breakfast woes

[tryagainsardines]

Ok, so need a little help here to see if I was unreasonable!
I have some friends that are moving away and to say goodbye I wanted to take them out for breakfast. I chose breakfast as it's usually quieter and I have a DC, they also have 2 DC under 3. It's a bit more manageable to go earlier. Funds are quite tight right now and breakfast is a cheaper option (I didn't tell them this- I wanted to treat them as their leaving gift).
I invited them to this, checked it was a suitable day/time and booked a table for 11am. They were happy with this. I have arranged to do stuff previously at an earlier time (eg 9/10am) but I was told it's always too much hard work to get ready that early. Fair enough.
I get a message yesterday saying they had the boiler man coming over and could we make it 11 30am and looking forward to seeing you for lunch. I messaged them letting them know it was no problem, as breakfast is served til 12.30.
Eh, with the half hour difference it's much closer to lunch but also, lunch is really quite expensive.
So of course, we get there and when the guy comes to take our order, me and DP order our breakfast and they both order off the lunch menu. Her DH ordered a £32 steak :( I didn't feel I could say anything because it would have been so awkard. I also didn't know the price of it as I hadn't looked at the lunch menu. Anyway, I paid the bill and was more than a bit upset.
The DH then shows me some photos of them in a cafe having breakfast THAT morning (So much for not being able to get out of the house early!!)
I feel like I don't want to see them again as they engineered it to suit them. AIBU?

" if someone had asked me out for breakfast. I would have ordered breakfast"

But they are not you though, are they? You should have been upfront about the fact that you are only paying for breakfast and not lunch. If they ordered from lunch, they should have been told to pay the difference. What's the point in moaning about it now, after you meekly paid for the thing.

I think it’s still cheeky ordering a £32 steak even if you took them out for lunch

I don't know what people are on here, but breakfast is breakfast. Anyway, regardless of that if someone said they'd treat me to a meal no way would I order a £32 steak! As they are friends I'm sure they know you aren't rolling in it.
You were too nice, if that had happened to me I'd have been shocked and probably blurted something out like "Bloody hell! That's a bit beyond my breakfast budget! Shall I give you a tenner towards it instead?". But I would have been horrified in your situation, I know what it is to be skint, and I'm sure it would have been clearly visible all over my face. They are gits. If they get in touch wanting to meet up after they move it's easy "I'm afraid we can't afford it".

I think the key is to say something up front.

I am amazed at how many people don't do that and it would have been so easy to say 'my treat from the breakfast menu, sorry can't stretch to the lunch menu'.

I find it is far better to say something and save your own or others embarrassment/annoyance than to keep quiet and stew afterwards.

I think youd have to be a special kind of twat to order the most expensive thing on the menu when you know a friend is paying, especially when money is a bit tight for the friend. As they went out for breakfast themselves they obviously had no intention of having breakfast with you OP. They sound horrible.

nervousnails
Not really sure how much more I could have spelt it out to them and I think if you go back and read previous posts, I was quite upfront.
I like think I was polite at the dinner table instead of meek. I was trying to minimize any embarrassment.
Also, I do like a good moan every now and then, I'm sure you do too.

bitey
If I could have been that quick thinking, I would have said something! I'll keep that should another similar occassion arise.

I get your issue. I wouldnt ever order an expensive meal when others were paying unless, as others have said, they were extremely well off actually scrap that even then, I would be hesitant .I would look at other things first and then perhaps say is it okay if I get X and pay the difference as It's so expensive. He has a brass neck.

I also think the main problem is this man ordering such an expensive meal - I bet if the couple had ordered soup or pasta or something that was roughly the same price as a full English you wouldn't have minded whether it was called breakfast, lunch or a midnight feast.

Didn't you all discuss what you were having before the waiter come? 'I think I may go for the x', 'I'm going to order the steak', 'the steak lol don't forget we are ordering off the breakfast menu here, not the lunch' and quietly moved on with the conversation.

Very cheeky on their behalf OP however I think some of it could have been managed better by you. Having an earlier breakfast time or even to be honest cooking at home if you can't afford to eat out as a really nice meal cooked at home works out so much cheaper. But I can understand that you might not feel like cooking at home.

But take it as a lesson learned for the future otherwise these are friends with poor manners at the least, CFs at the worst!

potato I'm not sure me cooking for them would have been considered a treat...haha :)