national derision.... and one would just be normal, adult behavior.

Am I a Man or a Muppet?
Luckily my manly response would be

take them to one side, explain that you were out of pocket, and ask for the money?

"The no show kid's family said he would attend and agreed to cover the cost. "
Matt24k I read all of the links with all of the attention they deserved and never noticed any mention of the guests agreeing to pay in advance where did you get that fact from ?

what crankboy said - I haven't seen anything about parents agreeing to pay for their own kids to attend?

From the Facebook exchange:

...I did not realise that you had to pay for each child, as you never mentioned anything about money when we spoke...

...Like I said before, no money was mentioned when we spoke, and I feel it would be inappropriate to pay you the money, when I don't know what it's actually paying for...

Doesn't sound to me like they agreed to cover the cost at all.

wwaswas - Member
USA TODAY Network reached out to the Plymouth Ski Slope and Snowboard Centre for comment.

and they told us: "eff off, we don't speak to anyone who 'reaches out to' us!"

thats funny 🙂

"The no show kid's family said he would attend and agreed to cover the cost. "
Matt24k I read all of the links with all of the attention they deserved and never noticed any mention of the guests agreeing to pay in advance where did you get that fact from ?

Doesn't sound to me like they agreed to cover the cost at all.

Maybe they were happy to cover the cost for kids that turned up but not for those that couldn't be arsed to phone/text to say they weren't coming 😉

BTW is it normal to send your kids to a party where you don't know who the other kids parents are? Given the mother of the invoiced kid says she had no idea what the name of the mother of the other kid was, I am a bit surprised, surely you'd want to meet them first or am I putting common sense into a situation and group of people where clearly none exists.

BTW is it normal to send your kids to a party where you don't know who the other kids parents are?

It is at that age, yeah (IME). You might not have met all the parents at the school gate but if little Hermione invites the whole class to her birthday party then it's a bit rough to tell your sprog they can't go because you don't know Hermione's parents.

Bear in mind that at that age you generally go along too, it's not like you are just handing your kids over to a perfect stranger.

Grahams latest entry for Middle class parent of the year 😉

Shouldn't this whole thing should just be listed under 'stuff that occasionally happens when you're life is so cushy, yet also boring, that you have genuinely nothing of any proper importance left to worry about'?

BTW is it normal to send your kids to a party where you don't know who the other kids parents are?

I'm just wondering why the party bag wasn't included with the invoice. That's worthy of a counter-suit on its own.

yup, Havent a clue what most of MiniFla's friends parents are called, I talk to them at school but as to names, nope virtually none

I'd be more concerned as the parent hosting a group of kids going to a ski slope. Chances of a mishap are reasonable - not having the contact details of the parents whilst waiting in A&E with a bunch of kids there with you (as you couldn't call them to pick them up early) could be pretty stressful. The hassle involved in taking school groups to events like this is a significant pita but by christ you are grateful you have gone through it and have all the relevant info when the shit hits the fan.