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Local Cafe Owners Are Officially Sick Of Your Bad WiFi Habits
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In today's news that surprises no one, a local cafe owner has gone on record saying that she suspects free WiFi service is bad for business.*
Mireya Jones, who owns Jones Café in Pasadena, told CBS News that customers were staying at her shop for over five hours to use the internet, with some patrons going so far as to get an attitude with her about their right to be there.
“They would get very entitled and kind of nasty,” Jones told the news site. She decided to cut off the WiFi five years and says it hasn't hurt her business at all.
Not everyone agrees with Jones' approach—Elrick Kane, who owns Jumpcut Café in Studio City, noted that patrons “could be checking into social media and saying, ‘I’m working at Jumpcut Café today,’ and suddenly, that’s a plug for us."
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If the city of L.A. follows through on an motion put forth by City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield that would provide free WiFi for the entire metropolis, the concerns of cafe owners might be moot anyway. But in the meantime, plenty of online material is available to gently remind local cafe-goers of proper WiFi etiquette.
For instance, Apartment Therapy makes the following recommendations:
Do: Order something every 2 hours. Don't: Order off the menu, especially during peak hours.
Do: Get to know your barista.
Don't sneak in outside food! Offer to share your table
Think about leaving the coffee shop [if you've been there for over four hours]
If you truly can't tolerate mixing internet with coffee, though, you might check out one of these cafes that—like Jones—have put staunch limits on internet usage inside their four walls:
Paper and Plastik: Located in Mid-City, the shop restricts use of internet on the weekend, and only allows laptops at certain tables.
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Casbah Cafe: Silver Lake's Casbah Cafe doesn't completely maintain an "Old World" vibe. They have free wifi but they designate certain tables "no computing" zones.
Handsome Roasters: This craft coffee company based in Downtown L.A.'s Arts District has opted out of offering internet service in order to keep the atmosphere more social, like a bar or lounge.
*Editors note: an earlier version of this post stated Jones Café currently has WiFi. The Pasadena cafe says that it has not offered wireless service to its customers for five years.
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