5-Year Old Billed for No-Show at Birthday Party

(Photo: Apex/Lucy Davies)

Julie Lawrence of Cornwall held a birthday party for her daughter. The child invited her classmates, including 5-year old Alex Nash. Alex accepted. Then Alex's father Derek realized that they already had reserved the day of the birthday party to spend with Alex's grandparents. So Alex didn't show up to the party.

After the party, Julie Lawrence slipped an envelope inside Alex's backpack at school. It contained an invoice for £15.95--Alex's share of the cost of the party. This made father Derek quite mad. He went to the school to investigate the incident, then confronted Lawrence about the invoice. BBC News reports:

Mr 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. The money 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 that I should do what she says."

In a short statement, Ms Lawrence said: "All details were on the party invite. They had every detail needed to contact me."

Mr Nash said he had been told he was being taken to the small claims court because he was refusing to pay.

It was perhaps undiplomatic of Lawrence, but I'm sympathetic to the notion that people should keep their appointments or cancel them.

-via Daily of the Day