I’ve generally only done shops with a family member, so this has never come up. Last time I had dinner with a friend we were talking about my doing shops. She said she would love to do one and it seemed to be a good way to have a night out that was not going to cost us much, if anything. So we decided to get together and I said I would look for a shop. We are going to have dinner.
The thing is, the reimbursement is pretty tight. It doesn’t allow for much deviation from the required items. Obviously not all shops are like that, so some places wouldn’t be an issue.
If we stick to the basics, we can have everything reimbursed, including tax and tip. How do you handle any costs beyond that? A drink is required, as is 2 desserts. I don’t necessarily want either of those, but they are part of the shop. So I have a glass of wine at the bar for that part of the shop, then she arrives and we go sit down. If we just order entrees, non alcoholic drinks and the dessert, it’s around budget. Let’s say she wants an appetizer or a drink or a side- how would you handle the amount over the reimbursement? Because the other thing is, if she has that, maybe I’d want it too- so do we split the overage ($10?12?). It feels cheap not to cover it myself but 1. I’m going home to write the report 2. we talked about making it an ongoing thing to do occasionally so I feel like we should have a kind of “plan”. I feel silly not ordering something that I want so that she can have something that she wants and all of that in order not to go over the budget.
It just feels awkward. It seems like she could potentially feel like she is paying for something of mine but I am getting reimbursed for hers. Even though we all know that I have to do the work and incur the cost until it’s reimbursed (with the risk that something goes wrong and I don’t even get reimbursed).
I hate ungracious situations like this! Any advice?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/2019 05:59AM by Piti.