large booking at restaurant- how to split the bill?

onlyroz

melanzana wrote: »

OMG yes!

Some couples think it's ok to buy one round between them, whereas everyone else, couple or not must buy their round. Mad!

That is why, as I mentioned earlier, when (on the rare occasions we do go to drinks as opposed to meals with friends), EVERYONE throws their tenner in.

Works great.

That only works if everyone drinks roughly the same. The person who nurses a coke all night is still subsiding the champagne-guzzler. Why not just buy your own?

My brother had a kitty on his stag do and my husband (who was driving) and my dad (who hardly drinks) were right-royally stiffed.

onlyroz

Andypandyboy wrote: »

You must just be unlucky then;)

Everyone has the odd freeloading colleague but surely no one would keep a "friend" like that?

We didn't. As I said, the ones who take the mickey ultimately lose out because they stop being invited.

melanzana

onlyroz wrote: »

That only works if everyone drinks roughly the same. The person who nurses a coke all night is still subsiding the champagne-guzzler. Why not just buy your own?

No problem there either. The Dessie (designated driver) in our local pub is given soft drinks for free . Pub doesn't care, as they get the regular crowd dropping in and they know who Dessie is too!

And to be fair, which is something I forgot to mention, non drinkers only asked to put in a fiver. But they insist on the full whack, unless they are a Dessie, then it's free.

Nice.

seven-day-weekend

I've never been anywhere where there has been a kitty. Usually we just buy our own, or the occasional round.

We did rounds more when we lived in Spain, we all tended to drink similar stuff so it worked out OK. But there was one couple, the woman never liked her husband to get into a round, (he always wanted to), always pulled a face about it, always drank Drambuie on everyone else's round and tap water on his . We called her J....the Skinflint and yes, she did put a damper on our night out.

Her husband asked me to have a word with her about the British etiquette of 'rounds, (she is not British) and I did. I told her that if she didn't want to het into a round that was fine, but she then shouldn't have expensive drinks when it was someone else's turn , and just buy her own. It fell on deaf ears.

I think she was just a miser though, because when we had parties we all contributed food, we would take huge curries and a rice salad big enough for everyone. The other people in the party would do similar with different food. She would bring a quiche for herself and her husband (and then they would pile both their plates from the communal food).

Takes all sorts I suppose.

Andypandyboy

onlyroz wrote: »

We didn't. As I said, the ones who take the mickey ultimately lose out because they stop being invited.

It is probably best to eat out with those who have similar thoughts on dealing with the bill, so perhaps they have just moved on to other people who do, as I presume you have?

I suppose you would be wary if it had happened to you a lot. Maybe that is the difference in perspective?

melanzana

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I've never been anywhere where there has been a kitty. Usually we just buy our own, or the occasional round.

We did rounds more when we lived in Spain, we all tended to drink similar stuff so it worked out OK. But there was one couple, the woman never liked her husband to get into a round, (he always wanted to), always pulled a face about it, always drank Drambuie on everyone else's round and tap water on his . We called her J....the Skinflint and yes, she did put a damper on our night out.

TBH I think "pots" or Kitties or whatever you like to call them are great when everyone knows each other very well, and also knows the drill.

Otherwise, it is the dreaded round. And the first person up can sit back and wait for Scrooge sometimes. LOL.

seven-day-weekend

PasturesNew wrote: »

She probably hated rounds as she knew he'd drink Drambuie and would turn into a vile wife-beater when he got her home, before snoring and wetting the bed.

Not sure why you had a name for her .... he was the one with the problem, she could just see it coming.

He drank beer. It was her with the Drambuie.

Georgiegirl256

Going out with friends, we all take turns at buying rounds, as we all drink at round about the same rate and also drink the same thing more or less. If there's a few of us, it has been known to have a kitty, and I think that way works very well. The only way it wouldn't work fairly is if someone took the P!

When I went out with work, we all paid for our own for two reasons, 1, there were 20+ people so it would have been a nightmare trying to organise a round and 2, the men (and some of the women too tbh!) drank a lot very quickly.

moneyistooshorttomention

melanzana wrote: »

OMG yes!

Some couples think it's ok to buy one round between them, whereas everyone else, couple or not must buy their round. Mad!

That is why, as I mentioned earlier, when (on the rare occasions we do go to drinks as opposed to meals with friends), EVERYONE throws their tenner in.

Works great.

The one that gets me is when going to the type of party in someone's home where it's bring a bottle. Even more so if it's bring a bottle and some food. So I go along as a single person and take a bottle of wine with me and some food (eg enough of a casserole or salad type dish for 4 people). Many couples go along and take a bottle of wine between them (ie they take half a bottle each) and take the same amount of food between them (ie they only take half the amount of food each that I've just taken).

The times when it gets even more annoying is if the food or drink supplies start running low - and you know very well they wouldnt have if the couples hadnt brought half a bottle of wine and half a dish of food each.

Andypandyboy

I will be honest. I think that if you go out with the mindset that everyone is out to diddle you, or shortchange you in some way then it will happen. I think there are more nice people than otherwise and if that means I occasionally get taken advantage of (as with the dinner wine and the friend) then I accept it, mitigate it and move on. I won't be the cynic looking for trouble.

I don't let that affect how I view others or how I interact with them. I don't have any bad experiences of friends stuffing their faces because we regularly split the bill, I don't feel the need to watch what others eat because I trust them to be fair, as they do me. It works....for us. I am absolutely sure that none of our group of friends is any more out of pocket than the next person because we split the bill, it evens out over the year.