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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think it is unacceptable to sit in Starbucks, at peak time, nursing a coffee for hours

58 replies

thatsawrap · 31/03/2011 19:11

Met a friend in Starbucks today for a coffee. Stood in queue for 10 mins waiting to be served. Put my order in and then waited another 5 mins or so for drink to be made up. The shop was heaving. Counted 14 tables. Friend and I stood with drinks thinking eventually someone would leave so we could sit down with our drinks.

5 mins passed, then 10 mins and then 25 mins... Not one seat became free. Mainly officer workers sitting, with empty coffee cup, working on laptops or having meetings.

We ended up standing in the shop drinking our coffee. Would have left and tried to find somewhere to sit outside but it was pouring down. Loads of people who'd ordered drinks and food ended up standing with us waiting for a seat.

AIBU to think its bloody rude to hog tables when you've finished your drink and you can see other people waiting. I'd be embarrassed if I was nursing an empty cup while others with food and drink waited to sit down. I'd at least order another bloody drink.

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 31/03/2011 19:12

yes yabu!

why should people hurry out just because you decide to come into a busy shop that clearly has no free tables?

sickoftheholidays · 31/03/2011 19:12

yanbu, bloody rude!

overmydeadbody · 31/03/2011 19:12

YABU.

People can sit in a coffee shop for as long as they like.

YOu should have gone to another coffee shop. Starbucks is horribly cliched.

BelligerentGhoul · 31/03/2011 19:15

Well, I sat in Starbucks for nearly two hours tonight and only had one drink. I had had a shit day and was having a rant with a friend. So sue me.

Violethill · 31/03/2011 19:15

If you are paying to eat/drink in, then complain that they have mis sold you their goods.
Slightly different scenario, but I find that's a very effective way of getting cafes to deal with annoying customers who queue jump and bag a table while their other half queues up. If the cafe are selling you something on the basis of eating in, then they have to provide you with somewhere to do it.

On the other hand, why are you going to Starbucks in the first place??

Original poster
thatsawrap · 31/03/2011 19:16

Yes it is rude. And I can't think shops like it either. One person buys a drink, sits at a table fdesigned or 3 or 4 people, gets their book/laptop/paper out and precedes to spend hours on end hogging it.

OP posts:
Original poster
thatsawrap · 31/03/2011 19:18

The fact that it is Starbucks is surely irrelevant. Same thing happens in other eating/drinking places too and it is equally unacceptable.

belligerent, one drink nursed over 2 hrs Shock did you not consider buying another drink?

OP posts:
belledechocchipcookie · 31/03/2011 19:20

If coffee shops have free wi-fi then they have to expect people to do this. I don't think yabu, the shops are also at fault though as they don't do anything to stop this. I tend to go somewhere else if there's no where to sit though, I won't order if it's heaving Wink

valiumredhead · 31/03/2011 19:20

Oh I linger over a cup of coffee for hours sometimes Grin

hardhatdonned · 31/03/2011 19:22

YABU i got some real nasty looks off a crowd of new mums this lunchtime as i sat in a cafe nursing my bowl of soup reading a book. It was the only free table (before I sat at it) and sadly happened to be a 4 seater.

They just stood there staring at me tutting at me like it would make me move. Sorry love. Hold your NCT meet elsewhere i've as much right to sit down and take my time and enjoy my half hour lunch break as you do to sit down, fill the place up with your tank buggies and chat about shitty nappies and boob juice.

SequinsAndSparkles · 31/03/2011 19:23

I used to work at Starbucks and we were not allowed to ask people to leave once they had finished, we were not allowed to ask if they wanted anything else either. They were always banging on about 'Customer Experience' which basically meant leaving them in peace, letting customers do whatever the hell they want, speak to you however they want, and if they are unhappy you just offer them vouchers - no matter how ridiculous people were being! We weren't even allowed to tell people to leave when it was time to close, some of them would sit around finishing coffee until we actually had to leave and lock up.
Wasn't fun on a Saturday afternoon when there are no seats, and people are moaning at me because there is no where to sit. So I totally understand what you mean, it is annoying, YANBU.

Original poster
thatsawrap · 31/03/2011 19:23

hardhat, how rude of you.

OP posts:
BelligerentGhoul · 31/03/2011 19:23

Yes, I did consider buying another drink. And then I didn't buy one.

Sometimes I have several drinks...sometimes I don't. I am a very regular customer and the staff know that.

Rooble · 31/03/2011 19:23

If they're alone on a table I will go and ask if they mind me sitting at the same table. I can see both points of view to be honest. My DH regularly works for an hour or two in cafes between meetings and I can imagine him simply not noticing people waiting for seats. I think lots of people do the same.
But just stewing about it isn't going to solve it for you!

BluddyMoFo · 31/03/2011 19:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hardhatdonned · 31/03/2011 19:24

Why am i rude? How am i rude?

I deserve to sit there for half an hour (although more like 15 minutes if im totally honest by the time i've got to the cafe, sat down, eaten, then given myself time to get back to the office...) and enjoy my break as much as the next person. Chances are they'll sit there for 4 hours and only order a cup of coffee and a cake between them while their precious babies squash cake into the carpet.

TheArmadillo · 31/03/2011 19:26

TBH I think you're pretty stupid to buy a drink somewhere where there are no free tables and then get pissed when one doesn't magically appear. Those people with laptops didn't suddenly appear after you ordered your drinks.

Original poster
thatsawrap · 31/03/2011 19:26

But a cafe is a place to eat or drink, whether that's alone or with friends. It's not meant to act as a conference centre or meeting facility.

OP posts:
hardhatdonned · 31/03/2011 19:27

A conference is a meeting of people.

Doesn't mean it has to be social purposes :o

valiumredhead · 31/03/2011 19:27

I deserve to sit there for half an hour

Only an hour? Is that all?.......... I've squeezed MUCH longer than that out of a cup of coffee before Wink

hardhatdonned · 31/03/2011 19:28

lol unfortunately my lunch breaks are only half an hour long - 15mins cafe and book time all tolled. It sucks.

I can manage a good few hours from a frappachino though if i am really pushed into it :o

ladyintheradiator · 31/03/2011 19:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ragwort · 31/03/2011 19:29

Did you go and join someone sitting at a table as Rooble suggests - surely no one can refuse to allow you to sit down if there are empty chairs available? I often go to coffee shops alone (don't sit there for hours though Grin) and am rather amused that other customers huff and puff rather than just asking me if the chairs at my table are free (perhaps I have BO and am hideously unfriendly looking!).

LeonardNimoy · 31/03/2011 19:30

YABU. You're ire is misdirected. If you have a problem with people sitting at a table when they have finished their drink then you need to spend your cash in another coffee shop instead. It's a business, not a public service

BikeRunSki · 31/03/2011 19:30

I quite often have "Starbucks meetings". They have wifi, they have power points, they are in city centres - I think they do consider themselves to be informal meeting facilities. But we do buy new drinks every 45 mins or so.