What Do You Do About Customers Camping Out In Your Restaurant?

[Ulysses G.]

I have noticed this problem more and more at restaurants with limited seating. Customers come in and buy a coffee, set up camp at a table and hang around forever playing with mobile devices even when other people can't get a seat.

This might not be a problem for places with very few customers or lots of seating, but what do places that need the tables do?

[pauljones]

A guy turned my friends restaurant into his daily office.

Buys a coffee and uses the wi-fi all day.

[thaicbr]

put a speaker above each table and after a certain period of time slowly turn the music up ( the mua thai music at that)

[slackbaba]

Most likely make more profit on that nasty cup of Nescafe Red Cup than an ABF.

[lazygourmet]

Put a sign: "Drinks consumption has to be renewed every xx minutes"

That's what business owners on the French Riviera are doing for decades... and it works like a charm.

[bkkjames]

Do what the japanese buffet chain does, put a time limit.

Or this:

0 to 100 baht : 20 mins

101-499: 59 mins

500 up: 24 hours including toothbrush and change of underwear.

Get rid of your wifi-people should go to a restaurant to eat-not play. Should clear out a third of 3 hour ice coffee sippers.

[Semper]

Cut the Wi-Fi.

[dave111223]

I think the best way to handle it would be on a case by case. If there is some bloke coming in day after day buying 1 coffee and sitting all day just walk up to him and tell him "I don't have a problem with you being here but can you please make a drink purchase every hour or so".

Making sweeping changes (getting rid of wifi, having a 30 minute only policy) seems like it's going to negatively effect a lot of customers when only a few are probably abusing the system.

[shepsel]

You could post a sign saying that there is a minium charge or maximum time limit for sitting during peak time periods. Most customers will understand, and the ones that don't--you don't need them as customers.

[chiang mai]

Customer buys drink and gets 30 mins access to WiFi which then cuts off at the end of the allotted time, if customer buys another drink he gets another 30 mins WiFi - it means securing the network and issuing login/password slips but not exactly rocket science.

[Ulysses G.]

The places that I have been noticing this are owned by Thais and do not have WIFI and are very small, so need a turn-over at their tables. A lot of people can connect to the Internet without WIFI these days(or maybe they are reading or playing games). The food is cheap and the restaurants make very little profit to begin with.

Edited August 15, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[chiang mai]

The places that I have been noticing this are owned by Thais and do not have WIFI and are very small, so need a turn-over at their tables. A lot of people can connect to the Internet without WIFI these days(or maybe they are reading or playing games). The food is cheap and the restaurants make very little profit to begin with.

What do you do when a customer comes into your shop and stands there for several hours reading without buying anything?

[theoldgit]

I have come across this more and more in places like Siam Paragon. We want a coffee and cake and go to somewhere like Starbucks (not just Starbucks) we cannot get a seat as the tables are full of people playing with the computers or kids doing their homework, we either look for somewhere else or simply don't bother.

Maybe Starbucks don't mind, but I'm sure they lose a number of potential customers.

[mca]

Apologies UG but the thread title " What Do You Do About Customers Camping Out In Your Restaurant?" gives me the mental image of a bunch of raving queens (with no insult at all intended to our gay members) saying thing like " Ooh look at the dust in here ", " Mutton dressed as lamb dearie" and " Mind your manners you cheeky bitch"

[Semper]

A guy turned my friends restaurant into his daily office.

Buys a coffee and uses the wi-fi all day.

Have your friend call Immi, and let them check his WP.

[harrry]

Maybe they should do what some large bookshops have done in the west. Add free wifi....install racks of books and sell cooffee and snacks too, they seem to find value in their customers staying.

[Mirth]

Have those same customers, really hate them but the worse ones are those with kids in tow. The parents takes 1 table for privacy and the children takes another with the helper. Sometimes if peak hours, we try to hint to these customers if they want anything else. Other times if drastic, we will clear the whole table leaving only their last sip of drink on the table. Usually at that time, they know is their cue to leave cos other or new customers are staring at them as well. Sometimes these customers return but they are more conscious of their actions and depart if there are lack of seating place. If they don't return, my logic is i don't need their money since they are preventing me from making more money. Would it hurt my business in the long run? Considering the amount these people spent, i seriously doubt it.

[Mirth]

Maybe they should do what some large bookshops have done in the west. Add free wifi....install racks of books and sell cooffee and snacks too, they seem to find value in their customers staying.

Down the road where i stay, there's a shop with this concept. It's always packed but the owner is complaining about losses. I think this concept would work if it's a chain like 7-11 but i think only cos a big chain just closed down this year and am pretty sure they were the first one to start this concept years back.

[zzaa09]

Apologies UG but the thread title " What Do You Do About Customers Camping Out In Your Restaurant?" gives me the mental image of a bunch of raving queens (with no insult at all intended to our gay members) saying thing like " Ooh look at the dust in here ", " Mutton dressed as lamb dearie" and " Mind your manners you cheeky bitch"

Why is there such a great concern [whinging] over others' businesses? If you don't care for their business practices, don't patronize them.

[DP25]

Maybe they should do what some large bookshops have done in the west. Add free wifi....install racks of books and sell cooffee and snacks too, they seem to find value in their customers staying.

That's not working out so good for some bookstores US. People drink the coffee, browse the books, and then use the free wifi to order the books online

[harrry]

Back in the 70s traveller used to buy food and coffee and sit in resturaunts reading books as there were few other places to sit. The places which discouraged this were always empty as no one eats in an always empty resturaunt. The ones that encouraged this by providing good places and friendly services prospered. THere were unwritten rules that said that if the resturaunt was more than 75% full you took a break.

[theoldgit]

Back in the 70s traveller used to buy food and coffee and sit in resturaunts reading books as there were few other places to sit.

In fact JK Rowling wrote, the first of, her Happy Potter books in a coffee shop in Edinburgh, the coffee shop is now a Chinese buffet restaurant. I suppose the moral of this snippet is, beware of who you turf out of your establishment.

[lazygourmet]

I have come across this more and more in places like Siam Paragon. We want a coffee and cake and go to somewhere like Starbucks (not just Starbucks) we cannot get a seat as the tables are full of people playing with the computers or kids doing their homework, we either look for somewhere else or simply don't bother.

Maybe Starbucks don't mind, but I'm sure they lose a number of potential customers.

That's just because their staff on duty receive no incentive on sales.

In case of an upper management "impromptu" visit, them and the place looks busy... until a cashier balance reading!

[Ulysses G.]

Maybe they should do what some large bookshops have done in the west. Add free wifi....install racks of books and sell cooffee and snacks too, they seem to find value in their customers staying.

They are all going bankrupt. I don't think that will work for a tiny restaurant with only a few tables anyway.

[thaipod]

I've noticed this also lately both in coffee lounges and restaurants here. Mc Donalds and starbucks is a classic where tutors and businesses are using them as offices . Yesterday went to a coffee shop with my BKKPost and ordered coffee and cake turned round and a group of people took three lot's of tables pushed them together and pulled out laptops ,tablets and went to to self serve bar and poured glasses of water from a jug and maybe two ordered from the counter . I was there for an hour and walked past an hour later and they were still there with water .They must lose a lot of business

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Sorry, but as I understand it, i.e. prices for a single coffee at roughly 3-4 times the cost of a basic lunch just about anywhere, I'm figuring that I've bought more than just a cup of coffee, I've purchased some quality lounging time in nice aircon, preferably with a view of either the natural or female kind (or both), and preferably with free WiFi.

I do lots of conference calls to customers in coffee shops and restaurants, I always thought that's what they're for? How would you otherwise explain 'Starbucks'? A whole restaurant just to buy "coffee" at stratospheric prices? Suuurrrrre.

Just yesterday I found a particularly nice coffee shop and went there with the wife and kids. It was ludicrously expensive, I think we dropped over 250 baht on iced coco whipped cream type drinks and blueberry tarts; so actually more than we spent on lunch before that. But the views were amazing, and the experience very nice and relaxing. I'm still dreaming of the Thai moviestar-grade totty visiting the place. O..M..G..

Sadly though that place charges for WiFi, so I do my conference calls elsewhere. Incredible WiFi and an Icecream Espresso-float for 60 baht. Staff are even nice to me and smile when they see me several times a week, so I must be doing something right, beyond the 10 baht tip which I don't believe is a significant amount anymore these days.

To give something back to the place I'm ready to name it to recommend it, however would prefer to only do so to people who can be quiet (no kids), and not hog the bandwidth with streaming video and what not.

Edited August 15, 2011 by WinnieTheKhwai

[JeffreyMcCollum]

before living here, every month or so when I would visit here with my father, we would go to McDonalds that had free wifi. I always ordered a full breakfast. 1.) I needed to eat, and 2.) I was happy for the service. My father would get the free water and sit there using the internet. I hinted a few times to get something, He said the sign said free wifi, not you must buy something. Truly he was the king of cheep charlies. And I don't think he ever ate there except maybe the 9 baht ice cream cone.

[theoldgit]

I hinted a few times to get something, He said the sign said free wifi, not you must buy something. Truly he was the king of cheep charlies. And I don't think he ever ate there except maybe the 9 baht ice cream cone.

I want to be like your dad when I grow up

[bkkjames]

We have been approaching this idea backwards - what we need to do is give incentives:

Take away and save 20%

Stay 15 mins only, get points redeemable for a 30 min stay next time.

Stay 30 mins only, get a mean look.

Stay an hour - get yelled at.

[meadish_sweetball]

Put on an eye patch, walk with a limp, say arrrrrh a lot and threaten with keelhauling. Everybody takes pirates seriously.