Waiting in a coffee shop without purchasing anything?

[Bletchleyite]

Station catering outlets could make it clear by putting notices on tables that they are for cafe customers only. Quite normal practice actually.

It is, but the difference between a waiting room and seating for customers is usually fairly obvious. At Crewe, for instance, where the two are directly adjacent to one another with a walk-through between them, the different seating in each part makes it blindingly obvious.

 

[sprunt]

I think yorkie's idea of sending a complaint to the station operator about the lack of waiting room space is a good one.

Agreed.

 

[xotGD]

Sometimes you have a waiting room which includes somewhere to buy food and drink - Manchester Airport, Ely, Leeds Platform 15 for example.

However, a branch of Starbucks, clearly signed and with its own door should not be mistaken for a waiting room. You wouldn't dip in to a branch on the high street just for a warm up, so why should a branch on a station be treated differently?

As an aside, I have to admit that I do occasionally use the Starbucks wifi on the bridge at Leeds without making a purchase...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Sometimes you have a waiting room which includes somewhere to buy food and drink - Manchester Airport, Ely, Leeds Platform 15 for example.

It's usually fairly obvious when this is the case, though. One very big giveaway is that there is a means of closing the counter without closing the seating area.

 

[theironroad]

Woking does have a heated waiting room on the same platform (5) as Starbucks and has about 10 seats and some more could stand also. I think there is also some seating by the ticket office on platform 5 though it is more exposed.

 

[ALAN BYRNE]

Is anyone suggesting that it isn't a RAILWAY station???? Perhaps you could explain the significance of that revelation? Being a RAILWAY station, I'd have thought that the comfort of passengers waiting for trains should be a higher priority than selling coffee.

Read further up; It was termed a TRAIN Station in the original text!

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Lets go further and have a play area for the kids in every railway/train station waiting room/coffee shop

 

[ALAN BYRNE]

Couldn't put up with those noisy kids without having a pint and a smoke, so OK if those were included too!!!

 

[urbophile]

News to me that Starbucks have started selling coffee. I thought it was just the recycled washing up water from Costa.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Couldn't put up with those noisy kids without having a pint and a smoke, so OK if those were included too!!!

Yup, a pub platform side and designated smoking area for those that want it. Can't be any worse than diesel fumes...

 

[Ken H]

News to me that Starbucks have started selling coffee. I thought it was just the recycled washing up water from Costa.

pity there is no uptick on here. Made me snigger. that!

 

[Muenchener]

As it has been very cold this week, I've been waiting 10-20 minutes inside Starbucks at Woking plat 5 as the very small waiting room is full. Staff have asked me to leave as I have not bought anything. Are they within their rights to do so?

so the cheapest option is buy said coffee from starwhatever and drink at your leisure. Retain cup and use as your free ticket on future visits...

 

[Iskra]

Buy a hot drink and you will warm up twice as fast.

They have every right to ask you to leave. It's a space provided for customers. If inadequate waiting facilities are provided, that isn't their problem.

I'm amazed how many people in this thread are making claims that must indicate they've read the terms of the lease.

Used to run a railway station coffee shop at a busy station. Nothing in the lease about becoming an overflow waiting room, why would there be?

 

[snail]

You can get a filter coffee for £1.40 with your own cup. If they accept the Starbucks card you can have a free refill.

 

[yorksrob]

It is, but the difference between a waiting room and seating for customers is usually fairly obvious. At Crewe, for instance, where the two are directly adjacent to one another with a walk-through between them, the different seating in each part makes it blindingly obvious.

This is true. The decor is usually different and "closeoffable" in such places.

If there were a decent sized station and there was no waiting area but a franchised cafe, I'd be annoyed.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Why should someone have to squeeze in? Waiting rooms should have sufficient capacity for passengers to use them comfortably. I've no problem with Starbucks wanting to keep their cafes for customers only, but if there's inadequate waiting room capacity maybe the station operator should use space for that rather than renting it out to a commercial operator? (NB - I have no idea whether this is a regular occurrence at Woking, which could of course affect the calculation.)

How would you achieve that at, say, Waterloo?

 

[tom73]

As it has been very cold this week, I've been waiting 10-20 minutes inside Starbucks at Woking plat 5 as the very small waiting room is full. Staff have asked me to leave as I have not bought anything. Are they within their rights to do so?

Rather stunned this question needs to be asked. If you were the business owner in business selling refreshments, would you really be happy to have random people occupying your premises without purchasing anything, and presumably becoming disgruntled when politely asked to leave.
The solution to your problem of being cold is surely to wear warm clothing and gloves. What on earth will you do when the temperature drops below zero and there is the threat of snow/more snow.

 

[Larry Trapp]

What on earth will you do when the temperature drops below zero and there is the threat of snow/more snow.

Fair comment but will there be any trains

 

[NoOnesFool]

Rather stunned this question needs to be asked. If you were the business owner in business selling refreshments, would you really be happy to have random people occupying your premises without purchasing anything, and presumably becoming disgruntled when politely asked to leave.
The solution to your problem of being cold is surely to wear warm clothing and gloves. What on earth will you do when the temperature drops below zero and there is the threat of snow/more snow.

OP would probably demand a free hot drink.

 

[Starmill]

I wish there would be more enforcement like this.

Surely more public seating is the answer.

If I ran a café nobody who'd bought anything would ever be asked to leave, unless they started doing something threatening or illegal. It would be unconscionable and terrible customer service. I was once asked to leave a pub when I still had a drink to drink, because I'd finished eating. I've made an effort not to buy anything from that pub again.

 

[Starmill]

It's usually fairly obvious when this is the case, though. One very big giveaway is that there is a means of closing the counter without closing the seating area.

It's sometimes less than obvious. York for example has a seating area for AMT Coffee that's actually just a perfectly normal waiting room and not something to do their retail unit. There's a sign above the door to clarify this though. At London Kings Cross there are a great many tables upstairs outside the row of restaurants. On one side of the aisle they're part of the retail units and on the other they're public seating, again a sign is up there.

 

[GusB]

As it has been very cold this week, I've been waiting 10-20 minutes inside Starbucks at Woking plat 5 as the very small waiting room is full. Staff have asked me to leave as I have not bought anything. Are they within their rights to do so?

I would say so. If you're taking advantage of the facilities that a business provides, it's only fair to the proprietor of said business to contribute towards the running costs. The purchase of a drink would suffice.

OP would probably demand a free hot drink.

To be fair to the OP, the question that was asked was "Are they within their rights to do so?". There was nothing in that post to suggest that he/she was unwilling to make a purchase, so I think your comment was a little unfair.

The waiting room in my local station happens to have a counter where it's possible to purchase coffee, apparently (it's never open when I use the station), but it's fairly clear that it's a station waiting room with (part-time) refreshment facilities. I would imagine that it could be quite easy for the boundaries to become rather blurred in other locations.

*Edit* - @Starmill posted while I was typing mine, and hits the nail on head

 

[Robertj21a]

Rather stunned this question needs to be asked. If you were the business owner in business selling refreshments, would you really be happy to have random people occupying your premises without purchasing anything, and presumably becoming disgruntled when politely asked to leave.
The solution to your problem of being cold is surely to wear warm clothing and gloves. What on earth will you do when the temperature drops below zero and there is the threat of snow/more snow.

Perhaps this is another definition for what/who defines a snowflake.......

 

[saxsux]

No, it's a private business which is renting the space from the railway.



There is a sign in the one at Euston explicitly stating that a purchase is mandatory. FWIW, it hacks me off the way people buy something small in cafes at Euston and stay there for ages, well beyond when they've finished, as at busy times it means getting a table is difficult. I wish there would be more enforcement like this.

I'm certain there are signs in the shopping area at Liverpool St that say the exact opposite - that you can sit and wait without making a purchase.

Seems there are no rules of thumb here!

 

[Bantamzen]

Why is there any debate here on how to differentiate waiting rooms from coffee shops? The OP clearly stated they were sitting in a branch of Starbucks, that should make it clear enough really.

Only here at RailUK...

 

[Mordac]

It's sometimes less than obvious. York for example has a seating area for AMT Coffee that's actually just a perfectly normal waiting room and not something to do their retail unit. There's a sign above the door to clarify this though. At London Kings Cross there are a great many tables upstairs outside the row of restaurants. On one side of the aisle they're part of the retail units and on the other they're public seating, again a sign is up there.

The Pumpkin Cafe on the island platform at Coventry is very ambiguous too. There is a Starbucks on platform 1 which is obviously its own establishment. The issue is that there are waiting rooms on platforms 1 and 4, but none on the island, other than the Pumpkin.

 

[Macwomble]

News to me that Starbucks have started selling coffee.

Ha.......beat me to it

 

[adrock1976]

Approaching this from a different angle, if the staff of Star(b*)ucks have issues with intending passengers using the facilities without purchasing anything, what is to say that the passenger does not want anything or having had a look at what is on offer, they do not like what is on the menu? * Insert consonant of choice.

Or how about that they may have previously purchased something, but do not or do not like what is offered that day?

Furthermore, what nobody has seemed to have mentioned yet in relation to it being a business, it is not just an ordinary run of the mill business. It is a large corporate business that does everything possible to get out of paying tax in the UK to the UK government. If it was an individual from a working class background who tried that stunt, it would be highly likely that they would become a house guest of Lizzie Windsor in jail. Perhaps these are the sort of questions that should be raised?

 

[Bantamzen]

Approaching this from a different angle, if the staff of Star(b*)ucks have issues with intending passengers using the facilities without purchasing anything, what is to say that the passenger does not want anything or having had a look at what is on offer, they do not like what is on the menu? * Insert consonant of choice.

Or how about that they may have previously purchased something, but do not or do not like what is offered that day?

Furthermore, what nobody has seemed to have mentioned yet in relation to it being a business, it is not just an ordinary run of the mill business. It is a large corporate business that does everything possible to get out of paying tax in the UK to the UK government. If it was an individual from a working class background who tried that stunt, it would be highly likely that they would become a house guest of Lizzie Windsor in jail. Perhaps these are the sort of questions that should be raised?

Tax evading or not, large franchise or not, it is a buisness that doesn't make money from people not buying anything from it.

 

[matt_world2004]

Could a railway concession like starbucks use railway bylaws to remove people from their concession area if they had a valid ticket.