To think that campers in cafes are really, really annoying?

[LinnettdeBelleforte]

By 'campers' I mean people who sit for ages and ages after they have finished their drinks, either talking on the phone or on zoom on their laptops, or just chatting, while other people are wanting to sit down?
I was in a coffee shop today which is quite small and very popular. It's a bit cramped, but beautifully furnished, spotlessly clean, the coffee is great and the staff are lovely, so it's always heaving. I dropped in for a quick one this afternoon to find it heaving, so I said I'd wait for a table. There were four tables of people who were just sitting with empty cups. I waited for ten minutes and was about to give up when finally one couple got up and left. I then grabbed the table, which I shared with two gentlemen who had also been waiting. The woman next to us who had also been camping took the hint after about five minutes and left. I ordered my coffee and drank it over the course of about fifteen minutes. Over that time, one man was sitting on his laptop with an empty mug the whole time, one girl on her phone was the same. People kept coming in and then giving up, I drank up and left. The staff kept looking meaningfully at the campers who just blanked them. If I had been running the place, I would have a notice saying that at busy periods, people are required to vacate the table if they are not ordering.

Cafes round me, especially one, are predominantly campers on their laptops but they stay there a few hours and order several coffees. Other cafes are campers of mum's and babies, each get a coffee and cake and stay an hour tops. It's either that or people getting take out and walking. We do have at least 7 coffee shops in our small market town though so there isn't a monopoly and if one is busy there will be space at another.
If I was in your shoes I would have asked to sit at a campers table, that usually sends the message without saying "go now please" 😂 but yes they need a sign.

Up to cafe owners. I saw one had sign saying

Special rate for long stay £x unlimited coffee book table for four hours

Otherwise Implication is you leave in reasonable time

Cafes and restaurants need turn over to stay in business. These people are not only ruining it for others, they're actively making it harder for them to stay in business if people just 'give up' and go elsewhere due to this behaviour.

i know the word camping from call of duty games, but then i get bored waiting and go rambo instead, then its usually oh pickles by then

I don't think it's acceptable when there's clearly a constant queue and the room is full of people eating and drinking or waiting to do so. If it's that busy they really should go elsewhere. Also it would be hard to concentrate.

If someone's there working when it's busy, they've finished their drink, then they should move to a smaller table, to ensure they're only occupying one space. Then when there's a lull in the queue order another drink or leave.

I reckon you should try and take at least one drink every hour or so if possible.

But if the place is really quiet then sitting while working is reasonable. As long as you are polite and do buy some stuff.

I think I'd have a numbered manual timer behind the counter for each customer or group. 45 minutes (or whatever) to vacate table/seat then the buzzer goes off for that table number. Off you trot. Big sign saying this obviously.

I can just see it now, four strangers sharing a table all arriving at different times, four buzzers going off. Complaints of "But I'm not finished, it's not faaaiiirr" and so on LOL. However I'm sure some genius could come up with a fair and decent method of getting the wasters out when they are finished!

They weren't enjoying a drink for half an hour. They were sitting with an empty mug for half an hour.

I think first come first served in cafes tbh. Sounds like they could do with another cafe in your area!

I think if I were the manager I'd either have a designated large table for all the laptop fuckers to congregate on (ie this table or nowhere), or put a sign up saying laptops only after 2pm / whenever. One near me has done the latter.

Actually I would say it’s up to cafe staff to decide what their approach should be.
they may want to move people on, they may be happy enough with their takings and don’t feel it necessary. It’s up to them.

Do you work in said cafe? On a laptop I mean, not serving!

Just been working in my local Nero today, I know that's not an independent, but they have a good system. There's an area at the back that is all single, fairly densely packed tables, where the workers all go. There are plug sockets. It's out of sight of the rest of the cafe and a bit darker. The rest is much brighter and nicer with sofas etc.

No one has ever told me any rules or requirements but everyone knows. If you want to work you go to the back, be quiet (so everyone else can work) and order something pretty regularly. You get 4 hours free wifi and most people leave by that long, though you can stay all day if you want.

I know it means someone else might not get a seat but the separate areas mean no one really wants to go in the "other" area.

There's another cafe nearby that bans laptops. There's a sign on every table saying no laptops. It's usually almost empty.

However if they or any other cafe wanted to offer a workers' deal where you pay per hour or something and get x coffees, I'd happily pay for that. The trouble is enforcing it for people who don't want to play along, and I can see why cafe owners wouldn't want to get into an argument.

There are loads in my area. First come first served is fine for people who are actually ordering, not for people who aren't ordering any more and just taking up space that could be used by paying customers.

I frequently attempt to go to cafes on my lunch break, only to find that there are no tables free for people who actually want to eat, because the tables are full of people with empty coffee cups.

Those tossers and working from home will finish off our High Street. They will succeed where shopping centres failed.

when you have paid almost a fiver for coffee it is perfectly okay to stay for a while to chat or read you are not just buying coffee you are buying time and ambience to ask people to move when they have not even been there 30 minutes is a bit much. When I met a friend for coffee cake and a chat. I would usually be an hour, but we would have something to eat not just two tiny espressos.

for a cafe a regular who comes every day and camps for 2-3 hours and spends £10+ is much better bet than someone coming once a week. some cafes make it plain you can only be at a table between 12-2 if you are having food, tables are for an hour at this time. other places usually a bit more than a cafe say 90 minutes with a meal or pre-theatre type of stuff they want 2 sitting at lunch and dinner.

Yeah, the lone men with laptops who sit at a table for six are prominent campers!

I will always keep ordering drinks if I want to stay and work somewhere. I also have no problem just sitting down at a table occupied by one other person with an empty mug. Occasionally people try 'someone's sitting there' (who, the invisible man?) but 'That's ok, I'll move when they come back' sorts that.

Not 30 minutes total. 30 minutes with an empty mug and not ordering anything else. That's what is meant.

I know, but they’ve paid for the facility to sit and enjoy their drink. Half an hour after finishing a coffee to do that is very reasonable.

I wouldn’t call someone sitting for 30-40 mins a camper.

I’m not much of a coffee drinker but I take my mum out to a cafe sometimes and I would not encourage her to get up.

Thats up to the cafe though isnt it?

Its actually nicely furnished etc, so it's lending itself really to people who want to sit and spend time and use it to work or just relax.
Some places have more of a canteen type thing or have takeaway cups if it's busy.
The idea of loads of people just standing drinking coffee in a cafe tutting at the people who are not quick enough, seems bizarre to me.

If theres nowhere to sit at a certain cafe, I would suggest going to a different one, as glaring daggers at the people already there is rude.

I'm sorry, but I would. It is just not reasonable to sit for that long with an empty cup, shouting on a zoom call, when there are people there that would pay money. It is CFery.

Oh sorry i thought you meant 2 were hogging the big table

A lot of places welcome them - super regulars (3 times a week) buying not that much each day are actually often what keeps a cafe afloat. Small income consistency is very useful when footfall fluctuates

What is rude is sitting there hogging a table, watching people who could be making money for the cafe, while you sit there all entitled because you are just so special. As I say, these people did get the message in the end because enough of us were there tutting, and it was clear that the staff wanted them to move on as well. I predict a rule change for this cafe in the near future.

Oh no, we all piled on to the table and stared incredulously at their books!