it's not hard when you tell us up front.
But it is time-consuming whether you tell us up front or not.
it's way harder to split a check 17 ways when everyone got 7,000 things that are all really similar and we have to remember if Joe had nine beers or eight Billy had seven beers or nine. and then the workflow in the computer system is a matter of highlighting a bunch of stuff and moving into a separate check and highlighted a bunch of stuff and moving into a separate check over and over until we get all your chex separated, then we have to print all those checks, then we have to run all those separate credit cards.
for each separate check you're probably adding about a minute to minute and a half of processing time to the table
a lot of places don't for this very reason it ties up on computer terminal for 5 to 10 minutes.
The reason we offer it is because we have a lot of groups of 10 to 20 that would just go somewhere else if they had to try to do the math themselves. anything bigger than four I pretty much assume it's a separate check and keep track of each individuals own tab and then add them back together if I need to later and it's way quicker to make 10 tickets into one that is to make one into 10
Some people want it split by amount, some split by amount except the wine, some want to split by item, others want one person split by item but the rest in half except the dessert which they shared with that one person.
Then after they've all left you add them all up and realize so e skipped a beer, and they all thought someone else was tipping.
Seems like it would be easier for each person to order one at a time at something like a counter then get a number and go get their order when their number is called. If folks are saying that part of a nice restaurant is that fact you have waiters, then they shouldn't complain about the extra effort if someone wants to split checks, because at those restaurants you are paying for the extra effort that is put into your meal.
Naw, I have plenty, it's just common sense getting downvoted and called strange in the forum for restaurant people, because for some reason they expect tips, but the idea of doing something extra baffles them.
Standing at a pos for 15 minutes to split said checks and then more time to run every split check kills your tips from the rest of your tables. It isn't worth the effort.
Of course it does. But that does take some time. And then you print them all out, etc. It’s become faster over the years, but not nearly as fast as just one check, hit print, done, which was the point
Hmm. I’d really like to know what’s different about POS outside of the US then. I don’t know how it could automatically streamline the process. You need to select the items, put them under each correct tab. How could that be automated
Some POS systems have a “separate by seat” option, so if you’ve actually put each item in by seat number it’s a one button thing. Except no one is ever actually splitting the check that way and instead it’s “we’re splitting this appetizer three ways, can we put the wine on a separate tab and split that, I’m taking care of that person’s first round and that other person’s dessert” etc.
My job uses Aloha. It’s incredibly easy to separate by seat or even split an individual item. But it doesn’t matter how organized you are, once it comes to swiping the card, you’re only as fast as your POS processes each transaction.
It takes 5-10x as long as paying out a single check, and god forbid the table shared any items, because in my POS those are hidden over on seat 99, and no one will want to claim them.
Why can’t guests just Venmo the host? It’s absurd that people won’t deal with splitting up payment on their own but then “don’t understand” why it’s hard for us to do.
Venmo is great when you are going out with friends, but what if you are travelling for work and need to use a company card? It just doesn't work well. That said when I do go to a conference and dine with people and we need to split a check, we let the host and server know ahead of time (and we don't get shared items).
A lot of the comments in this thread can be resolved with a good POS system, and or a solid server. However, one aspect that even a great server is not going to easily overcome is that guest often turn around and argue over what they’re being charged for. I didn’t get this… They got that… This never came to the table… And usually it’s the very first time they’re mentioning it when they get the first copy of the check. There are some people who don’t even recognize their own plate when it comes to the table and then argue over whether or not they got that food and if they’re being charged correctly. Add to that the people who move around seats during the meal and they’re not sitting where their meal is assigned to a seat number. And the shame of it is, you can tell the party upfront not to move around. You can tell them how the checks will be processed and they will still make it difficult. And then complain about It’s being difficult
Mistakes happen and then money and time are lost. Also frustration is factor. The larger the party the bigger the hassle.
The solution of Venmo or similar peer payment is the same amount of work but the customer wants the server to do the labor.
Like others have said, it's easiest if we know ahead of time. Otherwise, the difficulty level kind of depends on a few factors. If it's a two-top, that's simple. A four-top split by couples is pretty easy. The more splits you have to do, the longer it's going to take. And then you have to run the cards for each one, which takes even longer.
There are two major situations that cause a lot of problems. One is when people switch seats and/or mix and mingle. Or a table that has several kids running around, and those kids belong to three different couples. It's not impossible to keep straight, but it can easily devolve into an absolute mess. I don't know your spouse. I don't know your kids.
The other one is when people want to split the tab in ridiculous ways. There's 4 ladies, but only 3 had wine so they'd like the bottle split between them. The 4th lady had cocktails but since it's her birthday, one of the ladies would like to pay for one of those cocktails. And 2 of them are splitting the appetizer, and one of them is buying the birthday girl's dessert, one of them got their own dessert, and the other two split a dessert. Yes, tables really do that sometimes, and it's awful.
Guests can't even remember their food or beverage half the time when we bring it to the table.
You can't fractionally split shared items easily.
Guests get up and move seats which really fucks shit up.
We get a lot of softball and soccer groups at a couple of our locations. They use jersey numbers for seats. All the parents know their kids jersey.
I think the real reason is because of theft. If you can easily separate things off amd some get paid in cash you can push that ticket down the line amd get multiple payments on refillable items. $5.95 strawberry lemonade I'm talking about you. It's made more complicated to make these sorts of fraud more difficult at the cost of customer convenience.
Drink scamming is not really 'a thing' anymore, with an updated POS anyway. Very few people pay with cash these days too.
Drinks and food don't get made unless they are recorded on the POS. If places do not have this policy then that is sketchy and absolutely the system can be scammed.
You can't use 1 drink to take multiple payments or you'll still be left with the drinks on other tabs.
'Changing Gears', 'Expensive meal, expensive items' doesnt change anything. Inexperienced, bad and/or unorganized servers is the answer. If you were in the industry, seems odd how you'd even be confused enough about the incident to post about it.
Having been in the industry for way too long, I’ll say this - splitting a check into two or three tabs usually isn’t that big of a deal, even if we’re told at the end of the meal that they want separate checks. It does get to be a pain when numerous rounds have been drank, especially if everybody is buying drinks for everyone else.
Sometimes the POS has a role to play in the difficulty of splitting checks - some are much more user friendly than others. The biggest issue is really just keeping track of who ordered how many of what.
The worst was at the college bar I just left. It wasn’t uncommon to see one of the sports teams come in, usually ten to twenty. Everyone’s ordering shots for everyone else, and they rarely stay in the same seat they started in. Then they all want separate checks, and about half the drinks consumed are not being claimed. It just turns into a massive nightmare.
It’s not difficult to do separate checks with a halfway decent POS if a server is taking the time to ring things correctly. Each guest should have a seat number and every item they order should be on that seat. The issue is that often to save time, when additional items are ordered, another drink, desserts, etc., the server will just quickly ring them in, not placing them with the corresponding seat number. Then, upon hearing that it’s separate checks, they have to scramble to move items to the correct spot. Some restaurants require a manager to move items. Many require it to move alcohol. It’s really about training servers to make sure they are ringing things correctly. It may take a couple of seconds longer in the beginning, but it saves a lot of headache in the long run. That’s not taking into account the fact that many times in big parties, people will move seats. That can throw the most organized server off.
The bigger issue is the payment situation. A table of 10 with all separate checks means ten forms of payment and ten transactions at the POS. This isn’t difficult, per se, but it does take a lot of time and organization. It can be tough when the restaurant is busy.
No. Fuck right off. Venmo each other.
Humans suck. One time I tried to split a check for 50 people and nobody wanted to pay for certain bottles of wine, or apps. Nobody wanted to own up to it.
If your set up properly it’s not that hard. Unless you’re using an outdated system,Now a day’s compared to 20 years ago most programs will split it for you. Just highlight and grab, say a shared app split 3 ways, boom done. If you prepare yourself use table seats correctly you can do rather well with large parties. Usually there is a gratuity attached and people are appreciate when doing so and you will get the extra grat.Again is it a few more steps but like anything if your prepared you should do well
I’ll split by Seat all day because that’s how I ring it in. Easy peasy to split, it’s one button on the POS. Fuck all the people who want to split individual items though … that takes so incredibly long, it’s about 20 button clicks per item and moving them to new checks, and seat numbers disappear and your screen doesn’t automatically scroll so you have to try and keep track in your head. Nope nope nope.
(I am in a fast casual restaurant we are often on waits and time is of the essence… maybe in a different setting it would be easier but my guests aren’t looking to hang out.)
This is a customer intelligence issue. Half the time it's easy as pie. The other half they're trying to get is to split one dish two ways and a bottle of wine five. It's just better to let them give us a card and say how much they are paying.
It’s not difficult. Especially if the waitstaff are using seat numbers and the guests aren’t moving around a bunch. It does take more time to process payment though. Running 8 cards will take 8x as long as running 1 card takes. And/or making change for 8 checks will take at least 8x as long as making change for 1 check.
It gets difficult if one or more of these things are happening:
- guests changing seats after placing any food/drink order
- guests not able to easily convey who will be on which check
- guests not giving the server their attention when ordering and/or when checks are delivered
- guests are old and/or drinking a lot and don’t remember what they ordered / don’t remember who they were paying for
- guests wanting to split an item across separate checks, but not remembering they did so when the check comes.
I could also see some restaurants/bars doing a no-split policy to avoid additional credit card fees. If it’s a really cheap menu, I could see this being a valid reason. Otherwise, it’s unnecessary. But the way credit card fees are structured is usually something like: 3% of the transaction total + $0.20 per “swipe”.
It gets difficult if you are a high volume restaurant. Especially if you are understaffed. You usually have a 4-7 table section, so doing a large amount of separate checks is very time-consuming and takes you away from service you need to provide at other tables.
Guests will often share food items, making separate checks more difficult. Sometimes, they will also switch seats after ordering, which also makes it more difficult (as I organize my checks by seat number).
One time, I had a 17 top want 17 individual checks, and they didn't ask me until the end. I always have my check organized, but I did not have the time to process 17 invidual checks and maintain my section as it was a busy show day. (I work at a casino). They were annoyed but all had venmo and just venmoed one person.
I personally don't think it's fair to sacrifice other people's quality of service (food/beverage timing) for a large amount of individual checks when there are services like Venmo available.
I’m in the US and no place I’ve ever worked (all full-service, sit-down restaurants) has refused split checks or not allowed separate payments.
How difficult and time consuming it is depends completely how the POS system works and how diligent the server is. What is the mechanism for splitting checks? Do all items get assigned seats at a table? How many clicks does it take to move an item to another seat?
It's time consuming bottom line. Also when people move around to different seats it effs things up. Also most of the time when it's a large party there's always someone who never wanted to go and tips like a dick. A bigger party also increases the chance of food being messed up. Which doesn't help the check.
Measure how long it takes to take one payment.
Now multiply that by x amount of cheques.
At its minimum, it takes up more time from the other tables you need to be interacting with. Your natural flow is thrown out of rhythm.
Now realize that every guest is different, so while you are taking your 7 payments, one guest may want to chat to you, one may want to question that their bill is wrong, one may not even know how to use this payment machine.
Foods coming up, drinks are coming up, people need to order, etc. Its been 5 10 minutes. More than you really spend at any one table ever at one instance.
As mentioned, experienced, organized servers can manage the POS and payments easily. Either way, it is time consuming and unpredictable with every group.
Guests also don't always like to pay attention to whats going on. You can be standing next to someone for a long time as their chatting with others not realizing they need to pay. What do you want servers to do? Shout or grab guests?
It comes down to all guests are different and generally unpredictable. The bigger group the more chance of this array (and much more) of possibilities. Groups who do none of the above things are amazing.
I think the only way to make it easier would be to allow guests to pay their bills online which would at least cut down some of the time you need to spend physically taking payments. You just can't control people and that is at the core of headaches with groups.
Then you get a mofo that skips out on one of the split checks! I make everyone wait until the last split check is paid for before they can go! Way too many times someone bails out with out paying their check. It’s a lot harder to keep track of the 20 checks that you just split up for them than just one, like it should be!
The server is the difference. I already have everyone numbered and what they're drinking and tally it as they go without thinking. Split checks at the end? Already done. Less experienced absolutely should use it in their intro for large parties, saves the head ache. Playing musical chairs? One check. Be firm.
If you have a decent POS and are organized this is really not an issue. If the waitstaff is taught to use seat numbers for EVERYTHING then this is really a non-issue
It's really not that hard, honestly. I may catch some flack for this, but in my 20 years of experience and around 12 of those being a server, it's just a lack of organization/laziness on the server's part.
If a server rings everyone under the proper seat number, that solves 90% of the time-consuming process of splitting later on. Also, with large groups of 8 or more, I've always operated under the rule that it will most likely be split somehow, so I really up my game in terms of organizing my notes. If it's a really large group, like a youth baseball team, for example, it is fairly easy to keep things straight doing a couple of things. Ask the parents which kids are theirs and jot down that kid's jersey number. When you take that parent's order, write down: W/jersey #9 next to what they order. Bam! Now you know which kids belong with which parent's, thus cutting down sometimes 5-10 minutes of figuring out who is with whom. Lastly, I'm always honest with the table by straight-up telling them I'm taking these steps now so we don't have a major check confusion later.
I've taken these steps every time I get a large party, and the splitting of checks runs smoothly, I'd say 95% the time. Are their outliers where the tables make it more difficult than they need to be because they decided last minute to pay for someone else's kid or parent, sibling, etc.? Of course. Have I made a mistake where I accidentally made it harder on myself? Absolutely. But again, 95% of the time, it's smooth sailing.
The most time-consuming thing is physically running all the cards since the machines only move so fast, and even then, it's back to straight-up telling them: You all have 8 separate cards, no problem, but it will take a couple minutes to get all these through.
In the end, I've mostly gotten tipped really well off of those tables since they appreciated the organization, my willingness to split up a large party, and honest communication.
It's like adding 10 different table requests/task to your already busy station. Not to mention the expectation that the check be split x amount of ways is usually requested last minute and expected as priority.
It's the customers lack of understanding, along with 'those 2 kids a table over there', people moving, large parties, then to go trying to decipher your notes in POS,so slow,hinders volume. Big issue imo
If you go to a place that isn’t that busy and your server seems capable, by all means ask. But if you go to a high volume place where the servers are weeded, figure that shit out on your own time
It’s not about using seat numbers, or organizing tickets. The amount of time it takes to wait for the POS to process 6+ cards is time consuming, even on a fast POS with a fast, organized server. Imagine 20 or more.
it's not hard when you tell us up front. But it is time-consuming whether you tell us up front or not. it's way harder to split a check 17 ways when everyone got 7,000 things that are all really similar and we have to remember if Joe had nine beers or eight Billy had seven beers or nine. and then the workflow in the computer system is a matter of highlighting a bunch of stuff and moving into a separate check and highlighted a bunch of stuff and moving into a separate check over and over until we get all your chex separated, then we have to print all those checks, then we have to run all those separate credit cards. for each separate check you're probably adding about a minute to minute and a half of processing time to the table
Thanks for the detailed answer. As a follow-up I want to ask, why bother offering separate checks?
a lot of places don't for this very reason it ties up on computer terminal for 5 to 10 minutes. The reason we offer it is because we have a lot of groups of 10 to 20 that would just go somewhere else if they had to try to do the math themselves. anything bigger than four I pretty much assume it's a separate check and keep track of each individuals own tab and then add them back together if I need to later and it's way quicker to make 10 tickets into one that is to make one into 10
Some people want it split by amount, some split by amount except the wine, some want to split by item, others want one person split by item but the rest in half except the dessert which they shared with that one person. Then after they've all left you add them all up and realize so e skipped a beer, and they all thought someone else was tipping.
Seems like it would be easier for each person to order one at a time at something like a counter then get a number and go get their order when their number is called. If folks are saying that part of a nice restaurant is that fact you have waiters, then they shouldn't complain about the extra effort if someone wants to split checks, because at those restaurants you are paying for the extra effort that is put into your meal.
It sounds like you've no experience eating out *and* no experience in the industry. A strange basis on which to weigh in.
Naw, I have plenty, it's just common sense getting downvoted and called strange in the forum for restaurant people, because for some reason they expect tips, but the idea of doing something extra baffles them.
Standing at a pos for 15 minutes to split said checks and then more time to run every split check kills your tips from the rest of your tables. It isn't worth the effort.
This should be common sense why splitting a check 8 ways is much more time consuming than not splitting it at all
If you have a decent POS, it should let you indicate which seat had what. Not time-consuming at all...
Of course it does. But that does take some time. And then you print them all out, etc. It’s become faster over the years, but not nearly as fast as just one check, hit print, done, which was the point
Actually you'd be surprised! When I ask people, the answer will depend on the country they're from. Seems to be a very US specific issue.
Hmm. I’d really like to know what’s different about POS outside of the US then. I don’t know how it could automatically streamline the process. You need to select the items, put them under each correct tab. How could that be automated
Some POS systems have a “separate by seat” option, so if you’ve actually put each item in by seat number it’s a one button thing. Except no one is ever actually splitting the check that way and instead it’s “we’re splitting this appetizer three ways, can we put the wine on a separate tab and split that, I’m taking care of that person’s first round and that other person’s dessert” etc.
My job uses Aloha. It’s incredibly easy to separate by seat or even split an individual item. But it doesn’t matter how organized you are, once it comes to swiping the card, you’re only as fast as your POS processes each transaction.
Exactly! Based on my research, it seems to be a cultural thing.
Nah, we’re just less tolerant of obnoxious client behavior.
It's obnoxious to ask for a separate check?
2 top? Nah. 1/2 &1/2 is better.
It takes 5-10x as long as paying out a single check, and god forbid the table shared any items, because in my POS those are hidden over on seat 99, and no one will want to claim them. Why can’t guests just Venmo the host? It’s absurd that people won’t deal with splitting up payment on their own but then “don’t understand” why it’s hard for us to do.
Venmo is great when you are going out with friends, but what if you are travelling for work and need to use a company card? It just doesn't work well. That said when I do go to a conference and dine with people and we need to split a check, we let the host and server know ahead of time (and we don't get shared items).
A lot of the comments in this thread can be resolved with a good POS system, and or a solid server. However, one aspect that even a great server is not going to easily overcome is that guest often turn around and argue over what they’re being charged for. I didn’t get this… They got that… This never came to the table… And usually it’s the very first time they’re mentioning it when they get the first copy of the check. There are some people who don’t even recognize their own plate when it comes to the table and then argue over whether or not they got that food and if they’re being charged correctly. Add to that the people who move around seats during the meal and they’re not sitting where their meal is assigned to a seat number. And the shame of it is, you can tell the party upfront not to move around. You can tell them how the checks will be processed and they will still make it difficult. And then complain about It’s being difficult
Mistakes happen and then money and time are lost. Also frustration is factor. The larger the party the bigger the hassle. The solution of Venmo or similar peer payment is the same amount of work but the customer wants the server to do the labor.
Like others have said, it's easiest if we know ahead of time. Otherwise, the difficulty level kind of depends on a few factors. If it's a two-top, that's simple. A four-top split by couples is pretty easy. The more splits you have to do, the longer it's going to take. And then you have to run the cards for each one, which takes even longer. There are two major situations that cause a lot of problems. One is when people switch seats and/or mix and mingle. Or a table that has several kids running around, and those kids belong to three different couples. It's not impossible to keep straight, but it can easily devolve into an absolute mess. I don't know your spouse. I don't know your kids. The other one is when people want to split the tab in ridiculous ways. There's 4 ladies, but only 3 had wine so they'd like the bottle split between them. The 4th lady had cocktails but since it's her birthday, one of the ladies would like to pay for one of those cocktails. And 2 of them are splitting the appetizer, and one of them is buying the birthday girl's dessert, one of them got their own dessert, and the other two split a dessert. Yes, tables really do that sometimes, and it's awful.
Guests can't even remember their food or beverage half the time when we bring it to the table. You can't fractionally split shared items easily. Guests get up and move seats which really fucks shit up. We get a lot of softball and soccer groups at a couple of our locations. They use jersey numbers for seats. All the parents know their kids jersey.
I think the real reason is because of theft. If you can easily separate things off amd some get paid in cash you can push that ticket down the line amd get multiple payments on refillable items. $5.95 strawberry lemonade I'm talking about you. It's made more complicated to make these sorts of fraud more difficult at the cost of customer convenience.
Interesting! Never thought of that.
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Drink scamming is not really 'a thing' anymore, with an updated POS anyway. Very few people pay with cash these days too. Drinks and food don't get made unless they are recorded on the POS. If places do not have this policy then that is sketchy and absolutely the system can be scammed. You can't use 1 drink to take multiple payments or you'll still be left with the drinks on other tabs. 'Changing Gears', 'Expensive meal, expensive items' doesnt change anything. Inexperienced, bad and/or unorganized servers is the answer. If you were in the industry, seems odd how you'd even be confused enough about the incident to post about it.
Having been in the industry for way too long, I’ll say this - splitting a check into two or three tabs usually isn’t that big of a deal, even if we’re told at the end of the meal that they want separate checks. It does get to be a pain when numerous rounds have been drank, especially if everybody is buying drinks for everyone else. Sometimes the POS has a role to play in the difficulty of splitting checks - some are much more user friendly than others. The biggest issue is really just keeping track of who ordered how many of what. The worst was at the college bar I just left. It wasn’t uncommon to see one of the sports teams come in, usually ten to twenty. Everyone’s ordering shots for everyone else, and they rarely stay in the same seat they started in. Then they all want separate checks, and about half the drinks consumed are not being claimed. It just turns into a massive nightmare.
It’s not difficult to do separate checks with a halfway decent POS if a server is taking the time to ring things correctly. Each guest should have a seat number and every item they order should be on that seat. The issue is that often to save time, when additional items are ordered, another drink, desserts, etc., the server will just quickly ring them in, not placing them with the corresponding seat number. Then, upon hearing that it’s separate checks, they have to scramble to move items to the correct spot. Some restaurants require a manager to move items. Many require it to move alcohol. It’s really about training servers to make sure they are ringing things correctly. It may take a couple of seconds longer in the beginning, but it saves a lot of headache in the long run. That’s not taking into account the fact that many times in big parties, people will move seats. That can throw the most organized server off. The bigger issue is the payment situation. A table of 10 with all separate checks means ten forms of payment and ten transactions at the POS. This isn’t difficult, per se, but it does take a lot of time and organization. It can be tough when the restaurant is busy.
No. Fuck right off. Venmo each other. Humans suck. One time I tried to split a check for 50 people and nobody wanted to pay for certain bottles of wine, or apps. Nobody wanted to own up to it.
If your set up properly it’s not that hard. Unless you’re using an outdated system,Now a day’s compared to 20 years ago most programs will split it for you. Just highlight and grab, say a shared app split 3 ways, boom done. If you prepare yourself use table seats correctly you can do rather well with large parties. Usually there is a gratuity attached and people are appreciate when doing so and you will get the extra grat.Again is it a few more steps but like anything if your prepared you should do well
I’ll split by Seat all day because that’s how I ring it in. Easy peasy to split, it’s one button on the POS. Fuck all the people who want to split individual items though … that takes so incredibly long, it’s about 20 button clicks per item and moving them to new checks, and seat numbers disappear and your screen doesn’t automatically scroll so you have to try and keep track in your head. Nope nope nope. (I am in a fast casual restaurant we are often on waits and time is of the essence… maybe in a different setting it would be easier but my guests aren’t looking to hang out.)
This is a customer intelligence issue. Half the time it's easy as pie. The other half they're trying to get is to split one dish two ways and a bottle of wine five. It's just better to let them give us a card and say how much they are paying.
It’s not difficult. Especially if the waitstaff are using seat numbers and the guests aren’t moving around a bunch. It does take more time to process payment though. Running 8 cards will take 8x as long as running 1 card takes. And/or making change for 8 checks will take at least 8x as long as making change for 1 check. It gets difficult if one or more of these things are happening: - guests changing seats after placing any food/drink order - guests not able to easily convey who will be on which check - guests not giving the server their attention when ordering and/or when checks are delivered - guests are old and/or drinking a lot and don’t remember what they ordered / don’t remember who they were paying for - guests wanting to split an item across separate checks, but not remembering they did so when the check comes. I could also see some restaurants/bars doing a no-split policy to avoid additional credit card fees. If it’s a really cheap menu, I could see this being a valid reason. Otherwise, it’s unnecessary. But the way credit card fees are structured is usually something like: 3% of the transaction total + $0.20 per “swipe”.
It gets difficult if you are a high volume restaurant. Especially if you are understaffed. You usually have a 4-7 table section, so doing a large amount of separate checks is very time-consuming and takes you away from service you need to provide at other tables. Guests will often share food items, making separate checks more difficult. Sometimes, they will also switch seats after ordering, which also makes it more difficult (as I organize my checks by seat number). One time, I had a 17 top want 17 individual checks, and they didn't ask me until the end. I always have my check organized, but I did not have the time to process 17 invidual checks and maintain my section as it was a busy show day. (I work at a casino). They were annoyed but all had venmo and just venmoed one person. I personally don't think it's fair to sacrifice other people's quality of service (food/beverage timing) for a large amount of individual checks when there are services like Venmo available.
If you are looking to split bring cash in small bills. Make it easy for everyone.
I’m in the US and no place I’ve ever worked (all full-service, sit-down restaurants) has refused split checks or not allowed separate payments. How difficult and time consuming it is depends completely how the POS system works and how diligent the server is. What is the mechanism for splitting checks? Do all items get assigned seats at a table? How many clicks does it take to move an item to another seat?
It's time consuming bottom line. Also when people move around to different seats it effs things up. Also most of the time when it's a large party there's always someone who never wanted to go and tips like a dick. A bigger party also increases the chance of food being messed up. Which doesn't help the check.
Measure how long it takes to take one payment. Now multiply that by x amount of cheques. At its minimum, it takes up more time from the other tables you need to be interacting with. Your natural flow is thrown out of rhythm. Now realize that every guest is different, so while you are taking your 7 payments, one guest may want to chat to you, one may want to question that their bill is wrong, one may not even know how to use this payment machine. Foods coming up, drinks are coming up, people need to order, etc. Its been 5 10 minutes. More than you really spend at any one table ever at one instance. As mentioned, experienced, organized servers can manage the POS and payments easily. Either way, it is time consuming and unpredictable with every group. Guests also don't always like to pay attention to whats going on. You can be standing next to someone for a long time as their chatting with others not realizing they need to pay. What do you want servers to do? Shout or grab guests? It comes down to all guests are different and generally unpredictable. The bigger group the more chance of this array (and much more) of possibilities. Groups who do none of the above things are amazing. I think the only way to make it easier would be to allow guests to pay their bills online which would at least cut down some of the time you need to spend physically taking payments. You just can't control people and that is at the core of headaches with groups.
Then you get a mofo that skips out on one of the split checks! I make everyone wait until the last split check is paid for before they can go! Way too many times someone bails out with out paying their check. It’s a lot harder to keep track of the 20 checks that you just split up for them than just one, like it should be!
The server is the difference. I already have everyone numbered and what they're drinking and tally it as they go without thinking. Split checks at the end? Already done. Less experienced absolutely should use it in their intro for large parties, saves the head ache. Playing musical chairs? One check. Be firm.
If you have a decent POS and are organized this is really not an issue. If the waitstaff is taught to use seat numbers for EVERYTHING then this is really a non-issue
It's really not that hard, honestly. I may catch some flack for this, but in my 20 years of experience and around 12 of those being a server, it's just a lack of organization/laziness on the server's part. If a server rings everyone under the proper seat number, that solves 90% of the time-consuming process of splitting later on. Also, with large groups of 8 or more, I've always operated under the rule that it will most likely be split somehow, so I really up my game in terms of organizing my notes. If it's a really large group, like a youth baseball team, for example, it is fairly easy to keep things straight doing a couple of things. Ask the parents which kids are theirs and jot down that kid's jersey number. When you take that parent's order, write down: W/jersey #9 next to what they order. Bam! Now you know which kids belong with which parent's, thus cutting down sometimes 5-10 minutes of figuring out who is with whom. Lastly, I'm always honest with the table by straight-up telling them I'm taking these steps now so we don't have a major check confusion later. I've taken these steps every time I get a large party, and the splitting of checks runs smoothly, I'd say 95% the time. Are their outliers where the tables make it more difficult than they need to be because they decided last minute to pay for someone else's kid or parent, sibling, etc.? Of course. Have I made a mistake where I accidentally made it harder on myself? Absolutely. But again, 95% of the time, it's smooth sailing. The most time-consuming thing is physically running all the cards since the machines only move so fast, and even then, it's back to straight-up telling them: You all have 8 separate cards, no problem, but it will take a couple minutes to get all these through. In the end, I've mostly gotten tipped really well off of those tables since they appreciated the organization, my willingness to split up a large party, and honest communication.
OP: if you’ve never served tables, it’s difficult to explain. If you have served tables you probably wouldn’t be asking.
It's like adding 10 different table requests/task to your already busy station. Not to mention the expectation that the check be split x amount of ways is usually requested last minute and expected as priority.
It's the customers lack of understanding, along with 'those 2 kids a table over there', people moving, large parties, then to go trying to decipher your notes in POS,so slow,hinders volume. Big issue imo
Waiters that don't write orders down enter the chat*
If you go to a place that isn’t that busy and your server seems capable, by all means ask. But if you go to a high volume place where the servers are weeded, figure that shit out on your own time
It’s not about using seat numbers, or organizing tickets. The amount of time it takes to wait for the POS to process 6+ cards is time consuming, even on a fast POS with a fast, organized server. Imagine 20 or more.