Is my friend pocketing the discount for our shared lunches?
Anne Robinson deals with the awkward issue of whether a lunch bill is being divided fairly.
Anne Robinson deals with the awkward issue of whether a lunch bill is being divided fairly.
I have a group of friends who regularly meet for lunch at the golf club where one of us is a founder member. He normally pays and we split the bill equally and transfer him the money. None of us has ever questioned it – it’s all very convivial.
However, my husband knows another founder member and he mentioned that they all get a 50% discount on food. We certainly don’t get that when we split the bill! My husband thought it was quite funny and isn’t too bothered as none of us is exactly poor, but I’m livid. It’s the principle. Should I say something and risk ruining the group dynamic?
This is such an interesting question because although it appears to be about money, it is about so much more.
Your regular golf club lunches include a founder member at the club, who has always taken each person’s money for the lunch and then paid the club. Your husband now understands that founder members get a 50% discount on food. ‘A-ha!’ thinks your husband, ‘Does the founder member benefit from the discount when paying the bill for you all and thus make a tidy profit?’
The first question, obviously, is this true? Perhaps, for example, the founder member might receive the discount for himself but not for the group lunch. If your husband is sure of his facts, I would suggest he raises the query with the founder member without including the rest of the lunch group. That way the matter is dealt with discreetly.
If the founder member admits – to put it bluntly – that each group lunch is a nice little earner, then it is time to tell the others.
You feel you can all afford the regular lunches, so why upset things? But trust me, this piece of information will begin to niggle more and more. So much so, it will soon become too important to ignore.
PS: Readers and I long to know the outcome.
(Hero image credit: Alun Calendar)
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