When hospitality runs dry: How long should you remote work in a cafe?

By RNZ

A journalist who has been banned from several Hawke’s Bay cafes after getting kicked out for spending too long working at one of them says there were plenty of tables, and he just wanted to spark a conversation about remote working etiquette.

With a growing tribe of office nomads, more people are settling in at a cafe with a coffee and a laptop to work.

But how long is too long to keep the seat warm, and does it depend on how much you spend and how busy it is?

Hawke’s Bay Today deputy editor Mark Story found out the hard way when he was asked to vacate an Ahuriri eatery after an hour recently.

And after seeking comment from the owner about the incident, Story was told he was banned from all of the owner’s cafes.

Story initially bought a coffee and a brioche, and was then asked to move on because the cafe was “mindful of paying customers”.

“But there were three or four tables free, so I thought it was a little odd.

Hawke’s Bay Today deputy editor Mark Story found out the hard way when he was asked to vacate an Ahuriri eatery. Photo / Warren Buckland

“As I said in my piece, I’ve never been accused of undereating in my life, so that was novel. It was just a bit puzzling, so we put the question out there, how long is too long in a cafe?

“It’s important to say I wasn’t offended because I’m a journalist, I’m interested because I’m a journalist and we seek those stories and engage the public.”

Story sent an email to get comment, and did not get any response, so rang the cafe.

“The owner got on the line and asked if it was newsworthy and I said ‘I think so’, and then she said I was banned from all her establishments in Hawke’s Bay.”

Story said he was alone when he was working, and not talking to anybody. He said as somebody who did a lot of remote working, he was very conscious of needing to move on if the cafe began to fill up.

“It was strange that there was plenty of space, I just thought it was risky from a hospitality point of view.”

He said he spoke to other cafes and found the general consensus was that it was a “common sense situation”, but that feedback on the issue seemed to be 50-50.

“Some are backing the cafe and some are backing the push for remote workers to stay there, if there are tables existing.”

Story admitted he was using the cafe’s Wi-Fi at the time.

“I’ll be upfront about that. But whether they pay a set monthly fee and whether they incur additional costs because I was using it, I don’t know.

“But I think the art of hospo is to get people through the door, not to quibble over minutes spent on Wi-Fi use.”