UGH! (Frustrated sigh, everyone!) Splitting checks at restaurants is a popular post on the PF circuit, and I'm happy to say that I politely averted a potentially costly situation on Saturday night.
I was down in D.C. this weekend for the bachelorette party I planned for my best friend who's getting married. Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions for going out! We started off with a two-room suite at the Embassy Suites where we hosted a lingerie shower and shared funny stories, much to the embarrassment of the groom's younger sister who was in attendance, as I'm sure she did not care to know about the bride's escapades as a single woman. Three bottles of champagne and a few tumblers of Fuzzy Navels later, we went to Al Tiramisu for dinner, which I highly recommend. The gnocchi appetizer and duck entree were delicious! We had a white stretch limousine pick us up from dinner and take us to Ibiza where we skipped the line and didn't have to pay cover, thanks to the limo company's VIP agreement with the club. After an hour of embarrassing bachelorette scavenger-hunt activities, we headed over to the Adam's Morgan area and enjoyed the rowdy crowds outside the bars.
Late Friday afternoon, I emailed the attendees with the final schedule and recommended that everyone bring cash to make it easier to pay for dinner/drinks/etc., not looking forward to the evil credit-card split at the end of dinner. As I expected, the college-age attendees ordered inexpensive appetizers as entrees, while us older (and employed) attendees shared appetizers with regular entrees. Luckily, the two bottles of wine were the same price and split equally among the eight of us.
When the bill came, I grabbed it to do a quick tally of what we would each need to contribute for the bride-to-be, and one of the girls asked, "So, why don't we each put in a credit card and split it seven ways?" (I guess she didn't get my memo to bring cash, if possible.)
Having anticipated this, I said "Well, I can pay with cash, and so-and-so and so-and-so only ordered appetizers, so why don't we each just put in what we owe, plus $20 to cover the wine and the bachelorette's dinner, including tax and tip."
The two younger girls looked quite relieved, and everybody happily paid in cash. I realize that it's rare for everyone to have cash (and I'm sure the waiter was a bit surprised to find $338 in bills!), but I'm glad that I asked everyone in advance to bring cash, because charging seven credit cards with different amounts would have been a task in itself. Often times the work of figuring out what each person owes for a CC is a deterrent and the reason why you end up splitting it evenly in the first place! I can honestly say that everybody paid a fair amount, probably for the first time in my history of group dining. Success!!
Having been the organizer of the dinner, I was in a position to be able to suggest the way we split the bill without looking pushy, but oftentimes I feel helpless when the bill comes and it's in someone else's control.
Oh, and the girl who suggested we split the bill evenly? Her entree was $30, more than $10 higher than the next most expensive entree ordered. That's why bill-splitting is EVIL.
On a less happy note, Champagne + Vodka + Wine = NASTY hangover.
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4 comments:
A year or two ago I was out with five or six people, I guess. I'd limited my drinking and what I ate so that I could save money. When it got time to split the bill, one friend said, "They don't do that here." He divided equally among five of us (instead of six) because he was paying for his girlfriend. He also ate the most expensive meal of us all.
Because of the awkward situation I was in, I paid several dollars over what I planned, helping him (who makes a LOT more money than me) buy his girlfriend dinner.
I never allowed it again and always insist on splitting it based on what each of us had (and, btw, that bar DOES split checks).
This issue is such a pet peeve of mine... and I hate waiters who give you a hard time if you need to do an UNEVEN split. That, and a lot of people don't want to take the time to figure out exact individual shares, so I always prefer to carry cash. I know there are a lot of cash averse spenders out there, but it saves me from a lot of unfair situations.
You're lucky to get away with only paying a FEW more dollars than you would have- I just did the math for our dinner and had we split the bill evenly, I would have paid $10 more!
Nothing bugs me more than when other people foil my attempts to save money. :/
You're a smart one over there! I haven't had the chance to redeem myself after last month's fiasco, but soon enough ;)
ugh, I hate when the check comes. Depending on the group, we're either a bunch of money under, or a bunch over. Way to go with taking charge on the cash rule and sorting out the bill.
another mini-pet peeve: it's a tradition with most people my age to invite friends out for a birthday, then the friends offer to pay your share. I'm guilty of it as well, but it makes things feel really weird..."hey guys, come celebrate my birthday and pay for my food!"
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