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Five-year-old Plymouth boy gets a bill for missing school friend's birthday party | Plymouth Herald

Petty or justified ?

Oscar Namechange;1471935 wrote: Five-year-old Plymouth boy gets a bill for missing school friend's birthday party | Plymouth Herald

Petty or justified ?


I couldn't believe that this made it to the national news when I heard it earlier. Surely it's just a dispute between two families? Who decided it deserved national attention?

So I'd answer "petty"

IF there was an invitation to the party which stated if you (the parents) agree to have your child attend & then your child does not attend & also states there will be a charge for this, there is a case. IF not, it is not just petty, but stupid.

Thought the USA was the most sue-happy country. Guess others are catching up. Probably too many law school grads without jobs!

Oscar Namechange;1471935 wrote: Five-year-old Plymouth boy gets a bill for missing school friend's birthday party | Plymouth Herald

Petty or justified ?


Was it a 2 boy party ?

Or are there others getting invoiced ?

Surely the only way somebody can claim money from anybody else is if a contract was entered into of some sort ?

I can understand the frustration if a venue is booked and paid for by the host and they are left footing the bill but what sort to example does this set to children ? For heavens sake, they were five year old's. Perhaps if they'd arranged a party that children of that age would enjoy rather than one-upmanship as it appears here to other parents, they wouldn't be in this situation. My boys were quite happy running around the lounge playing musical chairs and pass the parcel with their pals.

As the story states it it does seem bloody ridiculous, but I suspect there must be something more to the story than meets the eye, such as, if (hypothetically) a minibus had been hired & all the guests had been expected to pay their share in the hire fee. In which case, by someone not turning up they could still be expected to pay that share, rather than leaving everyone else to cover the cost that was previously agreed.

It would seem that there is a cost per child to attend such activity at the "Ski Slope and Snowboard Center" and the parents of the birthday kid had to foot the bill for all the kids they booked, whether they showed up, or not.

The polite thing would be to send the money since your kid bailed on the party and left the birthday kid's parents holding the bag.