[size=55:3aj0ydrw][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Has the world we live in gone completely mad :shocked1:I read this from the Independent and thought at first this is some kind of joke but reading on I found it to be genuine and that some idiot in my opinion has gone too far with this. Lets face it if an adult doesn't turn up for a party or get together you don't find yourself being taken to court I'm not sure who is the child here though [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Family presented with £15.95 invoice for child’s failure to turn up to friend’s birthday party

A five-year-old boy could find himself at the centre of a court case over a bill for failing to attend a school friend’s birthday party.

When Alex Nash failed to attend his classmate’s sixth birthday party at the Plymouth Ski Slope and Snowboard Centre, his friend’s mother, Julie Lawrence, was not amused.

Ms Lawrence printed an invoice demanding a “child’s party no-show fee” of £15.95 and passed it to a teacher, who put it in Alex’s school bag.

Alex’s parents, Derek and Tanya Nash, from Torpoint in Cornwall, said that after initially thinking the invoice was a joke, they tried to settle the matter amicably.

An ensuing Facebook message exchange, however, ended with Ms Lawrence reacting to the couple’s refusal to pay her by saying: “Fine. I will see you at the small-claims court”.

Ms Lawrence was unavailable for comment last night and it was unclear whether she knew that to register her demand for £15.95 with the small-claims court, she will have to pay an administration fee of at least £25.

But Alex’s father, Derek, 44, vowed: “If I get the letter through my door saying she is taking me to court, I will be defending myself. She has massively overreacted.” Mr Nash initially told Ms Lawrence that Alex wanted to go to the party on 20 December.

On the day, however, he and Ms Nash realised that 20 December would be the only time Alex could see his grandparents before they went away for Christmas. Alex opted to see his grandparents. Ms Lawrence has insisted her contact details were on the invitation and the couple should have notified her that Alex wouldn’t be attending, but Mr Nash said that by the day of the party they didn’t know where the invitation was.

Mr Nash said that after the Christmas holiday ended, Ms Lawrence took the invoice into Torpoint Nursery and Infant School in a brown envelope and handed it to a teacher, who placed it in Alex’s schoolbag – where it remained until his parents found it on 15 January.

But Alex’s father, Derek, 44, vowed: “If I get the letter through my door saying she is taking me to court, I will be defending myself. She has massively overreacted.” Mr Nash initially told Ms Lawrence that Alex wanted to go to the party on 20 December.

On the day, however, he and Ms Nash realised that 20 December would be the only time Alex could see his grandparents before they went away for Christmas. Alex opted to see his grandparents. Ms Lawrence has insisted her contact details were on the invitation and the couple should have notified her that Alex wouldn’t be attending, but Mr Nash said that by the day of the party they didn’t know where the invitation was.

Mr Nash said that after the Christmas holiday ended, Ms Lawrence took the invoice into Torpoint Nursery and Infant School in a brown envelope and handed it to a teacher, who placed it in Alex’s schoolbag – where it remained until his parents found it on 15 January.

Mr Nash said: “I thought it was a joke to begin with. I went to see her. “I told her she should have spoken to me first and not put the invoice in my son’s school bag, and said I would not be paying her.

“Our communications probably weren’t the best, and I would have sympathised with her about the cost of Alex not showing up. But what makes a person have an invoice like that put in a child’s schoolbag?” Ms Nash tried to make peace, contacting Ms Lawrence via Facebook to say: “I would prefer to settle this amicably.” Ms Lawrence responded: “I don’t like fighting with people either, and was not best impressed when Derek turned up on my doorstep, and said, ‘you won’t get any money’ rather rudely. The amicable way round this I believe would be to pay me and let a lesson be learnt.”

After being told “unfortunately no”, Ms Lawrence said she would see the couple in court, adding that the no-show fee covered “one child’s party at the ski slope including snow tubing and tobogganing and lunch.”

Staff at the Plymouth dry ski slope said: “If a child doesn’t show up, we usually just find a way around it, like offering extra toboggan rides.”

Ms Nash, too, seemed bemused that her son might now be at the centre of a court case. “He has never had any problems at school. The worst he gets up to at home is jumping off the sofa.”

Yes I saw this on facebook and thought it was a joke too.. Whatever next ::

funny old world, although I have to be honest when my kids arrange a party, I always end up with the cheque, I don't mind as it's there birthday, but sometimes the other kids do not show and we either end up paying for the no show ourselves or simply throwing good food away I know it is slightly different but whilst this mother has gone a bit to far you can see where she is coming from, also on that note maybe she is really the one who had been let down by her school friends and said enough is enough we all get that way but luckily for most of us we just scream in our heads and move on, and that is what she should do.

It is a bit unfair and costly on the mother really,. When you send out invitations and you don;
t get a reply than surely you assume they are not coming, most people only book the amount that has replied and reserved at no cost another say two spaces just in case, well that is what we did when my son was little and had the birthday parties in Macdonells or Wimpy.

that sounds nice Bernie, but really what's wrong with burgerking . just kidding Bernie