Starbucks clarifies policy on paying customers

[javacontour]

This is the real reason Starbucks is so expensive. They're not spending $3 just for the coffee. They're really buying wifi and table access

Yep!

As Field Engineer, Starbucks is one of my go-to spots with WiFi to wrangle service calls while I'm on the go.

Plus, they paid for my youngest's undergrad degree, so I feel I'm still getting more than I'm spending there

 

[John105]

I’ve been to third world countries where Starbucks had the only functional “free wifi.”

Imho ejecting people from a private, but publicly accessible (example Costco is not they setup card readers) venues, is a demonstration of a highly advanced society. Think about the Star Trek episode, “A piece of the Action.” Also a by product of the “work from home” society.

Why, we’re so advanced we eject people from baseball and hockey games, where folks have paid 3 or sometimes 4 figures for the tickets. There are even examples where the ejection was for wearing the opposing team’s 3 or 4 figure paraphernalia.

#firstworldproblems

 

[y_p_w]

Exactly, During college or traveling out of town when I am working remotely, it's not the WiFi that matters so much, it is the access to charge your laptop, do some work, and drink coffee or lemonade.

I couldn't care less about using Starbucks only for their coffee or lemonade...

Countless hours spent working or finishing up class work during college, it's the peaceful environment, charging access, and WiFi (used to be, now hotspot is so cheap no point in the WiFi)

That's what college libraries are for. Back when I was in high school, I had no problem going to any UC Berkeley library. However, later on they had a student ID requirement for the undergraduate library, which wasn't a problem when I was a student.

It was well after my time in college, but one day I was on the UC Berkeley campus while I was going to have a remote work meeting. The Wi-Fi around campus was so solid that I could walk around with a Wi-Fi only device and it never cut out. They used to have a great place for this where the public could hang out too. It's leased by Amazon in the student union building and used for package pickups and dropoffs. They still have seating and places to charge, but they used to have demo models of Amazon devices that were tethered. An employee there said they were gone because they would be vandalized. Sometimes I'd just go in there to relax and nobody ever tossed me out. This might be a slightly older photo, but it shows the mounts that used to be for demo devices. I think they've since replaced the furniture. But the rest of the student union has mostly students, although they don't seem to have any kind of entrance controls based on being a student or employee. I do remember years ago there was a bowling alley and arcade in the basement. I used to spend time there bowling in high school, where a classmate had a student ID from a special high school program, and we'd bowl at a student discount rate. As a student I'd shoot pool there with a HS classmate who was a year behind me and later when he went to a different local college. But eventually they required a campus ID to enter. Apaprently the issue was local high school kids who got into fights. I had graduated, but still had my old student ID and was usually let in. They were mostly worried about high schoolers.

The one thing I can't figure out is placing a cup of coffee on the same table as an expensive laptop. I say that as someone who lost at least one electronic device to something spilled. My home-office setups have a small folding table off to the side for any beverages.

 

[John105]

When I was in junior high, I liked going to the college libraries. Parents dropped me off for studying. I thought the college ladies were really exciting and something to see. What a different time.

 

[Lubener]

Its that simple.....

I have seen before, someone eating their bag lunch from home in a McDonalds without even buying a beverage just to get out of the cold I guess.

 

[Cropduster172]

I've seen the issue in Panera Bread... selfish slobs...men and women, laptop, file folders, business cards, etc...all laid out in a corner booth that could easily seat 4-6 people. They have one cup of Panera coffee in front of them for hours at a time. I'm all for companies requiring people to be back to work in the office.

 

[TimeFlies]

That's really strange.

I worked at a Dunkin during high school. I can understand why a franchise such as Starbucks or McDonalds would create rules like this, we had some sketchy characters who would "hang out" in our lobby for hours. It seemed to always be older men by themselves who would stake out in the corner of the lobby near closing time admiring the high school aged female coworkers I had. There were also a few times I had to ask rowdy groups of clearly intoxicated people to keep it down or to leave. I work on a college campus, and while I'm not a frequent Starbucks visitor, the Starbucks on campus rarely has any seats available. It is usually full of college kids with laptops using the wifi, but not many of them have drinks...

Asking someone to leave after 45 minutes who is sipping on a coffee seems a bit extreme though, especially in a rain storm.

Same here, order a coffee, and then sit in any place for 3 hours, and you are fine.

 

[dubber09]

Imho, 30 mins is more than sufficient even for a short business meeting, not that it should take place at SB. If they included only 15 mins of free Wi-Fi and then charged after that the place wouldn't be as busy. They can have their rules, it's a private business, they can choose to enforce the rules when busy or let it be if not busy.

 

[y_p_w]

Imho, 30 mins is more than sufficient even for a short business meeting, not that it should take place at SB. If they included only 15 mins of free Wi-Fi and then charged after that the place wouldn't be as busy. They can have their rules, it's a private business, they can choose to enforce the rules when busy or let it be if not busy.

I've had job interviews where one interviewer wanted to get out of the building and I had an 1 hour 1:1 at a cafe. And absolutely I've had business meetings that lasted more than an hour at a public place because that's what the organizer wanted.

Heck - I remember a college professor who decided to hold regular office hours at a cafe one week rather than a campus office. It didn't make that much sense, but OK. So that was a solid two hours there, at least. And this was before Wi-Fi.

 

[dubber09]

I had my first brief interview for current job at a coffee shop, not my choice, wasn't long, 15 mins or so, second was formal and at company office.
If coffee shop were my business selling coffee and pastries etc I'd not want people use it as their business venue or to sit there for hours doing home work or projects. Come, get coffee, send an email, sit on your phone for 20 mins, warm up if it's cold out, clear out. It's not a library or boardroom or airport lounge.

 

[TimeFlies]

I've had job interviews where one interviewer wanted to get out of the building and I had an 1 hour 1:1 at a cafe. And absolutely I've had business meetings that lasted more than an hour at a public place because that's what the organizer wanted.

Heck - I remember a college professor who decided to hold regular office hours at a cafe one week rather than a campus office. It didn't make that much sense, but OK. So that was a solid two hours there, at least. And this was before Wi-Fi.

In the past 7 months since becoming self employed, I've had many meetings, and done interviews at McDonald's, coffee shops, and even in a park with KFC.

 

[Sumboodie]

Most McD's with those signs are near a high school

Kids hanging out all evening?

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Kids hanging out all evening?

could be the evening or even the early afternoon when school gets out (usually 2-3pm)

 

[Hall]

Starbucks doesn't franchise though. Even the locations in supermarkets and Target stores are directly operated by corporate.

Those stores are, in fact, licensed, and operated by employees of the host store, not SB.

Yeap, this is the case. I've had two different co-workers with kids that worked for Kroger and worked the Starbucks part. They were Kroger employees. Then again, maybe Starbucks still owns the 'shop' and leases the space inside the store. I didn't read the linked article, in case it goes into the detail.

 

[Hall]

I'll admit to staying at a McDonald's for more than the limit on a sign

We get McDonald's a lot less than we used to and most often, we'd use the drive-thru, but I've never seen these signs at any. I'd imagine they might be more common in inner-city locations.

 

[BHopkins]

To me, no buy, no stay. That's loitering.

I generally agree. A business is there to make a living, for the employees and shareholders, or owners. They are not there for public convenience. However, I do feel justified in what I consider, legitimate exceptions.

When traveling to Southern Utah, to visit my son and his girlfriend, I almost always stop at the same city, and frequent the same gas stations, to fill up on gas and snacks. On occasion however, we have not stopped for gas or snacks, but did need a bathroom. Since I consider myself a paying customer at these convenience stores, I have no problem stopping, only to use the bathroom, on those occasions.

 

[Elkins45]

Elkins45: Was it $3,000 or $5,000?

During rehab, my sister asked me to bring her SB coffee daily, as the institutional coffee was tasteless.
The people using the place as an office clogged the place, imparting a different feel than one would expect in a coffee shop.

In an Upstate NY town, a Walmart opened which included 4 or 5 tables near the deli + prepped food counter.
Immediately, those tables were filled with 450 lb. slobs who hung out there all day long.
The tables were removed and replaced with racks and tables of baked goods.

It was the $3000 for the car plus the ~$2000 I normally have.

 

[KYMISTWALKER]

I was kicked out of a McDonalds in a less than desirable part of Louisville a few years ago. I sold my Corolla to a young man who taught at a high school in a rough part of town. The plan was for me to do the cash deal for the car and then hand out at the bookstore across the street until my wife (who was in Lexington visiting a sick relative) could come pick me up. I brought my iPad in a backpack to pass the time.

Unfortunately I discovered soon after accepting $3000 in cash in exchange for the car that the bookstore was closed...and it began to rain. There was a McDonalds a couple of blocks down the street so I walked there and bought a cup of coffee. I discovered I only had $2-3 in small bills and coins and all the rest was $100s, and I didn't want to be flashing those in this neighborhood, so coffee was all I could afford. It never occurred to me to use a credit card, although I don't know if this particular store even accepted them. I was wearing jeans and a hoodie, maybe a fleece jacket and apparently that wasn't dressy enough because after about 45 minutes of nursing my coffee they politely but firmly asked me to move along.

Long story short I spent the next three hours trying to stay out of the rain and not get mugged. I jokingly refer to it as the time I was homeless, but it did in all seriousness give me a new appreciation of how hard life must be for people without resources. I had at least $5k in cash in my pocket, a credit card and a smart phone. And a gun. I could have been in a hotel room in 10 minutes or in an Uber in five, or could have even called a nearby cousin to come take me to her house. I found a bench tucked into a corner of a shopping center that was under an awning, so I stayed there until my wife came to get me. It gave me a bit more sympathy for the people who have no choice but to sleep on those benches.

A gun excellent in self defense

 

[y_p_w]

I generally agree. A business is there to make a living, for the employees and shareholders, or owners. They are not there for public convenience. However, I do feel justified in what I consider, legitimate exceptions.

When traveling to Southern Utah, to visit my son and his girlfriend, I almost always stop at the same city, and frequent the same gas stations, to fill up on gas and snacks. On occasion however, we have not stopped for gas or snacks, but did need a bathroom. Since I consider myself a paying customer at these convenience stores, I have no problem stopping, only to use the bathroom, on those occasions.

I think a lot of business owners can be reasonable about that. I’m a regular customer at one particular place in a neighborhood that’s short on public facilities. There’s a supermarket nearby, but they require a code that’s changed daily and it’s a huge pain to buy something, ask for the code, then go back. But at this other place I can’t imagine they would ever tell me I couldn’t use it.

I have heard of this restaurant where the owner got really chippy about people entering the property. It was along a winding mountain road where there were few places to park and often people would stop in the lot when someone in the car got motion sickness. Some would come in to ask to use the bathroom without paying, but it got to the point where potential customers would leave because the owner started yelling at people who needed to use the bathroom first. He was so angry about people using the bathroom without paying that he often wouldn’t give people a chance to prove they were paying customers. There are also some stories about the owner chasing down drivers in his car who he thought had wronged him. He was arrested at least once. Some of the reviews are high on entertainment value, but reading reflects the gamut of ways that he was alleged to have yelled at people who came in looking to be paying customers, but who say they left either in anger or even fear for their safety.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/03...al-belligerence-toward-tahoe-bound-travelers/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/dantes-on-the-river-pollock-pines

 

[Carmudgeon]

Yeap, this is the case. I've had two different co-workers with kids that worked for Kroger and worked the Starbucks part. They were Kroger employees. Then again, maybe Starbucks still owns the 'shop' and leases the space inside the store. I didn't read the linked article, in case it goes into the detail.

They're licensing deals. Licensee gets to use the brand, buys most of the supplies from SB (dairy product is said to be one part where they can stray), and operates the outlet with their own people. Airport locations are licensed to the concessionaire, Host being a biggie in that business.

Link was a corporate financial report. I didn't realize the split was almost half-and-half (no pun intended).