r/Switzerland • u/Narrow-Question6421 • 15h ago
Can I charge my phone at a Cafe?
I have to stay at a cafe in a small shopping center for approx. 3 hours, and I have ordered a drink and a dessert (will order more if needed). The thing is, I need to charge my phone but I'm not sure if that's rude in Switzerland. I would ask the owner, but I just got curious of the cafe etiquette here. As a Swiss, do you think it's rude to charge phone at a cafe? What are some unspoken rules at Swiss cafe that you should do or NOT do?
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u/Fickle-Isopod6855 Solothurn 15h ago
There is nothing rude about asking politely, they won't bite you.
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u/ThinkPraline7015 14h ago
It's not rude to charge, but it's not nice to avoid a small chat with the waiter. Just ask. They won'r deny it.
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u/duke_skywookie Zürich 15h ago
Depends where the plug is. If it is near the tables and chairs, no problem.
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u/Internal_Leke Switzerland 15h ago
It's ok to charge phone, but it's rude to stay for 3 hours if the cafe is not half empty
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u/Significant-Nebula64 15h ago
No issue if you keep ordering, even if it's full! You're a paying customer, why would they mind?
Don't sit and sip one glass of water for three hours in a crowded cafe, sure.
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u/Internal_Leke Switzerland 14h ago
From my discussions with cafe owners, they expect around 15CHF per seat per hour (of course it depends on location and whether the cafe is full, but that's a good rule of thumb for "consumption volume")
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u/ThatThingTheDarkSoul 15h ago
Yeah go for it. They‘ll allow it, even notebooks since a lot of people like to work in cafes.
Worst they can do is to tell you to unplug it.
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u/Ok-Conference6068 15h ago
It's not rude, many places have sockets to charge it where you sit, if not i'm sure you can hand it to one of the workers. Usually if you buy one item you can stay the whole day, but if you stay more than lets say 4 hours this might be considered a dick move. If you don't have a charger then maybe a nice worker can give you one, but not guaranteed.
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u/GYN-k4H-Q3z-75B Zürich 15h ago
It's not rude, it's normal. Many places even have plugs to use all by yourself, but if there aren't any, they can and should help at the bar. I often work at cafés throughout the day. Just don't do it if they have a policy against it (some have it over lunch because it takes too much space).
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u/AdeTheux Vaud 14h ago
Just ask. But it would already way more rude than people who order the cheapest coffee and squat the place for 3 hours.
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u/slartiblartpost Zürich 14h ago
As long as you consume it's very common. Ask politely, most likely they are happy to help you
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u/Suspicious_Place1270 Zürich 12h ago
LOL you'll see me at zürich HB charging my laptop on the public socket nobody will care, the costs are also so negligible
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u/Line47toSaturn Valais 11h ago
I've been working in a cafe and we had clients charging their phones occasionally. I'd say it's fine as long as you order something if you can.
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u/relevant_rhino 10h ago
Ask if there is no sockets readily available.
If there is i think nobody would care if you just plug in. Depends how oldscool the Cafe is.
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u/Chefblogger 9h ago
did you know that your body has a feature (mouth) with a function (audio)
you could ask …
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