What Are Coffee Shops Expected to Do About Customer Damage?

A customer taking photos inside a coffee shop entered the restroom, a loud bang followed, and the two visitors left quickly. The owner found the wall-mounted sink broken off and on the floor. Surveillance covered the shop but not the restroom, so what happened inside could not be confirmed, and the owner considered calling the police before calming down.

Customers photographing cafés has become routine, and most owners accept it. Online discussion focused on sympathy for the owner, with speculation that someone sat on the wall-mounted sink. Suggested fixes included moving the sink or posting a notice. The case raises practical questions about what are coffee shops responsible for when guests cause damage, and how far new zealand coffee culture norms travel elsewhere.

Taking photos at coffee shops has long become a daily routine for many customers, but accidents caused by this happen from time to time. A coffee shop owner recently encountered an exasperating scene: two girls entered the restroom while taking photos in the shop, then a loud bang was heard, and after the two hurriedly left, the owner discovered the sink had completely broken off and crashed to the floor. Surveillance showed the two had entered the restroom to take photos, but that area happened to be a blind spot, making it impossible to confirm what happened. Netizens speculated the customers might have sat on the wall-mounted sink, causing it to give way under the weight. The incident sparked heated discussion, with many expressing sympathy for the owner, and some suggesting the owner adjust the sink's location or post a notice to prevent similar situations from happening again.

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When taking photos at a coffee shop, customers often take a look around the shop and pick a spot they like to take a few photos, which most shop owners are long accustomed to and won't feel any particular way about. However, there are always one or two customers with special photo needs who become unforgettable memories for some shop owners.

Yesterday, a coffee shop owner encountered two particularly memorable customers. After entering the shop, the two girls first asked the staff if they could take photos without making a purchase. After being politely declined, the two split a drink and looked around the shop for suitable photo spots while drinking. During the shoot, one of the girls went to the restroom first, then called her companion in to help take photos.

The restroom happened to be an area not covered by surveillance, so the owner had no way of knowing exactly how the two girls took photos inside, and could only hear from the surveillance footage a loud bang coming from the restroom during their use. Afterward, the two came out of the restroom, hurriedly packed up their things and left. After they left, the owner walked into the restroom and was stunned by what he saw—his sink had completely broken off and crashed onto the floor.

After watching the surveillance footage, the owner was both shocked and angry, admitting that at the moment of discovery he even wanted to call the police, but after calming down he actually felt fortunate that the collapsed sink hadn't injured the customers, otherwise besides having to buy a new sink, he would probably have had to pay additional compensation.

After watching the surveillance footage released by the owner and that ill-fated sink, netizens turned into detectives and began analyzing, speculating that the two girls might have sat on the sink to get the ideal photo, and since the shop's sink was a wall-mounted design with no physical support underneath, it couldn't bear weight beyond its limit and eventually collapsed to the floor.

Many netizens expressed sympathy for the owner, believing that the two girls' improper use of the sink caused the damage and they should have informed the owner and proactively compensated for the shop's losses. However, after the incident they neither notified the staff nor, seemingly afraid of being held accountable by the owner, hurriedly left—this evasive approach to responsibility is truly infuriating.

Many others were baffled by the photo location the two girls chose: "Why not take photos in their own bathroom at home, so bizarre," "They... why... would they specifically go to a restroom outside... to take photos?" "Taking staged photos in a shop is understandable, but sitting on the sink I don't understand," "Sitting on the sink... what scenery in that restroom is worth photographing?"

Although more and more customers take photos in coffee shops, in most people's view, not every corner of a shop is suitable for taking good photos, such as the restroom sink. Therefore, some offered the owner advice: they could learn from KFC and McDonald's by installing the new sink outside the restroom, placing it within the coverage of surveillance cameras, which should effectively prevent the sink from once again falling victim to customers' photo needs.

Alternatively, the owner could post a new shop rule next to the reinstalled sink—"Please do not sit on the counter to take photos"—reminding customers not to harm the innocent sink for the sake of photos.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.