 badtripI heart the East BayPremium
join:2004-03-20
Albany, CA | Well if you offer something for free... ...don't be surprised if folks take you up on your offer.
There's pros and cons for everything. If the cons of offering free Wifi outweigh the pros, then you don't offer it. I didn't need to go to Haas to figure that one out. |
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 HpowerRoflmao
join:2000-06-08
Glendale, CA | True. I wonder though. How the hell are people able to sit at a damn coffee shop for hours, studying and doing their homework with all the damn noise going on? I have to be a ta quiet place to be able to study or read anything. Plus, coffee spills on laptops = awesome.
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The Internet is about to go down....it is actually. |
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 Fireblade
join:2008-08-27
St Catharines, ON
kudos:2
 ·Cogeco Cable
| said by Hpower:True. I wonder though. How the hell are people able to sit at a damn coffee shop for hours, studying and doing their homework with all the damn noise going on? I have to be a ta quiet place to be able to study or read anything. Plus, coffee spills on laptops = awesome. I couldn't get that either... Just go to a library FFS, I hate lugging my laptop around, don't know how some people can do it.
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I love fish sticks. I love putting fish sticks in my mouth. |
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| They probably think its hip to sit there with their laptop |
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 SLDPremium
join:2002-04-17
San Francisco, CA | reply to Hpower
They aren't *really* studying. Just pretending while they subtly hope to get laid. Maybe getting 10% of real studying done. |
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| reply to badtrip
I used to study in a Hardee's all night that offered free coffee refills.
Not sure I could have pulled it off during the day, but it actually was an excellent study location in the middle of the night with a non-stop stream of caffeine and 59 cent hamburgers.
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It's all part of my rock and roll fantasy |
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| said by Fountainhead:I used to study in a Hardee's all night that offered free coffee refills. For me it was a Denny's, all through school. But I followed some basic common sense. If they got busy and needed the table, I left. When I did stay, I tipped VERY well. (well, $5-$10 on a 99 coffee, which was a lot for the overnight waitress) And because of that, they had no problem with me being there.
I think the issue now is that people are just jerks. If you are sucking up free wifi long enough to run through a laptop battery, it's time to either go, or pay for something else. I see no need at all for places to also offer you power.
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Intel Q6600 @3400Mhz/GA-EP35-DS3P/2x 2048Mb G.Skill/Seagate 750.10/EVGA 8800GT's SLI/Silverstone 850W/Custom water cooler |
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oxwich
join:2009-06-30
Santa Rosa, CA | reply to badtrip
This is an example of people pushing the limits. The business offers free wireless for paying customers. If you stay for a long time, you buy another coffee or pastry.
If you don't accept this, then you should surf at home.
What I would suggest to coffee shop owners is offenders be kicked off the wireless router or change the WEP password on a daily basis as is done in hotels. |
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 sivranBack to Opera againPremium
join:2003-09-15
Arlington, TX
kudos:1 | reply to Hpower
Home may be quieter, but I go to an Atlanta Bread Company location a few miles away mainly to get away from the distractions of home. (like, my games, downloaded tv, anime)
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In dadkins' memory, Think outside the Fox... |
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| reply to Vathral
said by Vathral:They probably think its hip to sit there with their laptop Especially if it's labeled with a piece of glowing fruit.  |
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davePremium,MVM
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio
kudos:7 Reviews:
 ·Verizon FiOS
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to badtrip
said by badtrip:...don't be surprised if folks take you up on your offer. I've never seen a coffee shop advertising 'free electricity'. |
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bigjimc
join:2003-04-21
Middleboro, MA | reply to fifty nine
It is free for "customers".
Sitting in a seat for three hours, leeching wifi does not make one a customer, it makes them homeless. |
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 r81984Fair and BalancedPremium
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX
·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T DSL Service
 ·row44
| reply to oxwich
said by oxwich:This is an example of people pushing the limits. The business offers free wireless for paying customers. If you stay for a long time, you buy another coffee or pastry. If you don't accept this, then you should surf at home. What I would suggest to coffee shop owners is offenders be kicked off the wireless router or change the WEP password on a daily basis as is done in hotels. The best thing to do is print a unique wifi password on the receipt that will be valid for an hour. When it expires you get booted off and have to buy something else to get access again.
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For those of you playing a drinking game.... MY FRIENDS! |
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elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA Reviews:
·SONIC.NET
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to Fireblade
said by Fireblade:said by Hpower:True. I wonder though. How the hell are people able to sit at a damn coffee shop for hours, studying and doing their homework with all the damn noise going on? I have to be a ta quiet place to be able to study or read anything. I couldn't get that either... Just go to a library FFS, I hate lugging my laptop around, don't know how some people can do it. Have you been to a library recently?
They are anything but quiet - no "shh" etiquette any more. While I disagree, I can understand PC librarian think - noisy, chatty kids playing video games, watching DVDs or yapping on cellphones are still kids not on the streets shooting or stabbing each other...
Libraries are also de-facto homeless daycare/shelters, and most stink to high heaven of body odor and worse, as well as the chemical attempts to sanitize the place, which linger forever in the carpet.
Starbucks actually *wants* loungers - its part of their marketing strategy to make the place appear popular. And contrary to the usual bashing, their coffee is actually less expensive than Denny's, McDonald's, Winchell's/Yum-Yum, etc.
I don't care for anything corporate or franchised, but if I'm stuck on the far side of town for several hours, a Starbucks is the most predictable productive place of refuge, free of most annoyances. |
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| said by elray:And contrary to the usual bashing, their coffee is actually less expensive than Denny's, McDonald's, Winchell's/Yum-Yum, etc. Burnt & stale is still burnt & stale. I don't care if it's called the Pope's Blend. Starschmucks sucks and I won't pay six bucks for a thimbleful of swill. |
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| reply to badtrip
said by badtrip:...don't be surprised if folks take you up on your offer. There's pros and cons for everything. If the cons of offering free Wifi outweigh the pros, then you don't offer it. I didn't need to go to Haas to figure that one out. Exactly right. As much as the freeloaders bug the living shit out of me at these places because they are:
(1) Loud/Obnoxious
(2) Looking for an audience
(3) Taking up space that could be used by other customers
the fact remains that management made the decision to offer a free product without bothering to specify the auspices under which the product would be "free." And they also don't want to piss off any of the freeloaders by telling them to hit the road lest bad PR come back to bite the store in the ass later on.
They're reaping exactly what they've sown and I don't feel sorry. If you're going to roll out some promo item to bring in bodies then make sure you have some kind of policy as to its usage. Don't offer the item free and then complain when people use it. |
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| said by SilverSurfer1:They're reaping exactly what they've sown and I don't feel sorry. If you're going to roll out some promo item to bring in bodies then make sure you have some kind of policy as to its usage. Don't offer the item free and then complain when people use it. Yes, it is absolutely the store owner's fault some people are complete assholes.  |
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| said by Camelot One:Yes, it is absolutely the store owner's fault some people are complete assholes. People ARE assholes. It is up to the store to put a stop to it. The problem is these stores cannot or will not. |
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 sporkmedrop the crantini and move it, sisterPremium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Morristown, NJ
·Optimum Online
| reply to Hpower
said by Hpower:True. I wonder though. How the hell are people able to sit at a damn coffee shop for hours, studying and doing their homework with all the damn noise going on? It's pretty easy, actually, we're not necessarily talking about starbucks here, but a handful of local places.
I don't even think this is really an interwebs problem. Before the internet, people would park there asses in these places and read a book or study. Same problem for the business owner really...
This article is also pretty specific to NYC, which is a place where people like say, me, don't live but often have to spend a day there with no "home" between gigs.
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with every mistake we must surely be learning |
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rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO | reply to bigjimc
I agree. Our country is becoming a graveyard of good intentions because people only think of themselves.
About 15 years ago I attended a Microsoft technical conference where the CIO of the major investment company described a situation early in his career where a service provider signed a contract with them. I forget all of the details but it turned out that the service provider grossly underestimated their costs and they could not keep the contract. His company certainly would have been within their right to enforce the contract not unlike the folks who scream "...unlimited means unlimited..." and "...if you advertise free WiFi, it's a free for all..." However, the CIO said he realized that to do so would have put the service provider out of business causing his company to be without the service it needed. He did the right thing and renegotiated the contract so that his company could get what it needed and the service provider could turn a reasonable profit. I've never forgotten his words when he said that a contract really isn't a contract when it doesn't provide reasonable equity.
With respect to free WiFi, I'm quite certain every coffee house provides the service for paying customers. Furthermore I'm sure it's not equitable for anyone to expect to use that service for three hours after buying one cup of coffee.
Isn't this just common sense? Have today's generations been raised with a sense of entitlement that blinds them to what should be obvious?
I truly believe capitalism and it's belief in private property is the best social system man has yet to create. However, this laissez faire system won't work unless our society practices basic ethics and morals. Don't we all know this to be true or do we believe we have a right do die on a hill screaming that unlimited means unlimited?
Think about it. Do you want Starbucks to offer free WiFi if you buy a cup of coffee or do you want to press the free issue to the point that they finally have to pull the plug? |
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