Got a mate like that. Always last to the bar, always needing reminding its his round etc. We are just super vigilant and ensure he pays his way, better for him, better for us. No bitterness. Most people buy him light beer when it's their turn, in Australia light beer is low alcohol beer, so 2%. He still hasn't cottoned on 3 years down the track.

Huh. 41,567 posts and I have been doing it wrong the entire time. Go figure ...

Amateur.

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

This & Nova's thread has been an eye opener & I wont be loaning money to friends anytime soon. Fortunately I've never been burnt & have eventually got my $'s back.

Sold a bike to a mate for $2,000. He said he had some back taxes owing & would pay me in a month or 2 when it came through. Saw $500 early on, but took 2 years, a lot of nagging & the threat of legal intervention to fiiiiinally get all my coin. The thing that shits me, is the way you're made to feel like the bad guy for asking for your money.

Loaned another mate a few grand on 2 different occasions, when his business was having cash flow problems. 1st time we were good mates, so had no issues handing it over & got the money back promptly. The 2nd time he hit me up had me a little nervous, as we had started drifting apart & thought it a little strange considering. Anyways, I handed over the moolah & again got my Benjamin's back pronto. That was pretty much the last I heard from him, so consider myself pretty lucky on the last one.

one of the many, MANY problems with social media is this type of thing, where ''friends'' all take something at face value.

Hadn't thought of that... he'll post to Facebook 1 week prior: "My sched opened up!. Anybody got room for me to crash?"
Somebody will post back "great news!" and take him in.
This guy is a genius -- he's cheap, but cheap like a fox.

30 yrs of this:

College: when he entered a bar he would grab a used glass and make his rounds-walk up with an empty glass, everyone has pitchers, here, let me fill you up, all night long.

When we entered as a group and it was his turn he was always missing, so we eventually got smart and made him buy the first pitcher, this way he was on the hook for the $2 deposit-no way he was losing out on that.

Countless stories like this in school-okay, we get it, broke college student, like the rest of us, but even after school it continues.

We visit him a few years out to mountain bike-he decides he is going to have a big BBQ for his locals and his buddies who are out...interesting, we go with him shopping, toss beer in the cart, he objects, he won't drink that crap-get this....beer/food, at the register, cashier says $100...he stands there and walks away, we are shocked and pay the bill....yes he had a BBQ for all his friends and we paid for it...
5 years later:

I'm selling a motorcycle, he is kinda living check to check because he and his wife spend 1.3X of income (200k income) asks if he can buy it "on payments"-not a problem (I am an idiot) we work that out, but it needs to be shipped cross country-I draw the line when he asks me to pay for shipping and include it in the price...10yrs later, have never received a penny, and according to him he "technically" owes me for the bike, this comes up every other year-last time I reminded him that no, not "technically", he does...has no money to pay me...now over 300k income, has plenty of money for some great vacations, ones I would have loved to taken and used that bike money for...

Guessing his view is we made more money so we should pay, and I make more than him so its not a big deal...I am actually surprised he hasn't sold it and just kept the money, so there may be some honor there...

Another buddy keeps reminding me of what Oprah says, "the only people that get taken advantage of are those who permit it"

so that's my story of this mooch...have another one about a guy I play hockey with who took me for 1,700....which is nothing because he owes other guys in the skate over 10k, I wish they had spoken up about it because had I known I never would have lent him the 1,700-"just until the end of the month" 18 months ago...

BBQ's seem to be a money maker for mooches. I knew one years ago that hung with some of the guys I worked with at a local tavern. Would always show up around 2:00 AM on fri or Saturday because he could hang out with the owner and not pay for drinks since the registers were closed. If he did show up a little earlier would run a tab and never pay. Came from a wealthy family and from what I understand and it seemed that way he was fairly well off himself. He somewhat famously kept his heat set at 60 in the winter. "Because sweaters and jackets were made to keep you warm."

This clown would have a BBQ's at his house. Call all his guests day of and ask for you to bring this and someone else to bring that. He provided nothing. Then before cooking would split everything and put half away for himself. One buddy told me he got a call that the mooch need ground beef for burgers and didn't have time to get to the store. " I drop off all this meat and rolls thinking I am going to have this wonderful burger. He basically made sliders for everyone and froze the rest. "

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

We need to do a deep dive on this one.

So he just walked away and nobody questioned it? What about later?

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

I find this stuff shocking. How does someone like this have any friends?

It is an odd dynamic. The subject of my OP is not the only mooch I have ever known. Other guys have been phased out of my life. But, you get these guys that are able to do this and not get ostracized. I cannot explain it.

You can see how it could happen with my buddy - not everyone knows the whole story. There are only 2 other guys who know, specifically, why he will not be going on the trip this year. Everyone else will bemoan his absence and talk about how much it sucks he could not make it.

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

I honestly don't know. We had a number of mutual friends and I would ask them from time to time why they were buddies with the guy. They thought it was funny how cheap he was and rolled with it.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

I have a group of co-workers that would sometime go out to lunch together. In one instance, 4 of us went out and all ordered the same thing (burger, fries & coke) with the exception of 'Lisa', who only had burger & fries. When the bill came out I suggested we split it 4 ways. 'Lisa' objected and said she should pay $1.50 less since she didn't have a coke. 'Lisa' hasn't been invited back to group lunches.

I get the cheap factor here but some people can get carried away with "let just split it evenly". My wife had a couple of friends who she would go out with. They would both order 2-3 glasses of wine with dinner and insist on appetizers. My wife would usually order water to drink. Their orders were routinely about $30 more than my wifes. And they would say "oh lets just split it". Not wanting to look cheap the wife would pony up.

Now my wife just asks for a separate bill right at the beginning.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Agreed. There is a fine line.

We have a couple with whom we regularly go out. This couple is the opposite of all the moochers in this thread. You have to be quick or this guy will grab the check every single time. I even resorted to secretly telling the server to sneak the check to me or I give the server my credit card before the bill arrives.

Anyway, we also split the check on occasion. When I know I am grabbing the check, I will order apps and a bottle of wine for the table. When I believe we are going to split it, I make sure we are lining up fairly evenly. Usually, we are in sync with this couple. We tend to gravitate towards the same apps and drinks, so, it usually isn't an issue.

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

I have yet to come across a waiter or a waitress who balks at the idea of separate bills. Tired of dealing with so many stupid people, we almost always ask for separate bills right up front.

You pay yours, I'll pay mine. Everyone should leave happy.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Friends of mine who do pretty well, would regularly go out together.

They would 'jingle' for the check. Everyone would put a credit card into a napkin, and the server would pull one.

That is an awesome idea!

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

A couple of years ago I was on my annual group cycling trip. We typically go to a brewery for lunch after the long ride of the day, around 25 of us.

My buddy & I wanted to get lunch at another place, so we went straight from the ride, grabbed lunch, then met up with everyone else. They were already seated, ordered, drinking beer outside on the patio, so we each grabbed a beer at the counter and paid & tipped right there, did the same for our second round and were done. The waitress comes out with the check for the group, we find out that one guy, we'll say James, decided to grab the check to make it easier, pay it, and split it evenly amongst everyone. My friend & I didn't have a thing on that check, so we informed James of that and politely declined paying anything. Others had only ordered a beer or two, not full lunches with beer, appetizers, etc. and declined paying 50% more than their order was for, especially since they hadn't asked for the check to be on one and evenly split. James was pissed -- frustrated with my buddy and I for not contributing to what we hadn't ordered anyway, pissed at those who wouldn't pay more than their share, pissed at those who got off with less than they really owed and paid what he told them their split was. I think James left early on that trip and don't think he's been back. Nice guy, but I don't budget for the trip with the expenses of others in mind and wasn't going to be coerced into it.

Nope. Nobody leaves a meal happy ...

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

For this scenario I have my CC in menu and ask the waiter about something on there. Holding the menu so he can see the card. I then give him the menu with card. The other guests never see it coming. They can only beat you to the bill by giving CC to the waiter when you arrive.

Some of the groups of friends we have all like to pay the bill. So it's a game / fight to pay.

I also enjoy the Russian roulette of throw the CC's in a hat and let the server pick who pays.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

What if someone in the group orders desert to go?

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

Was par for the course, we had seen it before and laughed it off as typical behavior...they cut him off after that weekend, me, I am an idiot...

My father in law's Aussie family will fight each other over the check. One of his brothers was over for a visit a few years ago and we were all out to breakfast, 9 of us with the kids. The check comes, us "kids" know not to even try to pay because we've been through it before (won't let us pay, even though we have good jobs, homes of our own, kids of our own...I was physically shoved and knocked to the side when I tried to pay once at the zoo). Father in law whips his card out, so does uncle. Father in law does the card over the head, wave it like a flag trick; uncle snatches the card out of his hand, hands the waitress his card. She walks off, father in law starts berating uncle to give his card back and let him pay,; uncle passive aggressively refuses until the check is back, father in law threatens him "Give me that card and let me pay now, otherwise I'm going to put your ass in the corner", counts down from 5 to 1, grabs uncle by the neck, nearly knocks him over. The table next to us looks horrified as my sweet sister in law looks at them and innocently says, "It's OK. They're brothers. They're always this way."

We never returned back to that restaurant, at least not until it converted into another place with new owners and employees. My father in law, the pain in my ass that he can be basically 99% of the time, is no joke.

I'm on the other end of the spectrum. Last week I went out with a few co-workers for happy hour. When the bill came and someone suggested we split if four ways I offered to pay more because I had two drinks and some people only had one.

That reminds me another story. My wife and I had went out to dinner with another couple for the first time. The other couple was drinking $25 glasses of wine while my wife and I had the house red. I was kind of ticked off when they suggested splitting the bill but I didn't say anything.