To think you don’t get out of paying the bill because you don’t drink?

And to avoid any controversy at all people should just whip out their phone calculator and add up the cost of what they had. No nicey nice about splitting - everyone pays for what they consumed.

Agree - soft drinks are almost the same price now. If she didnt want to pay for your alcohol (fair enough) she should have paid for her drinks separatley and then you split for the food.

I was once in a position where I had gone out with a large group, all of whom were drinking an awful lot. Think cocktails, bottle after bottle of Prosecco. I was driving (and had taken few people and were taking them home). I had one coke, a water and a meal that was £12. They asked me to contribute £60 to the bill and I refused. I mean I love a drink but was absolutely not paying for everybody else’s! I don’t think that was a reasonable request at all!

This happened in April so OP is probably over it now (or not 😂)

I would have been pointing that out to her.maybd just offer to take a quid of each person and give to her if she feels hard done by. Always amazes me how people who don't drink alcohol think soft drinks are somehow free

As a non drinker I stand by her not wanting to pay for your alcohol. However, that means all drinks should be removed from the split and paid for by the drinkers of those drinks.

You should have had ALL the drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, removed from the bill and paid for separately.

You'll know the next time either she, or anyone else suggests this.

It amused me on the continent where splitting bills is entirely uncontroversial. Waiters are well used to it and the touchpad devices they have already breakdown everything in advance so people can just tap in and pay their share without much fuss or delay.

All this angst for 2 quid? Why was it even a question?

If it was a simple lunch or dinner with only a couple of glasses of wine or whatever I am not going to get into a twist if we split the bill equally. I don't drink very much these days and I do get annoyed if some long pub lunch with a large group of people ends up ploughing through several bottles of decent wine with the expectation that non drinkers chip in for a bill where the alcohol far exceeds the cost of food. To me it is just rude. From my experience it is usually always down to couple of heavy drinking booze hounds wanting a free ride at everyone else’s expense.

You're absolutely right - either split the bill or everyone pay for exactly what they had.

She is a CF.

It does cheese me off if I had one glass of wine at £7, but the person who had a starter and pudding (when I didn’t) and two soft drinks at £4 each piously announces that they should pay less because they weren’t drinking .

💯

I read it as £12 each for alcohol. It's not clear though.

There's no way I believe that 3 people's alcohol bill came to £12 in a place that sells roasts and mango cheesecake.

In this sort of situation the best way to go is for everyone to pay for what they had on their own separate bill. If the restaurant can't cope with individual bills then the next best way is for everyone to contribute the right amount when the bill comes, based on a roughly adding up what they had (and adding a contribution for any service charge/tip).

It can also help if drinks are handled separately: if possible don't order them to the table, buy them individually at the bar instead.

I went out for a meal with a group where a guy who never buys anyone a drink ordered a bucket of beer - 6 bottles in a bucket of ice - he started handing them out to friends who always buy him drinks. My friend who received one was like “see he’s not tight, he’s not a parasite, he is getting us back now” - then the bill came and he was like “oh and you five all had a beer so that’s x amount extra” - the beer bucket was buy five get one free, he told the other five people to add the price of a beer onto their meal so his was free lol. Absolute parasite. That is what this person reminds me of - she should pay for her soft drinks!

In group settings I usually do drinks separate unless we’re sharing wine or it’s a small group of close friends and drinking relatively similar stuff. I don’t like to feel like I have to order a beer or something comparable to everyone else, if I want a more expensive drink I get it and pay for it.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣brilliant!

and we would pay for our own items if not paying for the whole meal

She should have taken her food and drinks off and paid seperatately for those. You should have spoken up and suggested that at the time. I get it can be difficult not to be peer pressured into bill splitting, but once this woman had spoken up then its really on the rest of you to chip in if you don't think her suggestion is fair to you.

But she didn't pay towards the alcohol...the point is she then didn't pay towards what she actually did drink - which was almost as much as the alcohol. Fine if you just drinking tap water or one soft drink....

I'm more interested in the fact that you were badgered into having. a desert when you didn't want one.
Couldn't you have said no ?

I don't drink alcohol. I refuse to pay towards other people alcohol.

I don’t know why you are getting a pile on. She’s a Cheeky Fucker. Also tipping isn’t a great system but it’s the one we’ve got…so either start a national campaign for a fair wage, or get your wallet out.

Have alot of sympathy with this woman. I hate splitting the bill, especially if I haven’t agreed to do so before the meal. Also hate paying for other people’s alcohol. As for tipping - I used to work as a waitress where I wasn’t given a share of the tips so, no, I don’t tip if I can help it.
Also think it’s very bad of restaurants to add an “optional service charge” to bills in an attempt to guilt trip people into paying more.
As you can probably tell I find eating out somewhat problematic these days and am doing it less and less.

Its a good job you dont have to hang out with them anymore then