

Ask HN: Why don't restaurants split the check by default? - dionidium

1) This seems trivial.
2) It seems to be what most people want.
2a) I don't think any single one of my co-workers is dying to pay for the 10 other people who just happened to me-too their way into our lunch group.
2b) It's rare that everyone at the table is carrying cash; cards exacerbate the problem.<p>Why even force the customer to ask? And when they do ask, why in the world is the answer so often no? Is this just tradition/habit? A problem with point-of-sale machines? Lazy servers?
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jacquesm
I think the 'tradition' bit nails it. Restaurants cater to lots of different
groups of people and the social norm is that someone invites and others
follow. By alternating who invites the balance is maintained. If you're cheap
you could probably 'freeload' your way in to a number of invitations but at
some point people would start to look at you.

It's not all that trivial by the way, since restaurants book all their orders
to a table, not to a seat, it would create at a minimum a twofold, and
probably much higher cost for them to maintain their books.

~~~
hugh3
Also it's much more socially awkward for one person to have to specifically
ask to pay for everything than it is to go the other way.

Besides, "one person pays for everybody" is an important social bonding
ritual. I'd hate to see it become the exception rather than the rule.

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dman
I believe there is a per transaction fee element to what Visa/MasterCard/
American Express charge. So its in their financial interest to split the bill
into as few transactions as possible. (source:
[http://www.businessknowhow.com/money/creditcardprocessing.ht...](http://www.businessknowhow.com/money/creditcardprocessing.htm)
)

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_delirium
Splitting it by default would be weird, since a lot of people _don't_ want it
split. When I go out to eat with my family, we don't want four separate
checks, and most couples going out don't want two checks. I don't even want
separate checks with friends I go out with regularly, because we just
alternate approximately instead of trying to calculate everything accurately
to the nearest dollar.

In my experience the main groups who _do_ want splits are college students and
coworkers, but I'm not sure what proportion of total restaurant meals those
two groups account for. Anecdotally, restaurants near colleges or in college
towns are much more likely to ask you if you want a split check, though.

As for logistics, I think the main one is that it requires an extra level of
keeping track, especially for larger groups. Instead of just punching in "two
beers and a margarita for table 15", the waiter then has to enter in who
ordered what, either while punching it in initially (if the system supports
it) or afterwards. It's considerably more complicated to track 30 items
ordered by 6 separate people than to just track 30 items ordered by a table.
And then the waiter additionally has to ask for details on what to do with
ambiguous things, like appetizers. People get pretty absurd with that too:
they want one appetizer split between 5 of the 6 people (because the 6th
person didn't eat any of it), another appetizer split evenly, the pitcher of
beer split between a different 4-out-of-6 people. Oh, and they want _two_ of
those people on the same check because they're husband-and-wife, while the
other four get 1-person checks. Etc., etc.

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adelevie
Refusal to split checks irks me every time. So what if they pay a fee per
transaction?

If I go grocery shopping with my friend, the cashier at Wal-Mart doesn't see
that we came together and force us to combine our orders.

Why are restaurants the only business that gets away with this?

Transaction costs are built into the prices on the menus. Restaurants
essentially refuse to give you the convenience that you paid for.

~~~
dman
I assume youve never been to a store where theyve said something like minimum
$10 charge for credit card ?

~~~
sgman
...which is illegal: [http://consumerist.com/2006/04/mega-update-requiring-
minimum...](http://consumerist.com/2006/04/mega-update-requiring-minimum-
credit-card-purchases-is-a-violation.html)

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ig1
People seem to be talking across wires here. There seem to be three
situations:

1) One persons pays for everyone (on the assumption everyone takes turns to
pay)

2) The bill gets divided evenly and everyone pays their share (either in cash
or by card)

3) Everyone gets their own bill

Maybe it's different in the US, but in the UK (1) seems to be the most common
among close friends who see each other regularly and (2) more common among
acquaintances, etc. who you see less often.

Number (3) which seems to be what most people are discussing here is pretty
uncommon except among students. And places which cater more towards the
students market (Nandos, GBK, wetherspoons, etc.) typically have a pay-up-
front individually policy.

I don't see what problem people have with (2) - it seems a perfectly
reasonable solution. Obviously it fails if someone buys something that's
exorbitantly priced compared to everyone else, but in those cases I've found
people are generally willing to put a little extra in (lest they no longer be
invited out).

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covercash
When the server first comes over we usually politely let them know that we'll
be needing our check split. Sometimes it's easier for them to know this ahead
of time, especially if they have older POS terminals.

I've also found that individually we tend to tip 20-30% but when there's a
large check that has to be paid on one card (with cash and IOU's going to the
card holder) the tip tends to be <20%.

------
Mankhool
Isn't that what Squirrel (the major restaurant POS) does automatically or with
a keystroke? Most of the casual eateries I go to have staff ask when ordering
if separate checks are required . . .

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matthavener
I've never had anyone decline to split a check. Most of the larger lunch
restaurants around here usually compute the check independently and will
combine it or split it easily. (Dallas, TX)

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slioslat
Asking the waiter/waitress to split the check is uncouth.

