Splitting bills in restaurant

Bebe344

Hi all.

Can anyone help me with a question I have on splitting a bill in a restaurant.
I was in a restaurant in Dublin recently with a friend and as we were going to pay we asked to split the bill. The waitress told us that the restaurant doesn't allow customers to split the bill.
Does any one know if this is legal?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

frag420

Perfectly legal....

L1011

Entirely legal. You are clearly still allowed work out what to pay towards a single payment yourself.

Splitting can be very awkward on some POS software and often leads to "abandoned" items nobody pays for.

Hollister11

I suppose you could say, I'm not paying for anything I didn't order. I want a bill for my dinner and drinks, not everyone's.

L1011

Hollister11 wrote: »

I suppose you could say, I'm not paying for anything I didn't order. I want a bill for my dinner and drinks, not everyone's.

If the premises provides one bill per table that isn't going to be any use. If you want to do that, ask at ordering and go elsewhere if they won't and its that important.

Work out a single payment between the table and be done with it - arguing, making up "reasons" etc are going to waste your time and achieve nothing.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Tell them when ordering, fine.

Don't tell them, then they are perfectly correct to not split it. Work it out yourselves in that case.

TheQuietFella

Bebe344 wrote: »

Hi all.

Can anyone help me with a question I have on splitting a bill in a restaurant.
I was in a restaurant in Dublin recently with a friend and as we were going to pay we asked to split the bill. The waitress told us that the restaurant doesn't allow customers to split the bill.
Does any one know if this is legal?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Would you ever grow up! Stay in McDonalds next time!

dudara

@TheQuietFella - if you have nothing useful or helpful to say, then please don't post

dudara

TrustedApple

I used to be restaurant manager and the biggest hate of mine is when people wonted to split bills don't mind for 2 or 3 people its easy to split.

But if you have a table of 12 wonting to do it F off.

One. i wont have the change for you or i am not running the card machine 10 times in a .
Two. i will have to deal with fights over who pays for what on the table.
Three. would you spilt the cost of the bottle of wine over 5 people ?.
Four. leaving a bad review on trip adviser as i refuse to spilt your bill for 12 people.
Five. When i refuse to spilt the bill right away you start fighting with me and insulting me.

How i don't miss working in restaurants as people would complain and insult you over anything.

coylemj

I think there are apps on iTunes and the Play Store to handle this situation - enter the details, who eat what and it will tell you who owes what. Not sure if they can handle shared bottles of wine or billable portions of veg!

Del2005

I can't understand why someone would eat out with people who'd want to split the bill like that. Why not just eat on your own?

Bubbaclaus

coylemj wrote: »

I think there are apps on iTunes and the Play Store to handle this situation - enter the details, who eat what and it will tell you who owes what. Not sure if they can handle shared bottles of wine or billable portions of veg!

Do you mean a calculator?

Winterlong

TrustedApple wrote: »

Four. leaving a bad review on trip adviser as i refuse to spilt your bill for 12 people.
Five. When i refuse to spilt the bill right away you start fighting with me and insulting me.

I think people are seeing through the reviews on trip advisor now. It is not a good and fair measure of a restaurant.
People using the threat of a bad review to try to get free stuff.
Then you have the bad reviews posted by irrational people, disgruntled employees and competitors.
It's a bit of a joke.

riffmongous

It was a pet hate of mine when I worked in gastronomy as it takes so much time if it's a large group (although it was my feeling that you also got more tips that way than with a single bill), but it can be important for customers who need their own receipt for claiming back expenses so should be done by any decent place imo

Dodge

Not really. Handy enough to circle whatever you're claiming for and submit that

Highly unlikely many have vouched expenses for single meals anyway

Second Toughest in_the Freshers

L1011 wrote: »

Splitting can be very awkward on some POS software and often leads to "abandoned" items nobody pays for.

yeah it can be awkward, but thats going a bit far...

ongarite

Second Toughest in_the Freshers wrote: »

yeah it can be awkward, but thats going a bit far...

I think the poster is referring to POS software as Point Of Sale software in this case.....

nhunter100

Recieve the total bill, pay your share of it. Staff have enough to do tbh.

riffmongous

Dodge wrote: »

Not really. Handy enough to circle whatever you're claiming for and submit that

Highly unlikely many have vouched expenses for single meals anyway

Well I had plenty to people ask me to do it, so I guess it's important for some people

AngryLips

There's nothing wrong with asking to split the bill evenly though right?

Elemonator

How would it not be legal?

riffmongous

Elemonator wrote: »

How would it not be legal?

For the sake of interest.. anyone know what is legal situation as regards contract law and all that? What would happen if you refused to pay?

Edit: Or to make a little difference, what happens if one person refuses to pay, can the restaurant still refuse to split the bill and hold everyone responsible? Who is the contract between, the restaurant and the table or the restaurant and the individuals?

TrustedApple

AngryLips wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with asking to split the bill evenly though right?

Yes there is sorry as i said there earlier i used to work as a restaurant manager and if 12 people say wonted to split the bill even you will need to have a crazy amount of change in the cash as more then likely everyone will wont to pay with a 50 euro note, Then the time it takes when you have a full restaurant to take 12 bills as say 2 mins per bill thats near 24 mins paying while it was as simple 2 min job if you didnt ask me to spilt the bill.

Sadly don't ask to spilt the bill as its extremely rude and very time consuming when you have a busy restaurant and you will be told no.

TrustedApple

riffmongous wrote: »

For the sake of interest.. anyone know what is legal situation as regards contract law and all that? What would happen if you refused to pay?

Edit: Or to make a little difference, what happens if one person refuses to pay, can the restaurant still refuse to split the bill and hold everyone responsible? Who is the contract between, the restaurant and the table or the restaurant and the individuals?

If one person refuses to pay the full table is held in account for the bill as at the end of the day everyone ordered with each other its a single order. Not 12 different orders or 12 different tables its a single table single order everyone on the order is held in account for the bill.

ted1

Hollister11 wrote: »

I suppose you could say, I'm not paying for anything I didn't order. I want a bill for my dinner and drinks, not everyone's.

Then you should have booked and asked for s table for one.

amtc

Transaction charge on every one!

riffmongous

TrustedApple wrote: »

If one person refuses to pay the full table is held in account for the bill as at the end of the day everyone ordered with each other its a single order. Not 12 different orders or 12 different tables its a single table single order everyone on the order is held in account for the bill.

Can you give me a reference for that? Genuinely interested as contract law fascinates me. Like what makes it one single order if I order individually directly off the waiter?

Edit: What about the old scam where you meet a pretty girl and she invites you back to some pub where she orders a few bottles of champagne off her owner friend, while this is usually enforced by some muscle, is it actually legal?

Heckler

Unless someone is going nuts on bottles of Moet just divide the bill equally. No "oh Mary had the soup and I had no starter". Fair enough if the difference is outrageous but 5 10 quid just let it go.

Find the other person in the group who doesn't give a **** and head to the nearest bar with them. Enjoy drinks while the pennypinchers squabble for an hour.

Denny_Crane

For some restaurant law contract law being used a defence in a criminal case see Guildford v Lockyer [1975] Crim LR 235.

The table would be joint and severally liable I would imagine. Interestingly (or not) the resturant staff or indeed another patron would be within their rights to arrest you.

This is a very odd thread :pac:

Reati

L1011 wrote: »

Splitting can be very awkward on some POS software and often leads to "abandoned" items nobody pays for.

That's an awful cop out. Any restaurant I've ever been in in the States can do this with no moaning.

TrustedApple wrote: »

Y
Sadly don't ask to spilt the bill as its extremely rude and very time consuming when you have a busy restaurant and you will be told no.

I hate the customers are a burden view that severs and some restaurants seem to have here. What kind of nonsense is that. It's rude to ask a place providing a service to paying customers to spit the bill. Take a jump like :rolleyes:

But, to the OP question - get an app for your phone to do the split if it's such a burden on the place you just likely paid a fortune too

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Reati wrote: »

That's an awful cop out. Any restaurant I've ever been in in the States can do this with no moaning.

I hate the customers are a burden view that severs and some restaurants seem to have here.

But, to the OP question - get an app for your phone to do the split if it's such a burden on the place you just likely paid a fortune too

It would hardly require an app to work out your share of a bill for a meal.

Reati

Ford Nutritious Sadness wrote: »

It would hardly require an app to work out your share of a bill for a meal.

Some people aren't good with maths. So an app might help them. There is also apps that let you transfer the amount from your account direct to a friend who might cover the whole bill. Thanks for the valuable input though. It's enlightened my evening.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Reati wrote: »

Some people aren't good with maths. So an app might help them. There is also apps that let you transfer the amount from your account direct to a friend who might cover the whole bill. Thanks for the valuable input though. It's enlightened my evening.

Your sarcasm is wasted on me. If people want to split a bill it isn't rocket science. If their maths isn't up to it I'm sure they could use a calculator on their phones just as easily as an app.
But let's complicate a simple situation.

Reati

Ford Nutritious Sadness wrote: »

Your sarcasm is wasted on me.

I'm sure lots of things are wasted on you actually but no doubt you'll give an opinion on that too

anyway, off for new years! G'night.

cajonlardo

Ford Nutritious Sadness wrote: »

It would hardly require an app to work out your share of a bill for a meal.

My son was just telling me that he has paypal linked to an app that is designed for this. So when his mates and he come to pay the bill, one of them forks out but this app allows the remainder to transfer their portion via paypal to the payer's card.....

I know. Every modern inconvenience

El_Duderino 09

Del2005 wrote:

I can't understand why someone would eat out with people who'd want to split the bill like that. Why not just eat on your own?

Depends on your budget. If I can afford a salad and chips, and you can afford a steak and a bottle of wine, that's fine. But you can't expect everyone to pay the same.

dresden8

The restaurant wants payment for their services.

They don't want to put up with bullsh1t arguments about who didn't have a starter.

Melts my head that stuff.

Turtle_

Generally speaking...

Grow up.


If you need it for vouched expenses, say it when you go in. I've never had a problem if I go in with a group on expenses and say to the waitress/waiter at the start "Hey, we're on vouched expenses. Is it going to be possible to get separate bills?". Never had a problem, and if they can't do it that's okay, we'll go elsewhere because we need the receipts.

But otherwise, grow up. If you all ate similar food, split equally. Otherwise go Dutch: add your 6.95 starter to your 14.95 main, 5.95 dessert and 7.95 glass of wine, add about 10% for a tip and chuck in your €40. Your mate who had no starter, a 12.95 main, the 5.95 dessert and tap water and puts in €20. You've now put in €60 for a €55 meal. If the service was good, each chuck in a couple of extra euro. That's all there is to it. Nothing more. That easy.

ebbsy

I ran a restaurant for 8 years. Sometimes I would have people from large tables coming up to me saying can I pay for this and that only.

I would say no, give the cash to somebody at the table and pay me in one go.

Its v embarrassing.

HandsomeDan

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Depends on your budget. If I can afford a salad and chips, and you can afford a steak and a bottle of wine, that's fine. But you can't expect everyone to pay the same.

Right2Water xmas party eveyone already pays through taxation. Wont pay cant pay.

Elemonator

riffmongous wrote: »

For the sake of interest.. anyone know what is legal situation as regards contract law and all that? What would happen if you refused to pay?

Edit: Or to make a little difference, what happens if one person refuses to pay, can the restaurant still refuse to split the bill and hold everyone responsible? Who is the contract between, the restaurant and the table or the restaurant and the individuals?

Interesting opinion

ebbsy

Elemonator wrote: »

riffmongous wrote: »

For the sake of interest.. anyone know what is legal situation as regards contract law and all that? What would happen if you refused to pay?

Edit: Or to make a little difference, what happens if one person refuses to pay, can the restaurant still refuse to split the bill and hold everyone responsible? Who is the contract between, the restaurant and the table or the restaurant and the individuals?

Interesting opinion

I had to call the guards a few times for non payers. By the time they had got down things had been sorted. Possibly the individuals.

El_Duderino 09

HandsomeDan wrote:

Right2Water xmas party eveyone already pays through taxation. Wont pay cant pay.

Wah? I'm only saying it's grand to go out together, order what you want and then pay for it. Easy

Sleeper12

Del2005 wrote:

I can't understand why someone would eat out with people who'd want to split the bill like that. Why not just eat on your own?

I'm not one for splitting the bill myself but some are on a tight budget. Some at the table might just have mains and tap water to drink while others may have had three course meal with wine.
I think it depends on where you are in life. I'm middle aged and it's not a big deal if I pay towards someone else meal but I can see younger people on a tight budget wanting to do it
Op restaurant is within their rights to do this and you shouldn't hold it against them. But I do defend your right to split the bill yourself. Don't let anyone here make you feel cheap. No one here knows your circumstance

evolving_doors

Just throw what you owe (+tip)into the pot on the table...

If you want to use card then how about asking friends if its ok to take the cash and pay with your card (don't be afraid to say why to your friends). BUT make sure you do this in front of your friends and get the waiter to bring over the machine so they see yer not steeling the tip.
Failing that, excuse yer self from the table and go to an ATM and get cash.

If yee all want to split individually by card then be nice and sort it out before hand.

TrustedApple

ebbsy wrote: »

I had to call the guards a few times for non payers. By the time they had got down things had been sorted. Possibly the individuals.

I know how you fell with that. Had happened a few times with us they just start at you for no reason what so ever when the bill comes and say ohh why did you charge me for this and that ?.

And do you who i found who are the problem people over the years ?. The people who think they have money ......

The normal every day people just get on with things.

Now if i am eating out as a a group EG me and the girlfriend i would pay for us and who ever are our friends we work on the table who pays what ....

El_Duderino 09

Sleeper12 wrote:

I'm not one for splitting the bill myself but some are on a tight budget. Some at the table might just have mains and tap water to drink while others may have had three course meal with wine. I think it depends on where you are in life.

Completely agree.

Eating out is a social activity. Some people can afford to do it big shtyle, others need to do it cheap. There's no reason why both people can't eat out together if each pays for what they had.

amtc

I can see why restaurants refuse to split bills by card as they get charged a transection fee each time

AngryLips

I'm really surprised to read about splitting the bill being some kind of issue. Most people split the bill evenly and most pay by card so the hassle is minimal. If you think it's rude then you shouldn't really be working in a customer facing role. There are solutions to avoid some of the more extreme situations for bill splitting and some have already been shared in this thread. Having a clearly stated restaurant policy around bill splitting would be a good start, applying a transaction charge particularly for large groups is an example of what can be done. Ultimately, there's no excuse for a bad customer experience.

Sleeper12

AngryLips wrote:

I'm really surprised to read about splitting the bill being some kind of issue. Most people split the bill evenly and most pay by card so the hassle is minimal. If you think it's rude then you shouldn't really be working in a customer facing role. There are solutions to avoid some of the more extreme situations for bill splitting and some have already been shared in this thread. Having a clearly stated restaurant policy around bill splitting would be a good start, applying a transaction charge particularly for large groups is an example of what can be done. Ultimately, there's no excuse for a bad customer experience.

Would you order a round of drinks brought to your table in a pub & then expect 7 or 8 people to pay separately?

El_Duderino 09

Sleeper12 wrote:

Would you order a round of drinks brought to your table in a pub & then expect 7 or 8 people to pay separately?

No not normally. If some people got a coke and others got a bottle of champagne, then you would probably split the bill. Rounds of drinks are on the way out anyway. Good riddance