Birthday party

[Esmeismyhero]

My daughter and niece are going to be 3 in April and we are having a joint party for them, called an entertainment company and arrange for Elsa to join us for 2 hours lots of games etc. The cost for this £145 that's fine, the woman asked where I lived and I told her and she said oh it will be a no more than a couple of pounds for petrol as we were out of the 10 mile radius and she would let me know on the invoice.

Got the invoice today and she's trying charge me £41.60 for petrol costs. I live 26 miles away and think that's madness money.

I've emailed her saying that is huge amounts than what we discussed.

Aibu?

I can understand if she lived hours away etc but she doesn't and she's self employed. Well I've emailed and I'll see what they say

Update: so the party company have emailed me reducing the petrol costs to £25. That's still 78p a mile, I think it's ok but my sister still thinks it's too much. Wdyt

Sorry how do you get to 78p per mile? It's more or less 50p a mile isn't it? 26 miles each way.

Ah sorry, you are calculating it from the 10 mile boundary aren't you? £25 for 32 extra miles.

Difficult to advise really. I still think it's extortionate, especially with petrol prices dropping so rapidly at the moment and the booking being so far in advance. If you were close to the wire I might be prepared to pay a premium but with 4 months' notice I'd have thought she would be more keen to get the order booked in. You have time on your side, I'd be prepared to call her bluff and walk away, but it's understandable that you might not feel the same if you have your heart set on it. I do think it's cheeky and I'd like to think customers wouldn't just roll over and pay... But it's not my little girl's party.

Hi - my DD loves Frozen too and we hired an Elsa lookalike for her party. The party was a soft play one so they played for an hour then Elsa came for an hour. She did the birthday cake, sang Let it Go with them, played games and did glitter 'make-up'. The cost for Elsa was £80 for an hour and she charged nothing extra for petrol and it was a 60 mile round trip.

Maybe you should look for another lookalike to do this for you? Where do you stay - if nearby can PM you the details.

I have to say the look on my DDs face when she came in with the cake made it all worthwhile - I hope your DD has a fabulous time to x

erin thought my math was pants for a min lol but yes I'm doing it from the 10 mile boundary.

I've looked for other lookalikes and tbh they charge stupid amounts for an hour, the company has fab reviews it's two hours and she does crafts, gives a gift, sings and tons more.

Think I'm going to bite the bullet but they petrol price has made me

I think I would counter-offer at 45p, or whatever it is now, per mile (perhaps adjusted for recent petrol price changes). Do it politely and you will still be able to give in gracefully.

Or if you are prepared to risk the slot going, you could say don't hold the slot, I will explore other avenues and leave her to stew for a couple of weeks before coming back with the lower offer.

Do you have a babysitter? I once paid a babysitter to dress up as my DDs favourite princess at their birthday party. It went down brilliantly. The babysitter was stunning and quite princess like at the best of times but once she was dressed up she looked amazing. It was great fun.
I preferred it to hiring a look-a-like as I knew she was honest and great with the DC. I payed her well but it was still loads cheaper than a professional.