Throwing a birthday party for a bunch of kids is not an easy feat — there’s all the planning, the hordes of tiny people running around shrieking and yelling and shoving cupcakes in their faces while refusing to go to the bathroom when they have to, not to mention the expense involved. Nonetheless, the parents of one five-year-old boy say that despite that stress, the mom of their son’s friend shouldn’t have sent them an invoice after the kid missed a birthday party without advance notice.

The absent five-year-old brought home an invoice for £15.95 (about $24) from school one day in his bag, reports the BBC, placed there by his pal’s mom. She claimed his absence from a party at a dry ski slope in Cornwall just before Christmas left her out of pocket, and that his parents should pay or face legal action.

The mom claimed that the parents in question had her contact details, and didn’t let her know ahead of time. But they say that when they realized they’d double-booked their son with his grandparents, who he ended up spending time with instead, they didn’t have her phone number to cancel.

The dad who received the invoice says he was told he’d be taken to small claims court for refusing to pay.

“It was a proper invoice with full official details and even her bank details on it,” he told the BBC the bill. “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.”

The birthday mom said in a statement: “All details were on the party invite. They had every detail needed to contact me.”

So should all parents be afraid of facing court over missed birthday parties? Probably not, as a BBC legal correspondent says the claims likely won’t hold up, considering a five-year-old isn’t really expected to understand he’s being held to a contract.

Recovering a “no show fee” in small claims court is a stretch, the legal correspondent says, because claiming that a contract had been created doesn’t hold water, if a contract is with a child, and “it is inconceivable that a five-year-old would be seen by a court as capable of creating legal relations and entering into a contract with a ‘no show’ charge.”

Party invoice: Boy sent bill for birthday no-show [BBC]

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