Yes I know this gets asked often so I will keep it short.
meal came to £82. I had an issue with my main it was taken off the bill, it was like £13/14
they both had full fat cokes and I had water.
friend said we split 3 ways, I gave £20 which even for the starters and water I had was more. They still insisted I give another £5 so it’s 3 ways.
I was hesitant but did.
im not one to count pennies but when my meal was obviously more than yours why should I cover the cost of your meal too?
this friend has a habit of doing it, she eats a lot, will order several starters and cokes. When I usually just have a main and water (just my preference not being cheap)
opinion?
AIBU?
Splitting the bill
nalabae · 05/08/2022 23:11
Am I being unreasonable?
295 votes. Final results.
POLLDappledThings · 06/08/2022 12:54
It's not specifc to coke. Full fat is a well established description of milk so it's a very mild joke to use it in less appropriate situations to designate a difference in two types of things, a lighter and heavier version. Hence many people using it for coke and me using it for alcoholic/non alcoholic beer.
There was something else I used to call full fat now but I can't remember what.
MbatataOwl · 06/08/2022 12:05
I don't drink coke but I would also refer to full sugar coke as full fat. It's just a jokey way of doing so
Why? What's jokey about it?
Ontomatopea · 06/08/2022 08:15
Or even when the bill arrives.
notacooldad · 06/08/2022 08:04
I usually don't mind if we split or pay separate.
What is annoying is those that pay separate often wait until someone has worked out what each person/ couple owe and then someone says that actually they want to pay their own way. Speak up at the beginning of the meal instead of being a bloody nuisance once someone has sorted out the tip and what everyone is paying.
Sweatinglikeabitch · 06/08/2022 14:00
@Whammyyammy your husband is a king! 🤣
Whammyyammy · 06/08/2022 13:55
We have friends that had a rep for being like this. Went out for a meal with them, they were ordering cocktails, as many food courses as they could, and the more expensive course too (steaks, lobster etc), large desserts, and lots of alcohol.
As the night drew to a close they proposed splitting the bill in half (5 of us, me and oh, other couple and their adult daughter). My husband informed them he had already been to the bar and settled mine and his bill including a tip! You could tell they were pissed off, saying they weren't sure THEY had enough funds to cover what THEY had eaten/drank 🤷♂️.
On way home my husband said the total bill was about £450, ours came to about £120! CFs clearly wanted us to pay a fair chunk of what they devoured.
We've not been out with them since, and a few other friends have also now done the same.
CFs wanting someone else to pay for their dinner....
BMW6 · 06/08/2022 13:48
The only people who ever insist on splitting the bill equally (or call others who object "tight") are those who take the piss and rip off the people they eat out with.
Moral and decent people are aware if someone else has consumed less expensively then themselves, and never want to freeload off them.
Spot the freeloaders on here 🙄
BMW6 · 06/08/2022 14:20
Superb! I'd give good money to have seen their faces 👏👏
Whammyyammy · 06/08/2022 13:55
We have friends that had a rep for being like this. Went out for a meal with them, they were ordering cocktails, as many food courses as they could, and the more expensive course too (steaks, lobster etc), large desserts, and lots of alcohol.
As the night drew to a close they proposed splitting the bill in half (5 of us, me and oh, other couple and their adult daughter). My husband informed them he had already been to the bar and settled mine and his bill including a tip! You could tell they were pissed off, saying they weren't sure THEY had enough funds to cover what THEY had eaten/drank 🤷♂️.
On way home my husband said the total bill was about £450, ours came to about £120! CFs clearly wanted us to pay a fair chunk of what they devoured.
We've not been out with them since, and a few other friends have also now done the same.
CFs wanting someone else to pay for their dinner....
amicissimma · 06/08/2022 14:57
I've always understood that restaurants make a good proportion of their profits on drinks, so I think of buying alcohol or fizzy drinks as paying for the privilege of sitting in the restaurant. I think people who drink only tap water are being a bit tight from that point of view so it's fair to expect them to chip in to cover the 'rent' that their companions are paying on their behalf.
With food, one or two people not having a starter or a dessert if everyone else is I'd again say chip in. But if some people are having three courses, expensive dishes, lots of drinks (including non alcoholic) and most are having two standard courses, I'd be inclined to pay separately, specially if the same people had form for this.
I'm usually the one drinking water and eating less, as that's what I prefer, but I do feel that the more extravagent consumers are in a way justifying my place in the restaurant, so I'm happy to chip in. That said, among my friends it's normal to say 'I had the expensive ... so I'll put in extra' or 'So and so only had ... so should pay a bit less'. We also tend to know who is better off and less well off and the better off tend to be a bit quicker to volunteer to 'lose out' if the situation arises, trying to be subtle about it. But we're friends and care about each other.
Frances0911 · 06/08/2022 15:40
Like someone else just said, IME it's always the one's who over indulge that insist on sitting the bill.
JudgeJ · 06/08/2022 16:25
Slightly different but it annoys the hell out of me when I'm out in a group of singles and couples that the couples are considered as one round, so in a group of 6, two couples and two singles I am having to buy a round every 4 rather than every 6.
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LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 06/08/2022 16:27
TBH if I didn’t get charged for my meal I would let my friends benefit from that. And getting petty about water vs coke is really tight TBH. £25 for a meal out these days is a bargain
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