Seemingly trivial things that annoy you
Comments
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I really wish the UK would just go down the continental route and just do full waiter service for all food and drink establishments.
God that waiting at the bar/till etc is a pain, especially for meetings.
I'd take the increased cost everywhere.0 -
Disagree with this. Take your clients somewhere better.rick_chasey said:I really wish the UK would just go down the continental route and just do full waiter service for all food and drink establishments.
God that waiting at the bar/till etc is a pain, especially for meetings.
I'd take the increased cost everywhere.0 -
I do. It's when they decideTheBigBean said:
Disagree with this. Take your clients somewhere better.rick_chasey said:I really wish the UK would just go down the continental route and just do full waiter service for all food and drink establishments.
God that waiting at the bar/till etc is a pain, especially for meetings.
I'd take the increased cost everywhere.
"I just love the coffee here" etc.
"it's so much more relaxed".
Yeah, not for me.0 -
Waiter service in pubs?rick_chasey said:I really wish the UK would just go down the continental route and just do full waiter service for all food and drink establishments.
God that waiting at the bar/till etc is a pain, especially for meetings.
I'd take the increased cost everywhere."I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
TheBigBean said:
Disagree with this. Take your clients somewhere better.rick_chasey said:I really wish the UK would just go down the continental route and just do full waiter service for all food and drink establishments.
God that waiting at the bar/till etc is a pain, especially for meetings.
I'd take the increased cost everywhere.
I also disagree, at least in theatres. I used to go the the Northcott in Exeter frequently, and it was nice to share meals with a friend before the show: you queued up, chose your dish(es) at the counter, paid for it all at the till, and took it with you to the table to eat. New management came in, decided it was more efficient to have table service, so you never knew how long it would take for your food to arrive, and they had extra staff walking around the food area trying to find people, while said people were wondering if they'd actually manage to finish their food in time for the show. At least with the queue at the service counter, you could judge just how long it was all going to take.0 -
If they have staff trying to find people, they're not taking your order at your table, thenbriantrumpet said:staff walking around the food area trying to find people, while said people were wondering if they'd actually manage to finish their food in time for the show. At least with the queue at the service counter, you could judge just how long it was all going to take.
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Yeah. So you don't need to get up. Not ever been drinking abroad?Stevo_666 said:
Waiter service in pubs?rick_chasey said:I really wish the UK would just go down the continental route and just do full waiter service for all food and drink establishments.
God that waiting at the bar/till etc is a pain, especially for meetings.
I'd take the increased cost everywhere.0 -
Plenty of times. But they're not pubs.rick_chasey said:
Yeah. So you don't need to get up. Not ever been drinking abroad?Stevo_666 said:
Waiter service in pubs?rick_chasey said:I really wish the UK would just go down the continental route and just do full waiter service for all food and drink establishments.
God that waiting at the bar/till etc is a pain, especially for meetings.
I'd take the increased cost everywhere.
And if you're already standing, you dont need to get up. Not that it bothers me, I'm not that lazy that I won't get up to buy a round."I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
I've always found the service pretty slow, so ended up drinking less than I may have at a UK pub.rick_chasey said:
Yeah. So you don't need to get up. Not ever been drinking abroad?Stevo_666 said:
Waiter service in pubs?rick_chasey said:I really wish the UK would just go down the continental route and just do full waiter service for all food and drink establishments.
God that waiting at the bar/till etc is a pain, especially for meetings.
I'd take the increased cost everywhere.0 -
Works fine in the US and Canada. And if the table service is shit you have the nuclear option of getting up and politely asking for a drink at the bar.
In the UK, you can be ignored by the server and the bar staff.0 -
Ruins conversation, especially if you're just a pair.
"drink?" *waits 5 mins on their own to hold the table down while*0 -
as they chose the setup maybe they wanted to ruin the conversationrick_chasey said:Ruins conversation, especially if you're just a pair.
"drink?" *waits 5 mins on their own to hold the table down while*0 -
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people who "hold the table down" for 5 mins" so ensuring there is not enough seating capacity for everyone
sub human scum1 -
That went from 0-60 fast!surrey_commuter said:people who "hold the table down" for 5 mins" so ensuring there is not enough seating capacity for everyone
sub human scum
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rick_chasey said:
Good for the self confidence, this place.
'character building'0 -
One I've raised in here before but tat came up again last week. I went into a local coffee shop on a rare day off last Friday and it was full (we tried the other one too and that was also full - there seem to be a lot of stay at home parents in the area who drop the kids off they spend the day chatting with their friends). There was one guy sat at a 5 seat table on his own with his laptop taking up most of the table and wearing a headset nursing an empty cup whilst people were looking around for somewhere to sit or simply not bothering ordering anything. We ended up grabbing a takeaway coffee and going to the bakery for a cake instead of eating in the coffee shop. I really struggle to understand why owners prefer to attract someone who will sit there ages working instead of going for customer turnover. If I ran a coffee shop I certainly wouldn't be providing free wi-fi so someone can set up office.surrey_commuter said:people who "hold the table down" for 5 mins" so ensuring there is not enough seating capacity for everyone
sub human scum1 -
I went into Nero and saw "that guy" at a table for 5 working on his own. I just politely asked him if he wouldn't mind moving to a smaller as I was with my two kids, and he said "sure".
The passive-aggressiveness is pathetic.0 -
Well if there isn't enough capacity to everyone, then some are going to have to stand regardless of whether someone is holding a table down or not.surrey_commuter said:people who "hold the table down" for 5 mins" so ensuring there is not enough seating capacity for everyone
sub human scum0 -
If you had table service the staff would be policing the people using a cafe as an office for you.0
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but if at any one time 10% of the tables are being held down then you are compounding the problemshirley_basso said:
Well if there isn't enough capacity to everyone, then some are going to have to stand regardless of whether someone is holding a table down or not.surrey_commuter said:people who "hold the table down" for 5 mins" so ensuring there is not enough seating capacity for everyone
sub human scum0 -
I see them as holding down the chair and not the table and will offer to mov when their mate at the back of the queue gets thereshirley_basso said:I went into Nero and saw "that guy" at a table for 5 working on his own. I just politely asked him if he wouldn't mind moving to a smaller as I was with my two kids, and he said "sure".
The passive-aggressiveness is pathetic.0 -
I sometimes wonder what a fair rate would be for a table for two if you weren't buying anything.Pross said:
One I've raised in here before but tat came up again last week. I went into a local coffee shop on a rare day off last Friday and it was full (we tried the other one too and that was also full - there seem to be a lot of stay at home parents in the area who drop the kids off they spend the day chatting with their friends). There was one guy sat at a 5 seat table on his own with his laptop taking up most of the table and wearing a headset nursing an empty cup whilst people were looking around for somewhere to sit or simply not bothering ordering anything. We ended up grabbing a takeaway coffee and going to the bakery for a cake instead of eating in the coffee shop. I really struggle to understand why owners prefer to attract someone who will sit there ages working instead of going for customer turnover. If I ran a coffee shop I certainly wouldn't be providing free wi-fi so someone can set up office.surrey_commuter said:people who "hold the table down" for 5 mins" so ensuring there is not enough seating capacity for everyone
sub human scum
Assume the table turns twice in an hour so takings will be somewhere between £12-40. Allowing for profit margins it would suggest our lonely businessman should be paying at least £20 per hour rent0 -
I'm another fan of table service, it's introduction was one of the few upsides of covid. It just feels more civilised, much better than a bar scrum imo.0
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Just a counter view: yesterday I had three meetings in a row in different parts of London stopping off at Costa for a coffee and to catch up on emails/do some actual work was pretty much the only way to not waste the hour or so in between each meeting. I only took up one seat on a small table.1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Can't really ask someone to move when there are no other tables.shirley_basso said:I went into Nero and saw "that guy" at a table for 5 working on his own. I just politely asked him if he wouldn't mind moving to a smaller as I was with my two kids, and he said "sure".
The passive-aggressiveness is pathetic.0 -
Be more assertive and tell him to F-off entirely then?0
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Not really my job to be telling people in someone else's business to do that is it? I just vote with my feet.0
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shirley_basso said:
Be more assertive and tell him to F-off entirely then?
Could be slightly less assertive, @Pross , and tell him to f-off just slightly.
I tend to make a point by asking if they'd mind (in a terribly English way) if I share the table. I probably ought to learn to sneeze at will, and then get out a big snotty handkerchief, while apologising (again in an English way... "Terribly sorry, old chap, I just can't shift it! I hope you don't mind!!") I suppose the alternative would be to go in masked, do the same introduction, and then remove the mask very obviously. Fewer words needed, maybe just the odd sniff and clearing of the throat.0 -
Buying a takeaway coffee is not what I would describe as voting with your feet - it gives them the best of both worlds - high margin sale and not taking up a table.Pross said:Not really my job to be telling people in someone else's business to do that is it? I just vote with my feet.
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