Downtown coffee shop pulls plug on power-hungry patrons

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Freelancer wrote:

I was at Coffee Cat a few months ago and I was doing work on the Internet and talking on my cellphone. I used to use Coffee Cat for my business during the morning. The owner came up to me and told me to take my conversation outside. I explained to him that I had to have the speakerphone on because I couldn't hear on my phone very well. He just shook his head and told me to go outside. Then he apologized to the people around me, I guess because he thought I was bothering them. What a jerk! I came back and packed up my laptop and printer and never went back. I spent at least $3 every morning there. I hope he misses that.

Disagree with no power wrote:

I understand that coffee houses need to make money. But if someone is running a coffeehouse here in Santa Cruz then they need to figure in that they are in a college town and college students don't have a ton of money and colege students need places to study. So it is "Welcome Students To Our Coffeehouse - But please don't do what you mainly do in coffee houses - study."
I want to be in a place that I will support and buy coffee and bagels from or whatever they have, but feel that they want my business but also care that I am just a student and understand that I am a student.

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Yep wrote:

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this isn't about free electricity this is about people who come to his business and act like it's a library or study hall with some of them having the nerve to ask others to be quiet. The owner wants his cafe to revert to what it was originally....a coffeehouse that people can communicate with others as opposed to machines. All he is doing is taking the means away from people who want to craft his business to their purpose and I applaud him for that. In fact he might even see an uptick in business client wise because of it.

JJJ wrote:

I've heard several local 'free internet' coffee shops have gotten threatening cease-and-desist letters from the RIAA/MPAA because someone was downloading bootleg music or movies using the free wireless. The way the laws are written, an internet provider is supposed to have records of who was using what address when, and is personally liable if they don't. this, more than anything else, is going to kill free wireless.

Not Fooled wrote:

I met a friend at the Abbey (a suspiciously secular looking church coffeehouse, I thought) recently also, and nearly tripped on all the power cords streaming across the floor, although the place was gorgeous, and we had no trouble finding a very comfy seat.
Did that Lulu's owner cleverly turn the tables on everyone? He's been doing this long enough and pretty successfully at that. lt wouldn't surprise me.

Santa Cruz Citizen wrote:

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Interesting you should mention the Abbey - a non profit in direct competition with private businesses. The franchise pays no rent, no property taxes, no city parking tax, essentially little to no overhead.
Quite the unfair advantage.
Real pretty inside though. If I were the competition, I'd wanna sue.

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props wrote:

props to standing up for what you want in your business and telling people. The customer isn't always "right" as the saying goes. That's how he wants to run it, if you don't like it, go somewhere else, plain and simple.

Annette wrote:

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So you are the guy who makes sure everyone hears his business. Newsflash: Some of us actually go out to a coffeehouse to really socialize with other people and have a pleasant conversation, and to get away from work. Some of us non phone users are actually trying to be polite and not listen to your conversation, but geez, you put it on speakerphone. I bet you are also one of those people who shushes others so you can hear your cell phone better. Can you spell M*O*R*O*N? And you brought your printer too? How long did you plan on staying for a measley $3. To provide free WIFI was meant as a service, I don't think the owner of any coffee shop wants to pay your office rent. Just get a coffee to go and sit in your car with the laptop pointed toward the coffee shop to sponge off the free WIFI. Oh, that's right, then you would have to feed the parking meter.