I know I'm not being U but why do people do this???

[KiraL]

I own a small cafe. The other day a couple came in and ordered 2 teas. Fine. They sat for 2 hours on their laptops. Also fine as I don’t mind this if we’re not too busy.

One of them then went across the road to Sainsbury’s and bought sandwiches/ crisps etc which they then proceeded to eat in my cafe.

I was gobsmacked as I obviously sell sandwiches/ soup/ everything that a cafe sells as the sole purpose of operating as a cafe.

I asked them very politely if they would mind not eating food purchased elsewhere to which they were highly offended and have now left me a tripadvisor rating of “poor” because I made them feel “uncomfortable.”

WTF?

I used to work for Costa and hated this! It is very damaging to large-chain companies, so I can't imagine what it must be like for an independent cafe. It's just so rude! Well done for handling it so well OP, towards the end of my time there I'd get quite snappy, and would ask them if they'd take a pizza from Pizza Hut into Frankie & Benny's...it's just not on. Hope your reply on TripAdvisor resolves things. All the best OP

Oh wow- pure rudeness. I like studying in coffee shops, but only stay longer in the larger branded ones with more than one floor.I wouldn't buy other food though. Reply to the review.

CF bastards. I'm glad to see you're going to reply to them.

Taking your own food into Starbucks/Costa/Cafe Nero: Fine.

Disagree, I don't think it's any more acceptable if it's a chain. Only time it's acceptable imo is if it's an allergy reason which isn't catered for by the cafe.

most cafes etc have notices only to eat food which is purchased there now i know why

I don't think it's ok to take your own food into chain coffee shops either!

As a side note, toolazytothinkofausername just to let you know, from working at Costa, if there is a store inspection and a customer is seen with food from elsewhere, the staff could face disciplinary action. Not many people are aware of this and think it's fine as they are big chains, but it can be a risk for staff.
I agree with tizwozliz, we also let people with young children have their own snack foods as there wasn't much to offer in our store, but that was a personal choice, and we didn't have much gluten free/nut free items either so they were ok.

I once caught a lady with a massive M&S pie dessert of some kind who glared at me. Also had a lot of people coming in with subways, chippy's, Greggs etc. Honestly, customers have no respect sometimes....

Dear cheeky fucker Customer, I'm sorry you felt uncomfortanle at my cafe. I had thought we had been very accommodating allowing you to stay for two hours having only bought one tea each; however, buying food elsewhere to eat in my cafe, when I sell sandwiches and cakes for consumption on the premises was, I felt, taking things a little far. I asked you not to eat your supermarket bought food here and thought I had been calm and polite, so I don't really understand what made you uncomfortable. Yours etc

Oh yes do a polite but pass agg reply to these gits! No idea how people have the cheek..shameless

I hear you OP. I work in an independent cafe and we have to ask people to not eat their own food on an almost daily basis, despite having signs.
We've had people come in and sit down with a Costa takeaway cup, a bag from McDonalds, their own pack lunches... We have a 5* hygiene rating, a wide variety of gluten and dairy free foods on the menu, there is absolutely no need for people to bring their own food.
And what really galls is that we are a social enterprise and all our profits go to local community charities. These people are just CF and don't give a shit.

I would absolutey respond. No right thinking person would purchase food elsewhere then expect to sit and eat it in a cafe! Freeloaders.

If I read a response detailing what had happened here, I'd probably be more likely to visit the cafe.

Cfs indeed but I think you need to make the point clear that they specifically left your eating establishment to go to a supermarket to buy stuff & then come back to your cafe to eat it!

As the owner you have the right to reply, use it. If you make it witty or scathing enough it will attract some media coverage too, even if it’s only local news.
They are cf. yanbu.

That’s rude and I am glad you left a polite and professional response. Anyone reading that review and response will see they were just complaining because they think they’re precious.

I’ve seen signs in some places about no outside food, so I suppose it’s not uncommon. I’ve also seen places that change their WiFi passwords every couple of hours to discourage campers.

You need to turn your Wifi off! What a pair of twonks.

Can't just turn WiFi off, as it's a great incentive for customers, and other customers might be using it legitimately. Yes, there are more complex systems for managing available time on WiFi, but for the moment I'm assuming it's a simple cafe with simple free WiFi.

Snorkpods reply is perfect!

I also agree that you shouldn’t make your reply witty or passive aggressive.

Also it’s NOT ok to eat your own food in any coffee shop even if it’s Starbucks or whatever.

OP, if you have a problem with people sitting around not buying things but using your internet you could always set up a system where customers only have free internet for one hour or whatever.

Non snarky response - keep it short and factual. Tossers.

Taking your own food into Starbucks/Costa/Cafe Nero: Fine.

No not fine.
Even M&S cafe only lets you eat cafe food not bought in the same store

Taking your own food into Starbucks/Costa/Cafe Nero: Fine.

Taking your own food into a small independent cafe: DISGRACEFUL!!!

Why is it fine to rip off a large chain? They're still a business and they'll still make the profit they want to make, they'll just charge accordingly, so people like you just increase the prices for people who'll legitimately buy their food.

I think ripping anyone off, however big they are, is stealing and not fine under any circumstances.

OP, I'd read your reply and completely understand how outrageously this pair behaved, so don't worry. It's very annoying that their review will put your overall score down though, I'm so sorry. I do think you should try to explain briefly and gently that you'd go out of business if everyone did this and perhaps that it also invalidates your insurance, if it does.

Also agree that Snorkpod’s reply is perfect.

It’s professional and polite, which at the end of the day is the service you are selling (as well as food and drink obvs).

If I read that review I’d write them off as knobs.

Would not dream of doing this in an independent cafe although I do admit have done it very occasionally in Costa and the like before. Reason being is because of my work, I'm never sure of where I'll find myself at lunch time so being my own food. Also, I'm vegan and Costa just does not cater for vegans. If it's warm enough then I'll buy a takeaway coffee and eat my lunch outside somewhere but if it's pouring/freezing, I'm not left with many options.

The only time I’ve ever brought food into a cafe has been baby food- even then I felt rude, ordered more tea than I drank and tipped extra because the cafe was so accommodating. Bloody hell.

Leave a reply, feckin freeloaders!

Cheeky bloody sods! How rude and stupid. How on earth did they think it was acceptable to eat supermarket food in a cafe?

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