Bill For Birthday Party - Two families are at each other's throats and threatening legal action after a child was billed $24 for not showing up to classmate's birthday party.
5-year-old Alex Nash, from Cornwall, England was invited to a friend's birthday party just before the Christmas holidays. However, on the day of the party Alex's parent's realized that he had also been scheduled to visit his grandparents.
"We asked Alex what he wanted to do," Alex's father, Derek Nash said. "He chose to be with his grandparents."
Nash says he wanted to call the parents of the birthday boy to inform them about Alex's absence but could not find their contact information.
Alex went on to have a wonderful time with his grandparents and it was only when school reopened that the trouble started.
On Jan. 15 Alex went to school and returned with a no-show invoice in his backpack. The bill was dated Dec.14 and reads "1 Child's Party No Show Fee".
Alex was billed £15.95 ($24) for missing the birthday party which treated kids to lunch, tobogganing and snow tubing at a local ski resort.
"I thought it was a joke to begin with. I am lost for words," Nash said."It was a proper invoice with full official details and even her bank details on it." I can understand that she's upset about losing money and that isn't the issue, It's the way she went about trying to get the money from me.
"She didn't treat me like a human being, she treated me like a child and I should do what she says," said Nash. He reportedly visited Julie Lawrence, the mother of the birthday boy, to confront her about the bill non-attendance.
"I told her she should have spoken to me first and not put the invoice in my son's school bag."
However, Julie Lawrence insists that the Nash family must reimburse her because they should have given her a call since her contact information was on the invite.
"All details were on the party invite. They had every detail needed to contact me," she said.
Mr. Nash has strongly refused to pay the bill and has since been informed that the case would be taken to the small claims court.
Managers of the Plymouth Ski and Snowboard Center where the birthday party was held have since released a statement via Facebook denouncing any involvement with the invoice and the potential suit.
"We would like all our customers to know that this invoice has nothing to do with Plymouth Ski and Snowboard Center," the statement said. "No invoice are ever sent out from the center to private individuals. This is a disagreement between the two parents involved and the fact that the center has been named on the invoice is fraudulent."
