to want to split the bill when the difference is less than £1 each

[Sonders]

I'm guessing this might have been done to death so apologies if I'm stirring up old territory!

I'm all for paying for what you eat/drink when there's a big difference, like an extra course or significant extra alcohol consumption.

Just before Christmas, about 10 of us went for a meal to celebrate and old member of the group who had moved to the states and was back for 2 weeks only. This member and her boyfriend plus 2 others shared a bottle of white, everyone else had soft drinks or had ordered and paid at the bar before we sat. We each had one course.

At the end of the meal, the bill came to dead-on £150 (inc. tip), most of us had put in £15 each when one couple said actually they want to pay for what they ate as they didn't have any wine. A few people pointed out the difference would be pennies as they had 2 soft drinks each. The couple were visibly very offended, and we could see them chat to each other about how ridiculous the rest of us were.

We all took back our cash, and started passing around the receipt to work out who should pay what. After all the fuss, the couple in question actually spent more than the wine people, bringing their total to £31ish including tip.

One of the other guys in the group then said something along the lines of 'you guys just talked your way out of £1' and their answer was that actually, they don't want to pay a tip, so are just going to pay £30 any way.

A couple of us then chipped in another 50p each to cover the damn tip and the couple remained in a sour mood for the rest of the evening.

So...

AIBU to just want to split a nice round number when we've had a nice evening instead of all this rigmarole?

I ask because they want to meet up again in 3 weeks time and I'm not sure if I can be bothered.

I bet they use both sides of the toilet paper to wipe their tight little bumholes.

Ditch them. And tell them why you're ditching them!

Tight arses. This always used to happen on our work nights out. Only time I refused to pay equally was because 3 of the girls had got hammered on double brandies which added ££'s to bill and I had a glass of coke. We then went started going to somewhere with a set price for 3 courses and a bottle of wine. Any other drinks were bought at bar. Problem solved.

Like PP said, next tome you all go out just tell them to sort their order seperately to the rest of you.

I'd make my excuses too.
The tip refusal did it for me.

They sound the type of hosting a party at home and charging people to go too.

At my work do we split it evenly (£20 each including tip) even though I had ordered more than some other people. I felt quite bad, as they were subbing me for about a fiver and I would have preferred to have paid for myself, but when I put down an extra £5 I actually got it pressed back into my hand.

If it had been a similar amount I wouldn't have bothered though. It's when there are vast discrepancies that splitting the bill can be unfair (ie. if half the party had starters and puddings and half didn't.)

I think your friends sound mean though - and kind of self-righteous with it.

They were meanies. No enjoyment going out with people like this. It's different if somebody has a much more expensive meal or expects you to pay for them and their DC's but this wasn't the case here. YANBU

YANBU in any way.

Can you imagine their dreary little sex life?

They probably keep spreadsheets on who's licked and sucked what, for how long and on which date.

It sounds to me that they're people who like to make a point on principle and end up looking silly in the process.

I have no problem with people paying for what they had instead of splitting the bill, but I don't go out with people who are too tight-arsed to tip.

YANBU. What annoying people!!!

I don't drink alcohol and do resent paying for others when it is £££ over - especially as I also the driver so payout for petrol collecting them all but there was no difference in this case - as does happen with the cost of soft drinks nowadays.

I wonder if they thought they were going to be paying a lot less then what they actually did in the end.

This drives me and my friends nuts. 15 of us went out and we were splitting the bill until one woman (who nobody knows who invited her but seems to get herself invited to stuff) refused and made us send the bill round the table with phones as calculators. I think I ended up saving about a pound but wasted ridiculous amount of time of my life. My close friends and I all joke about it so we always know we will just split it!

'I wouldn't invite them again. The nitpicking followed by refusal to tip would make me not want to bother'

Same here.

There would be no 'next time'. And if someone invited them, I would probably decline going along and be frank about it.

Cannot abide people like this.

I have a friend like this. She always makes a bit song and dance at the start of the meal about how she is going to order her own drinks because she doesn't want to go in on the wine, and will only pay for the food she eats.
Fair enough, but she always ends up downing several bottles of wanky craft beer, while making passive aggressive comments, and it always comes to more than going in on the wine would have been. AND last time, someone left early, so she mineswept their leftover wine.
I'd gladly never see her again, but our designated organiser feels sorry for her total lack of social skills and life so always invites her along

MitzyLeFrouf I think this is the spreadsheet they might use. :)

So the alcohol in question was one bottle of wine between four of the diners??!!

Mitzy

That's hilarious I would have made a huge deal of laughing my head off that after all the calculations they owed more ! Plus never dine with them again.

Next time you go out as a group just ask for a separate check for the two of them...

So if they'd just done as they were asked and paid £15 each they'd have paid £30, including a share of the tip. Instead they caused a big fuss, wasted everyone's time, found out they were on the hook for £31, refused to contribute to the tip, made someone else cough up marginally more money to cover it, soured the mood and made themselves look like massive dicks, all to end up paying...£30.

Or have I misunderstood the numbers? Either way, they sound awful!

Don't invite them again, and if they want to know why tell them.

They might not actually get it though; anyone prepared to make a holy show of themselves in public like that probably won't give a shit that they're seen as embarrassing by everyone else.
Or that they've taken the shine off everyone else's evening.

diddl yep, one between 4, I think the bottle was only £12! 3 others were drinking but we had to wait 5 mins for our table so they'd already ordered & paid at the bar, 2 are tee-total and I was driving.

YouAndMe you got it. I should have written it as you did as it was much shorter and made more sense!

I really adore some of the other people in the group, it just makes it so awkward when these 2 act like dicks.

What amazing restaurant was this where you could get a meal for £15 a head including wine? Even Pizza Express is more than that these days ...

I generally like to pay for what I have, because if we're skint we then have the choice of skipping a course, or ordering something cheaper BUT if everyone is having roughly the same I'm happy to split, especially if we're with people who we'll be going out with again - it pretty much all evens out in the end.

However, the price of soft drinks is crazy in restaurants. The wine often works out cheaper.