Is it okay to call somebody back if you can't undertand their RSVP?

[NewJeffCT]

The mom of a girl in my daughter's first grade class RSVP'd for my daughter's birthday party next weekend and I could not understand the message - I could not tell if her daughter is coming or not. Is it polite to call them back and use an excuse like "the answering machine erased the message" or something like that?

And, I listened to the message at least 10 times, but could not understand it due to the accent. And, I couldn't tell by the tone if it was a "yes" or a "no" - as she just said, "okay, thanks" at the end.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. Of course

Just tell the truth - that the message was hard to understand on the machine, so you wanted to make sure you got it right.

She won't take offense. Not at all. She'll be flattered that you cared enough to double-check.