"Leave Your Belongings and Go Eat, Then Come Back"... Online Debate Over Café Customers Who Leave Their Seats [What Do You Think?]

[Financial News]  Online opinions are divided over café customers who leave only their belongings on seats and remain away for long periods.
Recently, posts criticizing people who leave their belongings at cafés or public places and stay away for extended periods have been appearing one after another on online communities such as Thread and NOW Talk.
A café owner posted on Thread that he had asked a particular customer to use another establishment. He wrote, "Today was the customer's third visit, and every time they come, they stay for at least five hours because of the long usage time," adding, "I don't interfere with studying at a café, reading, knitting, or anything like that. But even the employee working with me said this had gone too far."
The owner also said the customer had left the seat unattended for a long time. He stated, "During the first visit, the customer was away from the seat for an hour and stayed for about six and a half hours before leaving shortly before closing," adding, "They left a tablet, major-related textbooks, a tumbler, clothes, and all sorts of belongings on the table, so I couldn't touch anything."
Some commenters said they had witnessed similar cases. One user wrote, "The other day, someone went out to eat and came back carrying a cup from another café," adding, "I can't understand how someone could leave their belongings at a café, go eat, and then come back. It's as if they came from another world."
Another café owner said he was experiencing the same problem. He said, "Among the customers who come frequently these days, there is someone who orders two coffees, stays for three hours, leaves to have dinner after reserving the seat, remains away for about an hour, and then comes back before leaving again with the seat reserved." He added, "They come at around 3 p.m. and stay until 11 p.m."
Some users suggested ways to respond. One wrote, "Put up a notice saying something like, 'If you are away from your seat for more than 30 minutes, we will clear your belongings,' and clearly state in the additional explanation that the café will not be responsible for lost items," adding, "The belongings could then be placed separately in a lost-and-found storage area."
On the other hand, some posts said such measures were excessive from the customers' perspective. One customer wrote on an online community, "I wasn't in the mood for coffee, so I ordered a 10,000-won croffle instead, but because of the one-drink-per-person policy, I ended up ordering an espresso as well." The customer continued, "I sat there for about an hour, stepped out briefly to take care of something, and when I came back, someone who appeared to be the owner told me to leave because I had been away for more than 10 minutes." The customer said they were upset, adding, "I hadn't even been there for two hours, and there were plenty of empty seats. When I asked how that could be considered disrupting business, the person told me to be careful next time."
There was also a case in which someone left for more than an hour while keeping a laptop and cellphone turned on. One user wrote on NOW Talk, "It seems the person has been away for more than an hour, leaving KakaoTalk open on the laptop and the cellphone beside it," adding, "The phone keeps ringing, and the PC KakaoTalk notification sound has been going off continuously." Other users described the behavior as inconsiderate.
Given the situation, some franchise cafés have introduced policies stating, "If you are away from your seat for more than 30 minutes, we will remove your belongings." An increasing number of neighborhood cafés are also applying a 30-minute rule, while some establishments have adopted an even stricter standard of collecting belongings after 15 minutes. In most cases, cafés place notices on the seats and store customers' belongings at the counter if they do not return after the specified period. Some cafés that removed belongings immediately without warning have also ended up in conflicts with customers.
Others countered that seat-absence rules should not be enforced too strictly. They argued, "Are you saying people can't even go to the restroom? Thirty minutes is too short," and added, "If you step outside to take an urgent phone call, 30 minutes can pass quickly. If your belongings are collected every time that happens, it becomes impossible to use a café."

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