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.

@PullTheBricksDown I think if you have ordered 2 cappuchinos and 2 cakes for 2 people it is fine to stay for an hour at coffee time, even if you have finished drinking as it's paying for social time just like dinner, however ordering a coffee only at 11.55 and no food and sitting through lunch with no food is bad form, but if I met someone for coffee and a chat I think to sit in costa or a proper cafe for an hour is fine ( 2 people on a 2 person table not a 6 person table) if my friend met and there was no free tables at cafe A we would just go to cafe b or c I won't expect anyone to jumpup and move on the minute they have finished just because someone else is there. different cafes have different vibes so are quick buy cheapfood eat and go , others are met your friends enjoy your time eat drink and take your time or go alone and read a book, for some people £5 on a coffee is a drop in the ocean for others it might be a weekly / monthly treat to be savoured not rushed.

Well the staff need to be trained to interact, a cheery finished with this would you like another? No ? Ok well we'll be needing the table as we're busy thankyou. Simples

Gobsmacked by this thread. I wouldn't even bother with a cafe that was so packed that I couldn't sit for a bit and chat to a friend or read a book. But Brits clearly have no idea about cafe culture. Come in, drink your coffee and get out within half an hour. What on earth is the point?

Electric chair, with a small electric shock rigged up or possibly a full on ejector seat lol. Totally reasonable. Now picturing the Gremlins hot-wiring the stannah chair lift and sending told girl through the roof!

It’s for the staff to manage really, if they weren’t happy they could have gone over and started clearing the empties, asking if they wanted anything else etc. There are ways to jolly people along politely, maybe they are thinking of return business and don’t want people to feel rushed but if other customers are obviously waiting in a very small space, the camping customers might just be the oblivious types!

I suppose everyone has their own idea of what is a reasonable amount of time.

I don’t go to cafes much so my perspective maybe be different / off.

I did meet my friend for a coffee on a rainy day a few weeks ago and we would easily have lost track of time I think.

The cafe owners should have some sort of notice about those who work on laptops or phones during busy periods. I live near a university city, and one of the popular independent cafes has a sign on every table asking people not to use laptops during busy periods. To be fair, I have been several times where I have had to queue, and most people there are NOT just on their phones or laptops.

There are plenty of chains that allow people to do just that, and some even encourage it with discounts, so they could go there instead.

Same 🤦‍♀️😂

It's also odd to sit with an obviously empty cup/mug/plate.
The tactic if you wish to dawdle is clearly eating and drinking incredibly slowly, ensuring there's always that little corner of sandwich, that last few mils of coffee, those couple of straggly chips.
Anxious looking staff member approaches..
'are you finished?'
'oh, not quite yet'. You respond with an innocent smile.
Gawd at least if you're gonna do it, do it right?! 🤣

YANBU. It appalls me that people can be so inconsiderate.

I was once in Borders bookshop cafe, with my three young kids and pensioner mother. I’d purchased books in the store. Then spent a considerable amount in the cafe on sandwiches, crisps, cake and drinks. We then had to stand there waiting, juggling two full trays, a pushchair and the hungry kids. While various entitled twerps continued to occupy tables with long-empty coffee cups, reading the bookstore’s books, as if they were in a library.

What irked me most was the staff saw us standing waiting and didn’t say a word to any of the campers. It was only when I asked where we could sit to drink the coffees (in china cups) they’d sold us, that they reluctantly asked someone to move. I never went there again. Poor customer service.

I guess it can be a cold, hard business decision. Do cafes tolerate campers, even though it drives further customers away, because they’re regulars, who spend considerable (and reliable) amounts over the course of a week? Or is it poor business in not maximising customer turnover?

Most places have a no laptop sign between their busy hours. Any independent won’t last long if not.

A small cafe near us has signs on the tables saying that during busy periods, customers are asked to limit their stays to 45 minutes (not the exact wording, but that's the gist of it).

They only have a few tables so they really can't accommodate campers at lunchtime, for example. If it's a choice between a small business going bust or drinking up and making space, surely most customers would understand the reasoning.

Sounds like you wouldn't be very welcoming if you ran a cafe !

And I would say: no, not right now. Maybe they have bought a coffee every 30 mins for all you know and lunch and a pastry.

I would be very welcoming-to paying customers. Not to CFs who think that buying one coffee entitles them to take up a table for ages while they are on some zoom call. I would be very happy to frequent such a place. As with relationships, laying boundaries only repels CFs and entitled people. Decent people are happy with fair rules.

This is on the people standing up. Clearly a table with that many chairs is a table meant to be shared.

You sound a bit Brexity in your last sentence! You have no idea the number of coffees/ sandwiches or pastries the people sitting there consumed before you arrived. Take a step back, maybe have one fewer coffees and calm down !

A coffee shop near me has a sign that says an hour per drink ordered. I think that is more the reasonable. I think even 45 minutes is even reasonable. I go to the coffee shop to drink expensive coffee relax and read. Not to drink and jump up and leave

@Kossak That's the point though, if you walked into a cafe and decided not to stay because you couldn't anywhere to sit, they'd lose your business. Cafes operate on slim margins; they can't afford for potential customers to walk out like that.

It's fine to take your time if it's not busy but very unfair to hog space if the cafe is losing customers.

The staff kept looking meaningfully at the campers who just blanked them
They should just take their empty cups/plates away so they are sitting there with nothing. Hopefully give them a push to move on

Then they must have lowish footfall and/or be fairly spacious. That wouldn't work where I am.

I think it's also to do with price point I think somewhere that does a coffee and bacon roll for £5 it is reasonable to expect rapid turnover, however when the smallest coffee is 3.75 and cakes £4 and a basic sandwich £6+ it is reasonable to be able to stay an hour ( not 2-3) but as I said before it might make good business sense to let joe Bloggs who buys a large coffee at 10.30 and lunch at 12 to sit on his laptop from 10-2 everyday

Brexity? Jesus now I've heard it all. You sound like the person who says that we are all too plebian and British to appreciate 'cafe culture'.

Honestly, I don’t possess the bad manners it takes to do this.
Just like I don’t have the bad manners to make a pregnant woman or disabled person stand if I’m sitting or loudly talk through a film or scream at a service provider and so on and so forth.
I despair at the lack of respect in today’s society.

Same. And good analogy.