"My mommy's a contractor"

[Ramrod]

BBC News - Torpoint boy, five, sent £15.95 party no-show invoice

[scooterscot]

Children must be given 15 minutes at the buffet before adults are allowed to hoover up the cocktail sausages

I sub-contract my daughter for this service. She keeps me on a steady supply before the 15 minutes are up.

[eek]

BBC News - Torpoint boy, five, sent £15.95 party no-show invoice

Understandable to a point as it is very annoying. However the solution is to book parties where the minimum party size is far smaller than the number going.

On the 1 occasion I did the above (double booked and failed to inform the organisers) I just apologised and offered the money upfront...

[Ramrod]

I have a 5 year old daughter and have been on both ends of this situation, and yes it's annoying.

I'm just not sure I'd have dealt with it by firing an invoice to the offending parent though.

[psychocandy]

Had this loads of times. Some people just have no manners. It annoys me.

If you say your kid is going, then usually someone has got to pay for them. So its only polite to:-

A) Make sure your kid attends if you committed to it.
B) If major emergency occurs at least tell the organiser.

Although I did have it the other way once. Kid turned up with his parents and a sibling (who my son doesnt know). Parent says can sibling come too? Bit cheeky I thought especially when it was a per-head thing I was paying for. What could I say?

Then again, one year took all the kids out for a meal. One father insisted he had to go because kiddie wouldnt go on his own so he sat there and had a meal too. Made a half hearted attempt to offer to pay for his own but again I had to pay for his. Cheeky dog.

[darmstadt]

What gets me is this one upmanship that people are using their kids for. Birthday parties seem to cost the earth now, I mean this one was at a Ski Slope and Snowboard Centre which means that it was probably catered and had attractions, its pathetic. When my son was young I treated his birthday parties like mine were when I was young. A few of his friends from school, a few games in the house and garden, frankfurters and chips and some ice cream and jelly and every single kid had a great time, what more do you need?

[TykeMerc]

The main reasons I used party venues when my kids were small and having parties was to outsource the mess, noise and facilities requirements for a few quid. Some places we took food, others provided catering.

I remember taking them to a few events, but the vast majority of their mates had similar parties at these kids play type places with bouncy castles, ball pools, games and foam shape type stuff scattered round.

[BolshieBastard]

Frankly, I think its pathetic and just another sign of the 'me, me, me' society we unfortunately have to endure nowadays.

OK, its been years since my kids were 'invited' to birthday bashes and us as parents inviting their mates to their birthdays. But come on, invoicing for not turning up?

Are the parents so desparate they cannot stand a couple of no shows? If they are desparate, WTF are they doing booking £16 a head parties for 5 year olds?

What next, sending a surcharge because the invited kid's present didnt cost a minimum spend?

Pathetic.

[d000hg]

If I book 12 places for some event to help my mates out, and only 8 turn up, you'd better expect the other 4 are going to be chased for the money if I had to buy their tickets!

Even some restaurants do this if you turn up with less people than you booked - or try to, I'm not sure how many would stick to their guns if you make a scene or say "sod you, we'll eat somewhere else" though.

[BolshieBastard]

Mates dont equate to 5 year old kids birthday parties. Not in my book. Piss poor analogy.