Separate checks?

[tink1969]

When with a group of people, I like separate checks. I'm not paying for someone who has had 5 drinks and I have only had two!
I once went out with a group for dinner and drinks. Only I just had drinks because I had a really late lunch that day. When the bill came, they split the bill evenly amongst the 6 of us. I was floored! I didn't even have a crumb!
I set them straight!

 

[Styx Fan]

It's never the person ordering the burger and water suggesting splitting a check. It's always those having three exotic drinks, an appetizer, steak, dessert, and an after dinner drink. Why do you think that is?

I wonder if the folks who order the big meals then want to split are sometimes not doing it on purpose to rip the cheaper diners off, but rather they truly just don't think about the money angle the same way? I think some of them just either have the money or don't mind spending big, and are so used to just ordering what the they want that they just don't think about that others may be on a tight budget or who are more frugal.

Now, I have never been in the position where money wasn't a concern, so it's hard for me to say. But maybe some folks just reach a point where they don't think. Rude to be so thoughtless in my book, but who knows?

 

[cnorth]

I really don't get why splitting checks is a big deal, or means that you are cheap.

I waited tables for about 10 years, and only stopped about 5 years ago (so it's not like things have changed). I never had problems splitting a check. I would either ask upfront if the check needed to be split, or figure it out in the end. I always wrote orders down seperated by person, so that it would be easy to split checks later if needed. The only issue I ever had was when 20-30 people were at a table, all wanted seperate checks, and all paid with cash. Making all of that change can be a PITA. But that was few and far between, and you just deal with it.

When my family goes out with others, we always seperate the check, and I never even considered it being rude.

 

[RadioFanatic]

I've waitressed for many years and never had an issue with it except for one group. I used to work at a shoney's where a particular group came in once a week and was at least 15-20 people. they would only order coffee and maybe a dessert here or there, stay FOREVER (even past closing time), demand separate checks and then leave me literally pennies as a tip. Other than that group, I have never had a problem with it.

Now as a customer on the other side of it, for me it depends on the situation. I have one group of friends who with we always evenly split the check - no problem there bc I'm always the person they want to do the math, which I don't mind, no one goes crazy on the ordering, and they always trust me on the number so everyone pays their tip/tax. Another group I actually had to stop eating with bc they also wanted to evenly split but they ordered VERY expensive things and I was tired of paying for what I didn't order. Another group we get separate checks bc we are all families with different number of kids and it's just easier. Finally, I just got back from a week at the beach with my parents and we went to dinner every night. After the first night where my father comandeered the bill and paid for all of us, I asked for separate checks each night bc I didn't want my dad paying for my families meals each night. Now my sister and her family? She NEVER pays a restaurant bill when my dad is around which drives me CRAZY!!!! My dad even paid two weeks ago at his own birthday dinner (I don't live local with them so not there). She wasn't on this trip though so I didn't have to deal with that issue.

 

[U2_rocks!]

I do a bit of both. For a simple lunch where people aren't drinking expensive drinks and everyone's meal is within a reasonable amount of everyone else's, it makes sense to just split the bill evenly. If one person ended up ordering something extra, that person would usually offer to cover the whole tip.

For dinners where there might be a wide range of meals ordered, and some people might have several drinks and others may drink just water, it makes sense to have separate checks. Also, as the price of the meals goes up, so does the likelihood that people would want to use cards rather than cash to pay.

I see merits in either system, depending on the circumstances.

 

[bettymae1121]

I love my friends dealy, but some of them can't add. After a few years of spliting the bill and always having a sneaky suspision that I was putting in more than my share, I started asking for the server to split checks. I don't think I was ever out more than a few extra bucks, but it just made me feel better about it.

Then there was this one time I was out with my two closest friends. All of our food orders were roughly the same, but they both ordered a few drinks each and shared a desert between them (I was on a diet and didn't want the extra calories from drinks or desert). We had seperate checks which we all were fine with, but they wanted to split the tip equally 3 ways. No way was I paying tip on drinks and desert I didn't order or consume. I paid 20% based on my total only. They weren't happy about it but I stood my ground. You order it, you tip on it.

 

[tlbwriter]

True, probably why I don't see the big deal. To me it looks cheep to be so concerned about. Like a past poster mentioned figure out your meal costs, round it up, add a generous tip and that's your portion.

That would work if everyone would do that. But they don't. More often it's "I had a $10 cheeseburger, so here's my $10," forgetting/ignoring that the cheeseburger was $10.99 and there was a $2 drink and a tip as well. Or, even worse, "the total was $75 so let's each put in $25," again forgetting/ignoring that their meal was more expensive than everyone else's. So I'm surprised that you don't consider someone cheap when they expect you to subsidize their meal, but you do consider them cheap when they try to prevent that from happening.

 

[castmemberb4]

Here are my reasons.

1) My sister who lives near by and is single goes out to dinner with us, DH and I both waited tables in college and are good tippers. She is single and can't tip as well. She is also an accountant and has to add everything down to the penny! Drives us crazy.
We've had others who don't tip well and we just cannot leave an overall bad tip so we end up tipping more than our share on shared bills

2) The worst case for me was when DH was still in college and we didn't have a lot. A friend talked me into going out with a group for someone's birthday. She said we'll split an entree and each get a salad so that you can afford it. Ok I can do that. At the end of the meal the vast majority at the table decided we should split evenly including the girl who talked me into going. Cost each of us $40. One couple had two app. two entree, and two bottles of wine

Most of the places we go to around here ask if we want seperate checks at the end of the meal so there's no problem with when the food comes out. I think systems are getting more advanced.
Now if we were in a small sandwich shop like the one the OP described I don't think there woudl be a need to split the check.

 

[disykat]

Do all these "split the check" people carry around a lot of cash in different denominations?

I don't even get how that works.

 

[cluvsdisney]

Do all these "split the check" people carry around a lot of cash in different denominations?

I don't even get how that works.

Pretty much but it's not a big deal to get change in small bills from the waitress. Change wise it's really not that much different then cashing out 4 different checks for one table.

 

[tlbwriter]

Do all these "split the check" people carry around a lot of cash in different denominations?

I don't even get how that works.

Yeah, to me that's another reason to get separate checks. I understand that some people think it's rude or bothersome to ask the waitstaff for separate checks, but wouldn't it be even worse to say "Put $50 on this card, and $24 on this one, and $60 on this one..."? Or "Here's my $20 but I need $5 change back, and here's her $40 but she needs $10 change back..."? Wouldn't separate checks actually make that step easier for everyone involved?

 

[cluvsdisney]

Yeah, to me that's another reason to get separate checks. I understand that some people think it's rude or bothersome to ask the waitstaff for separate checks, but wouldn't it be even worse to say "Put $50 on this card, and $24 on this one, and $60 on this one..."? Or "Here's my $20 but I need $5 change back, and here's her $40 but she needs $10 change back..."? Wouldn't separate checks actually make that step easier for everyone involved?

That's not how it works with my friends. We all pay cash and figure out who owes what (normally we just divide so it's even easier) and puts that amount in. There's one person that makes sure the right amount is there and hands it over to the waitress.

 

[ReneeA]

I haven't carried cash (more than $5-10 anyway) in 15 years. I ask for separate checks because I pay with a card. I suppose I could stop at an ATM if needed, but why bother with that unnecessary step?

 

[tlbwriter]

That's not how it works with my friends. We all pay cash and figure out who owes what (normally we just divide so it's even easier) and puts that amount in. There's one person that makes sure the right amount is there and hands it over to the waitress.

So that would work if you tend to carry cash, but I don't, and a lot of the people I dine with don't either.

 

[FireDancer]

I love my friends dealy...

I can't say I've seen too many of my friend's dealy.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

Do all these "split the check" people carry around a lot of cash in different denominations?

I don't even get how that works.

No, we just say "put half (or a third or $50) on each card" or whatever. If it's a large group there always seems to be a few who have the exact $$ amount, so others take their change from that and we rarely need to ask for additional change beyond what we'd need if one person paid the whole bill.

 

[castmemberb4]

Yeah, to me that's another reason to get separate checks. I understand that some people think it's rude or bothersome to ask the waitstaff for separate checks, but wouldn't it be even worse to say "Put $50 on this card, and $24 on this one, and $60 on this one..."? Or "Here's my $20 but I need $5 change back, and here's her $40 but she needs $10 change back..."? Wouldn't separate checks actually make that step easier for everyone involved?

And some times the cards get mixed up, wrong amount on the wrong card. I think that would be more of a pain for the waitress to fix than splitting the check to begin with. One time my DH and my niece walked around with each others check cards for two days before one of them realized it.

 

[jensen]

I went out to lunch today and there was a group of 8 women just finishing up. They each had separate checks. It took the poor waitress 10 minutes to ring them each up. After they left, I was talking to her and she said that last time they came in they didn't tell her to give them seperate checks and made her redo the check. Ughh. This is a little panini place where there is nothing over $12 on the menu. If I went out with a group that did that it would be the last time. I'm sure I'll get a bunch of posters who disagree with me but I hate separate checks

It sounds to me like you encountered a real whiner! Did she complain about how much they tipped her, too?

I'm totally the opposite! And in this day and age of paying for everything with plastic, I cannot imagine a server who would find it "easier" to have one check. How do they figure it out when they get 8 people all handing them plastic?

I don't carry cash and always pay with a card, as does everyone I ever go out with. We always ask for separate checks.

I was a waitress in high school and college (many moons ago) and nearly every place I worked had a computerized system that made it VERY EASY to create separate checks. I always asked right up front if people wanted separate checks... even when it was a couple. I remember co-workers complaining about this "problem". They were the same one's that I considered to be lazy jerks who thought they were "entitled" to a big tip.

 

[SaraJayne]

That's not how it works with my friends. We all pay cash and figure out who owes what (normally we just divide so it's even easier) and puts that amount in. There's one person that makes sure the right amount is there and hands it over to the waitress.

I rarely carry cash, so having different checks is for my convenience.

 

[xCourxCorex]

If we all have cash, we stick to one bill, and I tally up everyone's meals/drinks etc. Then I figure out tip + tax separate from the total food/drink total, and we split that evenly. I HATE just splitting the whole check evenly, because there's always someone who wasn't drinking an expensive cocktail, ordered just an appetizer for a meal, and then the girls who have 2 drinks, and share desserts etc. Pay for what you consumed

ie: I have a $8 app as my meal and $3 soda; Friend has a $12 entree and 2 $6 drinks... sorry, I don't think I should pay for what you ate/drank!

If there are multiple cards to deal with, separate checks are a MUST.