ah college. This is why I don't eat with my college-aged friends.

[JC86]

This is the same reason why I won't go out to eat with a group of people that I don't know. Because I'm the nice guy that will pick up the slack for everyone else's cheap ass that's trying to skimp out on the extra dollar or two.

The group of friends that I have usually ends up with an extra 10-15 bucks in the pot more than we want to leave (after including the tip). Then we have to figure out who should take money back. That's how it should be.

My list of tips for people eating in groups:
1. Bring cash
2. Figure out which items on the bill are yours and round each item UP to the next full dollar amount.
3. Leave $.50 to a dollar more than you normally would for a tip so that you can be sure the bill isn't short and to compensate the server for a large group that is a large pain in the arse even if the people are nice. (It's not easy to make sure that 9 dinners come out within 2-3 minutes of each other)

Couldn't agree more. I hate eating/going out with groups i'm not familiar with. When my friends and I go out, this is never an issue as we all pay a bit extra and rather leave a bigger tip.

 

[MotionMan]

ALWAYS ask a table full of people if they want separate checks before they order.

Fixed.

Saved me a lot of headaches when I worked at the pub on campus.

Eventually, the pub put up a big sign on the wall and triangle on each table:

"No separate checks for parties of 3 or more."

MotionMan

 

[Vic Vega]

I never understood the "group bill" thing. I've never done it, probably never will. I eat out a couple times a week with friends and family. I don't see the problem with making out individual checks, that's what these people do all day long.

Any time I hear about people doing a group check thing it always seems to end badly. No thanks. I order my food and drinks and pay for them. Simple. Why does this need to be complicated?

 

[spidey07]

I learned long ago that when you go out with colleagues you tell the waiter/waitress you want your order on your own check. People tried that shit all the time at my previous job when a bunch of us got together and went out to eat after work.

This is why you have to watch out for cheap people, they suck. Don't associate with them, don't have them as friends, they suck. Drama causing, tightwad, suck people. Once you see they are cheap, treat them as such.

Nothing ruins splitting what is otherwise an extremely simple procedure more than the cheap person. If they argue over a buck or two, SHUN them into the cheap people and never associate with them again.

I have never had this problem because I don't associate with cheap people. We go on trips together, meals together and every single one of us will realize if somebody is giving a disproportionate amount, recognize it and say "dude, you got drinks, we'll get dinner"

These kinds of interactions tell you very much about who the person really is. Pick up on that and never associate with cheapasses again, they are a drain on your life.

 

[Ns1]

I have never had this problem because I don't associate with cheap people. We go on trips together, meals together and every single one of us will realize if somebody is giving a disproportionate amount, recognize it and say "dude, you got drinks, we'll get dinner"

These kinds of interactions tell you very much about who the person really is. Pick up on that and never associate with cheapasses again, they are a drain on your life.

:thumbsup:

 

[ShawnD1]

Eventually, the pub put up a big sign on the wall and triangle on each table:

"No separate checks for parties of 3 or more."

And eventually the business lost all groups consisting of 3 or more people because they couldn't agree to split the bill amongs themselves in a way that was fair
I stopped going to place that won't split the bill

This is why you have to watch out for cheap people, they suck. Don't associate with them, don't have them as friends, they suck. Drama causing, tightwad, suck people. Once you see they are cheap, treat them as such.

Nothing ruins splitting what is otherwise an extremely simple procedure more than the cheap person. If they argue over a buck or two, SHUN them into the cheap people and never associate with them again.

Nice. Does this mean I'm allowed to jerk you out of 1-2 dollars every time we get together, which could easily be two or three times per week? That would be so awesome. I wish I had friends like you in real life. Unfortunately my fuckass friends are all conservatives who don't believe in socialism so they tell me to go fuck myself when I ask them to buy my coffee

 

[Ns1]

I stopped going to place that won't split the bill
(

they won't miss you.

Nice. Does this mean I'm allowed to jerk you out of 1-2 dollars every time we get together, which could easily be two or three times per week? That would be so awesome.

...

<insert quadfacepalm here>

 

[ShawnD1]

...

<insert quadfacepalm here>

Isn't that exactly what he said? He said we should be able to go out, split the bill, I can short change him out of $2, and he won't get upset.

Here's the exact quote

Nothing ruins splitting what is otherwise an extremely simple procedure more than the cheap person. If they argue over a buck or two, SHUN them

I bought the bic mac with a large coffee. You got the small coffee. It ads up to like $5 or something, let's just split it down the middle. You pay $2.50 for your small coffee and we'll call it even. That's how much I love you

 

[Ns1]

Isn't that exactly what he said? He said we should be able to go out, split the bill, I can short change him out of $2, and he won't get upset.

That is true. But the expectation is that you do not shaft him and instead buy him a coffee next time, thus making you two equal.

it should be noted that only good friends get that type of treatment.

I say me and spidey work on the "it all evens out in the end" principle and someone who knowingly shafts me a dollar or two a few times every week will soon find themselves part of this crowd

Drama causing, tightwad, suck people.

 

[nageov3t]

You pick up the whole tab? Can I come to dinner with you too?

he's paying for the "company," you sure you want that job? :hmm:

 

[shortylickens]

The type of customers they don't want. Make them pay in full and hope they never come back.

^
|

Win.

 

[ShawnD1]

he's paying for the "company," you sure you want that job? :hmm:

Like a male prostitute? I might be down, depending on how much money I'm saving

 

[ShawnD1]

they won't miss [people who get separate bills].

So you'd rather run an establishment where 10 people sit at the table and argue for 45 minutes about the bill? This is why you are not a restaurant manager.

 

[TuxDave]

Hate to tell you, but it doesn't end at college. I went with four coworkers to grab food after hearing there's a buy one get one free deal. When we got the check and the discount, I still had people who wanted the remainder of the bill to split the check and charge $3 per CC. Drove me mad.

 

[Ns1]

So you'd rather run an establishment where 10 people sit at the table and argue for 45 minutes about the bill? This is why you are not a restaurant manager.

Not everyone is going to sit at the table and argue for 45 minutes. The rest will man the fuck up figure it out and GTFO.

 

[MotionMan]

And eventually the business lost all groups consisting of 3 or more people because they couldn't agree to split the bill amongs themselves in a way that was fair

On-campus pub. Not likely to lose any business. Still has those rules today, and I graduated in 1991.

MotionMan

 

[nonameo]

You know, you can always choose to order separately.

 

[ShawnD1]

Not everyone is going to sit at the table and argue for 45 minutes. The rest will man the fuck up figure it out and GTFO.

Ok 8 of them decide to pay by credit card you need to run 8 separate transactions. The other two people are still fighting over the bill because one had just a water and the other had steak and lobster. Now what?

You know, you can always choose to order separately

That's what we're arguing about. MotionMan's pub didn't allow people to order separately, so it all gets clumped together into one bill for 10 people.

 

[Ns1]

Ok 8 of them decide to pay by credit card you need to run 8 separate transactions. The other two people are still fighting over the bill because one had just a water and the other had steak and lobster. Now what?

slap them across the face for being stupid.

 

[mizzou]

you should ALWAYS address the separate check issue from the get-go with a big group like that.

If the customers don't then the server should! Would create less confusion and it's not rude at all

 

[theprodigalrebel]

When I hang out with my friends, usually one guy puts it on his card and everyone goes home and wires said guy their share through an electronic funds transfer. Money reflects on account within 24 hours. You just gotta keep track of everything in your head - and that's hardly a challenge. It works well with (close) friends.

 

[ShawnD1]

When I hang out with my friends, usually one guy puts it on his card and everyone goes home and wires said guy their share through an electronic funds transfer. Money reflects on account within 24 hours. You just gotta keep track of everything in your head - and that's hardly a challenge. It works well with (close) friends.

Last time I wired someone money it had a $7 transaction fee.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

That sounds steep. I have free funds transfer ability on my account and it appears so do my friends.

 

[Bateluer]

That sounds steep. I have free funds transfer ability on my account and it appears so do my friends.

If you're all in the same bank, probably true. If not, then there's usually a lot of fees. Also, that method sounds VERY tedious.

Methinks ATOT hangs out with too many tightwads. Every time I've gone out with a group of people, each individual or married couple have paid their own bills. If I order a 25 dollar meal, and they order a 75 dollar meal, they pay 75 dollars and I pay 25. Even if we forget to mention the separate checks thing, there's never been a problem with the restaurant spilling the bill up after the fact so long as you know what it needs to be split into. We've also had them run multiple cards on the same bill for different amounts.

 

[ShawnD1]

Methinks ATOT hangs out with too many tightwads. Every time I've gone out with a group of people, each individual or married couple have paid their own bills. ...Even if we forget to mention the separate checks thing, there's never been a problem with the restaurant spilling the bill up after the fact so long as you know what it needs to be split into.

This is what the whole article is about though. College students wanted the bill split like you mentioned so that each person pays their own. The business wasn't down with this and hilarity ensues as the numbers never seem to add up correctly.

I always thought that was standard practice. You go to the store, you pay for your own, you're good to go. Imagine walking into McDonalds and the manager says your bill is being grouped with the 5 people standing in front of you and you'll need to figure it out amongst yourselves. That's basically what happened.


edit
It's worth noting that my last job was at mcdonalds and splitting bills was standard practice. A single vehicle full of drunk retards comes to the drive through and they want 3 separate bills. It's really not that hard. I punch in the first one and hit done. Get the next order, punch it in, done. Next, punch, done. When they come to the window, bill them 3 times as if they were 3 separate customers. If I had 47 customers in a single night (hint: mcdonalds has hundreds of customers in the same night) then I would punch them in as separate customers. omg this is so difficult I should demand a 20&#37; gratuity for all of my hard work.