People working on laptops in cafes 😡

My neighbour used to go up to a newly opened local cafe and sit there for hours using their free wifi and have just one coffee. Many others did the same. It only lasted 18 months as they were not making any money.

Cossy

Library’s don’t allow food or drink. The cafe will encourage them to buy at least drinks.

I do understand your annoyance though.

All our libraries do. They have free hot drinks in winter and water and squash in summer. They also provide biscuits and a nice little seating area.

Yes, I’m not keen on dogs in cafes, dog-lover though I am. I think it’s only Costa in my home town that bans them, and even then it’s a national, rather than local policy. Everywhere else is ‘dog friendly’ regardless of humans who may be scared or allergic.

People work on laptops in my local Costas .
They also have job interviews .

The staff are remarkably easy - (actually all Muslim and observing Ramadan ) going as they sit there for a very long time with one cup of coffee.

But yesterday and I apologise for bringing up the subject again a girl brought on a big dog .He , not only jumped up and sniffed and tried to lick the food ,but also put his paws on the counter .
I've always had dogs-three or four at a time,but I've never allowed them touch food nor behave like that.

I find that ‘hoggers’ are as likely to be people waiting for friends/a bus or just people who like to sit near the window (assuming ‘hogging’ means sitting at anything other than a table for one). Cafes are social spaces, so people do tend to spread out - it’s not the same as putting your bag next to you and blocking a seat on a train.

I wouldn’t impose myself by crowding others out, as the point is to relax and enjoy the experience, not to cram in as many people as possible. If l’m with one friend at a table for 4 (often the only option) and someone asks to sit at a spare seat it is usually awkward- conversation is stifled and the atmosphere changes.

If I spilt my drink on someone’s laptop of course it would be responsibility- not ‘fault’ unless I’d done it deliberately, which would be criminal. I think most people have laptops on their laps though - tables are too low to use as desks.

I appreciate that it’s annoying when someone else is doing what we want to do, but that’s the deal with cafes - it’s first come, first served, and unless the owner wants to allow reservations there’s no alternative. Asking people to leave after a short time would ruin the business I think - it would give the place a different ’vibe’. We only really know whether someone has been there for hours if we’ve been there for hours ourselves anyway .

So far it wouldn’t be a problem here because you can always get a seat , there are loads of cafes but the population is exploding round here so it won’t be like this for long !

...and there's me remembering the semi-joke made about this area of calling it "The land that time forgot" and the laptop issue doesnt even occur to me to think about when I go into cafes here for a cup of coffee - because I very rarely spot anyone with a laptop with them here. This is going to have me examining the walls of the cafes next time I go into them to see if I can even spot electric sockets there looking like they arent for cafe use.

Off mentally walking round the cafes I use here taking a "virtual look" at them now....and I don't recall that even in a chain coffeeshop there is here that I occasionally use...

Lots of chatting going on...though this is a chatty area - to the extent I'm disappointed if I go in town and don't encounter at least one person I'm friendly with and chat or even someone I'm not friendly with and chat. One recent chat in the street here resulted in me round at their house several days later and being invited to have lunch whilst there (I did....) as we were chatting so much.

I totally agree with the OP. It is a problem in cafes we go to. One person sits at a table for four with comfortable seats and orders one coffee all morning.

Our Costa have now moved the seating around so that only tables for two are near the plugs.
Another independent cafe has a notice up saying laptop uses must work in a certain area.

We meet friends regularly who need comfortable seats so it can be a problem.

Fallingstar

I completely understand that some people might prefer to work in a nice cafe but in this case they should sit at a single table, not take up a table with four easy chairs round it, we could have sat with someone sitting like this, but the table was taken up by the laptop and my DH can upset a cup of tea in the best of circumstances so perching it on the edge of a table is not going to work.

I've noted the "taking up a whole table" thing going on sometimes and there's not been a problem to date - as I could find a normal table that someone wasnt hogging. But - if I needed to sit at a hoggers table then they would have to accept I was going to have my fair share of the space on the table top (4 seats meaning my fair share was 25% of the table top). If my coffee accidentally got spilt = it got spilt. Not something I'd do deliberately - but if an accident happened with the best will in the world then all the drink should be spilling over anyway is cafe stuff (coffeecups, etc) and it wouldnt harm cafe stuff. It would have been their choice to have put their laptop on a cafe table - and they took the risk that comes with that and if it didnt work out for them through a genuine accident = they won't be doing that again anywhere and they will have to deal with the consequences of their behaviour themselves. They were the ones that took the risk of putting their item near other peoples drinks. If there's consequences = they bear them.

Spoilt people would doubtless object - and try and make out it wasnt their own fault their laptop had been hurt. But it would be their own fault - and so they do bear those consequences...

PM sent to Fallingstar

GrannyGravy13

I think in your circumstances, I would have asked politely if DH could have sat on the comfy chair whilst having his cup of tea. Probably adding, ^we wont be long and then you can have the seat back^

That wouldnt even have been necessary to do if I'd been one of those younger laptop users - as I would probably have noticed the two of you and realised you needed comfy seats and for a genuine cup of coffee and offered mine to you and plonked myself on one of the barstools instead.

I do think it's not polite to take up space in a cafe that people who actually want to use it as a cafe need and that space should only be treated as an "office" if it's not required for its real purpose.

Sorry to hear about their missing manners putting you out like that.

I am surprised so many people are able to work in coffee shops . We are not allowed due to security of the information we use. I do agree “home “ workers should be considerate and not take up a big table . A lady in Nero’s flounced off when I sat down in an empty seat at the table ( she had one of four seats and I did ask) as she wanted to spread the free paper on the table !

Working from home can cause isolation and heating problems so it’s feasible that some would prefer to work in a cafe I wouldn't be able to concentrate I d be too interested (nosey) in what was going on around me,

Perhaps someone should open a working cafe

Most cafes as opposed to restaurants don’t reserve places
My favourite here which does lovely light meals as well as coffee type snacks, won’t let you reserve a place and it’s annoying as my friend drives me there only to find it’s full and we have to go somewhere place else We make it 8 times out of 10 but ….

As I wrote above, I can work perfectly well in a coffee shop and why shouldn’t I? Have you tried it? I write features and reviews for an arts magazine and find the buzz of a coffee shop (as well as the coffee better than I can make at home) conducive to creativity.

I’m sitting at home working now with music on. Why is working in a cafe with music playing any different? I like the ambience and it makes a change from the isolation of working at home. I find a small table near a power outlet. I buy coffees. Why is my custom worth any less than any other person’s because I happen to be working quietly rather than chatting or yakking on a phone?

Book groups, knitting groups, mums with babies, families and friends, people having business meetings all take up space for hours and maybe only buy one cup of coffee each.

What OP has experienced is possible little different to planning to go to a favourite place for a quiet lunch and finding your favourite table occupied or a rowdy crowd in attendance. At least people working are quiet. They are often wearing headphones.

It’s unfortunate that OP’s spouse is unwell but as she was planning ahead then she should have called ahead, explained and asked to reserve a table.

If where I live is typical, there are literally dozens and dozens of cafes in the high street to chose from. I like Neros too but if it’s busy, I’ll go somewhere else.

It’s what’s called working from home these days, except workers aren’t at home, they are sitting for hours in coffee shops causing problems with seating as described here.

They often sit at a table for four with a coat on one chair, bag or laptop case on another.

I also don’t know how they concentrate on work in busy cafes.

I know that some restaurants will give you a time slot in which to eat your meal before leaving so that other diners can take the next slot. It maximises profits with each table being measured by how much it can make. In shops the same is measured in square meters, with each meter being used to increase profits. But if one person is sitting at a table with four seats for several hours and perhaps just buying a couple of coffee etc., that is not maximising anything, for in that time frame several people could have come and gone buying numerous beverages and possibly edibles. Am just not seeing this as a profitable business model. And customers who get pee’ed off because there are not enough seats and they can see that management are not taking steps to make sure those working on their laptops in the cafe are only taking up one space will go elsewhere.
But that is just my take on things. Tomorrow a kindly neighbour is going to take us in his car to a really nice cafe in Dulwich park. We love it there. And in all the times we have been there is never anyone working on their laptop and the staff make sure my DH gets a comfy seat.

Or a 'lap top free zone'. It would help with turn around for tables.

I would call the cafe manager and ask if it were possible to have a time limit on a few tables, or at least explain the issue. They could be losing customers due to the ones that sit for hours, mostly a table to themselves.

Cossy

Library’s don’t allow food or drink. The cafe will encourage them to buy at least drinks.

I do understand your annoyance though.

Ours does. It offers free coffee and biscuits.

Maremia

Is this one of the reasons that some local cafes are failing? Not enough flow through of customers?

We did observe people in the queue looking at available seating and then leaving.
I imagine it does have an effect.

Is this one of the reasons that some local cafes are failing? Not enough flow through of customers?

I d have asked with a nice chatty smile explaining why you can’t use a stool etc . Most people I m sure wouldn’t mind moving if they saw it was for an older or disabled person
Definitely worth asking before going home

This happens in most cafes I've been to but can be frustrating if you need the comfy chairs and they are all taken by laptop users who are usually there for a while.
As someone else suggested book in advance to make sure you get the seats you want.
It's a shame you had to leave before you'd had your tea. Little outings make all the difference if you are mostly at home.

DD says I can't work in libraries.

The same but not because it’s too quiet. Our central public library is huge. It has so many community events going on and other services offered to the public that it can be incredibly noisy.

What was a quite study area downstairs is now a busy cafe. What was another quiet study area upstairs has now been converted to conference rooms that can’t be used unless booked for a group.

I'm old enough to remember when libraries were silent places where stern librarians would shush people. Those days are long gone.

I completely understand that some people might prefer to work in a nice cafe but in this case they should sit at a single table, not take up a table with four easy chairs round it, we could have sat with someone sitting like this, but the table was taken up by the laptop and my DH can upset a cup of tea in the best of circumstances so perching it on the edge of a table is not going to work.