Dining Out in Large Groups - Tips on How to Not Get Screwed When the Check Comes?

[whiteslashasian]

+1 to women being the worst offenders, unless they have had experience as a server/bartender.

I went to a dinner/drinks with my girlfriend (serving experience) and 2 other girls. The bill came out to about $100 so $120 should have sufficed. I put in 30 and so did my girlfriend, the other 2 girls put in $20 each and I was dumbfounded. They were a bit drunk but I had to explain to them why they didn't put in nearly enough when we all had ordered about the same amount in entree's and drinks. They were adamant that $20 was enough.

I had to literally take out my cell phone to calculate each piece they ordered and add tax and tip to it as well before they conceded that they had not put in enough. ******* unbelievable...I mean yeah $20 isn't a lot of money to cover their asses, but when they simply refused to own up to what they had ordered that really got me heated. Last time I split a bill with them.

My good friends are no problem. Usually one person will cover the meal and then as the night goes on, that person doesn't pay for any drinks/cab fare and we rotate it around. Keeps it pretty simple.

 

[rdawson808]

Originally Posted by VKK3450

Damn, What kind of friends do you guys have?

Everyone I go out with splits the check evenly and throws in.


Ditto. It all evens out in the end. Then again, I'm talking about friends with whom I've eaten out for years.

b

 

[JesseJB]

Heres what happened:




The setup was supposed to be 2 tables of 13 people. So 2 checks.


What REALLY happened is one of the friends of the birthday-boy decided to invite 8 of the birthday-boy's ex-coworkers along since he now works with them and thought theyd like to come.

So the total guests ended up topping out around 34 people. The unannounced guests were lucky to get a table between the two tables of 13 people. They were snobby loudmouths and their girlfriends were annoying as ****. They went on to order beer samplers, shots and DRANK FRAMBOISE LAMBIC BEER FROM STRAWS (the girls thought it was a cocktail). Jesus. They were the first ones to slap down their cash and leave, too. My brother left after them and threw down a few bucks more than he owed, which was cool.

Suprise suprise, it got too complicated for the 2 check system and the waitress piled it onto one $750 tab for everyone. Of course, the douche crew shorted us about $100 and the host and his roommate ended up paying $130 for 2 plates of fish and chips. Happy ******* birthday.

They didnt tell us this until after we left, however. Kept it pretty classy Id say. But he did call that guy up and cuss him out pretty good.

 

[rush440]

Good times, good times.

Originally Posted by JesseJB

Heres what happened:




The setup was supposed to be 2 tables of 13 people. So 2 checks.


What REALLY happened is one of the friends of the birthday-boy decided to invite 8 of the birthday-boy's ex-coworkers along since he now works with them and thought theyd like to come.

So the total guests ended up topping out around 34 people. The unannounced guests were lucky to get a table between the two tables of 13 people. They were snobby loudmouths and their girlfriends were annoying as ****. They went on to order beer samplers, shots and DRANK FRAMBOISE LAMBIC BEER FROM STRAWS (the girls thought it was a cocktail). Jesus. They were the first ones to slap down their cash and leave, too. My brother left after them and threw down a few bucks more than he owed, which was cool.

Suprise suprise, it got too complicated for the 2 check system and the waitress piled it onto one $750 tab for everyone. Of course, the douche crew shorted us about $100 and the host and his roommate ended up paying $130 for 2 plates of fish and chips. Happy ******* birthday.

They didnt tell us this until after we left, however. Kept it pretty classy Id say. But he did call that guy up and cuss him out pretty good.

 

[Tardek]

What really irritates me, and what actually happened to me twice this weekend is nothing is said about splitting at the beginning of the meal, and then the check comes and somebody is like "lets split it evenly?"

It is always the people who bought the biggest meals who say this.

 

[farfisa23]

I ask for a separate check and use the excuse that I am going to 'write the dinner off' and my tax guy needs the receipts. Then I walk away quickly.

 

[feynmix]

$750 tab. Add 20-25% tip: Add another $150 or so. Total of $900. If a total of 34 people,
34*30= 1020
34*20=680
34*5=170

So, somewhere between $25 - $30. Tip a lot because they just served 34 people, and it should have been an easy $30/person. If people tend to leave early, there is nothing wrong to say "Guys, lets just figure out the bill before everyone heads out."

Sucks for your friends who got screwed.

 

[grimslade]

Originally Posted by rush440

Good times, good times.
You shouldn't have let the douche crew leave without a bill. I would have stopped them.

Originally Posted by Tardek

It is always the people who bought the biggest meals who say this.
And it's always the people who think they don't have to pay tax and tip (and sometimes their drinks) you want to tally every cent.

 

[milosz]

If I'm in charge of a meal, I only go eat with people I trust to either pay their share or for whom I want to pick up the tab.

 

[DNW]

Originally Posted by whiteslashasian

+1 to women being the worst offenders, unless they have had experience as a server/bartender.

I went to a dinner/drinks with my girlfriend (serving experience) and 2 other girls. The bill came out to about $100 so $120 should have sufficed. I put in 30 and so did my girlfriend, the other 2 girls put in $20 each and I was dumbfounded. They were a bit drunk but I had to explain to them why they didn't put in nearly enough when we all had ordered about the same amount in entree's and drinks. They were adamant that $20 was enough.


It's amazing that at a recent group dinner outing (15 people), two girls in the group each gave $20 and thought it was sufficient to cover their apps, entrees, desert, wine, tax and tips. It was like they were too ******* marsupialed to calculate anything beyond $20. Their real bill was $38 each. So, when all the money combined were short of the whole bill, they had the ******* tenacity to go around and asked each person how much they paid.

It became apparent at some point that they were stiffing the whole table, at which they grudgingly gave up another $5 each and kept looking at the bill as if the law of mathematics don't apply to them. One of the single dudes felt bad for them so he ponied up some more money. My gf and I didn't want to make a stink out of the whole thing, so we left our change of about $15 on the table. What makes it worse is that one of them is a waitress at a fairly popular joint in the East Village.

Needless to say, we won't be dining with them again anytime soon.

 

[Pylon]

Carry sufficient cash when you know you'll be in a group dining situation. There's eight ATMs per block these days so there's rarely an excuse (and I even hate carrying cash).

Put your money in first. Assuming it's not an egregious shorting of the bill, and you get stuck being the one doing the counting, you might say something undertoned like "Hmm... the bill seems to be fairly short." If nobody suddenly volunteers more money, just pay the rest of the bill yourself without so much as an argument or quip and without saying anything about it. At all. If it happens once, whatever. Be a gracious gentleman and just pay the damned bill. It all usually works out in the wash anyhow. If it happens time and time again from the same people, you're an idiot for dining with them again.

 

[Tardek]

Originally Posted by DarkNWorn

It's amazing that at a recent group dinner outing (15 people), two girls in the group each gave $20 and thought it was sufficient to cover their apps, entrees, desert, wine, tax and tips. It was like they were too ******* marsupialed to calculate anything beyond $20. Their real bill was $38 each. So, when all the money combined were short of the whole bill, they had the ******* tenacity to go around and asked each person how much they paid.

This sounds like a great time to condescend. Condescension is a great way to shame people into doing things without being outright offensive. This way you can jokingly pity them for their poor maths "Oh, you poor dear... Yes, I did awfully at maths in highschool too, let me help you. You owe... <insert X amount 10% over what they owe>." If they figure it out, grand, you can praise their newfound aptitude for maths.

 

[DNW]

Originally Posted by Tardek

This sounds like a great time to condescend. Condescension is a great way to shame people into doing things without being outright offensive. This way you can jokingly pity them for their poor maths "Oh, you poor dear... Yes, I did awfully at maths in highschool too, let me help you. You owe... <insert X amount 10% over what they owe>." If they figure it out, grand, you can praise their newfound aptitude for maths.
Haha...I might try this next time. But, my gf also isn't good with math, so she might be a bit pissed at me for playing with people without numbers skillz.

 

[TyCooN]

Originally Posted by DarkNWorn

It's amazing that at a recent group dinner outing (15 people), two girls in the group each gave $20 and thought it was sufficient to cover their apps, entrees, desert, wine, tax and tips. It was like they were too ******* marsupialed to calculate anything beyond $20. Their real bill was $38 each. So, when all the money combined were short of the whole bill, they had the ******* tenacity to go around and asked each person how much they paid.

It became apparent at some point that they were stiffing the whole table, at which they grudgingly gave up another $5 each and kept looking at the bill as if the law of mathematics don't apply to them. One of the single dudes felt bad for them so he ponied up some more money. My gf and I didn't want to make a stink out of the whole thing, so we left our change of about $15 on the table. What makes it worse is that one of them is a waitress at a fairly popular joint in the East Village.

Needless to say, we won't be dining with them again anytime soon.
"I guess we want to play stupid now right"?

 

[rdawson808]

Originally Posted by JesseJB

Heres what happened:

one of the friends of the birthday-boy decided to invite 8 of the birthday-boy's ex-coworkers

Of course, the douche crew shorted us about $100

I would tell the guy who invited the extra people that that group shorted their payment by approximately $100 and others had to pick it up. He should offer to pay it and then recoup from the other people. If he doesn't do this or say that he'll get it from the others I would point blank tell him that he and his friends are no longer welcome to your events. What can he possibly say to you?

b