I was shamed for refusing to pay $150 for a group dinner when I only spent $25 — am I in the wrong?
Don’t get drained by group dinners.
A cash-strapped woman has warned people not to go to group dinners without first working out how the bill will be split — after she was asked to cough up $150 despite ordering just $25 worth of food.
Aryan Strauss took to TikTok to recount the drama in a viral video that has clocked up 2.1 million views since it was posted last week.
“I have no money, I’m a single mom,” Strauss declared at the outset of her clip before explaining that she was invited to a friend’s birthday dinner at a Brazilian-style steakhouse.
Strauss stated that her friend — a successful model — was the only person she knew at the dinner. Other attendees were seemingly affluent, and included one woman flaunting her expensive new breast implants.
Despite her precarious financial situation, Strauss said that she wanted to pay for her pal’s meal as it was her birthday. The mom-of-two found a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for the restaurant.
She and the pal each ordered a $50 main. However, Strauss subsequently complained about her chewy filet mignon, with a waiter saying it would be taken off the bill.
“I order water and I order no dessert,” the TikTokker added, saying she expected her share of the bill to come to $25, after her meal was removed by the waiter.
Strauss noted that a few other attendees left the dinner early, but assumed that they would have sorted out payment details with the birthday girl.
However, the broke mom was stunned when the final bill came to the table and the group expected her to pay a whopping $150 to cover those who did the dine and dash.
Strauss fumed, “I just got the basic $50 meal, so it should’ve been $25 tops [with the chewy filet mignon taken off the bill].”
Strauss refused to fork over $150, but conceded to paying $50. Embarrassingly, she just had $48 in her account and $10 in cash, which she planned to leave as a tip.
Without $50 in her bank to cover her share, Strauss says she was forced to write a check to her friend, who was “definitely irritated” about the ordeal.
“I was the bad guy in this situation,” the TikTokker claimed, before issuing a warning to her viewers: “Never sit down to dinner with anybody, friend or otherwise, unless you’ve already talked about how it’s getting split, and what your budget is if you’re all going to split the bill evenly.”
Hundreds of viewers chimed in, with some saying they already refuse to split the bill evenly.
“Splits bills is not fair because of always there is someone who order extra expensive and someone’s order cheap It is better separate bills,” one declared.
However, others said Strauss was in the wrong for going out to dinner with so little money to her name.
“If you don’t have $$, don’t go,” one TikTok user bluntly commented.
Strauss later shared a follow-up videoadmitting that she was reckless to go out to dinner with such little cash to her name. She claimed the incident took place several years ago and she is now more responsible with her money.
