Or is this odd cafe behaviour?

[EightOfHearts]

Husband and I had just taken baby for a walk and stopped off in the cafe which is in the park. We ordered some drinks and cake and sat down. It was about 3.30 and cafe doesn't shut until 5, no one else was sat in the cafe but the softplay section was full with parents coming in and out to buy drinks.

Just after we sat down one of the staff members started hovering, it was quite loud so made it a bit difficult to chat. He got so close he was literally hovering around our table to the point I had to move my feet. After about twenty minutes of this he got the mop out and did the same, noise gone but it smelt quite chemically which didn't feel great with food and baby.

I would of thought they wanted us to leave but they couldn't of closed as softplay was so full. We didn't say anything as we didn't think it was worth it but we did find it really bizarre and had a chuckle about it on the way home. Normal cafe behaviour or a bit strange?

Nooo.. she wasn't there at 6 🤔

This is pathetic service. I would write a bad review.

He shouldn't have been vacuuming or mopping right next to you.

But to the posters suggesting that people should be staying behind beyond their finish time is unreasonable because the hospitality and catering industry are one of the most poorly paid and poorly treated employees in the UK. They get paid minimum wage and are often expected to work beyond their shift unpaid. They don't get paid anymore than minimum wage for working Christmas and other public holidays, their employers very often flaunt employment law, including the working time directive.

I really dislike when customers expect minimum wage paid staff to work unpaid extra time. However, this is a management issue, as if a cafe closes at 6pm, then really, the key staff should be employed to say 6.30pm for example, to give 30mins of customer-free time to clean and cash up. The management often won't pay staff beyond the opening hours, so they are taking advantage of the staff and customers who support the management taking advantage of staff should hang their heads!

QuestionableMouse if a cafe advertises that they close at a certain time, they should stay open and accommodate customers until that time. Shops do.

Hmmm...the opening hours displayed on the front door are supposed to mean the hours of operation i.e in a coffee shop those are the hours they will be serving coffee between. Anything else comes after and staff should be paid accordingly.

I've had the same in a restaurant. Midweek, and we were the only ones there. A young woman came in and was hoovering and then laying the tables for the next night. She could've done it quietly but was really clattering the cutlery and plates. It was very off-putting.

OP, I’m sorry but I can’t help pointing out that it’s would have not would of.

I worked in retail (supermarket) and was contracted to stay an extra 30 mins after official closing time. Not everyone was but there were a few of us to serve the last customers, put the returns back, cash up etc. You would never have been able to leave at closing time so it takes advantage of minimum wage staff otherwise (we were well unionised which helped).

It was rude and YANBU.

In my local Starbucks, one of the staff members, will clean the tables people are still sitting at, with a very wet cloth and spray cleaner. I cannot express how much I dislike sitting at tables when the tabletop is wet and understandably dislike spray being used in close proximity to my coffee cup.

I hesitated before mentioning it to another staff member at one stage but nothing changed.

🙄

Yes sorry! I do know this but I often automatically put 'of' instead of have and then correct on rereading - I've obviously missed it on this occasionally along with 'hovering' despite proof reading a couple of times 🙈

I really don't think it's reasonable to expect people to work for free. Also illegal, surely, if that would reduce wage to below legal minimum. It's poor management, I wouldn't expect someone to hoover around customers.

The Costa near me corrals the chairs to stop you sitting down from about half four onwards (they close at six). Went in once around 4,45, was about to order when I realised there was only one table as all others had been ‘fenced’ and someone was sat at it. Went to move a chair to sit at another table and was told the section was closed. Asked where I could to sit to drink my coffee and eat my cake (hadn’t yet ordered, DH was headed to the counter) and was told I’d be given a take away cup.
Politely declined and left, never darkened its doors again but I’ve walked past a few times at the same time and they seem to do it nightly. I walk past to the nice independent coffee shop up the road now who don’t try and make you feel as unwelcome as possible 90 minutes before closing.

Do you generally have problems with impulse control or are you just a bit of a twat?

When I worked in retail we frequently cleaned and tidied in the last hour of the day to make sure we could all get out on time!

Hoovering, dusting and counting tills all started at 5pm for a 6pm finish - it's very normal.

Hoovering, dusting and counting tills all started at 5pm for a 6pm finish - it's very normal.

It's normal but there are ways of doing closing jobs early without customers feeling like they are being ushered out of the door before they've even swallowed their last mouthful of coffee.

When I worked in a cafe we would do as much of our cleaning list as possible as long as it was away from occupied tables and as we got into the last hour or so as people left we would clean the tables and stack the chairs on top (so we could mop later on) as they left so nobody new would use them or would only use certain tables in one area, but we'd always leave at least a couple of tables free for late walk ins, we weren't going to risk people feeling like we didn't want their custom.

If the cafe is closing at 6pm then there is no need to be stopping people from having a proper cup and plate from 4:30, that is far too early especially when they'll be using commercial dishwashers who usually have cycles lasting less than 10 minutes so 90mins before closing leaves ample time for a couple more dish cycles.

5:30 onwards perhaps, with an explanation of "You are welcome to sit in to drink your coffee but it's policy to provide it in a to go cup in the last half hour before we close." I work in a supermarket and our onsite cafe does this, slso in the last half an hour of opening the menu is restricted to basic things like toast/cakes so they can get ahead with closing duties but still provide customers with decent service.

Are you for real? The advertised opening hours, on a sign literally next to my head where I was sitting, are until 6pm on a Saturday. I was there at 5.35 when the manager sent a guy round to tell everyone they were closing, about 5 tables of people maybe 15 people in total. We all shuffled out and I was the last person to leave (because I went to the loo as I was bursting and had a drive) at 5.44pm!

This is unreasonable. They need to stay open during their advertised opening hours and not start clearing up HOURS before then, never mind turfing people out 15 minutes before. When I worked in retail as a student in many different cafes and restaurants, including fast food places, contracted hours for some staff each shiftvwere an hour later than advertised closing time to clear up. It's simply poor management and a tight franchisee not wanting to pay for enough staff to work enough hours.

Would you expect a Michelin star restaurant to start hoovering around you while you were still eating? I don't think so.

It's really crap. If they can only afford to pay their staff till a certain time they should have a sign up saying open for eat in 10-4.30, open for take away 10-5pm.

Being asked to leave at 5:44 when they close at 6 shouldn't annoy you - even though the customers might have all gone there's still usually loads to do before closing the store! The dining area has to be mopped, bins emptied and cleaned, machines all cleaned, toilets done, tills cashed up and probably more I'm not thinking of!

Whatever time they close there is surely going to be some work to be done before leaving, so they pay the staff for that time. If they only want to pay the staff until a certain time then they shut earlier. However, they don't advertise they are open until a certain time and then kick people out earlier. It's not rocket science!

If you are talking about me leaving late most days, no-one asked me to! I just wasn't prepared to start doing all the leaving procedures too early. As I said, I would then not feel guilty about being late on the odd occasion.

If you are talking about the likes of a cafe, then surely they can close earlier (and advertise that earlier time) to allow the staff to get the cleaning done.

I'm not in the UK, but it seems to me that you have a more rigid work culture over there. In my last two jobs management have been very flexible about time off, if you needed to go out and do something in work time you could - within reason of course!

Exactly! As I said, it's not rocket science.

I do not understand why people in these situations don't speak up!

You'd paid for your drinks and cake and were entitled to consume them in peace!

I was annoyed at one cafe who said though they were open til 4 they had last orders at 3.30. That's fine if they say so - but they didn't. Still doesn't excuse cleaning the floors around a customer.
Posted hours of business are just that - if they want the customers out before they won't be making any money anyway so why not state the hours they are prepared to set e customers and close with half an hour to do final clean up?

That was just rude and they could have started further away from you and not right beside you when you just sat down with your drinks and cake. When I was younger would not say anything but now I would politely say please can you start the other side as just having our coffee and cake and the smell is making me feel sick and it is rude. Understand they want to get out the door on time as probably paid crap wages and do not get paid after closing time. When really if a cafe wants place clean should pay staff for 30 mins extra to do a quick floor clean or clean when it is quiet in there. It was like they were trying to hurry you up to get out when in fact you had just sat down, staff getting ruder and ruder by the day. Good ye had a laugh about it as life too short to be fuming ha!!

How do you think tables get cleaned in between customers ? Honestly some customers are so precious .