Worst Group Split Check Experiences?

[Anonymous]

The problem with not splitting evenly is that 100000% if you're the schmuck who gets the bill last you're going to get screwed because so many idiots at the table never add in taxes and tip.

Done this so many times where the entire table is like $120 short and no one wants to budge at adding in more even though they're shorting on tax and tip.

Worst experience of all time was.when we had like 13 people for a suckling log dinner at a restaurant. Of course the whiner.in the group only wanted to pay for their drinks and their own food because they didn't eat the appetizer. It made the bill a giant pain in the ass because everyone had to break down every single drink item they had. Then they had to figure out how many people ate appetizer X and split that, then appetizer Y and split that among those who ate, etc. it took 1.5 hours because even after people itemized they had people who calculated it wrong, who were being dishonest, or who wanted to throw $0 in for taxes and tip.

Honestly,.if you get angry over $40 or $50 extra during a night out with your friends because they might have gotten wine while you had water stay a home. Over time it works out in the long run. People who want to pay their own are the biggest pain in the ass. And then you'll get whiners who might complain they only ate 5% of shared dish X while everyone else at 10%, therefore they should pay less even though it was shared.

Just say no next time if people ask you out and you want to pay your own. You are a horrible person that is a pain in the ass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One person at a large table who states she will not tip on the tax. Which is like a small amount but still will not pay the same amount as everyone else so others have to make up for it to have a full tip. And for those of you who don't tip on the tax, you're cheap.

You don't tip on the tax.

You're a brainwashed American idiot.

There shouldn't even be tips for starters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with not splitting evenly is that 100000% if you're the schmuck who gets the bill last you're going to get screwed because so many idiots at the table never add in taxes and tip.

Done this so many times where the entire table is like $120 short and no one wants to budge at adding in more even though they're shorting on tax and tip.

Really, though, the problem is not the splitting evenly. It's that your friends are stupid and cheap. I can say that 100% of the time, when my friend group has had everyone just pitch in to cover their bill, everyone rounds up a bit and the server gets a generous tip. It takes almost no time for people to figure out their portion and contribute their share. Having people cover their own portion is only a problem when people are either very bad at math, don't understand tipping, or are trying to mooch off of everyone else.

[Anonymous]

This was years ago at my first job. Congressional Research Service. We went for a group lunch at a Chinese restaurant nearby. Same price for everyone no booze. Everyone threw down some money and fled. I was the lowest ranking GS-7 so I was supposed to stay and pay. It was $100 short counting tax and tip. I had to use my credit card, get a copy of the bill and go around asking for money.
I learned to calculate my fair share from then on and always have cash of various denominations to throw and run.

[Anonymous]

Before even ordering, you agree as a group how to handle the check by saying "can we do separate checks?" or "are we doing separate checks?" This doesn't apply if you aren't worried about cost or if you plan to eat and drink a lot.

If you feel awkward, and you are on a budget and you know you won't eat or drink much and so far there is going to be one check, let everyone else order, then go last and say to the wait person quietly, can I get a separate check?

Split the check evenly with a smaller group and when you have ordered the approximate same dollar amount. If the table orders an appetizer, go ahead and eat at least one serving , you will end paying for it anyway in the split. If you ordered less by a nominal amount, the others will usually say something about how they will pitch in a little more for the tip. If the amount difference exceeds $10 ($5 if you are really on a tight budget), split the cost of the food/tax and then ask the others to cover the tip but make sure to do the math to insure this is fair and covers the extra amount you are paying above the food cost and is not asking the others to pay more.

And again, if money is not a concern, then just split evenly and don't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

Hey guys- there's an app for this. Splitwise. All of us use it and it just calculates how much someone owes. We love using it on trips because then it's fine if one person is always paying, the rest of us just settle up at the end of the trip.

You can add or subtract based on how much someone ordered. For instance I have one friend who enjoys a $$$ bottle of wine. She easily will spend $200 on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teach her that it’s easiest to just split down the middle than try to do the math and if she can’t afford to do that, don’t go out.

Here’s the moocher!!

Easier for you, but not for those are actually on a budget and don’t want to fund your expensive tastes and insensitivity.

agree -- I remember the days when I was first starting out and I made a lot less than my friends. When they split the bill evenly it really hurt my budget. But I never said anything.

This depends on your friends. I make a lot of money now (as do my friends, generally speaking), but I didn’t always and have always been in the split the bill camp. But no one engages in egregious behavior. Sometimes somebody has one more drink than the rest, or someone orders food while the rest of us just have drinks, but it generally evens out over time. But I agree people should be sensitive to that if you’re a group that splits evenly. Or someone else speaks up for the person who just got ice cream (or whatever) and everyone else splits.

OP, you have the right idea teaching your DD to remember to add tax and tip. On the rare occasion that I pay someone else for my proportional share of a bill I always round up/add a few extra dollars after tax and 20% tip just to be careful and thank the person who put it on their card. I really can’t stand people who are cheap at the expense of their friends.

The people who expect others to foot their bill are the cheap ones. Pay your own bill and stop expecting others to pay.

I was pretty clear that I don’t expect anyone else to pay for me. But I also don’t nickel and dime my friends, nor do I care to be friends with people who nickel and dime me. Obviously that only works when nobody is out to take advantage, and when people are self aware of what they’re ordering, which is why I said it depends on your friends. Mine aren’t cheap and they also aren’t moochers, which is one of the reasons we get along.

[Anonymous]

People always say "oh, it all comes out in the wash" but that hasn't been my experience. The light eaters/non-drinkers/vegetarians always dine that way, as do the big eaters and boozers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People always say "oh, it all comes out in the wash" but that hasn't been my experience. The light eaters/non-drinkers/vegetarians always dine that way, as do the big eaters and boozers.

Yup. I will ALWAYS lose this game. I do try to avoid this scenario using some of the good suggestions above. I am happy to chip in an extra $5 or $10 but in the past there have been times I was paying $50 or more extra!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One person at a large table who states she will not tip on the tax. Which is like a small amount but still will not pay the same amount as everyone else so others have to make up for it to have a full tip. And for those of you who don't tip on the tax, you're cheap.

You don't tip on the tax.

You're a brainwashed American idiot.

There shouldn't even be tips for starters.

DC sales tax on restaurants is 10%. 20% of 10% is 2%. So all of .80 on a $40 charge. Boy, some people are just stingy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teach her that it’s easiest to just split down the middle than try to do the math and if she can’t afford to do that, don’t go out.

Here’s the moocher!!

Easier for you, but not for those are actually on a budget and don’t want to fund your expensive tastes and insensitivity.

agree -- I remember the days when I was first starting out and I made a lot less than my friends. When they split the bill evenly it really hurt my budget. But I never said anything.

This depends on your friends. I make a lot of money now (as do my friends, generally speaking), but I didn’t always and have always been in the split the bill camp. But no one engages in egregious behavior. Sometimes somebody has one more drink than the rest, or someone orders food while the rest of us just have drinks, but it generally evens out over time. But I agree people should be sensitive to that if you’re a group that splits evenly. Or someone else speaks up for the person who just got ice cream (or whatever) and everyone else splits.

OP, you have the right idea teaching your DD to remember to add tax and tip. On the rare occasion that I pay someone else for my proportional share of a bill I always round up/add a few extra dollars after tax and 20% tip just to be careful and thank the person who put it on their card. I really can’t stand people who are cheap at the expense of their friends.

Thanks! She's at an age where they like to add up and itemize what they consumed (fun for them) and she understands tipping but has no idea about taxes. She was with a large group of mostly strangers, so not the case of splitting evenly, all coming out in the wash. She'll get to that point though. When she goes out with her one best friend there's already a lot of turn-taking without the bean counting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a broke student I attended a multi-course, preset menu baby shower at an expensive restaurant, and all of the invited guests were presented with a bill at the end of the meal. There went my grocery budget for the week! Still mad at myself for not speaking up.

Thats awful! You don’t invite someone to an event like a baby shower and then present them with a bill. Who raised these people?

+1 that is tacky beyond belief. And you got to bring a gift too! What gall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to brunch with a large group. They didn't ask for separate checks, just passed the little black book with the bill around the table after the meal and everyone put in cash.

I was one of the last people to contribute, and I noticed there was already more than enough cash in the book to cover the meal and a decent tip. But I still put in my share, including tip, as did the guy next to me.

Then I watched as the last guy in the group -- known for being a cheapskate -- counted the cash in the book, TOOK several bills out and put them in his pocket, closed the book and set it on the table.

Not only did he not contribute, he actually stole money from the group -- and possibly the server. Unbelievable. I never went out to eat with him again.

Why don’t you call him out then and there? Instead of seething and raising it online years later?

I was 20. It was a work thing. I was an admin and he was a senior manager. I barely knew him, but I had heard people call him cheap.

Seriously -- "seething"? I was disgusted. But I was in no position to call him out. Possibly a situation OP's DC might encounter.

What's the point of this thread if we're not supposed to share stories???

OP here- yes this is a great story among many here that I'm going to tell her about. Sometimes the richest and most powerful are the cheapest. What an utter cheapskate. But I'm sure people in his life know and can't stand him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was years ago at my first job. Congressional Research Service. We went for a group lunch at a Chinese restaurant nearby. Same price for everyone no booze. Everyone threw down some money and fled. I was the lowest ranking GS-7 so I was supposed to stay and pay. It was $100 short counting tax and tip. I had to use my credit card, get a copy of the bill and go around asking for money.
I learned to calculate my fair share from then on and always have cash of various denominations to throw and run.

My worst experiences are also for work lunches or dinners, not with friends. Don’t know if the higher up people did it on purpose or what but they would underpay and because they were higher up, it felt awkward to bring it up. I learned to get a separate bill or eat before etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with not splitting evenly is that 100000% if you're the schmuck who gets the bill last you're going to get screwed because so many idiots at the table never add in taxes and tip.

Done this so many times where the entire table is like $120 short and no one wants to budge at adding in more even though they're shorting on tax and tip.

Worst experience of all time was.when we had like 13 people for a suckling log dinner at a restaurant. Of course the whiner.in the group only wanted to pay for their drinks and their own food because they didn't eat the appetizer. It made the bill a giant pain in the ass because everyone had to break down every single drink item they had. Then they had to figure out how many people ate appetizer X and split that, then appetizer Y and split that among those who ate, etc. it took 1.5 hours because even after people itemized they had people who calculated it wrong, who were being dishonest, or who wanted to throw $0 in for taxes and tip.

Honestly,.if you get angry over $40 or $50 extra during a night out with your friends because they might have gotten wine while you had water stay a home. Over time it works out in the long run. People who want to pay their own are the biggest pain in the ass. And then you'll get whiners who might complain they only ate 5% of shared dish X while everyone else at 10%, therefore they should pay less even though it was shared.

Just say no next time if people ask you out and you want to pay your own. You are a horrible person that is a pain in the ass.

You are a horrible person to eat and drink more and expect other to chip in $40-50 extra over what they ate because you are too cheap. Maybe consider what you are ordering next time and be prepared to pay for your own meal. $50 is a music lesson for my kid. I'd rather pay for extra music lessons over your meal since you cannot control yourself.