Table Hoggers in Coffee Shops
 

I went into a Costa the other day with 3 of my family and we struggled to get a seat. In the end we pushed a couple of tables together so we could sit down with each other. Whilst sitting there I noticed people sitting at tables without even a drink with laptops open and working away. They often had earphones in, with papers spread across a table, tapping away on a laptop. Even if they did buy a drink to use the place, they obviously finished it a while ago, but seemed quite happy to sit there for ages working away. By the time we had finished and left a lot of the same people were still in there on their laptops. No-one working in Costa seemed to notice/care. It seemed from a business point of view not a good situation. Why would you let people sit for ages and ages working at a table when other customers could come in, see no free tables, and leave? Does anyone else notice this, or is this annoyance to me just another string to my grumpy old man bow?

You could always go over to them and asked if they had finished with the table (in a polite and nom-sarcastic way - I may struggle with that!)

I bet they are the same people that put their laptop bags etc on the seat next them on the train so no-one can sit there.

Can I join the grumpy club please ? :)

Has Micky House changed his name?

I agree with you people shouldn't be using a table all day and not buying things. I bet your local library was sitting empty.

Of course you can!

Now we have a president and vice-president in the club, we can start recruiting ready for our first AGM where we can draw up a list of modern-day annoyances. Doing this list with others will make me feel better knowing I'm not the only one who thinks like this :grin:

Completely agree with you. Some people spend the day in costa/Starbucks and use it as an office, meeting room and even an interview room. Some people even bring their own food and drink in. It’s rare for the staff to say anything. And as you say, many take up a 4 seater table for themselves and their laptop and paperwork.

I avoid the after 9am club, who use costa/Starbucks as a crèche and natter to each other whilst their little kids are running all over the shop (not ideal when people are carrying hot drinks).

I went into a costa last week and they had a one hour limit on the wifi.

A lot of people use coffee shops like Costa, Starbucks etc as office space, its cheaper to just sit and work at a table on the free wifi, free electric than stay at home !

Also, many of people use them for meetings too!

You could go in and just order a water if you wanted and stay sat down all morning.

The staff cant really move on you, that's the problem, unless you are homeless and then they seem to be able to do that quite easy.

As most people dont use privacy screens, its amazing what you can learn in these places, plus on trains :grin:

Hmmmm, I didn't see any fellow Dibbers there. :grin:

You are right. The library is the place for that sort of thing. Not table hogging in a coffee shop!

Ok - self-employee and guilty of this although I make a point of keep buying more drinks etc to pay my way (for the exact reasons stated above) and keep myself to a small table or one of those benches.

I expect the price of dedicated areas for Gig people like me will keep coming down and so this problem may start to go away. In the meantime I’ll try to be respectful in terms of spending and not taking up extra space..

after a quick google... the amount of threads and articles on this topic is crazy..

One article a user posted the below - i think its a good point...

It depends on the place... there's a small award-winning independent café near me that sells lovely food.

The problem is that local business people go in there, buy just 1 coffee for less than £2 and sit there literally for over a hour sometimes with their laptops.

Fine at quiet times but sometimes they all do this at lunchtime and the café owners struggle to find places for the customers who actually want to eat, thus losing the café money.

It's quite selfish and I think the business people should show some support to the café owners (who never complain) by at least buying more than 1 coffee!

I must be missing something. I never visit Costa, Starbucks or any other such place. I work in a hospital with a Costa very close by. I find it strange as I watch a procession of staff arriving with a Costa Cup and a bun firmly clasped in their hands. That must be their first hours wages gone by the time that they have paid their tax and NI. They carry the brand marked cup like a badge of honor.

The most that I will pay for a coffee is a pound in McDonalds. It does seem strange that they will tolerate their tables being clogged up by people not making purchases, though.