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.

true, fair points on that

I don't care. I will happily 'breathe down the neck' of self centred, entitled people who think that everyone else in an npc (as was so beautifully expressed by a previous poster) If you are sitting with an empty cup, you are not a customer, nor does hearing someone on a zoom call 'enhance the experience' of any other customer. Why is it only the campers who are entitled to take up space? I am happy to put these entitled people in their place, if there was more public shaming of bad behaviour we would live in a better society.

I agree with this.

What happened to third spaces being important?

Everyone who came in after needs to go somewhere else - it’s full, try again a bit later or better luck next time.

It’s not ‘only the campers’ who are entitled to a table. Cafes work either on first come first serve basis or an ability to prebook tables. Not other customers policing how long customers are allowed to stay following an order, based on their feelings. If a cafe has set out a no laptop rule or a policy that customers can only stay at a table for X time then customers are being entitled arseholes to not follow that. If those expectations aren’t communicated then different people will have different attitudes of what is acceptable in a cafe. If the staff do want to address it, they need signs or clear communication not ‘meaningful look’ which I probably wouldn’t notice because I don’t spend my time in a cafe eyes locked with the barista.

I see part of what I pay for when I go to a cafe (vs making a coffee from home) is the opportunity to spend some relaxed time in a nice environment. I was in a cafe at the weekend, ordered a hot chocolate and slice of cake and spent some time reading my book. Not taking the piss, I probably spent 45 minutes there and left before 12:00 so I wasn’t there for the lunchtime rush. But the idea of going to a cafe to chug my drink and leave as soon as the empty cup has hit saucer just isn’t appealing. Especially as I drink hot drinks quickly (I’ve often finished mine before anyone else at the table has started).

Yes, I've done that before also. It raises eyebrows, but they don't dare say anything. Fine by me 😁

There has to be some sort of balance, doesn't there, between knock back drink in ten minutes and leave, or spend two hours having only ordered a coffee. I would expect to have the table for about half an hour . Any longer and I would expect to have to buy something else. Libraries are for reading in for free.

Exactly. I don't think that you should have to knock back a drink in ten minutes, but I do think that half an hour or more with order is just not right during a busy period. This cafe I'm talking about doesn't have the 'rent a table' function cited by previous posters. It is far too popular to need that.

well alot of people on this thread think 30-40 minutes per order is fair enough and the general expected time to linger in a cafe (regardless of how busy it is), and it seems many of the people in the cafe felt that too. So maybe it's your perspective that is a bit out of kilter with regards to British cafe culture.

I think I said this upthread but if I was expected to leave after only 15 minutes I wouldn't bother going at all, I'm rarely in a cafe due to thirst when out of the house (if thats the case I pick up a bottle of water cheaply from boots) I'm spending £4+ on a drink to rest, read, chat, scroll on instagram, kill time... to me it's a part of the 'contract', being made unwelcome for time the exceeds my drink consumption would put me off returning and leave a bad taste in my mouth, not exactly fostering the cosy welcoming cafe vibe I tend to like - perhaps your preferences differ to mine and want a more utilitarian cafe.

You can't know how long someone has been there if you've just walked in. If I've had my drink in five minutes, then I don't see a problem sitting there an extra 15 minutes to talk with whoever I'm meeting for coffee. If you tried to tell me to move on, I'd laugh and you'd be the one getting the public shaming. I'd also call over a member of staff and tell them I'd only been there 10-15 minutes and this customer was being aggressive with me. You'll likely be asked to leave, which would be embarrassing for you.

I didn't ask anyone to leave, I just glared and the staff were clearly on my side. The people left sharpish after I did. If you saw this cafe, you would understand more clearly what I meant. It is very busy, very popular, and not set up for people to sit for ages.

Who made you cafe monitor? If it’s not your cafe and you don’t work there then you’ve no right to make up random rules and harass other patrons for not following them.

If the staff so clearly wanted people to leave (how would you know, are you psychic?) then they should have the sense to actually ask people to move on once they had finished or they should put signs up, not leave it to self important “potential paying customers” to play at being the cafe police.

As I have said many times, the cafe is new and I predict a rule change very soon. You don't need to be 'psychic' to read body language, it was very clear that the staff were getting exasperated with the campers, they kept hovering around them and looking over at them. I felt that I was doing a good thing by moving things along a bit. I wasn't rude or confrontational, just there. People earlier in the thread seem to have no problem understanding what I'm talking about. I have to wonder about the people who keep making excuses for the campers and insisting that the cafe was perfectly fine with them. It wasn't.

Maybe but I'd just get take out if I just wanted coffee and didn't want to sit for at least a short while. I hate busy cafes anyway, so choose quiet ones, if I can.

Someone glaring just gets ignored. They can sit there and feel all grumpy and it has no effect on me or my day at all. In fact, I might just order another coffee to annoy them more.

That wouldn't have annoyed me! It was the fact that they were sitting without coffee for ages while a substansial queue of people waiting formed.

I never go to a cafe where I intend to sit without booking a table in advance. Only way to be sure to get one. The sitting times are always 90 minutes, so it's clear to everyone. Though the expectation there is that a meal is being ordered. In my mind, if you don't book you take your chance you can't sit down. All cafes around me take bookings.

This cafe doesn't take bookings. It is an espresso bar which doesn't really serve food.

Then you take your chances. First come, first served. Sitting with a coffee for up to half an hour, even if it only took you five minutes to finish, is fine. I go for coffee to chat with someone, otherwise I'd just get take out.

Those types of self involved people who think the world revolves around them probably wouldn't notice a sign. Maybe they could put a message on the cup lol.

All these people should be hanging out in libraries if they want to hang out in spaces for free

thats true, but if you need to talk you need a contained part of the library, where i sit its on overwatch of my bicycle encase anyone tries to steal it as bike thefts are common in the area

I WFH mostly and to make sure I get out the house now and again I spend usually half a day (3-4 hours or so) a week working in a cafe. I order drinks over the course of my visit (though not every 10 minutes! Maybe every hour) and also always get lunch there. So I’m afraid it’s a case of tough shit, of people are paying customers they can stay for as long as they like unless told otherwise

I don’t however take zoom calls in a cafe I make sure I schedule my days out for when I have no meetings

People ‘working’ in cafes are far more guilty of abuse than those meeting chums who don’t leave as soon as they have finished the last sip. Neither group helps profits.

This is why some cafes now ban laptops

Hmm it depends. It takes me 10 minutes to drink a coffee. If I’ve come to a cafe to have coffee with a friend I don’t expect to be rushed out the minute I’ve finished. I’d expect at least a 30 minute slot for coffee and/or cake and at least 60 minutes for something substantial like breakfast or lunch, regardless of how quickly I ate the food.

Ah yes, the ‘WFH’ Crew who are taking up space in coffee shops country-wide. People are inherently selfish and no more so in this scenario.