The parents of a five-year-old boy have been threatened with court action because he missed a school friend’s birthday party.
Derek Nash, from Torpoint, Cornwall, discovered an invoice for £15.95 had been put into son Alex’s schoolbag after he did not show up at the party.
Mr Nash said he originally thought the letter was a joke but now the friend’s mother is threatening to take the matter to the small claims court.
The family accepted the invite to the Ski Slope and Snowboard Centre just before the Christmas holidays, forgetting they had a prior family commitment.
Mr Nash said he had already arranged for their daughter to go out with her grandparents.
He said: “She [the mother] 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 to let [the mother] know.
“So on the day of the party we asked Alex what he wanted to do – he chose to be with his grandparents.”
He said: “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.”
Mr Nash said while he sympathised with the woman, he told her he would not be paying.
She has since threatened to take the case to a small claims court, while the birthday boy will no longer play with Alex at school.
Mr Nash added: “I drive all around the South West for my job and I have talked to quite a few people about this.
“They’re all quite incredulous that this has happened. I thought it was a joke to begin with. I am lost for words.”
The mother of the birthday boy has not commented on the row.
