Dinner parties are normally cheaper alternatives than going out for a meal with friends. And while guests are generally expected to bring along a drink, most never expect to be charged for their food.
But that's exactly what happened to one woman, who said she was left feeling 'annoyed'. Taking to Mumsnet, she wrote: "We were invited to a friend's house for dinner. Took a bottle of good wine with us, we wouldn’t ever go empty-handed.
"Had a good meal, but they sent us a message after asking for money for each person! I thought this was crazy and I would never ask anyone to pay for their food if I invited them over!"
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She then asked the forum if she was being unreasonable for feeling 'annoyed' about the incident. She added: "We’ve already arranged to have them to ours in a few weeks time and I’m not asking them for anything!"
Hundreds of people replied to the post, with most branding the host 'rude'. One person said: "Outrageous behaviour and incredibly rude".
Another wrote: "That’s awful behaviour! What is wrong with some people?", a third said: "That’s incredibly rude. If they couldn’t afford to host then they should have asked everyone over and to bring a plate of food. Or say come over and we will get a takeaway but would everyone mind paying for their own share. But to ask for money afterward is just crazy."
Quite a few people suggested that she should offer to have the host around to her house and call it quits. One person wrote: "I'd be tempted to reply something cheeky, but for the sake of keeping things cordial and preserving your friendship (if you want to), maybe reply something along those lines?:
"Thanks for having us over for dinner, we had a great time! We brought the wine as a gift, but we didn't realise it was BYOF (bring your own food) event and weren't expecting to have to pay towards our food. How about you come for dinner to mine on the x, instead?"
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