Mom Says Daughter Was Invited on a Friend's Family Vacation — Then She Received a Huge Bill from the Parents

A mom got an expensive surprise after her daughter invited a friend to a family vacation.

The woman, who shared her conundrum in a Reddit post, said her 16-year-old daughter was invited to travel to Costa Rica with her friend, along with her parents and grandparents.

“I assumed they would only charge us for her food and activities like the zip line,” the mom wrote. “Not.”

Instead, she received a bill for the entire trip via email after her vacation. A part of the accommodation and car rental fee is included in the costs. This was a big surprise for the mom, who was recently on the opposite side of the same situation: two years before, she invited one of her daughter’s friends on vacation, and the friend’s family was never charged for accommodation or transportation.

“I would never dream of charging that much when I go anyway!” added mom.

Daughter, 20, says she was the only member of her immediate family not invited on the group trip: ‘This really hit home for me’

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When a commenter asked if the Original Poster (OP) had talked to her friend’s parents before the trip about how the costs would be split, the OP said yes — though they admitted they must have “made a bunch of assumptions” and not paid attention to the details . “Big mistake”, included in the OP.

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While the OP admitted that she “has money so this won’t break me,” she said they’d like to talk to the family that issued the bill and asked commenters for suggestions on how to open the thread via email .

Some have suggested that the OP ask the parents if adding their daughter to the trip means they have to book an extra room or rent a second car – characterizing the situation as a “misunderstanding”.

A woman stops letting her sister borrow her car after she keeps returning it with an empty tank, leading to a family feud

A family crossing a suspension bridge in Costa Rica. Getty Images/Philip and Karen Smith

Other commenters took a less charitable view of the incident: “Unfortunately, some people see their child’s friend as a way to cover expenses. It can charge way more than what it costs to bring an extra child and make other parents too embarrassed to say anything,” wrote one.

“It’s a combination of a lack of manners or basic house training and extreme entitlement,” added another.

A third said: “It’s really s—–y they did this without talking about it before the actual trip.”

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Source: HIS Education