What do you do at a group dinner when you are trying to split the bill and the pot is severely short?

Question

I was at a group birthday dinner tonight where I thought it would be nice if the birthday girl did not have to pay for her meal. I announced this, and no one seem to disagree with it. Everyone put in what they thought they owed, and at the end we were $50 short. This was obvious to me as some people were putting in barely their portion of the meal without even tip or tax. Instead of prolonging the akwardness in front of the birthday girl who is supposed to be having fun, I just put down a credit card for the rest of the cash.

What should I have done in this situation?

Answer 1

In light of the situation, you did the right thing by pitching in the rest, however, the situation should have been avoided all together.

Next time, don't suggest something like this in the spur of the moment. People need to know before hand if they are expected to pay for something so they can be sure to have the money on them.

You might have called them all and said "I thought it'd be nice if we all pitch in to take whoever out for her birthday,"

This communicates to the person that they are expected to pay for themselves and a portion of the birthdayee's expense.

Answer 2

That sucks, i waited tables for many years, before all the nice new touch screen computer systems came out at many restaurants, back when seperate checks were a real pain in the rear. But now most restaurants can split your check easily and still have all the meals arrive at the same time. So in the future i would advise that being the nice guy you are just offer to pay for the B-day dinner and tell your server to put it on your check. I am sure they will and they will keep your things seperate from those other cheapskates. This always happens in large groups, a little chat with your server could probably help you figure out who ordered what. But you were the cool guy just to pick up the difference. I would just remember this next time you dine with these people.

Answer 3

You probably did the only thing that a civilized person could have done. I would suggest that it would have been better if everyone knew in advance that they would be expected to chip in a bit extra to pay for the birthday girl's dinner. As it was you might have put one or two on the spot for extra cash.

Avoid this situation in future by choosing a restaurant that is willing to do separate checks. Or arrange with a restaurant to prepare a limited, all inclusive menu at a set price (which would be slightly adjusted to cover birthday girl, too)including tax and tip.

Answer 4

it was the honorable thing for u to bust out the credit card. i don't see any other way of saving face for the birthday girl. however, if you were at just a plain ole dinner, i'd put everyone on the spot individually to find out who's the cheapskate. ask, 'how much did u pay?' then keep going around the table. i did that once at a dinner, and that cheapie never did it again. now mind you, this only goes if ur all really close friends or just mere acquaintances. lol.

Answer 5

That shows class, but you definately should not have been obligated to do that. People should pay the entire cost of their meal, then chip in a couple extra bucks for the birthday girls meal, and the tip.

We usually get seperate bills when I go out with buddies, save all this hassle.

Answer 6

Man, being nice sucks. I find myself paying for a tip at lunch for 4 ppl all the time. I tell them ******* to show some respect and they laugh at me. I guess it just drives me nuts. I ask how bout when we get back to work we bust butt and get alot done and you can only get paid for half because boss has no RESPECT.

Answer 7

i HATE that. i guess you did the decent thing by pulling out your credit card. after the fact, i would have privately told everyone that they still owed you $$ just divide the $50 by how many people to keep it even.