You get a group of friends together. You go out to eat. Good food. Good conversation. Maybe a couple of drinks. Lots of fun all around. And then the check arrives. And one or two people in the group steps up to figure out how much everyone owes, calculating the tip, adding it to the total, and then dividing by the number of people (or number of couples, as the case may be) at the table.

Then another volunteer (or perhaps the same person calculating what everyone owes) counts the money that’s been thrown into the pot, makes change for those who need it, and possibly has to explain to the waiter how much to charge to each credit card in the mix.

During all of the commotion sorting out the bill, nobody checked to see if the gratuity was included. Your group overpaid, tipping on a total that already had the tip included. Talk about expensive!

While restaurants do post notices that gratuities will automatically be added to parties over a certain number (often it’s posted on the menu and should always be noted on the bill — though not always using the word “gratuity” or “tip” included so inspect it closely), it’s often overlooked and the restaurants don’t always go out of their way to inform the group that gratuity has been included.

In fact, one waiter tells Reader’s Digest that:

Always examine the check. Sometimes large parties are unaware that a gratuity has been added to the bill, so they tip on top of it. Waiters “facilitate” this error. It’s dishonest, it’s wrong-and I did it all the time.

So just remember when you’re out at a restaurant with a group of people to always inspect the bill and/or as your wait staff if the gratuity has been included. It can end up saving you and your friends a lot of money.

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