Charging for no-show at a kid's party

[Sam_2.0]

fox4kc.com/2015/01/19/five-year-old-receives-bill-after-missing-friends-birthday-party/

I know this wasn't anyone from the YM crowd because no one would pay that much for a party to begin with

" Alex’s parents have been trying to resolve the issue via Facebook"
-rofl-

[mollyanna58]

I can see the hosts being peeved when they had to lay out money to the venue for a no-show.  OTOH, every party has some no-shows. 

[andi9899]

Small claims court for $24? Really?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

For $24? No I would let it go. It isn't worth creating drama between the kids over. If you can't afford $24 if somebody doesn't show up maybe just maybe you should stick to cake and punch at home.

Having said that though there were some no shows at my wedding and that was much more expensive. Do you think 6 years is too late to try to collect?

[HoneyBBQ]

Both sides are assholes. They deserve to fight with each other. End of story.

[973beachbum]

First of all throwing a kids party for the classmates at school suck for this reason.  Most people don't RSVP.  Then of the people that do RSVP they change their minds but don't tell you.  If you could RSVP the first time you can RSVP your change of mind.

At one party for my daughter we actually only had 3 people RSVP that they were coming.  Of those 3 kids only one of them showed up but 11 others that hadn't RSVP'd showed up and two brought friends.   The party was in a park and I did have enough food, I always over bring food, but it could have been a problem. 

I doubt this is about one kid.  I would bet they had 10 or more no shows and the bill for them came to at least a few hundred.  That said I would just forget about it and never have a party for school friends again. 

[billisonboard]

Alex Nash opted to spend a day with his grandparents instead of attending a classmate’s birthday party at a ski and snowboard facility that he had previously confirmed he would attend. ... (from link in OP)

The kid made a commitment and didn't follow through on it. The parents need to stand firm and not rescue the kid from the consequences of his choice by paying the bill themselves. They will only have themselves to blame when he is thirty-five and living in their basement of they cave now.

[Phoenix84]

Small claims court over $24?  Are you serious?

[973beachbum]

Jan 19, 2015 11:41:20 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

$24 is cheap to learn that those parents are bat shit crazy and should be avoided. 

The opposite is also true.  $24 is cheap too learn that the no show kids parents have absolutely no manners what so ever, and they are passing it on to their kids. 

This wasn't cake and punch at the kids house.  They had to know that a party at a ski resort cost money. 

If he could RSVP the first time he could have contacted them that he changed his mind.  It just wasn't a priority to them.

[Phoenix84]

How exactly does one "resolve issues via facebook?"

I didn't think facebook really care about me?

Why can't these people work it out, like you know, adults, instead of "going on facebook."

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

If he could RSVP the first time he could have contacted them that he changed his mind

I totally agree with that and it drives me batty that people don't understand how RSVPs work. I nearly had a stroke when it came to the wedding and the majority of guests were older than me, they should know better!

The date on the card is the date I  need it back in my hands.  NOT the date you decide you feel like finally mailing it!

[billisonboard]

Got to love these stories with only the bare minimum, potentially inaccurate, information from only one of the parties involved.

[justme]

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11355215/Childs-birthday-party-no-show-fee-Parents-Facebook-row-in-full.html

That's supposedly the whole fb conversation. Saying that the dad reconfirmed on Thursday before the party as the host mom mentioned that was the day she needed to pay, but the day of the grandparents were in town or something so they decided not to go to party. They weren't aware of the cost per child even though on Thursday host mom said she needed count to pay, so they don't owe anything, especially for something they didn't use. And she couldn't call the host because she didn't have the number but the number was on the invite and they called to rsvp at first.

Paraphrasing of course.

[billisonboard]

Jan 19, 2015 12:38:22 GMT -5 justme said:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11355215/Childs-birthday-party-no-show-fee-Parents-Facebook-row-in-full.html

That's supposedly the whole fb conversation. Saying that the dad reconfirmed on Thursday before the party as the host mom mentioned that was the day she needed to part, but the day of the grandparents were in town or something so they decided not to go to party. They weren't aware of the cost per child even though on Thursday host mom said she needed count to pay, so they don't owe anything, especially for something they didn't use. And she couldn't call the host because she didn't have the number but the number was on the invite and they called to rsvp at first.

Paraphrasing of course.

Party pooper

[NancysSummerSip]

Jan 19, 2015 11:58:01 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

How exactly does one "resolve issues via facebook?"

Maybe virtual pistols at an imaginary twenty paces? I was kinda wondering the same thing. Are the adults really being grown ups about this?

[tloonya]

Jan 19, 2015 11:24:15 GMT -5 HoneyBBQ said:

Both sides are assholes. They deserve to fight with each other. End of story.

How is charged party is an assholes?

[tloonya]

Jan 19, 2015 11:24:24 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

First of all throwing a kids party for the classmates at school suck for this reason.  Most people don't RSVP.  Then of the people that do RSVP they change their minds but don't tell you.  If you could RSVP the first time you can RSVP your change of mind.

At one party for my daughter we actually only had 3 people RSVP that they were coming.  Of those 3 kids only one of them showed up but 11 others that hadn't RSVP'd showed up and two brought friends.   The party was in a park and I did have enough food, I always over bring food, but it could have been a problem. 

I doubt this is about one kid.  I would bet they had 10 or more no shows and the bill for them came to at least a few hundred.  That said I would just forget about it and never have a party for school friends again. 

let's not jump into conclusions, after all it is the first time when this ridiculous thing had happened.
we had never had no shows for my daughter's BDay parties. And no extras as well.

[bean29]

Jan 19, 2015 11:24:24 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

First of all throwing a kids party for the classmates at school suck for this reason.  Most people don't RSVP.  Then of the people that do RSVP they change their minds but don't tell you.  If you could RSVP the first time you can RSVP your change of mind.

At one party for my daughter we actually only had 3 people RSVP that they were coming.  Of those 3 kids only one of them showed up but 11 others that hadn't RSVP'd showed up and two brought friends.   The party was in a park and I did have enough food, I always over bring food, but it could have been a problem. 

I doubt this is about one kid.  I would bet they had 10 or more no shows and the bill for them came to at least a few hundred.  That said I would just forget about it and never have a party for school friends again. 

LOL, My DD is 17. One of her first Birthday parties when we lived in this city I had a Mom ask if her younger Daughter could also attend DD's birthday party at the local roller rink. I did think it was a little strange, but I always thought B-day parties at the roller rink were a great deal...about 6.75/kid including soda/chips/hot dog/paper plates etc. You could bring in your own cake or have them provide for a nominal fee. I said no problem...little sis was only 1 year younger than DD. Well, now in HS the younger SIS is on the same academic track as DD and although she is still a year behind they have had classes together and worked several projects together.  It definitely served us right to not make a big deal out of it.

A five year old going skiing?  My College student went skiing/snowboarding this weekend and I was worried about him getting injured.  I am not surprised some parents may not have sent their kids off to a birthday party without being sure of who would be supervising the kids and what experience they had.  I would expect there would need to be a lot of communication with the other parents to make this really work.

The great thing about parties at the local roller rink is they have a waiting area for parents so you could always hang out and wait for the party to be over.  Loved going there, the school had events there all the time, and all the parents got to chat with each other while the kids were having fun.

[tloonya]

Jan 19, 2015 11:24:24 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

First of all throwing a kids party for the classmates at school suck for this reason.  Most people don't RSVP.  Then of the people that do RSVP they change their minds but don't tell you.  If you could RSVP the first time you can RSVP your change of mind.

At one party for my daughter we actually only had 3 people RSVP that they were coming.  Of those 3 kids only one of them showed up but 11 others that hadn't RSVP'd showed up and two brought friends.   The party was in a park and I did have enough food, I always over bring food, but it could have been a problem. 

I doubt this is about one kid.  I would bet they had 10 or more no shows and the bill for them came to at least a few hundred.  That said I would just forget about it and never have a party for school friends again. 

Bringing a friend to
a BDay party And no extra gift of course...

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

A five year old going skiing? My College student went skiing/snowboarding this weekend and I was worried about him getting injured. I am not surprised some parents may not have sent their kids off to a birthday party without being sure of who would be supervising the kids and what experience they had. I would expect there would need to be a lot of communication with the other parents to make this really work.


Actually, learning to ski at this age is really optimal and you are more likely to get injured if you are older.  I learned how to ski when I was in HS - when everyone I was with knew how to ski since they were a toddler.  When your center of gravity is higher, it is a lot harder to learn how to ski.  Little kids just bounce!  I never did learn to be anything more than a mediocre skiier (and now it is not an option for me anymore), but it is a hell of a lot of fun.

[Deleted]

If there were questions to ask, before confirming your RSVP would have been the time...

[TheHaitian]

Jan 19, 2015 11:24:15 GMT -5 HoneyBBQ said:

Both sides are assholes. They deserve to fight with each other. End of story.

Basically!!!

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2015 13:37:22 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

A five year old going skiing? My College student went skiing/snowboarding this weekend and I was worried about him getting injured. I am not surprised some parents may not have sent their kids off to a birthday party without being sure of who would be supervising the kids and what experience they had. I would expect there would need to be a lot of communication with the other parents to make this really work.


Actually, learning to ski at this age is really optimal and you are more likely to get injured if you are older.  I learned how to ski when I was in HS - when everyone I was with knew how to ski since they were a toddler.  When your center of gravity is higher, it is a lot harder to learn how to ski.  Little kids just bounce!  I never did learn to be anything more than a mediocre skiier (and now it is not an option for me anymore), but it is a hell of a lot of fun.

A coworker friend of mine has a daughter that is 7 or so and she's been skiing for quite a while.  They just got back from one of their 2 or 3 annual trips to Colorado to ski and she competes around here and is very good.  I'm guessing she was probably 3 or 4 when she first was on the slopes. 

[ArchietheDragon]

This party was not on a ski slope.  It was at a dry ski facility.   basically a Chucky Cheese with a rubber covered hill. 

[muttleynfelix]

Jan 19, 2015 13:33:26 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Jan 19, 2015 11:24:24 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

First of all throwing a kids party for the classmates at school suck for this reason.  Most people don't RSVP.  Then of the people that do RSVP they change their minds but don't tell you.  If you could RSVP the first time you can RSVP your change of mind.

At one party for my daughter we actually only had 3 people RSVP that they were coming.  Of those 3 kids only one of them showed up but 11 others that hadn't RSVP'd showed up and two brought friends.   The party was in a park and I did have enough food, I always over bring food, but it could have been a problem. 

I doubt this is about one kid.  I would bet they had 10 or more no shows and the bill for them came to at least a few hundred.  That said I would just forget about it and never have a party for school friends again. 

Bringing a friend to
a BDay party And no extra gift of course...

I actually had someone do this at the kids B-Day party Saturday.     One of the families we invited lives about 30 minutes from us. They were going to do something in the City in between us earlier in the day with a friend and then they had to go back to the City after the party that afternoon and wasn't going to have time to take the other friend home.  Since I hadn't met another family's foster kids until the party, it didn't bother me that we had an extra kid running around.  

And where do you guys get no shows at your parties?  We invited 26 people and had 27 show up.     But I didn't let DS invite friends from school for that reason.  I get invites in his stuff for other parties and I just groan and don't respond at all.  This year he isn't that close to his friends at school. So, it wasn't a big deal to not invite them.  

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2015 11:54:46 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

If he could RSVP the first time he could have contacted them that he changed his mind.  It just wasn't a priority to them.

It's hard to say.  It could have been returned through school and they really didn't have any other contact info.  I remember my son missing a party once when he got sick and I had no clue who to contact to say he wouldn't be there.  I just knew it was at the Children's Museum at 1:00 and parents were all delivering their own kids.  I wasn't about to drive all the way there to say he was sick, so he was just a no show.

[HoneyBBQ]

Jan 19, 2015 13:25:03 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Jan 19, 2015 11:24:15 GMT -5 HoneyBBQ said:

Both sides are assholes. They deserve to fight with each other. End of story.

How is charged party is an assholes?

They didn't show up to an event they said they would?

[HoneyBBQ]

I'm putting my kid on skis this year. She's 3.

[Spellbound454]

I think the father is annoyed that a bill appeared in his sons school bag......(the other parent had given it to his teacher to put in the bag).

He went to see the mother and told her to get lost.

Its certainly rude not to bother to RSVP when others are buying your child a place.

but you wouldn't be able to go to court over such a small amount.


Quite why this is even in the news....I'm not too sure

[tloonya]

Jan 19, 2015 14:11:33 GMT -5 HoneyBBQ said:

Jan 19, 2015 13:25:03 GMT -5 tloonya said:

How is charged party is an assholes?

They didn't show up to an event they said they would?

Happens all the time. Though I have my doubts kid prefer to go to t grandma to a BDay party.