One of the many hats I wear is tutoring. Often, this means meeting students at a coffee shop. Now, I know that a coffee shop is a business, and that they make their money from selling things, not by people just sitting in them, and so I always make sure to order something… but some of my students don’t seem to realize this. They’ll come in, meet me at a table, and stay for an hour or so without ordering anything. Do I have a responsibility to mention this to them, or is that the place of the employees?
Actually, I think this is on you. You should be meeting the students you are tutoring in a place where they are not expected to pay extra to be tutored. They’re already paying you, why should they be expected to pay more due to your choice of venue?
Are these like… college-age students I’m guessing?
Anyway yeah, I agree, they shouldn’t really be expected to pay anything extra. It’s good that you’re at least ordering something, and while they aren’t making record profits off your table I wouldn’t really worry about it. Especially if it’s a chain like Starbucks. They aren’t hurting for cash, and I doubt anyone who works there is taking notice or cares about you.
The students are high school or college aged. Usually with high school students, it’s the parents who are paying for the tutoring. In my first contact with the students, I always suggest a conveniently-located coffee shop for meeting in, or any other location they’d prefer to meet, so they know going in where we’ll be meeting. And there really aren’t many other good places to meet students-- Libraries generally frown on hosting professional tutoring. College campuses usually have some free meeting areas (which I suggest if I’m meeting a college student), but that doesn’t help much with high schoolers.
And it’s sometimes a Starbucks or other chain, but the shop I meet students at most often is an independent place. I don’t know if they notice me specifically or not, but I am in there a couple times a week.
You should order something for them.
Enabling the logistics of your business is your problem. If you’re that worried about it, then buy your student a coffee. Bill their parents. :rolleyes:
If you want to stay at the coffee shop, the best practice would be to roll up the appropriate food costs into your tutoring fee- offering a drink or a portion of a shareable snack to all of the students. If that’s not appealing, you could try talking to the coffee shop owner or manager and seeing if they have a preference.
Otherwise, I think you should offer your students a choice of a coffee shop or a no-cost location, and make it clear that the coffee shop is a buy-your-own thing ahead of time. Something like “I meet many of my students at Starbucks. But I understand student budgets and if you’d prefer not to buy a cup of coffee, we can meet at the library.”
I’d either put it in your business plan to buy them a cuppa out of your earnings, or play it passive agressive.
“Hi! Great to see you. What can I get you?”
“Oh, nothing. I’m good.”
“Well, y’know, we *are *using their table, so we should probably support them. Coffee? Tea?”
Most of 'em will probably take the cue. A few might even bring their own cash next week. If you find one who brings enough money to offer to treat you next week, send 'em my way. My boy ain’t dating, and he needs to meet a good person. 
I think most public libraries have private rooms where you can talk and not disturb others.
(assuming it’s the noise that is frowned upon)
mmm
Meeting at a coffee shop for tutoring is utterly normal. As long as you’re buying something yourself (and I’d say you should buy at least a thing an hour), I don’t think you need to worry about the students. I don’t think anyone will be mad at you.
In my experience, most public libraries no longer worry about noise. And the two I frequent most regularly have tutors all over the place.
This. You should not expect your clients to pay a third party extra based on your choice of venue.
In any case, I think you’re wrong about this. I spend a lot of money in coffee shops but every once in a while I go in and don’t buy anything. Unless there’s a “paying customers only” rule explicitly stated, then the occasional free loader is built into their business model.
Bring your own coffee. Carry the percolator in one hand, electric cord trailing behind, and a mug that reads I HATE MONDAYS in the other. Wear your footie pajamas and an open bathrobe.
Our library has tutors meet at open tables. No meeting rooms required. I think you should look into a location change.
I don’t see why every person in a group at a coffee shop, restaurant, retail shop or bar must buy something, although it’s unusual it must happen sometimes. If you’re concerned about the independent’s profit margins you could think about your introducing the students to a new place; free advertising by word of mouth is nothing to be sniffed at.
I would say etiquette dictates your table buy at least one item per hour, with a purchase of a large order for 2/3 hours taking up a table. Unless they mention anything I’d just go with buying how much I feel comfortable with consuming, although you could offer a regular or very successful student something.
Maybe you should talk to the coffee shop management and rent a table for the hour.
How many students do you tutor at a time? Is it one-on-one, or do you do small groups?
Libraries that I know of have conference rooms where you can talk. I would never do tutoring, or any other kind of conversations above a whisper, out in the open, whether the library allows that or not. Call me old-school that way. Libraries should be quiet. The trend of letting libraries sound like children’s day care centers (which I first noticed about 30 years ago) is a crock of horse shit.
I once tried to browse in a library, and the librarian and a patron (both of them little old ladies) were jabbering away out loud, going on and on and on. I eventually went over and whispered to them: “Excuse me, ladies, we keep our voices down in the library.”
OOOOOOOoooooooooooooooohhhhh! The dirty looks they gave me! 
But they quieted down.
I teach chess and bridge.
I either hire a venue for this (multiple students in a church hall for example) or speak to the venue first (a local pub said they were delighted if I bought just one round of drinks as chess was a classy thing to see.)
I don’t think you should run a business and expect to get a free venue.
If there were a suitable free venue, I wouldn’t even suggest coffee shops to begin with. But as I said, libraries frown on this. It’s not the noise they object to; it’s doing it for pay. Many libraries will have their own programs with free tutoring from volunteer tutors.
And to be clear, I don’t have any objection to shouldering the cost myself, if that’s what is expected. I just wanted to be clear about whether it was expected. It sounds like the simplest solution is for me to just buy two things, if the student doesn’t buy anything. Well, or just leaving it go at one item per table.
Just one at a time, and a typical session lasts about an hour.
I’ll throw this out.
You should mention to them that if you are both taking up a table for that long that the student SHOULD order something.
Yeah, maybe YOU should pay for it. Or maybe the place isn’t busy and you two being at the table isn’t hurting anything. Or if push came to shove you both could meet somewhere else.
Which is all possible.
So why do I think you should suggest THEY order something?
Its another teachable moment. That they should consider the impact their behavior has on others. That businesses are actually in the business of making money (or at least not loosing it).
This is the kind of thing that isn’t explicitly taught in schools. Or even by parents.
Young adults might figure this thing out quickly. Or not.
A lot of stuff like this I figured out on my own eventually. But I sure wish someone had told me way before that.
If Chronos is the one making the students meet at a coffee shop, it is complete bullshit to then tell the student to purchase something, and to act like if they don’t they are somehow hurting the business. Unless they knew when signing up for your class that they would have to pay a surcharge to use the coffee shop, it is on you if you want to buy something, not on the students.