A seat-hogging debate has erupted in Singapore after a student was thrown out of a Starbucks café for leaving her belongings unattended in order to keep her chair.
Yap Huixin had publically posted a complaint on Starbucks’ Facebook page after staff members removed her belongings which were unattended for 30 minutes at the coffee chain’s CityLink Mall outlet, while Huixin and her friends studied there.
The student’s post when viral and many on the internet criticised what she and her friends did to hog seats, saying that Starbucks were well within their rights to moving theirs bags to make room for other customers.
The school’s principle, Tan Wan Yu said the student had apologised for her actions. “The school has engaged the student and her parents to provide counselling and support to help her reflect on her actions,” she added.
An online survey on the subject released by The Straits Times attracted over 11,000 responses on Tuesday – and 96 per cent agreed with what the coffee chain did.
“We encourage our customers to refrain from extended use (whether it is working or studying) during those periods, so that our other customers can come in to enjoy their Starbucks experience,” a spokesman told The Straits Times.
