Shanghaiist: Whisk whacks free Internet — a trend?

P

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 04:38:48 +0800

Damn boycottbegun.. you're a poor bastard if you can't even afford 3 RMB

boycottbegun

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 14:07:29 +0800

i don't care about the free wifi, but on a recent trip to whisk i noticed something else that was no longer free — water! there is a sign on each table that says they no longer serve filtered water. only mineral water at 3 rmb per small glass. my friend ordered water and i didn't. they still brought us two glasses and charged us for two glasses. why charge for water? it's so cheap. just seems like a bad move image-wise.

randj

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 12:14:29 +0800

No Wifi... just another reason for me to avoid their dry cupcakes, banal hot chocolate and the ever popular, but common, pizza, pasta and panini combo served at most western cafes.

J

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 12:14:22 +0800

Somehow there are plenty of other cafes in the world who have figured out how to manage this issue without taking away WiFi access completely. Just another reason for me to swear off subpar food and atmosphere for greener pastures.

LAT

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 11:44:39 +0800

I'm a fan of WiFi in cafes, but I have sympathy for places like Whisk that rethink their free policy--it does seem to encourage people to camp out and take up space more paying customers might otherwise occupy. The food service business is all about turnover. Boonna is a good place, but my experience yesterday was typical: I arrived with two friends, and there were no tables available, so we sat in the armchairs. Two of the four-person tables were occupied by individual customers, both with laptops... and one drink. Over the next hour or so, several groups of people came and were turned away. Maybe a minimum charge to sit at a table? I can't imagine places like Boonna will be around too long if they are harboring customers that take 2 hours to spend 20 kuai, and turning away other customers to do so.

Tim B

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 18:55:50 +0800

New'ish place I learnt of recently with wifi and comfy lounges is Labella Cafe. Nice & bright inside too. http://www.labella.com.cn/ Photos c/o flickr... http://www.flickr.com/photos/chongqing/sets/72157594266685260/

Trev

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 16:19:45 +0800

City D still wins hands down for me. Food and drink options, comfy seats, friendly staff. HK, hats off to you.

Too Much Coffee Man

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:41:03 +0800

I can understand this one - the Coffee Bean nearest me is full of people using WiFi. It seems like these people get one coffee and then park there for several hours. In the meantime, there's no tables left, and I end up going somewhere else. Wifi is great, I just don't think it makes business sense at locations that would be busy anyway. Ideally, Shanghai would have free city-wide or downtown-wide WiFi. Don't hold your breath...

Jay

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:47:05 +0800

Ryan, c'mon over to Boonna

Pusheezy

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:41:28 +0800

I have been to some cafe's in Beijing that offer free WiFi but they have a password which changes often. When you sit down and order some stuff they tell you the password. No one's claiming this is an ironclad solution, but in a way it lets you know that they are willing to provide something of value in return for your patronage.

T

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:18:35 +0800

Singapore beat them to it - you can now surf wirelessly for free in many of the hotspots in town.

Jonas

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:47:37 +0800

Shanghai maybe winning in the so-cool-city stakes but Hong Kong just announced HK$210m to install wi-fi networks in majority of public places over the the next two years.

hdp

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:43:23 +0800

I really like Whisk and the absence of losers using it as a place to surf the web makes it an even more appealing place.

DiscoDan! (http://lehnberg.net)

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:24:34 +0800

Actually, I visited Whisk more than two weeks ago, with the waitresses saying the exact same thing: "We have technical difficulties with our connection." If what shanghaiist reports is correct, this is an excellent way of losing your customers. Sure, I'm a greedy capitalist myself, but I also believe in customer service. I only visited Whisk a couple of times before this was changed, but during those times, I spent more than 70RMB per time. That would, in my opinion, cover their expenses and still let them maintain a hefty profit margin if you consider the cheap labor and rent costs in this city compared with other Metropolies. Ah well, it's their loss. I was never that much into chocolate either way, but I liked their service-minded staff. Places I recommend? - Wagas - Arch

cindy

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:23:23 +0800

Every heard of 'cover charge'? Decent cover charge would work well for both patrons and owners. Perhaps have cake and NOT eat it too? :-)

Little Red Else

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:02:32 +0800

No Wifi at Whisk? and they never have any cupcakes either. Why, why, why do Shanghai establishments get a good thing going and then ruin it...

DSpear456

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 09:54:18 +0800

Sad to hear about the loss of Wi-Fi at Whisk. In that case, I'll be spending more time at Coffee Bean.