Toilets !

[MrG]

Here's a question for all you coffee shop owners/workers/customers.

Recently in the UK media there have been reports about the decline in
availability of public toilets and one suggestion in the report is that
shops, pubs and restaurants etc should sign up (voluntarily) and be paid to open their toilets to the public.

So would you take the cash and open up as a public toilet ?



ME: No I wouldn't ..... and that's just not be being awkward.

We regularly have people who come in and ask if they can use the loo, even though there is a public one less than 50yds away (it's dirty and unpleasant).

In 99% of the cases the answer is YES.
But there are times I say NO !

I've had a few times when people have just left one of the 2 local pubs
and 'staggered' in wanting to go and a couple of occasions where the person was clearly 'high'.

I don't want my staff cleaning the toilet every 15 mins because somebody who's had a few too many has messed it up. Also I don't want my staff to be exposed to an increased likelyhood of finding used needles in the bin.

We keep out toilet clean and tidy and the cleaner it stays the better that is for my customers and therefore my business.

As far as I'm concerned .... the vast majority are welcome, but if I need to display a sign saying our toilet is available for public use .... then it would be difficult to turn away those that would abuse it.

[BazBean]

Mr G.

I hate the idea of signing up to anything like that especially as any rebate would soon be negated by swift rise in business rates once they knew we had a few extra pennies from "there" pocket ....(cynical old fella in my old age) also how would Joe public know who was a member or paid etc .
Lastly imagine the "my taxes pay for your toilet matey” brigade of customer!! . If challenged for bad behaviour?

Like you we don’t have a massive sign like most stating toilets are for customer use only as personally I have never liked the concept... short sighted from a business angle but also my experience is 99% always ask and remain grateful and in fact are often seen later in the day as customers. As always the tiny scum percentage who have no respect but if they have no moral fortitude or decency for themselves my toilet will always be lower on that list

I am with you all the way and would want control of my shop and the safety/ care of the decent folks well under my control.

[Hugo]

What an awful idea... dreamt up by a local council employee perhaps?

Just the thought of it makes my blood pressure rise.

[Ed]

I was in a favourite coffee shop (cafe, if you will) in Llandudno recently.

A couple came and sat down at a table outside and started smoking. The waiter took their order then the woman came inside, used the toilet and returned to her seat. In very short order she returned inside and asked for her order to be cancelled while her partner/friend started gathering their bags etc. together.

The owner, a very pleasant but forthright lady from the North of England, immediatley pursued the woman out of the establishment and charged her 50p for using the toilet, which the woman shamefacedly paid.

"Good on her," I thought of the owner and what a cheek from the "customer". I don't think the staff had started the order but just suppose they had.

[CakeBoy]

Indeed Ed, potentially a huge waste of half prepared beverages. Also had it been busy, it may have cost the cafe other customers who may have been unable to find somewhere to sit.

As Barry eluded, it's all about moral fortitude. If caught short, I don't understand why people go through all the pretence instead of being honest and just asking the owner if they might use the facilities in a local shop/bar/cafe/whatever - we all get stuck at some point after all. Any I have approached in the past have been delightful about it and given permission. That said, if it's a cafe, I think it doesn't hurt to take a view and just enjoy a quick stop and a coffee if there is time.

Nothing as queer as folk!

[GreenBean]

Nothing as queer as folk!

Especially purple, blobby cake munching folk!

[CakeBoy]

Talking of which, I had a cracking slice of M&S lemon roll cake this evening. All lemony and moist. Yum!

[GreenBean]

Talking of which, I had a cracking slice of M&S lemon roll cake this evening. All lemony and moist. Yum!

Lemon roll you say, where's mine?

[Aadje]

wow: an allways empty plate, but an allways full mug of coffee. What a trade-off

[CakeBoy]

Talking of which, I had a cracking slice of M&S lemon roll cake this evening. All lemony and moist. Yum!

Lemon roll you say, where's mine?

You mean it didn't arrive? ..........Oh no!

[ianboughton]

As it happens, toilets are a massive business issue... I've written about them in many business magazines other than my own. A fascinating event, every year, is (wait for it...) the Loo of the Year awards, presented by the snappily-titled British Toilet Association. (Who, I see, have now started answering their phone with just 'BTA', and I don't blame them).
These awards are massive - the sponsors are all blue-chip companies from the world of sanitation, etc. And the prizes actually do have an effect... there are stories of tourists turning up at venues which have won an award. Honest, not joking.
But the curious thing is that the coffee-house industry has never distinguished itself in the awards. We lobbied for years to get a 'cafe and coffee-house' section, and the only cafe which ever really won anything was Badgers in Llandudno, where the owner confirmed that having the Loo of the Year award plaque on the wall really did attract business. On the other hand, I have been waiting for years to be sued by Starbucks for publishing pictures of the filthy loos in one of their London sites... somewhere near Tower Bridge, I recall. Absolute disgrace. Did they reply to complaints or questions? Did they hell!
For a practical illustration of the value of the toilet sector, try this. Mary Bs coffee house in Padstow, Cornwall, thought of hanging pictures by local artists in their toilets. The first one they hung, they sold - for £400.
Cafe toilets are a serious business - operators really should get it right !
-IanB

[CakeBoy]

As it happens, toilets are a massive business issue... I've written about them in many business magazines other than my own. A fascinating event, every year, is (wait for it...) the Loo of the Year awards ............. Mary Bs coffee house in Padstow, Cornwall, thought of hanging pictures by local artists in their toilets. The first one they hung, they sold - for £400.
Cafe toilets are a serious business - operators really should get it right !

Interesting stuff Ian. I can recall occasionally avoiding places with known dirty toilets, partly because of a desire to avoid using dirty facilities, and also because it could be indicative of the kitchen/bar hygeine standard as well. However, the impact of the awards you mention is a real eye-opener.

.... the Loo of the Year awards, presented by the snappily-titled British Toilet Association. (Who, I see, have now started answering their phone with just 'BTA', and I don't blame them).

I have visions of them prior to the adoption of said acronym frantically trying to avoid employing any receptionists/telephonists named Louise .............

"Good morning, British Toilet Association, Lou speaking ........"!