A BOY aged five has been fined £15.95 – for missing his friend’s birthday
party.
Alex Nash was slapped with the “no-show fee” after he said he would go to the
bash at a ski slope just before Christmas.
Dad Derek and mum Tanya Walsh saw the note, which had been slipped into his
son’s school bag, and discovered they could face legal action.
Derek said he initially thought it was “a joke”, but the issue has not been
resolved and the other boy’s mother is threatening to take them to a small
claims court.
He admits he saw the lad’s mum just before Christmas and confirmed Alex would
be attending – then realised he had arranged a day out with Alex’s
grandparents.
He said: “She saw me and asked if Alex was coming to the party. At this time I
agreed and said that Alex was looking forward to it.
“By this time we did not have a contact number, email or an address.
“So on the day of the party we asked Alex what he wanted to do and he chose to
be with his grandparents.”
He returned to school on January 6 and the bill was put into his bag just over
a week later.
Derek, from Torpoint, Cornwall, continued: “My partner looked out for [the
friend’s mother] to apologise for Alex not showing up to the party, but
didn’t see her.
“But on January 15 she looked in Alex’s school bag and found a brown envelope.
It was an invoice for £15.95 for a child’s party no-show fee.
“I asked Alex’s class teacher if [the child’s mother] had given anything to
her. She said, ’Yes, a brown envelope’.
“I then visited Alex’s school headteacher, who couldn’t apologise enough that
one of the teachers had passed this on. She said she would remind all staff
that this was a breach of protocol.
“I left the school and went to see [the birthday boy’s mother] as her address
was on the invoice.
“When she answered the door I told her I had found the invoice in my son’s
school bag and that I wasn’t happy about it.
“I told her I would not be paying her the money.”
Derek added: “I thought it was a joke to begin with. I am lost for words.”
He went on to say he was also told the birthday boy would not be allowed to
play with Alex from now on.
However, Julie Lawrence, who sent the invoice, said the little boy’s non
attendance left her out of pocket and insisted his parents did have details
to tell her he was not going.
She said: “All details were on the party invite. They had every detail
needed to contact me.”
Louisa Duggan, Ski Slope and Snowboard Centre boss, said: “This invoice is
nothing to do with us as we do not send out invoices for children who fail
to attend.
”If a child cannot make it we would normally offer the party more rides on the
attractions or to have the money put behind the bar for drinks and snacks.
”The cost that has been included on the invoice is for the slide and ride
party package and we would have offered the family extra goes on the tubing
and tobogganing.”
The incident sparked a Facebook slanging match between the two mums.
Mrs Lawrence says she was rattled at being confronted over the invoice then
accuses Alex’s mum of running away from her.
She posted: “This is not the first time Alex has not turned up to a party that
he has been invited to, either, the amicable way round this I believe would
be to pay me the money and let a lesson be learnt, I hope this is agreeable?”
Ms Walsh denies he has missed another party. She adds: “I don’t know why you
are out for our blood and slandering us. I’ve told you the reasons why alex
didn’t go. I also told you why I couldn’t call.
“Please do not state things as truth when you do not have all the facts. Maybe
if you actually spoke to me rather than making your own mind up about what
happened then none of this would be happening right now. If you had come up
to us the first day back and explained about the money, then I could have
explained about Alex, then maybe we could have sorted something out. Instead
you send an invoice.”