How do you split the bill?

[ashspet]

After dinner the other night with people I don't normally eat with, there was a huge kerfuffle at the end of the night about who ate what, only the people that drank should have to pay corkage, and really, by the end of it I resolved to never eat with these people again.

Whereas a group I eat with regularly, we just chuck in about our share (unless it's your birthday, then you eat for free). Some who earn less cover their percentage, those that earn a bit more chuck in the extra for corkage, tips and the like. No drama, end of the night, you reach in, grab what you reckon is fair, and we always have more than enough. No dramas, no fights, no calculators.

How do you split the bill?

 

[Interrobang]

How do you split the bill?

By paying what you had.

Dunno about the kingdom of Oz, but here you can actually split a bill. You tell the waiter when he brings the bill for the table what parts you pay, and he marks it of, then moving on to the next person. That way everyone pays their part of the bill (plus tip of course). I know that does not work that way in every country.

 

[Spectre]

You're missing an option that's popular here - paying by turns.

Interro: That's an option here as well, in fact in restaurants with more recent electronic POS systems, each person can get an individual check printed. The very latest ones here have each person's check appear on a tabletop terminal in front of them.

 

[Davetouch]

^ That is one solution but it takes ages. Sure it simplifies things and you pay what you had, but I prefer the art of going for a relaxed meal and not worrying about silly things like who should pay what.

Assuming the situation is a simple 'lets all go out for a meal' then I say divide equally.

I am in the situation however where there isn't a sense of who earns more than who. We are all students and are all equally poor :lol: So I don't know if my opinion would change when I graduate and we're all earning, but I'm happy to put in a little more if necessary.

 

[captain_70s]

Work out what everybody ate/drank, pay accordingly. Simples. Me and my mates were all students so we were all broke (me being the brokest) so we never ate anywhere expensive enough for unexpected payments to matter much.

Then again, I'm the sort of guy who is willing to throw in a bit extra if required, if I enjoyed the meal. :lol:

 

[Spectre]

Oh, if you're not familiar with the concept, paying by turns is just what it sounds like. Let's say Der Stig and I are going to be working on a project where we will have several meals out. I'll pay the entire bill for the first meal, he'll catch the next one, I get the following one, etc., etc. It does require that all parties know each other and have a tacit or explicit agreement to keep the meal costs roughly similar, but it's very popular here.

 

[ashspet]

Hmm, we have a growing thing here that most restaurants etc won't split a bill. You have to do all that at the table, they won't do it at the register.

I've asked for the 'Pay by Turns' option to be added.

 

[Interrobang]

[...] when I graduate and we're all earning, but I'm happy to put in a little more if necessary.

Yeah, but then you go "your beer is on me, buddy" and don?t go "I?ll pay part of your bill". Inviting someone is very different IMO then paying (a part of) someones bill ...

Assuming the situation is a simple 'lets all go out for a meal' then I say divide equally.

What is "divide equally"? I have the 9? Salat, you the 29 ? Lobster .... I make more money then you so you think I should pay for your Lobster as we split the bill "equally"?

 

[Spectre]

Hmm, we have a growing thing here that most restaurants etc won't split a bill. You have to do all that at the table, they won't do it at the register.

I've asked for the 'Pay by Turns' option to be added.

It's the opposite here, automated split checks are becoming a much more widespread option.

I did like the 'do a runner' option. In some parts of the US, that's known as a 'dine and dash' or in quintessentially American rephrasing, a 'dine-n-dash.' Most often seen performed at an International House Of Pancakes or a Denny's Diner.

 

[narf]

When going for lunch with colleagues we order, eat, then everyone pays what they had (non-business-related meal) or the company gets the bill (business-related meal).
When going out with family usually one invites the rest.
With friends we usually pay for what each had individually as well.

 

[Interrobang]

You have to do all that at the table[...]

I am not an expert in australian law ... but I don?t think there is a law for that. It?s just the restaurants being lazy and greedy (since the Tip is usally bigger with a bigger group).
I?ve encountered this practice before too with a group of people and when they refused to let us pay individually, we payed the bill as whole ... with not one cent tip. That was a bill of I think about 180 ? and the waiter was furious afterwards. But that?s his problem, we told him that was bad service and for bad service you get no tip. I won?t let them get away with that just because it?s easier for them and because they want a bigger tip. If they want it easy, they can have it easy. But then they can also say good bye to their tip.

 

[ashspet]

I did like the 'do a runner' option. In some parts of the US, that's known as a 'dine-n-dash'.

Basically came about because there was a group I went out with regularly where one lady (when she bothered to show up) would inevitably have some 'urgent crisis' phone call / txt towards the end of the meal, and would disappear after accidentally forgetting to leave her share of the money. After addressing it with her a couple of times, we stopped inviting her.

But yes, the other option of all doing the dash does add a little excitement to the end of the evening :lol:

Interrobang - I think they do it so the fights aren't being held at the register, and as I have had happen, people neglect to contribute to the communal garlic bread or the surcharge which can apply on weekends and public holidays, so whoever pays last gets lumped with that since everyone else has left.

 

[vikiradTG2007]

Depends on the occasion. If it's a simple evening out with a few friends, generally when the bill comes everyone puts up the money for what they ordered. Which sometimes leads to the bill being passed from hand to hand so that everyone knows how much they have to pay. If it's my birthday and I'm out in town with friends, I pay the whole thing by myself.

 

[Interrobang]

Interrobang - I think they do it so the fights aren't being held at the register, and as I have had happen, people neglect to contribute to the communal garlic bread or the surcharge which can apply on weekends and public holidays

well, we don?t have either of those. What?s on the table is either free or someone specific ordered it (and if something is ordered by the group, people agree to splitting that before ordering) and thus has to pay.

[...]one lady (when she bothered to show up) would inevitably have some 'urgent crisis' phone call / txt towards the end of the meal, and would disappear after accidentally forgetting to leave her share of the money.

I had friends like that too, and then some day after he had done that stunt 3 or 4 times (sometimes just for a beer or two, other times a whole meal) we others suddenly orderd the bill very quickly and then left him alone at the table ... he never did it again.

 

[AiR]

When we eat the restaurant keeps tab on who ordered what so it's usually not a problem.

 

[Spectre]

Basically came about because there was a group I went out with regularly where one lady (when she bothered to show up) would inevitably have some 'urgent crisis' phone call / txt towards the end of the meal, and would disappear after accidentally forgetting to leave her share of the money. After addressing it with her a couple of times, we stopped inviting her.

But yes, the other option of all doing the dash does add a little excitement to the end of the evening :lol:

"Last one out/anyone who gets caught has to pay!"

Interrobang - I think they do it so the fights aren't being held at the register, and as I have had happen, people neglect to contribute to the communal garlic bread or the surcharge which can apply on weekends and public holidays, so whoever pays last gets lumped with that since everyone else has left.

Most places here either divide the communal food up evenly on split checks, have the communal food items be 'free' with purchase, etc., etc.

No place I have ever been to in the US has surcharges for weekends or holidays.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Dine'n'Dash

 

[DanRoM]

By paying what you had.

Dunno about the kingdom of Oz, but here you can actually split a bill. You tell the waiter when he brings the bill for the table what parts you pay, and he marks it of, then moving on to the next person.

+1. And yes, that's the reason I makes notes of what I order when I'm somewhere with a large group, as some of you may have noticed...

Or just "total bill divided by amount of persons" if everyone had the same.

In my favourite pub, you pay upon ordering, not at the end (so, the English way), and the custom there seems to be that if you fetch someone else a drink, that person will give you the money for it immediately. Unless, of course, you give a round to celebrate something.

 

[Red_Bull]

In the few times I've eaten in a large group it's generally just been pay for your own meal. The pubs we frequent allow you to pay as you order at the bar. In Phuket when we were over there the restaurants we ate at were generally happy for us to have separate bills. Should there be communal food like garlic bread or something, it's often paid for in turns or by who wanted it enough to order it!

 

[killpanda]

Easy! When I go eat with my mates, everybody keeps roughly track of what they eat and we roughly divide at the end. If somebody doesn't have enough cash on him, he'll either pay everything by card and collect what the other ones owe, or somebody will cover and he'll repay when he can, or the next time.

I usually go eat with that same group of friends so it works out great, when I go eat with different people I'll tend to keep track more closely what I'm eating but food is so cheap here that nobody makes a big fuss of paying anyway.