large booking at restaurant- how to split the bill?

Pollycat

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I haven't gone out to pubs for years but when I did go with a couple of friends it was usual to each buy a round - do people not do this anymore?

We meet 2 couples & a single most Fridays, 2 different couples on Saturday and one of the couples from Friday & another couple in Sundays.
We never buy rounds.
One reason is we drink at different speeds and buying in rounds would get messy.

Andypandyboy

We buy rounds too, or if out for dinner, it goes on the bill. None of us would be driving so we would all be partaking.

As for "posh places" we like nice food and good wine and good restaurants. We do eat out quite a lot, but hey, you can't take it with you and we work hard. In earlier years it wasn't like that so we are reaping the rewards now I suppose.

missbiggles1

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's the same thing. If it's friends and you don't mind, then rounds. But would you walk into a pub and buy a round for 10 people you'll never meet again? Who are all on pints when you're having a small diet coke?

I've never been to a pub with a group of 10 people but I spent my 20s buying my round when I was drinking halves and the blokes were on pints. Obviously it should've scarred me for life!

seven-day-weekend

Funnily enough, we don't make a habit of buying rounds, neither do our friends, although we do occasionally. I think it stems from the times we were all broke!

Andypandyboy

onlyroz wrote: »

I know that it isn't the norm to split hotel bills equally - but my point is that the restaurant bill-splitters seem to have some sort of mental block in understanding why many people are unhappy about splitting the bill equally. If you can understand why I wouldn't want to split a hotel bill equally [/b]why can't you understand why I don't want to split a restaurant bill equally? My reasons for not wanting to do either are essentially the same - I don't want to subside somebody else's indulgence.

It isn't a mental block, it is just the way we do it. As I said previously, you (collectively) must have had a bad experience - I haven't.

You seem to have the same issue in reverse. If it is done for restaurants ( which it is) but not for hotels, then clearly (other) people see them as very different scenarios.

onlyroz

missbiggles1 wrote: »

So do people get as het up about who has what drinks as some on here seem to do about food?

Yes. Like the person who buys a half larger on their own round but asks for a triple whisky when it's somebody else's. Or the person who disappears early after accepting rounds from others so that they don't have to buy one at all. Utterly selfish, and don't tell me it doesn't happen - which is why we just buy our own drinks unless we're with people we know well.

melanzana

Well just to mention, I was out with my sister, my niece, and my nephew on Thursday for a lovely meal.

We usually just split it up and no one cares, but that night my meal and wine was paid for by my lovely family.

Did I object? (well I tried, but they were having none of it), No... I thanked them profusely, because it is family and we do this all the time, one time one side, another side the other.

I think it is called enjoyment.

missbiggles1

onlyroz wrote: »

Yes. Like the person who buys a half larger on their own round but asks for a triple whisky when it's somebody else's. Or the person who disappears early after accepting rounds from others so that they don't have to buy one at all. Utterly selfish, and don't tell me it doesn't happen - which is why we just buy our own drinks unless we're with people we know well.

Now, on those I totally agree with you. I had an uncle known as "mean Uncle Frank" because Dad would take him to his local, he'd accept drinks from my Dad's friends and then make a swift exit before his turn came round!:rotfl:

onlyroz

Andypandyboy wrote: »

It isn't a mental block, it is just the way we do it. As I said previously, you (collectively) must have had a bad experience - I haven't.

You seem to have the same issue in reverse. If it is done for restaurants ( which it is) but not for hotels, then clearly (other) people see them as very different scenarios.

While you might not personally think you've had a bad experience, I wonder how many of your acquaintances are quietly seething because they've been subsidising your meals for years? Do you know anyone who used to eat out with you but now politely declines or makes excuses not to?

As for the "reverse issue" with hotels, you'll have to explain yourself more clearly because I don't know what you're in about. For the record whenever I've been on holiday with others I just pay for my own stuff, whether that's accommodation, food or entertainment.

melanzana

Rounds are the absolute way shirkers can get get a free night. Think about it.

First round you. Next X, Next Y, and the Z, or the miser !!!!s off to the loo or something. It's a model.

Where I am, rounds are rare. A pot is the norm.