When "friends" split a check, advice needed on getting them to fair share

[Rick-o]

Just start pounding down the drinks, double...hell, TRIPLE what everyone else is having. That'll show them! :devil:

[3d]

If you're gonna make it awkward anyway by calling out the guys that ordered drinks then just nip it in the bud and make it awkward in the beginning by saying you would like a separate check for yourself.

[DinerDave]

Lots of good advice here, as usual.
I don't mind chipping in a little or there, I guess what annoyed me the most the largest part of the bill belonged to the person who makes more money than the rest of us, and also drove the check higher than the others.
Guess I'll live.
As mentioned above, next time I'll get more food on my plate to compensate.

Dave

[clay]

this used to be a bigger deal, but at least around here, it's really no big deal to ask for a split check, and you can even split an appetizer, etc, among all the checks. That's what I do when my buddies and I go out. We all pay what we owe. No more hassles.

[mstudio]

DinerDave wrote:
next time I'll get more food on my plate to compensate.

Haha, that will be the time everyone will want separate checks! I'm with clay, no big deal anymore. We have friends and we have "friends". In general with good friends, we just split the check, with "friends" we have no problem asking for separate checks right from the get-go.

[Dennis S]

Announce assertively, "I had a Diet Coke. Here's my money." Slide the money toward the center of the table and then sort of become aloof to the rest of the prceedings. How can they quibble with that? In addition, everyone else's bill will rise and maybe some of them will turn on the worst offender and change the plan.

[hal]

You'd think that a guy named DinerDave would have had an answer for this problem YEARS ago...

:-)

[Janit]

DinerDave wrote:
I don't mind chipping in a little or there, I guess what annoyed me the most the largest part of the bill belonged to the person who makes more money than the rest of us, and also drove the check higher than the others.
Dave

Ding, ding, ding!

I repeatedly have the same experience in a particular group I meet with regularly. One member usually eats the equivalent of two full meals and then suggests splitting the check "evenly." When I disagree, he objects, "I thought you were a feminist."

Like the other women in the group, I eat 1/4 of what this guy eats and probably earn 1/4 as much as he does.

[3d]

Paying separately you would've paid $2 for beverages.
Paying with split bill you paid $10 for beverages.

Is an extra $8 worth it to get bent out of shape over?
You were there to (in your words) "relax, eat, and socialize". RELAX!!

With that said,,, I always look out for vegetarians in the group. Depending on how buzzed I am, I'll try and do the extra math to give them a break. Someone who had a salad or grilled cheese sandwich should NEVER pay the same as everyone else who had "normal food"

[ArtP]

Back in the Mac User group days - a group of 4-6 of us would go out to dinner after the meeting. Not too much alcohol consumed but we always asked for separate checks BEFORE we ordered. The wait staff got to kinda know us every month and we tipped accordingly often a little extra for the trouble) so it was no big deal.

I think most modern registers/restaurants have a separate check feature?