Five-Year-Old Sent Invoice For Missing Birthday Party

Should parents be charging kids who are no shows at birthday parties? One family in England seems to think so.

The Plymouth Herald is reporting that a five-year-old boy received an invoice from the parents of a friend who's birthday party he missed. And the boy's parents have been threatened with legal action if they don't pay up.

Just before Christmas, Alex Nash was invited to a classmate's birthday party at the Ski Slope and Snowboard Centre. Alex told his parents that he wanted to go and the next time his father saw the schoolmate's mom, he said Alex would be attending.

Well, soon after the Nash's realized that Alex's grandparents were supposed to be taking him and his sister Lilly for a play date that day and when the party came around, Alex was not there. Alex's father says he had no contact number, email or address for the classmate in order to inform them Alex wouldn't be going and it was winter break at school, so they never saw them either.

They did try to explain once classes were back in session, but Mr. Nash and his partner say they never saw the parents of this child at school. Not before the invoice came anyway.

Yes, this child's parents gave an invoice for about $24.00 to Alex, charging him for missing the party. And they gave it to him at school, so Alex's parents had to find it in his backpack.

It turned out that the classmate's parents had used the teacher as a go-between and never told the teacher what they were asking her to pass on. And when Mr. Nash finally got to speak with the mother to try and explain, he was told she would be taking him to small claims court if he didn't pay up.

To make things even worse for Alex, his friend now won't play with him at school over the incident!

I personally have never heard of such a thing. I understand parties get expensive and having kids not show up isn't ideal, but to send an invoice to a five-year-old boy over $24.00?

Would you do such a thing? Do you think these party throwing parents made the right move?