To think this was an unreasonable bit of table hogging?

[Vycount]

This is probably going to all end in tears.

Anyway, I've just been to a very popular local cafe with a friend and spent about an hour and a half stuffing my face on a brilliant brunch, more coffee, and then some cake. (Katie Hopkins eat yer heart out!).
It's a really busy place, you can't book tables.

When we got there a long table for 8 was occupied by a group of 6 women, some with babies. We were doing that sort of scanning for space thing and hoping someone was about to leave, so I could see that a couple of them had cups in front of them, others didn't. Luckily a space came free behind them so we got in.
They were still there when we left an hour and a half later. In that time they ordered no food or ore drinks drink, but hung on to their couple of cups whenever the staff came to look to clear the table. Meanwhile people were arriving and hovering about trying to find somewhere to sit to eat, asking to share tables etc.
Now on the one hand maybe the serving staff should have asked them if they'd finished and kind of moved them on. But on the other, it just seemed to me they were pretty entitle/rude/pretending to be oblivious. Bit unreasonable to use a cafe as basically a warm place to meet and jiggle babies do you think?

One off or not they were being selfish. They could see other people looking for tables and didn't move. I've seen the type and I bet it wasn't a one off at all.

The defensive behavior some of the mum's were expressing, Mary, suggests that they're not regulars who do occasionally spend a bomb. I take your general point however on café owners taking a 'hit...but still, very selfish of the mum's (and other table-hoggers) when they know full well that people want to sit down and can't.

The hoggers must have known what they were doing by the very fact they held on to their empty cups when a waitress went to clear their tables. Selfish feckers.

It's always possible, Evans, that the 'yummy mummies' who hog tables would not dare invite anyone else into their houses, either because they're scared of being judged on the state of their houses or because they're terrified the kids might wreck the furniture. (None of which excuses table-hogging which is ill-mannered and inconsiderate, whether done by mums, young men or little old ladies).

You are NBU at all. Very annoying.

Am I the only one reading this who is wishing they had a baby that would let them sit for an hour and half in a cafe without kicking off. If that ever happens to me I'd probably eat all the cake they had in celebration!

they're scared of being judged on the state of their houses or because they're terrified the kids might wreck the furniture

I suspect the latter, Wol Much easier to allow the children to wreck the furniture in the coffee shop, and then let someone else do the cleaning up.

Seastar

YANBU I work in a cafe and it's very awkward to ask people to leave.

We once had to ask a man, who fell asleep in one of the chairs, if he was going to order anything (think major chain in a food hall type shop) it's not waiter/ess service, you queue at the till to order. He hadn't got anything yet.

In the end he said he was getting a toastie, bought a kids toastie and sat there for ages.

We felt sorry for him but likewise couldn't force him out.

It's a business at the end of the day, table hoggers annoy me.

Thanks everyone. I've continued my day off filled with pointless things by curling up on the sofa to watch India Jones and the Temple of Doom - one of my favourites. Tonight we will be mostly eating whatever we can find in the fridge...
Some assumptions being made that I could clear up -
I'm a regular at this cafe, different days of the week. It's a really busy business, good for them. I'd say that the main clientele during weekdays tend not to have children with them. Breakfast you sometimes see workmen who have dropped in, it's popular at any time of day with retired people, and you can see people having lunch from work there. Which is quite something as it's 5 minutes drive out of town.
There isn't a lot of space between the tables, no play area in the corner or anything, no comfy chairs for lounging and just drinking cuppas. It's geared up for eating.
Some have latched on to the fact that babies were involved here, I did say only some babies. I think there were just two.
There is no wifi, so nobody is trying to encourage those who sit for hours with a cooling cappuchino and their tablet. It's definitely not a "working from home" environment, think tables neatly set up with salt, pepper etc already on them. I've met people for work there, but over lunch or a cuppa and cake, I probably wouldn't go just for a drink.
Anyway thanks, I'm thrilled to have an AIBU going to 3 pages.

i was at a place for lunch today with a friend, and there was a queue for tables. we had finished our food, and were asked if we wanted coffee. ordered it, and was surprised to be asked to leave our table and to be moved to a "drinks only" section.

Surprised in a good way. We didn't need the proper table to just have coffee, we were moved to comfy sofas and coffee tables which were much nicer. and someone else got to have our table.

YANBU.

We have similar issues at the branch of a popular coffee chain we now call "Daycare". There's nothing at all wrong about occupying two tables for a whole morning - having purchased 2 coffees between 9 people - provided that there aren't other customers waiting. Unfortunately, there always are other people who'd quite like to sit down and drink/eat the refreshments they've bought.

I can only assume that some of the more angry defenders on this thread are actually guilty themselves.

YANBU! I would have asked the manager to move them on, just for the hell of it

We were delayed at an airport recently & the cafes were heaving. We shared with an older couple & when they finished & moved we then offered seats to a man & his children.

There was a family occupying three tables pushed together, who had clearly finished eating as there was no food to be seen, playing cards, just ignoring the folk wandering around with trays trying to find a space

If it's not bad enough that they sit at a table not buying anything, it annoys me when parents let their precious little darlings rampage round the place while they have some 'me time'. They're your bloody kids, you look after them and stop them annoying me!

'a local cafe to me had this and imposed a minimum order and maximum table stay.. as the mums and babies were ordering 1 coffee and taking so much space for hours that is was costing them a fortune. '

I have even seen this in chain cafes. Guess they are getting wise to losing revenue due to selfish people like this.

I would certainly patronise child-free cafes. Yay! Am past the baby/toddler stage and have little patience for them now.

Also saw a chain cafe with signs up saying due to hot drinks being served, parents of children running about unsupervised would be asked to leave.

Table hoggers, especially the type you describe, really get my goat. It's thoroughly selfish behaviour all round. It annoys the other customers who can't get a table, it annoys the staff and owners who see customers coming in the door and, realising it's too busy, leave to take their business elsewhere, and worst of all I'm sure it annoys the children. What 2 year old wants to sit nicely at table in a cafe for 2 hours while their parent yabbers on to their mate mainly ignoring their child? What 2 year old wants to sit there when they could be playing and discovering and exploring? Being interacted with? Properly, I mean. It's what they should be doing, FGS. If my childminder sat and did that she would get the sack. An parent or carer's responsibility is to stimulate a child's development. In my view keeping them in a cafe for that long is akin to sticking them in front of a telly for 2 hours.

I'm not saying parents shouldn't have a coffee with friends but have one or two and then leave to go elsewhere to chat where your children can be children, not pretend adults imprisoned in a coffee shop.

Incredibly selfish of those women.

This is just simply cheeky entitlement. If I was the cafe owner I'd have said either order or move on. I wish people would give a bit of thought to this kind of thing otherwise there will be none of those cafes left soon.

So the mums had drinks and the other women didn't? I interpreted your posts that it was a group if mums.
Anyway, If the cafe had a problem with it they'd have said something. Or they should have.

Loletta, I'm not sure exactly what wrong with that? Doesn't everybody do that: "you get the food, I'll get the table".
You're queuing for the food, not a table.

I saw a great sign in a cafe that said unsupervised children will be given espresso and a free kitten