Separate checks?

[spacemountainmom]

I don't understand why it's so hard to keep track of your bill. If you don't want to split the check evenly, because you had a cheaper meal, or didn't drink, just have everyone keep track of their meal...

I had the steak for $23.99
a beer for $6
pie for $8

that's $38
round to $40
add 20% tip $8
that's $48
throw $50 onto the table.

Because some people tend to "forget" what they ate or drank. When we were young marrieds, my dh played softball and we'd go out after the game. There were several people who were famous for dining and ditching. They'd order a burger and drink several beers out of the community pitchers that were on the table. They would always need to leave before the bill came and say, "oh, I just had a burger" and throw just enough to cover the price of the burger on the table and leave. They never accounted for the beer they drank, the fact that there is tax nor a tip for the server. The rest of us were always forced to cover for those jerks. DH and I started requesting separate checks, we were too broke to subsidize the cheap creeps.

Fortunately, now we have a better class of friends that do not pull these kind of stunts. We usually just split the bill knowing that it all evens out eventually.

I do agree that it is the right thing to do to request separate checks ahead of time if you need them.

 

[msjprincess]

I hate separate checks. Luckily everyone I dine with feels the same way and we split it evenly. Sometimes I come out ahead and sometimes I get the short end of the stick. In the end it evens out.

 

[low-key]

When you go out with a group of people from work separate checks are the way to go, but you should give the waitress a little something extra for the trouble

 

[Buckeye Princess]

It isn't always just a matter of $10. When I first graduated college I had a job working at a company where it was an expectation to go to lunch 4-5 days a week. Everyone else I worked with either made a lot more than me, or the few who were entry level like me came from VERY VERY wealthy families. (They got more income from their trusts than their jobs.) Given my choice I would have packed my lunch as the restaurants they chose easily ran $30 a person for lunch. And they often ordered a drink and apps etc. The only way I could keep my bills paid and not get lectured by my boss for not being a "team player" was to order the cheapest thing and make sure checks were split. If checks were not split I'd have been out an extra $15 at least each day. That is $3000 a year. Ummm....Disney vacation?

 

[deedeecee]

That's fine if everyone agrees to that, but sometimes people vote to just split the whole bill evenly and that might not be fair to some.

Another scenario: People who can't figure out how much they owe, leaving others to subsidize their meal.
I went out to dinner with 4 other people. One person put the meal on their credit card, and everyone else paid her in cash. One person put in $25, which was ridiculously low for what she ordered. When prompted to recheck her meal costs, it was determined she owed double that amount. (It wasn't a very expensive restaurant, but she had enjoyed some oversized margaritas during dinner.)
That it why, in certain situations and with certain people, I prefer to have separate checks.

 

[aprilgail2]

I have to do separate checks because it really has irritated me in the past when I ate very cheaply and ended up paying for other people's pricey meals without a thank you or anything. Separate checks helps friendships stay happy for me.

If they need money to cover their meal, ask, don't just divide the check by x people and expect me to pay for you. I realize that separate checks do take longer though and I tip a good amount for this convenience.

To me people can really look cheap splitting a check. Just figure your meal out as close as you can then add some to it. If you end up paying $10 or so more what's the big deal.

If it was only a matter of 10.00 I wouldn't mind but I went out with a group (about 16 of us) and I ordered the 16.95 chicken and a coke. Well most of the others ordered Steak or Lobster...but that wasn't the worst part--they also had like 6 bottles of wine for the "table"--so my 16.95 chicken dinner was the most expensive chicken dinner I ever had--came to somewhere around 100.00. I won't go out with big groups now if I know they are drinkers because I know I will be stuck paying for their alcohol!!

 

[krcit]

I get what some of you are saying. I don't do separate checks when we go out because we rarely go out with a large group. Maybe 1 or 2 times a year. Most of the time we go out with just 1 other couple and we either split it evenly or one couple picks up the whole tab.

The ladies I observed today were at a restaurant where the prices didn't vary by more than a dollar or two and there was no alcohol. Just not my cup of tea to inconvenience the waitress for such a paltry amount.

 

[SLK1]

I guess I don't understand the big deal. It's the waitstaff's job to bring your food and your bill. Not sure why it's such a big deal to break up the checks in this day and age of computers and all that. I don't carry cash, so I always pay with a credit card, so having my own check makes it easier on everyone.

 

[mamacatnv]

I prefer separate checks
I'm an accounting person and it always gets to me to "figure out the bill" I've been screwed so many times that unless its me and a friend for lunch I prefer separate checks and will ask for them ahead of time.

The other issue is many don't carry cash so then when paying a "portion of a bill" you need post it notes for the wait staff so they know what to charge on each card. Then there is the some have cash some have plastic. Its all a major pain and to me its not even about me paying for someone elses drinks or food its just a pain to get the bill paid and the waitress tipped accordingly.

Just give everyone their own check, I think this is becomming more and more common and I hope the trend continues.

 

[Planogirl]

I eat lunch with a couple of friends once a month and we always get separate checks. However it's just the three of us and I always tip extra generously for the trouble. I can't speak for the other two.

 

[Sparx]

I don't usually eat with large groups. Usually its me and a friend or two. We all either do separate checks or one of us will buy it all and the other pays next time.

 

[kaytieeldr]

When I go out with my siblings, I just pay what whoever grabs the check tells me to pay - we're not extravagant diners. People from work, absolutely separate checks. Last time I had dinner at Le Cellier with three friends, none of us carried cash. The server tried to talk us into one check, pointing out only one of us could get the TiW discount otherwise. We still declined - and ultimately each tipped him between 20% and 25%, I think.

 

[antmaril]

My friends and I always request separate checks. It's just easier for us and the servers don't seem to mind at all. We are good tippers and it doesn't seem like a big deal to me. Actually, most servers ask us if we would prefer separate checks.

 

[vettechick99]

I think it's the server's responsibility to ask every table if it's together or separate. It's only in her favor to do so.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

I guess I don't understand the big deal. It's the waitstaff's job to bring your food and your bill. Not sure why it's such a big deal to break up the checks in this day and age of computers and all that. I don't carry cash, so I always pay with a credit card, so having my own check makes it easier on everyone.

Exactly.

 

[crashbb]

Most of my friends who were servers said they got better tips if doing split cheques. Not so much because people gave extra because the server took the time to give split cheques, but because people tended to underestimate when they had to do math in their head (add up their costs, add tax, and add tip).

I've done both (as a diner), I don't drink, but I've never been felt that I had to overpay when other people drank. Even if we just split the bill by the number of people there, someone always says "Let's take $X off for the alcohol, split the rest and then those of us that drank can split the alcohol" - I've never had to point it out. We more often have too much money sitting in the pot, than too little. With family, the fight is generally who gets to pay, rather than who has to pay (as the "poor relation", the only way I win the fight is if I hand my credit card to the server before the bill gets to the table).

 

[happygirl]

being a server it's a pain to separate checks. It takes time a way from your other tables, most of the time you have to have a manager break the ticket up because 99.9 percent of the time they don't tell you they are seperate checks

 

[mjkacmom]

I have never done separate checks since HS. I've never witnessed anyone doing separate checks. I'd be horrified if anyone suggested it - tacky.

 

[Hannathy]

I have never done separate checks since HS. I've never witnessed anyone doing separate checks. I'd be horrified if anyone suggested it - tacky.

Why is it tacky? I think a lot of things people do are tacky but this isn't one of them.

If you go shopping with a group don't you all check out separately? or do you hand the cashier all the stuff and say ring it up together WE will split it up on our own.


As long as you tell the server up front I don't get the big deal, they have to write it all down anyway. Why is it any different than having that many single diners at that many tables?

 

[Tinkh]

Sorry, we do separate checks all the time. I was a waitress in college and I do not have an issue with it either. In this day and age not many people carry carry cash. Too many issues of not doing separate checks in my opinion. Especially, when you tend to go out in large groups. There are times after games when we have 30-40 people at dinner and there is no way that we aren't getting separate checks for the families.