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.

Why do you think that's a gotcha question? Some people are happy to split; just saying "you should never split" is just silly. . The question is whether the friend was being cheeky by asking for the alcohol to be taken off the split, but not her drinks. The OP is not annoyed by the fact that she paid more than her share, but that the one person who quibbled with splitting engineered it so she paid less than her share. Don't you see the difference that makes to the principle?

I think in this scenario you should have added her drinks to her bit or all paid separately. I don't think she should have to split if she didn't drink any alcohol. YABU to do it the way you did

Just pay for your own, I don't tip either

She had three cokes?! That’s a load of calories

Oh and no, I don’t tip either. You aren’t helping when you tip, you know. You aren’t being kind or a good citizen.
You’re part of the problem and you’re keeping wages low by tipping because employers have no incentive to up wages when mugs like you will flash the cash to make yourselves feel good.

Yes, scraping a tenner together in loose change is what's wrong with the World 🙄

We split the bill if it’s roughly the same amount, give or take a couple of pounds. We pay individually otherwise

Obviously her cokes should have added on top of her share of the food. Then alcoholic drinks paid for separately. Tbh you might as well each have just paid for your own, especially as you all had the same meal so not hard to add up

How does that make any difference?. The service charge can easily be removed. Its not obligatory Our lunch group insist on removing it. We prefer to tip in cash

They neednt have been pints. Lareg and small measures of other sizes are available.

I don't think I could manage 3 classical cokes

No, she should have paid for the coke.
Who did the calculations, why did you do the split the way you did? Doesn’t really make sense.

As the price was almost the same she should have let this go imho.
Presumably she wasn’t keeping an eye on costs and has been burnt before though?

Not in this circumstance as there’s not much in it.
If someone is having a few soft drinks whilst everyone else orders cocktails, bottles of wine then YABU.

Our one friend is the Des, she takes us all home so we buy her cokes, ‘classical cola's’ from now on. 🤣

I read it as the OP did t mind separating out the alcohol but it’s a bit rich for the coke drinker to expect everyone to include her beverages in the main bill.

You’re unreasonable for calling it classiCAL coke. What the f

Hardly anyone is saying this!

Sounds like it would have been much easier if everyone had just paid for what they had.

Mate it was a joke!

@TheJollyMoose

yeah but three cokes would cost more than one glass of wine for example, so splitting the bill is fine.

YANBU, OP. It was cheeky of her to keep her drinks in the shared bill and only remove the alcohol. I’m also a non-drinker and wouldn’t have done this.

You all sound tight.
You should’ve paid just for what you had + tip separately if you wanted to.

tipping isn't needed in the UK because the staff are paid minimum wage. It's different in the US. I only tip for exceptional service, because I want to tip someone. I don't believe in giving money that isn't owed under compulsion. I'm not stingy in any way just a strong believer in financial self care.

When it was the first time meeting ye, she shouldn’t have said anything if she was trying to form a friendship

As she did say something, I think it would have been less complicated if ye all paid separately

She should have paid for her own drinks if the rest of ye were paying for your own so I don’t understand why ye paid for hers, she brought the whole issue up

You don’t even need to ask for separate bills, the server is literally just inputting the amount into the card reader regardless. You just all say “I’m paying £30/£25/£35”
The actual bill on the table will be itemised.

The total for all your alcohol was 12.50?
And she drank £10:12 of coke?
Then why were you all so stoopid and not say ‘of course. We will remove all the drinks, that is 10.12 for you and 12.50 divided up for us’.
why would you not have done that?

I'll be that wanker... how can 3 cokes add up to £10.12. That would make them £3.37 each. Perhaps it's only classical cola that is oddly priced.

How much alcohol was there? It's crap in this instance but historically, when Iwas driving, I always asked for a split. I'd never quibble over £2 though.