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

[ThatHardyWaspAgain]

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.

It is lazy. However surely you can add up what you have spent yourself anyway

Just pay what you ordered.

When you added up the costs why didnt anyone point out to her the cost of her cokes?

@Sofiewoo Yes you can however this means either splitting the bill or everyone manually working out the cost of what they've had to eat and drink. There's often awkward conversations. It's tiresome. It can kill the atmosphere. Not always - very much depends on the company.

It would be much better if it was seamless with no additional 'touch points' or considerations.

The fact she was so petty would mean I was pissed off that I had to sub her! She sounds like a twat!

You’re not wrong, OP. If I’m out with people who have had significantly less than the rest, I’ll usually pass them the bill to work out their share and then the rest is spilt. In this scenario, the price was so similar, she was definitely BU. Did she look at the bill?

Why didn’t you say she needs to pay for her drinks? You were all conned. Don’t invite her again.

I think many people must have misread the OP’s post. As I have no idea why you paid for her drinks (the classical cokes!) If she wants to split the bill she needs to pay for her own drinks. Very odd way of splitting the bill. I would have said woah no way - You buy your own ‘classical cokes’ haha!

Like you say non alcoholic drinks are not much/if at all cheaper than many alcoholic ones!

Did anyone point that out?

Just pay for your own, always be upfront from the offset then no awkward moments. Ask for separate bills, much easier

The first time three of us met up, two of us were driving and our individual bills were £15 each and cf friends bill was £35. I said no we will pay for ourselves but cf and other friend made such an issue like I was tight fisted that I never did it again.

These people are the very epitome of chutzpah. Surely, if their argument held any water, they wouldn't be left with a higher bill anyway. The fact that they are left with a considerably higher bill can only possibly mean that they, in fact, are being tight fisted by ordering high but wanting to pay low.

How do they possibly think their stance can be justified, without anybody seeing it's clear as day what their game is?

I presume that 'Classical Coke' is a 'nod, nod, wink, wink' way for people to pretend that they're only having a soft drink, when in fact, it's liberally mixed with something else that will leave you soundly 'Brahms and Liszt'

OP, I am with you. If you go out as a group and want to quibble about who had 'the more expensive starter' etc. don't come out as a group. Non alcoholic drinks are on a par with alcoholic drinks cost wise these days. Different if a few of the party are really going for it and others aren't - then just a reasonable 'drinkers/non drinkers' amount to pay - but not an itemised bill - immediately sucking the fun out of a group dinner.

You're not with the OP as that isn't their point. There's nothing to suggest they would have a problem with the friend just paying for their own part of the meal. their only issue is that the friend didn't pay for any part of their drinks, but got them to pay for part of hers.

I agree with the OP but I don't agree at all with you. There's nothing wrong in my view with anyone saying they are only paying for what they had, as long as they pay for all of what they had.

Three cokes with a meal? That stuff goes straight through me. She must have been pissing like a carthorse! <totally misses point of thread>

You’re all BU. Just ask for separate checks.

You’re all BU. Just ask for separate checks.

You’re all BU. Just ask for separate checks.

Gone are the days where no alcoholic drinks are necessarily cheaper than pints or a shared bottle of wine. Pubs and bars know people are drinking less so have to make their money somewhere.

If someone is drinking tap water or one soft drink fair enough. But if someone has had 3 soft drinks and wants to quibble they pay for theirs.

In fairness if I'd just drunk wine and someone had ordered £15 a pop cocktails I'd suggest we pay for drinks separately.

She’s quibbling about the bill to save less than 2 quid. Of course she’s the arsehole. Don’t go out with her again, she sounds a nightmare if this is what she’s like the first you met.

It's about time this was done away with and it became standard practice to bill each person separately unless a combined bill is specifically requested. It causes so much bad feeling and resentment.

YANBU considering the little price difference on this occasion and that you ended up paying for her cokes- what?! Surely you could have just done tit for tat and insisted she pay for them separately. It’s fair if she just wanted to pay for what she had.

However in her defence, if she doesn’t drink alcohol it’s possible she’s been stiffed by paying a lot more when bills have been split on previous occasions and she didn’t realise all the drinks in this case cost almost the same.

YABU to complain about the dessert thing - you are perfectly capable of saying “sorry I haven’t got room/really don’t fancy it”. But I assume you mentioned it to imply that if she could afford dessert she likely wasn’t hurting to pay the extra couple of quid to make the bill split simpler.

I’d give her another chance in case it was a mistake - but be prepared to stand up for yourself if she tries to get away with not paying for her own drinks again.

The non- tipping thing is a bit odd though, assuming it’s a full table service restaurant/cafe - unless she thought the service was lousy or it’s a cultural thing? Even the most “careful with money” people I know usually put in a couple of quid if everyone else is tipping too.

This. Jesus Christ.

Also, how did you get 3 alcoholic drinks for £12.50? What did you all drink? A restaurant charging over £3 for a coke surely isn’t only charging ~£4 for a glass of wine or a beer?!

😂😂😂😂😂