Man puts his foot down and refuses to pay after being forced to cover restaurant bill for strangers

Going out to eat with friends and acquaintances is always a happy affair. But what can make the situation sour is people not paying for what they ordered or, even worse, not paying altogether. u/SEO403 had such a story to share when he went out with his friend and other acquaintances and they refused to pay their share of the bill. The post has become popular and has received 9.1K upvotes.

The individual begins the post by saying that he has been having a few weeks of extra drama. He then moves on to the incident that happened while he was on vacation in his birth country. Wanting to socialize, he invited one of his old friends out for dinner. The friend inquired whether he could bring three women and another man that he was friends with and the individual agreed.

He also suggested a spot they could all go to hang out once dinner was done, as he had made reservations there. The individual also decided on the restaurant, which everyone agreed to. All the people reached the spot and had a fun time ordering food and talking. But it was all about to change. He writes, "The bill came. It was $825." His friend was okay with splitting the bill, but others were not.

The other guy who was at the place spoke up and said that he could only spend $26 despite having almost $107 worth of food. Hearing this, the man realized that the gathering was about to "go south." The other two women did not even bother saying anything and kept looking at their phones. Shockingly, the other woman spoke up and asked the individual to "be a gentleman" and pay for them because she was convinced he was financially well off.

He writes, "I asked her why she'd assume that and she said, 'That's what it seems like on Instagram.'" The individual clarified that he did not have any pictures showing how rich he was on his account. Not wanting to pay, the individual told them that he barely knew them and that it wasn't a date. The woman replied that she wasn't expecting to pay.

His friend also did not want to pay as he had met them at work. He says, "I was getting upset at the entitlement and asked my friend whether he told them anything pointing towards me paying, he said he didn't and that each of them always pays for their own things." Not wanting to make a scene, the individual asked his friend to deal with them as he had invited them.

They all gave mundane reasons for paying, saying it was "not fair" and "too expensive." The individual specifies that they did not have these problems when they were ordering food lavishly. Hearing their response, the individual gets frustrated and says that he is not even going to split the bill evenly and only pay for himself. The others somehow got even more offended hearing this.

Tired of the entire ordeal, the individual gets up and goes to the counter to pay his share and tells the waiter that the others will pay what they owe. It turned out that only his friend had enough to pay for himself, while the others did not have any money. The individual even went to the extent of giving a big tip to the waiter in front of them. He mentions feeling some empathy for them initially but decides to stick to his decision ultimately. 

People on the platform expressed their support for his decision in the comments section. u/Subject-Toe-1042 commented, "I never understood why people can't afford to go out for meals. They act entitled and rudely and have to face the consequences. I'd suggest discussing payment before you order the food next time."

Editor's note: This article was originally published on September 13, 2023. It has since been updated.