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Original poster

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

458 replies

ThatHardyWaspAgain · 09/04/2025 19:58

I’m sure this has been done many times before by people in similar scenarios.

I went out for a bit of lunch with two friend’s and one of them brought another friend along that I’ve never met but was nice enough.

However, when it came to the bill, she said ‘’Can we please calculate it all with the alcohol you’ve had separately paid for? Because I only had classical cokes’’

So, we did as she asked. Added up everything but removed the drinks. So 3 of us paid for our drinks in a split, and then did another split for the rest with her and her food and classical colas.

The annoying bit is, she had 3 of them. And they weren’t really much different in price to most of our alcohol.

We all had the same roast and mango cheesecake.

I wouldn’t mind but she kept insisting we all had a dessert so she didn’t feel alone in having one. We’re adults after all but it is a bit annoying

Separate thread to come to see if I would be U to tell my friend not to bring her along again

She also didn’t tip.

OP posts:
snackatack · 09/04/2025 20:18

Why did you pay for her drinks?

Either 'split so we each paid for what we had - or - not

YesThatsATurdOnTheRug · 09/04/2025 20:18

Well I think she sounds tight and I don't get why you're getting a hard time OP. She wanted everyone to pay for part of her drinks, and their own drinks. Ridiculous. Not tipping is shit. Making a 'political statement' by not tipping just leaves the waitress short and changes nothing about the world. You want better pay for wait staff then lobby, petition, make some noise, don't just be tight and act like you're doing it for the morals.

CandelabraCat · 09/04/2025 20:18

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 09/04/2025 20:05

So many people with poor reading comprehension on this thread.

Yeah I think most people are missing the point. Both of these are reasonable options: (1) Split the bill evenly if cost were relatively equal (which they were) and everyone is happy, or (2) Everyone pays for what they individually purchased. What OP describes is neither of these - it doesn’t make any sense for everyone else to split the classical colas! 🎻

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 09/04/2025 20:17

Lunde · 09/04/2025 20:12

I think the issue is that the way the other person wanted to do it was that the non alcoholic drinks were split between everyone - so they subsidised her.

It would have been better to remove ALL the drinks rather than just the alcoholic drinks

Exactly, she said it wasn't fair to split and then proposed a different way of splitting which resulted in her paying less than her fair share.

Crankyaboutfood · 09/04/2025 20:17

ThatHardyWaspAgain · 09/04/2025 20:03

Our alcohol total was £12.50 and her cokes all came to £10.12

So it’s okay for us to sub her drinks just because they’re non alcohol?

i would have pointed that out and had her out in just a pound less if important to her. She may not have realized?

GasPanic · 09/04/2025 20:17

Was she driving ?

availablecupcake · 09/04/2025 20:16

There was no reason for you to pay for her drinks.

You should have all paid for what you ordered so that everybody could order whatever they wanted and just relax and still stay friends afterwards.

Whenever one person isn’t drinking alcohol or is going to eat significantly less then it should be automatic that you don’t split the bill equally.

WateryBottle · 09/04/2025 20:16

Sofiewoo · 09/04/2025 20:15

Imagine posting a mn thread and being this raging that you paid an extra £2.60 on your lunch bill!!

I don’t read it like that. I think OP is annoyed that this woman didn’t want to contribute towards others drinks but wanted people to contribute to hers despite them being a similar price. I think the OP is annoyed about the principle not the money.

Thistoo2023 · 09/04/2025 20:16

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 09/04/2025 20:05

So many people with poor reading comprehension on this thread.

I know! It’s maddening to read. I think an all
time low has been reached on this thread.

Overthemoun · 09/04/2025 20:15

Oh I have this! I just split that persons food and drink out separately and then split between the rest. Or just go around, tot up what you had from the bill and pay for it. It is awkward but it’s either put up or shut up.

you do have to say at some point that soft drinks are expensive now, which she will know, but is trying to hope you think it’s still 1999 and 50p for a lemonade.

Sofiewoo · 09/04/2025 20:15

Imagine posting a mn thread and being this raging that you paid an extra £2.60 on your lunch bill!!

WateryBottle · 09/04/2025 20:14

I’m with you completely OP. Splitting to the nearest penny when there’s so little in it is cringe and mean. It’s obviously totally different if there’s a big disparity in what people have had but when she has had £10 and you have had £12, I think it’s pathetic.

But I also think people still overestimate by how much non alcoholic drinks are cheaper

Onthelinetoday · 09/04/2025 20:14

If your going to the hassle of taking off some drinks before you split the bill you might as
well just pay for what you’ve had. The point of splitting the bill is to keep the maths easy.

RedHelenB · 09/04/2025 20:14

It's easy nowadays just to pay for your own food and drink. That's what me and my friends tend to do.

HueyLouisAndDewey · 09/04/2025 20:12

I don't believe in this kind of Bill splitting. I think everyone should pay for what they themselves have consumed. I don't believe in rounds either.

Ahwig · 09/04/2025 20:12

A group of us go out regularly, normally 2 don’t drink but the non drinkers will have a soft drink and so do some of the “ drinkers” as wine isn’t thirst quenching. We take off the wine and split that between those drinking alcohol and the rest of the bill is split equally. We’ve done this for several years and it feels fair and suits everyone.

Lunde · 09/04/2025 20:12

I think the issue is that the way the other person wanted to do it was that the non alcoholic drinks were split between everyone - so they subsidised her.

It would have been better to remove ALL the drinks rather than just the alcoholic drinks

NC28 · 09/04/2025 20:11

Balloonhearts · 09/04/2025 20:08

There is no fat in coke. Its full sugar.

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It’s known as full fat though, isn’t it? I think the world knows what it means.

Silvers11 · 09/04/2025 20:11

Well you split it wrong. All the drinks should have come before the food was divided up. That's as much on you as them. And it was nearly £3 difference - nearer £3 than £2 anyhow1

RosesAndHellebores · 09/04/2025 20:10

ThatHardyWaspAgain · 09/04/2025 20:10

Surely she did first?!

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There you go. Rucking again.

JackieDaytonaLuckyBrews · 09/04/2025 20:10

I don't get why you didn't just all pay separately for what you ordered. Why on earth did you pay for her cokes? It's hardly complicated to split a bill for the same meal three ways and add the three soft drinks to her bill. Did someone just make a mistake? Or did she ask for you all to cover them?
As for tipping, that's up to her. Was the service OK? None of these things would make me exclude her next time.

Original poster
ThatHardyWaspAgain · 09/04/2025 20:10

RosesAndHellebores · 09/04/2025 20:09

So you want a ruck over a couple of quid. How tiresome.

Surely she did first?!

OP posts:
PerfectPennyKilledMyHusband · 09/04/2025 20:09

ThatHardyWaspAgain · 09/04/2025 20:07

No, as per her suggestion and the others agreeing so I did too (although didn’t realise the cheek of it until afterwards), everything was split equally minus the alcohol, which was split between 3 of us who had it

But in doing so we paid for her classical cokes despite them being almost the same cost as our alcohol that she didn’t want to split for

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Please stop calling them classical cokes!

You should have just said "ok no problem, you pay for what you had and we will split the rest".

Sofiewoo · 09/04/2025 20:09

ThatHardyWaspAgain · 09/04/2025 20:04

But it’s okay for us to pay for her drinks when it was about £2 difference in total?

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So why didn’t you just suggest paying for what you had?

RosesAndHellebores · 09/04/2025 20:09

So you want a ruck over a couple of quid. How tiresome.

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