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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To un-invite friend from dinner after she sent me message by mistake

1000 replies

Dinnertext · 07/07/2026 22:10

I’m a long time lurker but have pulled on my big girl pants for my first ever post in AIBU!

We are hosting my friend and her husband on Saturday for dinner. We’ve hosted them before and they’ve always been good company and said they’d enjoyed the food.

We were texting earlier about something unrelated - she clearly had another conversation on the go as she sent a reply which was of no relevance to our conversation.

Her message said:
I can’t do Saturday I am afraid. At (my name)’s for dinner again. That reminds me to stock up on the Pepto for the next morning 😂

Would it be wrong of me to rescind the invite? We go to a lot of effort to host them and feel this is frankly insulting.

OP posts:
Mcdhotchoc · 08/07/2026 11:07

Cancel.
It's not even her response. It's the fact that she is actually slagging you off behind your back.
Not nice

Tuesdayschild50 · 08/07/2026 11:14

Just means she will overindulge i wouldn't throw toys out the pram for that.

unexpecteditemagain · 08/07/2026 11:16

Damnedidont · 08/07/2026 10:05

Are you sure you weren't already unwell earlier in the evening? It would explain the bad breath ... ?

Genius!

AnnaNirvana2 · 08/07/2026 11:17

I would send a friendly message saying,
"you sent me the wrong text 🤣. Don't worry about the Pepto, we always have some to take when we eat at yours. Wil totally understand if you want to cancel because we are having second thoughts too."

HerbaceousQuestions · 08/07/2026 11:17

Cancel, and tell her that it is no longer convenient for you to entertain at home in general.
Does she mean you shop at forrin places for wicked invasive world foods, or that you shop at low class places, or both? Or does she politically or environmentally boycott some of the ingredients you use?
Releaae the husbands into the wild for their friendship.

ETA the backstabbing or the snobbery would be bad enough, but both would mean she never crossed my threshold again, with no further explanation and no opportunity for a scene.

Notonthestairs · 08/07/2026 11:19

Nope.
The Op has posted the woman's reply. She's blamed the OP for using sub standard ingredients.

Notonthestairs · 08/07/2026 11:20

Notonthestairs · 08/07/2026 11:19

Nope.
The Op has posted the woman's reply. She's blamed the OP for using sub standard ingredients.

That was meant for Tuesdayschild.

PrettyPickle · 08/07/2026 11:24

@Dinnertext I’d be really taken aback too, OP. Not because she had an upset stomach, that happens, but because of how she chose to communicate it.

Accidentally sending a bitchy message is one thing. It happens. But doubling down with no apology, implying your ingredients aren’t “up to their usual standard”, and then suggesting they only come for drinks (with their own snacks!) is… well, it’s not great manners. Any decent person would have valued your feelings and would have said they over indulged as you do when someone goes to the effort of making a meal for you and suffered for it the next day. Instead she doubled down and made it clear your cooking and ingredients were sub standard - because this is exactly what she was saying. So yes, You’re absolutely allowed to feel hurt. Suggesting they brought snacks instead magnifies the insult. You put effort into hosting, you’ve fed them before without issue, and you’re not serving mystery meat from a back alley.

If she genuinely thought she’d been ill from the food, the polite thing would have been to mention it at the time or decline the next invite, not gossiping to others and making a snide joke about needing Pepto.

Her follow‑up message reads more like someone scrambling to justify an embarrassing mistake than someone being honest and considerate. If you don’t feel comfortable hosting now, that’s completely reasonable. A simple, message would be enough and if you are sure you want nothing to do with her say something along these lines:

“Thanks for explaining. I’m sorry you were unwell, but the mean comment, effectively talking behind my back and your explanation (without apology) come across as hurtful, and not something a genuine friend would do. You clearly find my hosting below your standard, I find your friendship values/etiquette below mine. I think it’s probably best we pass on Saturday. Maybe our husbands can go out for a catchup drink another day, which they can arrange if they want”

That keeps your dignity, and makes it clear you’re not happy to be spoken about like that. Your DH needs to understand that its you she is attacking as presumably you did the shopping and cooking and he should be recognising this.

Your DH can always meet her husband for a drink another day if he wants to avoid awkwardness.

You’re not being precious. You’re responding to someone who was rude, then didn’t apologise, and then implied your food hygiene is questionable because you don’t shop at Waitrose. Anyone would feel stung and friends like that you can do without.

Londonwelshie · 08/07/2026 11:26

Firegoddess · 08/07/2026 08:21

She didn’t say anything about OP behind her back though, did she? She didn’t criticize OP’s character or personality, or values or parenting choices or dress sense, or politics or any life choice. She made a light hearted comment about the meal OP served giving her indigestion. You can take that as a personal attack, and one worthy of ending a friendship over if you wish, but I don’t see it like that at all.

That’s where we disagree - if it’s lighthearted she would have also included OP in the comments about OP’s meal giving her indigestion. She didn’t do that which is two faced and does make it a personal attack.

fivepastmidnight · 08/07/2026 11:28

It sounds like she made a snide remark, got caught out and then made up an excuse. Because if they had both been ill afterwards she could have suggested the crisps and olives initially and said don't go to the trouble of cooking this time it's a lot of work for you let me bring some crisps and dip. She could have made up something more polite Lots of people get indigestion and heartburn after eating, particularly in the evening so she didn't need to blame your food. Instead of apologising profusely she's made it a you issue. I would uninvite and say I really find your message quite rude so it's perhaps best if we don't bother. Your husband can contact her husband separately and meet him for a drink.

BillieWiper · 08/07/2026 11:28

Could she be saying she'll eat a lot of rich food? And she's not used to it but obviously likes your cooking so eats loads even if she might have to suffer the next day?

Some people eat food they're intolerant to on special occasions because they love the taste so much?

I'm trying to think of ways of minimizing it! How embarrassing for her!

CaptainMyCaptain · 08/07/2026 11:28

nomas · 08/07/2026 10:06

Don't go ahead with it, you'll always regret it.

Use the heat as an excuse to reschedule and suggest meeting at a bar in a few weeks time, then leave it in their court to organise.

No excuse required. Don't make any further arrangements.

pikkumyy77 · 08/07/2026 11:29

category12 · 07/07/2026 23:04

If you liked her enough to invite her, then I would weigh up whether you want this to be a big issue between you.

What would be in it for her to lie about having bad tummies after the last meal? Presumably she's not trying to hurt or offend you, just saying what happened.

So it didn't agree with them or something they had the same day didn't. It's not the end of the world.

If you like them, just laugh it off and get a takeaway instead.

Depends how close you are and whether you trust each other's good intentions.

She made fun of them to someone else in the text which came to OP. That shows extremely poor manners and real contempt for OP.

Gengha · 08/07/2026 11:32

Wow what an arsehole. I can’t believe she doubled down like that. Does she really believe ingredients sold in Waitrose differ in substance to anywhere else? I’d say no to her request to come round for drinks and snacks, tell her how ignorant and rude she is, and call time on the friendship altogether

TheSquareMile · 08/07/2026 11:32

I would message her to say that you need to cancel due to an unexpected family matter, then go away for a nice weekend somewhere.

Whatever her intent was, the atmosphere would be really quite uncomfortable if you went ahead.

I wouldn't rush to re-issue the invitation, not if she is texting other people about you in an unkind way.

PrettyPickle · 08/07/2026 11:33

Flammingo · 08/07/2026 09:00

If she’s a good friend why not just tell her you’re upset she didn’t come straight to you. Then based on her answer decide what to do next, if she’s apologetic and generally a lovely friend I wouldn’t lose that over one text message.

I have some sympathy for the friend though because I’ve been in the position of a friends hygiene standards making me ill and it’s very awkward, especially when they see no problem themselves. It may not be a case of Waitrose verses Aldi either, some people do buy meat from dodgy corner shops or Facebook. Of course it could be the friend being spiteful for no reason but if she’s generally a good friend maybe you did make them ill and she didn’t know how to tell you kindly because as this thread demonstrates people get very offended?

I would have agreed with you had she had the good grace to apologise for bitching behind her back and acknowledged how it looked, which even she did not try to defend.

No this is not how friendships work

sweetiepie11 · 08/07/2026 11:34

Maybe time to worth ponder if the friendship is worth the hassle and you genuinely like the woman and if yes, then put it behind you, don’t look back and everyone can move forward. If not, maybe time to call it quits.

Shinyandnew1 · 08/07/2026 11:34

That was a catty remark she was making about you behind your back (do you know any others she would be bitching about you by name to?!) and she hasn’t apologised, she’s just been caught out and stuck the knife in even more by insulting your food choices and where you shop!

I wouldn’t want to spend time with her after that. If your husband thinks hers is so great, they can go out together. Or she can cook something amazingly perfect for them at her house. Has she ever invited you to dinner at theirs?

Snufkin88 · 08/07/2026 11:38

At first i said you were being unreasonable but now ive read what she said yanbu . The cheek of her I mean ingredients are similar across all shops so what is she on about . That is just insulting. She should have said when accepting the invite we don’t eat x , y and z . I don’t think I would rescind the invite personally but I would let her know I was a bit offended for sure .

Jollytealswan · 08/07/2026 11:44

Nah that's definitely a dig. And a reference to a conversation thats been had about you. I cannot imagine why it would have been said otherwise. I would seen it back to her and await an explanation. No one is forcing her to come for dinner.
I bet your food is lovely-I am probably free that night !

Lonelyisthenight · 08/07/2026 11:47

I'd cancel without any excuses whatsoever. Maybe I'd say something along the lines of "Oh, I see. Let me do you a favor that will save you a few pounds on Pepto: dinner is canceled."

court18 · 08/07/2026 11:52

Initially I thought was an overreaction but I would cancel and bin them both.

Fionuala · 08/07/2026 11:54

no i would leave it
during the dinner rather subtley ask her about this - I don't know what pepto is but you can cleverly find out
keep your ammo secret
you may decide after this dinner not to invite her again but to pull the invite would put you in the wrong and a weaker position
get her in and quietly interrogate!!!!

dancingdeidre · 08/07/2026 12:01

Well at least you know now what happened. The comment about you shopping from inferior shops is snobbish (a more likely explanation is that they both caught a bug), but is it bad enough for you to let go of the friendship by having a row or saying you don't want to socialise with them again?
If it isn't bad enough for that, I'd suggest saying Fine, you will stop inviting them for meals, and suggest an alternative time on Saturday to come for just drinks. That will have to be either after you've eaten, or in time for them to have gone by the time you need to eat. You should set the time - they have invalidated your original invitation so there's no need to stick to 6pm unless that works for you.

Nousernameideaaga · 08/07/2026 12:02

The more I think about this , the more I’m convinced that her shitty second message was down to absolute embarrassment on having been caught out.

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