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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Working at a cafe without buying anything

200 replies

Overthebow · 04/03/2022 07:52

Yesterday I was at a cafe and a lady came in and sat down, set up her laptop and books and started to work. She had taken a glass of the free water but hadn’t bought anything. AIBU to think she was a CF?

OP posts:

rainbowmash · 04/03/2022 10:22

She might have been a staff member. When I worked in a cafe when I was younger, we didn't have an office so the boss would set up on one of the tables with her laptop during a quiet bit of the day. If I saw someone doing this, I'd assume they were a manager doing the admin.

MrsSkylerWhite · 04/03/2022 10:22

She may have been the owner.

Seedandyarn · 04/03/2022 10:22

I suspect she sat down next you to make it look like she was a paying customer.

Georgyporky · 04/03/2022 10:23

She might be the owner.

CailleachGranda · 04/03/2022 10:25

@girlmom21

How do the cafes make any money and pay their staff if this is the case?

Because most customers are full paying customers and use the cafe for its intended purpose - clearly. They just won't turf people out who can't afford to. It creates a loyal customer base - those who can afford to support the local community and those who'll pay back kindness when they can afford to.

...meanwhile, back in the real world...

girlmom21 · 04/03/2022 10:28

Again, @CailleachGranda I'm sorry you live in an area where people don't give a shit about each other.

DottyHarmer · 04/03/2022 10:29

So, @girlmom21 et al, if these people are so down on their luck they can’t buy one coffee (but have a laptop) why aren’t they in, as others have said, a library or church which offer free shelter and Wi-Fi? Why select an independent cafe? Or any cafe, come to that. I simply do not believe that a cafe would choose to fill all their seats with people on laptops not buying anything and see potential customers open the door, see no places and leave.

rainbowmash · 04/03/2022 10:32

@girlmom21

Again, *@CailleachGranda* I'm sorry you live in an area where people don't give a shit about each other.

I'm glad you have experience of a cafe which can somehow afford to pitch itself as a free community day care centre for the underprivileged, but this is really, really not the norm. It would be incredibly damaging for most cafés, especially small independent cafés, to do this - and not only because they're losing the price of a cappuccino.

girlmom21 · 04/03/2022 10:33

@DottyHarmer you know lots of people have lost their jobs due to this little pandemic, right, so might be using a laptop (you're allowed to keep your things when you're down on your luck) to job hunt.

Most workplaces will also provide a laptop for, you know, work.

For all OP knows this woman knows the people at the cafe/has asked for permission to be there/works there. We simply do not know why she was there.

Chimchiminie · 04/03/2022 10:34

I feel bad if I just buy a coffee and eke it out over hours – usually end up buying food to justify being there.

Not buying anything at all is cheeky as fuck.

BooksAndHooks · 04/03/2022 10:36

Most cafes I know ask you to buy something each hour or so if staying for a prolonged time. Or they have an option to pay a certain amount to work at a table which includes a certain number of drinks etc.

babyjellyfish · 04/03/2022 10:36

The cafe should have asked her to leave.

JustLyra · 04/03/2022 10:37

Cafe staff are generally on the ball with noticing people sitting at tables for long periods. If they didn’t challenge her or move her on then they likely know her.

crochetmonkey74 · 04/03/2022 10:39

I do agree with PP about independent cafes though- don't think I would ever hog a table at an independent - I'd choose a Pret, Costa or Starbucks for that

sillysmiles · 04/03/2022 10:43

@girlmom21

It depends on her circumstances - which none of us know.

What circumstances would make it ok?

girlmom21 · 04/03/2022 10:46

@sillysmiles it's fine if she works there, or is waiting for someone to arrive before she orders, or she's explained her circumstances and asked if it's ok and been given permission

mudgetastic · 04/03/2022 10:48

The circumstances where the cafe owner is happy with it

Unless the cafe owner needs the seat for others they don't lose by having people in the cafe

user1497207191 · 04/03/2022 10:50

It's up to the owners/management of the cafe to take whatever action THEY think best. She may be a regular customer who normally buys things but didn't that one occasion? She may be a relative/friend of the owners, or even staff? Not sure why it's any of another customer's business really.

NippyWoowoo · 04/03/2022 10:50

@girlmom21

It depends on her circumstances - which none of us know.

there are libraries for 'circumstances'

Alrightqueenie · 04/03/2022 10:52

If you can't afford or don't want to buy then you can work from a public library. Cafés need to earn money, they're not a charity or a free public service like a library.

LindaEllen · 04/03/2022 10:52

@girlmom21

It depends on her circumstances - which none of us know.

Unless the circumstance was that she's related to the owner of the cafe, who had given her permission - it doesn't depend.

CapMarvel · 04/03/2022 10:52

@DottyHarmer

So, *@girlmom21* et al, if these people are so down on their luck they can’t buy one coffee (but have a laptop) why aren’t they in, as others have said, a library or church which offer free shelter and Wi-Fi? Why select an independent cafe? Or any cafe, come to that. I simply do not believe that a cafe would choose to fill all their seats with people on laptops not buying anything and see potential customers open the door, see no places and leave.

Coffee shop local to me is perfectly happy for people to sit on otherwise empty tables weekday afternoons and use wifi or chat out of the cold whilst nursing a glass of water or a cup of tea for hours. Often used by OAPS or people hunting for jobs etc as it's in a not especially affluet area. They are mobbed at lunchtime and at weekends so they must be doing something right.

Some places care as much about a sense of community than they do about £££.

Skiptheheartsandflowers · 04/03/2022 10:52

@mudgetastic

The circumstances where the cafe owner is happy with it

Unless the cafe owner needs the seat for others they don't lose by having people in the cafe

It means they need to clean tables more. It means paying customers who are nervous about more crowded places after CovId might decide not to come in. There are costs to any action.

Frazzled50yrold · 04/03/2022 10:53

My local garden centre has put up a sign banning laptops for this reason. They removed half their tables during covid a d say they have a lot of elderly customers who call during the day and stay for lunch or a coffee. They couldn't get a table because of the number of laptop users. The staff now actively intervene when anyone attempts to set up.

girlmom21 · 04/03/2022 10:54

I've literally said "it depends on her circumstances which we don't know" and people are responding saying "well unless x, y, z she shouldn't be there" and trying to argue. You're literally saying the same thing as me...

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