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.

Not only tight people but people who refuse to leave tip (when the service has been positive) really P me off. Agree veggies can def get the raw deal with bill splitting though i.e. difference between a steak and mushroom risotto can be £5-£10. But I just suck it up & order an extra cocktail to make up for it .
I def wouldn't hang out with these 2 in a hurry again though.

I once went out for a cheap Thai meal, and one of the couples quibbled over splitting the bill because the rest of us had ordered soft drinks, whereas they'd had tap water

I really can't be doing with that.

They were only tipping £1 on a £30 total bill?! Surely it should have been £3-4.50 at the very least?!

ALWAYS discuss how the bill is going to be split BEFORE ordering
I did this one year , we all literally sat down and before anyone ordered their first drink I asked how everyone preferred to pay
I actually was thanked that this was done beforehand as everyone knew where they stood and the rest of the night was enjoyable

TwoDrifters The £30 contained some of the tip, just not their share of the 10%. I think their food and drink came to like £28.50 / £29

I agree with shinyshoes2 it makes sense to do this at the start of the meal, and I always do it too. Drinks orders are often taken before the food order, so if anyone is ordering tap water it flags up that there might be some issues with fairly splitting the bill. I always suggest drinks are paid for separately because I have expensive tastes and I don't expect anyone else to fund my drinking habits. Likewise I respect the fact that people who order one course and tap water shouldn't be forced into paying extra.

But to the OP, you are definitely NBU to never share a table with these tight arses again.

It's such a minefield going out for a shared meal.

I think from previous threads, people are perfectly entitled just to pay for what they had although they should always tip unless service was appalling, but that they should make this be known up front.

Generally people tend to underestimate the cost of what they've had. As I said in another thread even soft drinks, coffees and bottles of water if you don't ask for a jug of tap water soon mount up. It's ironic that bills are often split by drinkers and non drinkers as a couple of bottles of J-20 or non draft pepsi usually costs the same as half a bottle of cheap plonl.

So say for example you had the £8.95 pizza, if you had a soft drink and a coffee as well, that plus tip comes to around £14-15, but I bet if asked the person would throw in a tenner because that's what they think they've had.

Made me laugh actually when out with BIL. He is quite controlling over finances which is fair enough as they have a large family. He was very strict over what people were allowed to order ( thankfully not me and DS as we were paying our own) from the menu so kids menu or breakfast rolls, but didn't say no when they asked if they could have milkshakes which were £3.95 a pop, so instead they could have had a decent lunch with a glass of water for the same price.

I must admit when I go out now in a big group I've stopped taking the car as if I do drive I often end up paying for wine I haven't drunk.
I also tend to ask what other people are having and pick my meal accordingly.

I reckon fixed price menu or buffet and BYOB drink is the way to go with a big party.

YANBU Op.

I went out for lunch with some friends before Christmas. There were 6 of us and all had children with them. 3 of us had 1 child, 2 had 2 and 1 had 3. All the children ate from the childrens menu, all the adults had main courses, we shared starters. Some drunk wine or beer some stuck to coke.

when the bill came we all paid the same amount regardless of number of children, wine consumption or what we had. I may have lost out by a couple of quid one way or the other but quite honestly I didn't care. I wanted to see my friends not spend 20 minutes sorting out the finer points of the bill. The person with 3 children kept saying she should pay more but the childrens menu wasn't expensive and she didn't drink wine so sure it all worked out more or less.

YANBU. I stopped attending work events for this very reason. I had enough of being embarrassed about the rediculously amount of time that was spent deciding how much each person should pay and then leaving no tip or one that was really mean. I also went out another time with a smaller group of work colleagues and I put in a big tip at the end of the meal. One of the others then used this tip to reduce his bill, and not leave a tip. I am never going out with them again.

I once went on hols with a crowd of about 10 people. Two of the couples had tiny toddlers who ate meagre amounts in the restaurants in the evening. The whole group agreed to split the bill 5 ways as there were 5 couples. It turned out that one couple had agreed reluctantly, and were moaning about it behind our backs. On the last night they made a big point of ordering lobster, steak, expensive wines .... this was years ago and it still pisses me off that no one challenged them when the bill came. I was more timid in those days. Fecking tight wads, as if a couple of bits of garlic bread and some pasta tubes would add up to their lavish last meal. Never saw them again.

I also spent NY eve with friends who wanted to take the 10% service charge off the bill 'as it was optional'. New Years Eve!!!! And the staff had given us free prosecco !

maybe they misunderstood due to some drinks having been ordered at the bar?

i still remember an incident when I was driving, had had no booze at all, asked for it to be factored into the bill when a couple (I didn't know them - it was a big birthday do) had a go at me and said "well you've had 2 diet cokes". The wine that had been ordered was about £30 a bottle.

When I worked it out, including my soft drinks and tip, I owed £17 less than when equally split - not really surprising given the type of night it was. My friend (whose birthday it was) was quite happy to sort that, as obviously £17 is a lot of money (well it is to me) but the couple actually sat there snorting and saying "oh, I can't believe you want to get out of paying £17, can't someone buy you a drink and you'll be even? Come on, we''ll buy you a drink"

and another person piped up "what, buy her another Diet Coke, that won't cost £17". I think there were about 20 of us so £17 split between them....

Then they shut up....till the end of the night (it was dinner & dancing) when they came over and asked if I was going their way and could give them a lift.

As I thought by then they were horrible people I said "you know what, I have a tiny car and I'm taking 2 people already, so I really can't....but tbh I can't believe you're even asking".

Fuck that OP - YANBU.

I wouldnt be going out with them again.

In my main friendship group the bill is always split evenly unless there is a designated driver or a pregnancy, in which case that person pays for their food and the rest of us cover the soft drinks