Buying Coffee Or Renting Table? Bengaluru Cafe Owner Faces Loss Due To Customers Spending ₹150 And Overstaying

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Working from a cafe and sipping your favourite cup of coffee is quite common for many. While customers seemingly prefer eateries offering free WiFi and working tables, recently a cafe owner from Bengaluru talked about losing customers due to table squatting.

Problems faced by cafe owner

The problem faced by the owner emerged online when a user took to X and talked about his friend who ran a cafe in Indiranagar. The user said that his friend invested around ₹60- 70 lakh in his business. He said that the man faced losses due to customers who would buy coffee for ₹150 and occupy the tables for hours or more.

"My school friend opened a brand new cafe in Indiranagar, Bangalore, investing roughly 60-70 lakhs. However, his biggest problem right now is that a couple of customers order a single Rs. 150 cup of coffee, open a laptop, and sit there for hours (sometimes even for the whole day)," reads the post.

How table squatting can hurt business

The user explained what actually went wrong for the business in the scenario. He said that when a customer keeps a table occupied for a long time without spending more than one coffee, the owner ends up making a loss. Shuka said that the owner loses even new customers who walk in, find the cafe full and leave immediately.

According to the user, the owner asking overstaying customers to leave after they have spent a considerable amount of time at the cafe is not an easy option. With online ratings and reviews playing an important role for a business's reputation, even one negative Google review can potentially affect the footfall. This leaves cafe owners in a difficult position.

"Obviously, he can't ask the customers to leave as one negative Google review can hamper the reputation of the place," the post read.

Sharing why coffee chains such as Starbucks, Café Coffee Day (CCD) and Third Wave Coffee charge relatively high prices for their coffee and snacks, the user shared his view.

Customers are not just paying for the beverage or food they order but, in a way, also for the time and space of the establishments. The cost of providing seating, maintaining the premises and allowing customers to work or socialise for longer periods is likely factored into the pricing.

"Now I get why cafes like Starbucks, CCD, and third wave coffee have such atrocious prices for coffee and snacks. As a customer you're paying for renting the chair as well along with ordering the coffee. If you're running a cafe, do share what you do for this problem," it concluded.

Internet reacts

Reacting to it, a user wrote in the comments, "Just simply add an average stay time on the receipt. Simple." "One coffee for every hour spent. Make it a polite rule," added another.

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