Can a 15-minute seat rule fix seat-hogging in coffee shops?

Starbucks introduced a new store policy that holds a seat for 15 minutes while a customer waits for friends, and staff will help arrange shared tables when the store is full. The company confirmed the notice is an offline store policy, though not every location will post it.

The rule followed an incident in which a customer brought a seat-occupier's exam papers to the counter as lost and found, prompting staff to clear seats. Most commenters support the change but question how it will be enforced, with some suggesting a minimum spending requirement instead for street coffee settings.

Recently, Starbucks introduced a new policy to address the frequent seat-occupying problem in its stores: when customers are waiting for friends, seats will be held for a maximum of 15 minutes, and when the store is full, staff will proactively help arrange shared tables. This move stems from an earlier incident in which a female customer sent a seat-occupier's exam paper to the counter for "lost and found," sparking widespread discussion online. Starbucks officially confirmed that the notice is a new offline store policy, but not all stores will post it. Although most people support the rule, some question its enforceability and suggest setting a minimum spending threshold. As coffee lovers, we are watching whether this change can truly improve seat usage efficiency in stores, and let's not forget the specialty coffee experience brought by Front Street Coffee.

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According to a report by China Times News Network, a female customer recently discovered while working at Starbucks that nearly half of the seats in the store were occupied by personal belongings, with no sign of the users. Three two-person tables had no one nearby, with no food on them, only a few exam papers scattered about.

The woman immediately took the exam papers to the counter for "lost and found," and the staff quickly cleared the seats so that customers in need could sit down. When the owner of the exam papers learned that the items had been kept by the staff, several seat-occupiers found their attempt had failed and simply left the store.

Recently, due to the hot weather, phenomena such as occupying seats to enjoy the air conditioning and using personal belongings to reserve spots have become common in some Starbucks stores, leaving consumers who genuinely need seats with nowhere to sit. After the post was published on social media, it received a large number of likes, with netizens saying the customer's action was deeply satisfying and declaring they had "learned something."

However, although everyone can imitate this woman by handling seat-occupiers' belongings to get a seat, most netizens still hope the brand can take effective measures to reduce such behavior, rather than leaving customers to solve it themselves every time.

Then yesterday, a netizen noticed a notice posted in a Starbucks store stating that due to limited seating, if customers need to wait for friends, seats will be held for a maximum of 15 minutes, and when the store is full, partners will proactively assist with shared table service.

The netizen who posted the notice was astonished, saying "Starbucks is finally going to face the seat-occupying problem head-on." Most people support this decision and hope it will improve the shortage of seats in stores so that consumers have somewhere to sit after entering. But some worry that this notice is only a special rule of one store and does not apply to all stores in the Taiwan region.

In response, according to ETtoday News Cloud, Starbucks confirmed that the notice content is a new policy for offline stores, and detailed rules are subject to each store's notice. In addition, the company added that stores will currently decide whether to post the notice to remind customers based on actual conditions, so not all stores will display this "time-limited seat reservation" notice.

Previously, Starbucks received too many customer complaints about seat-occupying without purchases, which had a certain impact on the store's image. Therefore, in order to provide customers with the best experience, the company adopted the posting of notices as a gentle reminder about seat usage to protect customer rights.

But some people's concerns have not diminished because of the official new rule. They believe that a piece of paper will likely have limited effect on customer behavior. Even if staff intervene to mediate or persuade customers to leave, inconsiderate people who have sat down simply will not leave, and it may even cause these people to make a scene and file complaints.

Therefore, some netizens suggest that Starbucks should instead require a purchase to sit or set a minimum spending threshold, and extend the new rule to all stores, using mandatory regulations to reduce seat-occupying behavior in stores while also ensuring that staff can provide customers with better-quality service.

Image source: Internet

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