Laptops banned in cafe

[Pricklylikethecactus]

A cafe in Canterbury has banned laptops after people asked staff to be quiet when they were on zoom calls, asked for the music to be turned off and generally ruined the atmosphere. They also said that these customers blocked tables, that could be used by more profitable customers as many of these people would just by a £3 coffee and keep the table for several hours.

I’ve worked from cafes from time to time, but always try to make sure I spend a some money periodically-even if it is a cake to take home or an extra coffee to pay my way, but I do see others just paying for a single drink.

Is this cafe in Canterbury right, are these people taking the piss? And do you ever do this and find somewhere to work for several hours and only spend a tiny amount-and why is that ok? These places are trying to run a business after all.

Aren't they supposed to be at work?

Why should you have your choice of venues in which to do paid work? I know people here get annoyed at managers making them come back to the office, but if this sort of thing is going on perhaps some of them aren't quite as 'productive' as they might like to think.

If you are not conducting meetings, why don’t you go to the library?

People who travel around for work meeting people in their own home are often encouraged to go to cafes to do paperwork. They do not wfh. And there is either no office, or one too far away to go back to in between visits. A lot of these workers are low paid so are not going to hire workspace.

Sadly many are closed, have limited opening times when open, and are completely antithetical to working. My local when it was open was more like a creche.

Our local library has become like a creche, especially during working hours. They refurbished it to make it child friendly and open plan so lots of mums take their toddlers there during the day. It really is not a place to work.

A few years ago I was upstairs in a cafe during my lunch break. I’d spent about a tenner on a lunch, a slice of cake and a hot drink. I’d finished eating and was reading a book; still had about half of my drink left and had another 10 minutes before I needed to go back to work.

Two people were sort of hovering by my table and one of them said with some degree of impatience “Excuse me, are you about to leave?” I said “Sorry, but I haven’t finished my drink yet so I’ll be here a bit longer” to which he said “Well, some of NEED these tables FOR MEETINGS.”

What a tosser. It’s a cafe, mate, not a serviced office.

It’s not meant to be a place to work. That’s what offices are for.

Encouraged by whom?

Cafes are private businesses. It's not their job to subsidise cheapskate employers.

Some people who wfh are living in flatshares with little space or privacy so taking their laptop to a cafe makes sense.

If you can't expect quiet in a library, where can you? Libraries were once a place people could study, not just uni students but school students who don't have a quiet place at home, night students, people who just wanted to learn. Some libraries had reading rooms, some still do. I think it would be great if there were free places for people to still do this. Especially for those who do not have homes in which they can study, it was so hard for me as a student.

If their home working conditions are inadequate, they need to look for a different job or ask their employers to help.

And a cafe is a strange place to go in search of 'privacy'. Confidentiality rules seem to have gone out the window since the pandemic.

I think it's a:shame they've banned laptops because of a few CFs. I sometimes go into to cafes for a coffee and cake and look at my laptop but am not working and am not there any longer than I would be normally. It's a shame that a few CFs have spoilt things for everyone else.

If you want to sit in a cafe all day you have to buy things throughout the day. You should not be taking work calls or be on zoom etc meetings. You certainly can't expect people around you to alter their behaviour because you are working!

NHS and at least one Local Authority.

It's ridiculous to have a meeting or whatever that requires conditions to be changed to cater for it. I've often held casual meetings in cafes or restaurants, but it's the same as having a conversation. If one needs quiet or (and I think this is relevant as I did hear a job candidate discussing what one could consider private details) privacy then do it at home/office/more appropriate setting.
And as for just sitting there working, that's fine but don't table hog when busy. If the place becomes crowded it's maddening - I'm quite capable of asking someone at a table of four if I can share the table though, whether they are working or not.

My point stands. Private businesses are not obliged to subsidise employers who are unwilling to provide employees with appropriate resources to do their work.

I agree. There used to be lots of older school pupils in our local library doing homework. I studied for my GCSEs in the local library. Not everyone lives in a big house.

All the more reason for cafes to clamp down. Those organisations need to supply office space, that’s what their taxpayer funding is supposed to cover.

Our main library was under refurbishment when I was doing my A Levels. I could not afford to go to coffee shops. It was very hard. I had neighbours who smoked weed and played loud music all the time and home was not a place I could study.

@blossomtoes Have you any idea how cash strapped they are?
Anyway paying for office space makes zero difference. This is workers who are travelling around visiting people in their home. If they had to go to the office in between each visit to do paperwork, they7 would make way less visits.
I think you have zero understanding of these low paid workers realities.

Good on the Cafe owners. In Gibraltar some place charge you for using the electricity to charge your phone or laptop and rightly so.

How did these cash strapped organisations cope before Covid made wfh common?

It’s up to them really. I didn’t realise it was a problem because I WFH for the last 4 years but haven’t once worked in a cafe except once for a few hours at the southbank private members cafe (I was a member)

My local coffee shops are full of dogs which in this weather often smell of wetness and the tables aren’t always that clean so tbh I’m not thrilled at the idea of taking a laptop in.

I end up being more comfortable at mine and I’ve learnt to make a mean coffee with my milk foamer lol, but I appreciate others may be flatsharing or have kids at home etc so maybe that’s why they want out which is understandable.

However it’s massively entitled to be telling others to be quiet for your zoom calls or taking up a lot of space when there are people needing a table! But usually when I’ve seen people work at cafe, they’re not at capacity anyway. At least not from what I’ve noticed.

It’s not the point though. Cafes (or any other business, or other people going about their daily lives) shouldn’t be expected to put themselves out to make the difficult position these people’s employers have put them in better. It’s for the employer to properly resource the role, not for everybody else to subsidize the cheapskate employer.

Good for them. I don't want to sit in an "office" when meeting friends for coffee and cake.

There was one unfortunate person actually having a job interview at the next table the other day. We could all hear every word.

Those people (the customers) are behaving outrageously and I don't blame the cafe for banning them.
Taking zoom calls is ridiculous!
I can see why people might want to work in a cafe but is it necessary? Is there not somewhere else they can take calls?
It a shame that's its been ruined for anyone else that wants to use a laptop and behave properly.

I have never worked in a cafe but I did used to spend every Tueaday sitting in soft play on a laptop. It was the day I got everything done. My child was occupied, I had paid for a day's entry, I bought coffee and lunch for us both and I don't need to take zoom calls. I used to hide in the toilets if I needed a phone call but I never blamed anyone else for disturbing me.