Starbucks Drops T-Mobile For AT&T

stoolpigeon writes "Ars reports that Starbucks is replacing T-Mobile with AT&T as their Wi-Fi provider. AT&T broadband customers will be able to access the service for free. Starbucks card users will get 2 hours a day free. 2-hour, daily, and monthly rates will be lower than they were with T-Mobile. Starbucks says that their previously announced deal to tie in with iTunes will continue under AT&T. For now AT&T isn't offering free Wi-Fi to iPhone users, but says it expects to accommodate them soon. Quoting the article: 'The companies didn't specify exactly when the rollout would begin, only saying that it would take place this spring... [The company plans] to install all new equipment at Starbucks as part of this agreement, so the changeover won't be as simple as flipping a switch.'"

Comments

Hooray?

[Arclight17]

If I want wireless while I'm out and about, I go to Panera or a local cafe that offers it for free....
So BFD if it changes!
I use http://www.wififreespot.com/ to find free wifi when I'm away from home. (No, I don't work for them or get money for it :)

Re:Hooray?

[ScentCone]

If you RTFA, you'll see that people who use one of those Starbucks cards at the register (which you can fill by dropping some cash in it once in a while) will get 2 hours of no-extra-charge WiFi while they're there. Sure you can be a parasite at Panera without buying anything, but it's fairly bad form. Starbucks will get clobbered on bandwidth, but they'll sell some more coffee, and they'll earn a little interest on the $5 everyone will have sitting on those pre-loaded cards.

Re:Hooray?

[Divebus]

Of course! How else would you order a double shot half-caf skinny almond latte with your iPhone before you get there?

Re:Hooray?

[tirerim]

How do you get to that website when you don't have wireless access? Seriously, free wifi is great, but unless you plan carefully in advance, it's not always easy to find. Starbucks, on the other hand, is everywhere, so I'm glad that on the rare occasions that I'm willing to pay for wireless it will be cheaper. ($4 for two hours is about on the upper end of what I'm willing to pay; I still want to see a micropayments model, where I can buy 15 minutes for 50 cents. At that point, it would be worth it just to quickly check my email and look something up online.)

Re:Hooray?

[tony1343]

I agree, I go to a Panera. Actually, in the city I live in, the two closest Starbucks to me are both right next to a Panera. People sit in Starbucks and use Panera's WiFi. The one Starbucks is by a University. From within the Starbucks you can pick up multiple free WiFi signals. I do not understand how Starbucks can justify charging. Who actually pays for this? I will simply go somewhere where it is free (and there are multiple other coffee shops that have free WiFi in my city). I always thought this was because they were locked into a contract from before places started offering WiFi and they would eventually offer it for free. Turns out not; they're just idiots (at least in places where there are free signals available).

Re:Hooray?

[amRadioHed]

Why be a parasite? Panera has coffee too. I'm in total agreement with the OP, any coffee shop worth spending any time in already has free wifi. Who needs Starbucks?

Re:Hooray?

[EggyToast]

Places like Baltimore, which have no good coffee shops. There's an area near my work that has 1 starbucks and 3 local shops. The 3 local shops serve bad coffee and have a horrible attitude, but offer free wireless. Unsurprisingly, no one there is ever using a laptop. At starbucks, where you have to pay to use it? Packed. Consistently packed, at that, with paying wireless users.

Maybe it's cos they make your coffee, however you like it, and still smile about it (no eye rolling or snooty remarks). Maybe it's a consistent cup of coffee (consistency is worth something to some people). I've been places where starbucks is low rung on the ladder (the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus is a great example), but in a lot of places they provide a service that no one else wants to provide (custom coffee with a smile). That's worth something to a lot of people.

Re:Hooray?

[AKAImBatman]

TFA links here: https://www.starbucks.com/card/

That's the pre-paid "gift" card, not the branded credit card. So unless Ars is confused (possible), wireless users may find themselves reloading their pre-paid cards on a regular basis. Meanwhile, Starbucks makes mucho-dinero on the "float" of the money.

FWIW, Starbucks often runs deals where you get a free bag of coffee beans if you load up your pre-paid card with $20. This is probably cheaper for them, and far more encouraging for their customers.

Re:Hooray?

[gad_zuki!]

>Sure you can be a parasite at Panera without buying anything,

You might find the definition of parasite to be interesting when it comes to coffee shops.

I read a study (or perhaps a well written rant) about how places that offer unlimited wifi tend to do much, much worse than places that dont. Why? Because people will turn a table into their office and fill up all the seats, thus providing a big disincentive for people to actually go in there and drink coffee and buy a baked good.

I live in a major city and I can picture all the free-wifi places in my neighborhood and I absolutely hate them all. Theyre all packed with kids/students who are myspace addicts and your 9-5'er doing work. There are no free tables. And the best part is that these people are there ALL DAY and I'm sure barely spend 10 dollars, if that. In fact the big free wifi place here recently went out of business. I dont know how they stayed in business. You had 15 people there taking all the seats for hours and buying a 3 dollar product!

So it turns out that if you want to stay in business and sell coffee you need to not turn your shop into a laptop hangout. Even starbucks knows this. They can easily foot any bandwidth cost but they would know their shop would turn into a 'business center' in no time and that will hurt them badly in the end. Instead they want you to buy product and get the hell out. If you need wifi its there but you'll need to pay. Interesting that they are going with the starbucks card approach.

Interesting stuff. Panera suffers from this but your typical panera is much larger than your typical starbucks and all the noise doesnt make it conducive to getting things done like a coffeehouse does.

Re:Hooray?

[metlin]

To answer you, Starbucks is charging because making it free will only make more people flock there for the wrong reasons. Starbucks tries hard to be open yet picky about its customers (notice their prices, compared to say, McDonalds?). It's that fine balance.

And in most cities, Starbucks are usually too crowded - too many people loitering around for the wifi would only make it worse.

If you are really desperate, just buy an EVDO card from one of the providers, and you can have Internet wherever you want (well, almost). And if you are like me, on the road a lot, it is worth its weight in gold.

Re:Hooray?

[Zemran]

any coffee shop worth spending any time in already has free wifi.

I am sitting in the coffee shop of the art gallery in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, using the free WiFi... Where is Starbucks? (O.K. we have got SB here but who needs it?). As you say, every decent coffee shop now has free WiFi...

Re:Hooray?

[QuantumG]

It all began with the death of table service. Was a time when the waiter would kindly ask people if they wanted another coffee or a snack at regular intervals.. if the customer refused, say, 3 times, the waiter would ask them to either order something or leave - this isn't a library.

But hey, that was back when your coffee didn't come in a paper cup.

Re:Hooray?

[blackest_k]

I wish it was that easy here, the only place with free wifi, that'll be mcdonalds.
I just love the ambiance...

Re:Hooray?

[Jellybob]

You're right in saying that waiting staff over here are paid by the hour, but generally they still rely on tips to make a decent wage - most of them are working minimum wage, at least in the UK.

However, we also have the good sense not to pay a tip if the service was crap - although we do offset that by paying a good tip if the service was excellent. I never managed to understand the theory that people somehow "deserve" a tip just for doing their job.

Re:Hooray?

[geminidomino]

The 3 local shops serve bad coffee and have a horrible attitude, but offer free wireless.

As opposed to Starbucks, which serves expensive bad coffee, has a horrible attitude, then charges you for wireless?

They aren't at starbucks for the coffee. They're there for the oxymoronic "hipster cred".

Re:Hooray?

[aclarke]

There are two schools of thought for eating out. Let's call them the American way and the European way.

In the American way, you sit down, eat your meal, get your bill, and leave. The wait staff is there to get you what you want, and mostly to do it quickly. "Moving tables" is encouraged, and most Americans don't like or want to sit down and wait a long time for anything. They are there to eat, and to get out.

In the European way, you sit down, are brought what you want, and are not pressured for what you want to do next. Your next stage of the meal may not come for another half hour, but that's OK because you are there to enjoy your afternoon or evening, and enjoy your time with family and friends. You may sit down after the meal with a coffee or glass of port, and not be asked anything by the wait staff for maybe 45 minutes, unless it appears that you want more of something. You certainly will not be brought your bill before you ask for it, as the wait staff does not want you to feel that you are being rushed out the door. That would not be relaxing.

When I spend a bit of time in Europe and then come back to North America, I find the attitude in most restaurants, even "higher end" ones, to be rushed and not that relaxing. When my steak is arriving 5 seconds after I'm done my salad, it just doesn't feel right. On the other hand, if you are used to that, and you go to a "European" style restaurant, you may feel like it's too slow and people aren't attentive to your needs.

Your commentary was responding to poor service. When you ask for your bill and it takes 15 minutes to get it, that's poor service. The grandparent was referring to feeling rushed when they're in a restaurant in North America. That's not "good service", that's just being rushed. But it's what most Americans (including you, most likely, and that's just fine) want, so that's how most restaurants are. It's what I want too, when I'm in a rush :-)

Re:Hooray?

[MightyYar]

In the US, the "minimum wage" for wait staff is actually lower than the minimum wage for everyone else because it is assumed that they will make their money with tips. They only make about $2/hr in wages - which is effectively nothing. Thus, not leaving a tip is like asking them to serve you for free. That is why we tip, even if the service is not excellent. Hot food delivered to my table is always worth SOMETHING, even if not the full 15-20%. Hell, in a diner or really low-cost place, I'll leave a lot more than 20% just because the food bill is so low that I don't know how the waitress will make any money, and I figure that they need it a lot more than I do. I always feel weird leaving a measly $1 tip on a $5 bill (say, coffee and a bagel) - but that's actually a really good tip by the 20% rule of thumb.

Re:Hooray?

[afidel]

If you are eating at a higher end restaurant and you feel rushed then the staff is most certainly NOT doing its job right and MY tip would definitely reflect that, and I'd probably inform the maitre'de/head waiter. Of course by higher end I'm thinking $100+ per plate. I think one of the big causes of the differences is that many Americans don't cook at home anymore and so the restaurants have to turn over tables in order to serve all their clients whereas in Europe eating out is much more a special occasion thing and so the potential number of patrons is lower.

Re:Hooray?

[Longstaff]

As a former waiter / bartender, the size of the bill is *usually* related to the length of time for the transaction. Leaving a dollar on that $5 coffee / bagel is fine because the server will be doing a significant number of transactions over places with larger ticket items. A server can complete that entire transaction in less than a minute on its own. If you get multiple, similar requests at or near the same time, the server will also combine these actions; so, while they can do a single coffee in 45 seconds from station to table, they can do 6 coffees in only 90 seconds.

Also, at a diner, you might be able turn a table over every 30 minutes. At a nice, elegant restaurant, you may only turn the table over two, *maybe* three times a night depending on scale. People eating an expensive meal tend to like to sit, talk and enjoy the food rather than getting quick body-fuel. That requires more attention and round-trips to make sure everything is going well, drinks are filled, etc.

Waiting tables is a Hell job. Long hours on your feet (I used to do 6 doubles@16+ hours each and a dinner on the 7th day) and being barked at by inconsiderate jackasses make it a largely thankless job. If you can get things as efficient as possible, your customers will appreciate it and tip in kind. If you just try to get through the hours, it will show and reflect in your tips. Those servers that just try to grind through without regard to their customers don't deserve 15%. Their choice to work in a customer-oriented business while note caring about said customers does not require me to subsidize their life. Remeber TIP = To Insure Prompt/Proper Service.

That said, I regularly earned 20% average per shift; on everything from $10 lunches to $500 two person dinners. I tip the same when I am being served. Good service to me will get you a minimum 20%. With supremely excellent service, I typically ignore the percentage completely and have been know to leave well over 100%.

Any place offering free wifi should have a person that will swing through the dinning room to ask if people want anything else. Put up a sign that says "complementary wifi with service" or some such. Make it an honor system and police it when you're not totally slammed.

Re:Hooray?

[Allador]

I do not understand how Starbucks can justify charging. Who actually pays for this? Starbucks doesnt charge, T-Mobile does. I'm sure there are kickbacks in both directions on the deal though.

And as I've said to others before, there are compelling reasons for some folks.

For me, its mostly about convenience, quality, consistency, and ubiquity.

Everywhere I go in the city, or across the country, there's a starbucks. And I'm going there anyway to get my coffee, so the wifi is convenient. If I have to go hunting around for local coffee shops, and then the subsets of those that have free wifi, and then the subset of those where the wifi is actually up and functioning, I've spent far more than the $30 per month, in value of my time.

T-Mobile hotspots are pretty much always up, always work, and are always fast. The opposite is often true of the local shops. The wifi is down, or someone is bittorrenting off it, or the folks running it dont know any better and restart the network equip in the wrong order. I dont need that hassle, I want it to 'just work'. T-Mobile does this for me.

It's not for everybody, I agree. But with this combo, anywhere in the country I go I can find a good cup of coffee, and fast, reliable wifi that just works with no hassle. It's a no-brainer for $30 per month, at least in my case.

And those are the folks who they are appealing to.

Cutting out the middleman

[0xdeadbeef]

Of course the NSA wants to offer WiFi at Starbucks. Dangerous radicals often meet at coffee shops.

Re:'bout bloody time

[djupedal]

T-Mobile has been running a free six-month Hotspot campaign for PSP users since mid-2007...still in effect thru end of March I believe.

it's all about the execution

[abes]

There was a cafe nearby my old school in NYC which I used for doing a large part of my thesis writing. They started off having free wi-fi, but I think got sick of the freeloading (lots of students in the area), and so switched to an hourly-ticket system. Unfortunately whoever implemented the system did a very bad job of it. The problems ranged from making the network really unstable to having to rely on a printer to get your ticket (it's on a frigg'n network .. make a renewal webpage!), to the amount of time allotted (1 hour is not nearly long enough -- especially if someone comes up and starts talking to you).

Which is not to say Starbucks will be doomed. Only that past experience with other systems (esp. counting every hotel and airport I've been to) has shown very few businesses know how to do these things right.

It is *really* nice they're doing away with the pay-system for already paying customers. The amount T-Mobile was charging for access was crazy, and in the end I suspect all Starbucks cares about is getting more people into their store over-paying for the coffee. I have the option of working in Cafes, only I require internet-access. Until now I've been to chea^H^H^H^H thrifty to pay the additional cost (especially since I'm already paying for it at home). I'm much more likely now to spend some quality time in their stores.

As simple as flipping a switch

[joshv]

"[The company plans] to install all new equipment at Starbucks as part of this agreement, so the changeover won't be as simple as flipping a switch."

No, it will be as simple as shipping out a new wi-fi hub and walking a barista through plugging it in and registering it over the phone.

Re:As simple as flipping a switch

[russlar]

Speaking as a former barista, they don't know shit about the wi/fi, and are guided by strongly worded policies not to touch the equipment under any circumstances. Baristas are not usually technically inclined, at least in Boston/Cambridge. This will be done by AT&T techs.

Re:As simple as flipping a switch

[Anonymous Coward]

As a current barista, I can vouch for what this person say is correct.

At the 3 locations I have worked, 2 have had the T-mobile wifi. They usually park the equipment 2/3's up on a 7 foot server mount with signs like "Property of T-mobile" and "Do not touch without permission from T-Mobile". The smartjack is usually 7+ foot high bolted on the wall, or at least it was at both of my stores.

I, however, know the T-mobile data plan rates, and warn customers... Well, I warn our regulars. They're our bread and butter ;)

You're missing the real story...

[ntimid8]

The main reason for the switch is that virtually every executive at their Seattle headquarters wants or already has an iPhone and they want the corporate discount.

Great news..

[GiMP]

I work from "home" and often head out for a change of venue. I normally go to Barnes & Noble because they have AT&T Wifi which has partnered with Boingo. The nice thing about Boingo is that it is only $20/mo, month-to-month. Both AT&T or TMobile are about $40/mo, month-to-month. Unfortunately, I still ended up paying some nasty fees to TMobile for the few times I've chosen to, or had to work from Starbucks. Now, I'll be able to use both, and thats a great thing, as where I am there isn't a whole lot of other choice. With a typical month including over 40 hours of coffee-shop patronage, a change of venue is much appreciated.

For the 'just use free hotspots' crowd, my area generally has no coffee shops other than at Barnes & Noble and Starbucks. Both charge for their Wifi. We also have Burger Kings and Panara Bread with free internet. Unfortunately my area Burger King's don't have open power outlets and smell like burgers; Panara Bread requests that patrons limit their sessions to 30-minutes, and at least where I am, have had sub-par connectivity.

Ties in very nicely for AT&T DSL customers

[Fencepost]

For quite a while AT&T has offered access to their network to their DSL customers for $2.99/month, but recently they announced that they were dropping that to "free for our DSL customers." So, in addition to McD's, Barnes & Noble and some other locations, you can now get effectively free access at Starbucks as well.

Handy, that.

If I was still paying $20/month to T-Mobile this'd sure be the end of it. What's left in their network besides Borders bookstores?

wired at public library

[bzipitidoo]

Wireless is a pain, as connection problems are more difficult to diagnose than they should be. Problems could be not getting a good signal, authorization information is bad, or someone's configuration (yours or theirs) is wrong, and it is sometimes difficult to tell which of those it is thanks to lousy feedback to the users.

Public libraries are everywhere, not too difficult to find, and pretty much all of them have computers connected to the Internet. No guilt trip either for not buying anything. Downsides are libraries often have weird hours thanks to budget difficulties (will open late or close early on random days of the week), and the computers tend to be in demand so that sometimes there's a wait, and of course being public computers you can't and wouldn't want to do stuff like make a VPN connection to your employer's network. But I'd rather visit a library for a bit of surfing or a check of my web mail than hunt around for a wireless connection that works. Motels are pretty poor at running wireless. Down half the time, misconfigured, poor coverage, intermittent signal, etc. And they don't know what to do about it when they have problems, just have to wait whatever expert they've contracted can fix things.

Re:wired at public library

[JK_the_Slacker]

Who told you?

I was young, I was stupid, and I was weak. It won't happen again.

Headline is completely wrong

[PitaBred]

According to TechDirt at least. Seems they're just going to allow a choice, rather than replace T-Mobile with AT&T. But why let the facts get in the way of a good headline...

Re:Headline is completely wrong

[Lemmy Caution]

The headline is essentially accurate. T-Mobile and AT&T have made an agreement to allow T-Mobile users to continue connecting at Starbucks. They are being "grandfathered in," so to speak. Thus, T-Mobile users don't get hosed, but it still remains the case that Starbucks is no longer working with T-Mobile.

I'm a subscriber to a pretty substantial package of T-Mobile services. I have been happy with their service offerings, and their customer service has been outstanding. I can't help but wonder, though, as they fail to get the iPhone and start losing valuable partnerships like Starbucks, whether the benefits of their excellent service will start to mean less if they don't provide offerings with major partners like Apple. When these kind of alliances create unique opportunities, it is a path to monopoly - think Microsoft.

I visited starbucks

[EEPROMS]

here in Sydney, I cant believe you guys call that crap coffee.

Re:I visited starbucks

[tuomoks]

Here in Seattle - come and smell the real coffee. But don't go to Starbucks, any corner has a better coffee shop and real cups. And who drinks coffee out of paper or plastic mug anyway?? This city is full of free wifi places, not much reason to pay. Maybe not as good as S.F. but getting there.

Re:I visited starbucks

[hxnwix]

here in Sydney, I cant believe you guys call that crap coffee. Did the coffee swirl backwards?

In the "So What" School here

[rijrunner]

Honestly, I was not even aware that there were still wifi coffee shops that you had to pay for internet access. Is that a Bay Area thing? In the Fort Collins CO area, most coffee shops I have been around have free wifi with no time limits.

Seriously.. small shops have been doing this for years. DSL is down in the $20/month range and a wireless router is cheap. I suspect that the administrative overhead of managing a system like this one for Starbucks is not really worth the effort. Starbucks may have made their money on the T-Mobile deal, but I doubt it. IIRC, it was a $500 mill contract. And, a quick websearch shows a series of price cuts.

Here's one from 2003:

http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/news/article.php/1855971

"In the original story regarding the price drop, Starbucks New Ventures Director Lovina McMurchy is quoted as saying that even the busiest Starbucks shops get about 20 Wi-Fi devices on the network per day. While T-Mobile doesn't release cost information for providing the hotspot, the revenue generated from so few customers is probably not enough to cover costs of a high speed line -- the T-Mobile Hotspots are served by costly T1 lines -- and the revenue sharing between T-Mobile, Starbucks, and HP, which provides some software for the services."

http://www.lockergnome.com/mobile/2006/03/09/t-mobile-answers-the-cries-of-starbucks-owners/

"All the mom-and-pop coffee shops offer free Wi-Fi. In fact, most everyone does except Starbucks. The Seattle-based coffee house gets its hotspot piped in by T-Mobile. It's been reported for years that store managers at Starbucks has been complaining to upper management for a while about losing business because customers don't want to pay for their Internet after forking out $4 on a foo-foo drink."

Here's my favorite:

http://www.forbes.com/2007/02/23/fonbucks-wifi-starbucks-ent_cx_mc_0226fonbucks.html

"FON, a community WiFi provider headquartered in Madrid, Spain, is offering wireless Internet access to Starbucks' latte-sipping surfers for just $2 a day--versus the $10 users pay to sign onto the 5,100 T-Mobile hotspots at U.S. Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ).

Just how does FON plan to steal away Starbucks Internet users? By offering FON wireless routers, also known as "La Foneras," free to anyone who lives above or next to a Starbucks. The routers, which usually cost $40, split an Internet broadband connection into two wireless signals--one for personal Internet use and the second for public use, which can be accessed by anyone within range for $2 per day. The routers' owners get to pocket half of the sign-on fee, and FON takes home the rest."

Panera

[dekkerdreyer]

Try Panera. Their Wi-Fi is free, remarkably uncluttered for the amount of people in there using it, and the food is significantly better than StarBucks (and the coffee is cheaper).

And I work at a Starbucks...

[Anonymous Coward]

I work at a Starbucks, and have for 4 or so years. It's a great job, provides insurance for us on the treadmill of bachelors/masters programs when the school insurance plain stinks. We get lots of benefits, and a lot of latitude in how we do our job (make people happy above all else).

Now, when it comes to that occasional "I need to check my email" or what have you, the T-mobile price and 'service' is just disgusting. 10$ a day, or 30$ a month?! Yeah, it's that bad. It's not like they have any choices here, do they? Well, yes, they do. All our Subways offer free wifi, as does a popular pizza chain, as does ALL the hotels in our area, as does other coffee shops, as does even the bar.

Yeah, Starbucks is premium and all, and I can understand that. However, what seems simple is to print off the WEP key on a receipt so paying customers have free access. Our server could be easily tied into that kind of setup, in that it would provide no impact on us partners: we see this kind of integration in the drive thru stores, along with the "Bean Screens", and some stores the sticker machines.

And I wouldn't see customers get disgruntled over paying 2$ for a cup of coffee then immediately going to Subway for their email.. We simply don't have the complete package that other coffee houses do.

How does it affect WiFi @Home (T-Mobile) customers

[fuocoZERO]

I currently subscribe to T-Mobile's WiFi@Home feature so that I can place calls on my BlackBerry through WiFi. One of the coolest features was being able to place those calls from Starbucks for no additional charge. I wonder if there will still be some type of deal between AT&T and T-Mobile to allow that feature to continue.

Re:'bout bloody time-Free reading material.

[netringer]

What B&N doesn't have is any power outlets. I needed a place to get a few hours work done on the road. I have AT&T WiFi with my home DSL. The B&N was about the only place in town. I checked the whole store to see if there was a place to let me work. Not an outlet to be seen. They must use battery powered vacuum cleaners.

Pathetic geek story: I had a battery/invertor box in the car so I dragged in and used that to get me an extra hour to work. It was kinda bad when the battery ran low and started beeping.

At least Panera has outlets. I dunno about Starbucks. I never went for the T_Mobile deal.

Re:Headline is completely right

[node 3]

No, TechDirt is absolutely wrong.

From Starbucks:
In recognition of the many T-Mobile customers who enjoy visiting Starbucks, the Company is also announcing that T-Mobile HotSpot customers will be able to continue to access Wi-Fi services at no additional cost, through an agreement between AT&T and T-Mobile.

T-Mobile's hardware and network are being removed, and AT&T's are being installed. What's happened is AT&T and T-Mobile have a deal (probably at Starbucks' behest) to allow T-Mobile customers to access the AT&T hotspots in Starbucks.

But why let the facts get in the way of a good headline... Indeed...

Re: Closing Out of Restaurants

[TaoPhoenix]

Tip that has worked for me: Combine steps.

1. If you're a regular, order when the server first appears.
2. The moment they bring the order, ask for the bill.
3. While they're away, get your credit card in hand.
(You can now go back to your meal.)
4. When they arrive with the bill, snap the card down pronto.
(Continue with your meal.)
5. Your tip is $2 if your meal is up to $15.00, $3 if your meal is up to $22.
      *Your* time is worth more than agonizing over the calculation.
      If you didn't want to be spending up to $25 including tip on a meal,
      you would have never entered at all.

About the time you're done with your meal, this whole sidebar transaction is done.
The service provided for the $18 meal is usually the same as the $22 meal, so it justifies the same tip. Since you declined the need for extra service visits, you compensate for the couple points below the 15% mark on the $22 tip.

Re:'bout bloody time-Free reading material.

[Brobock]

What B&N doesn't have is any power outlets I am about to open a Steampunk inspired coffee shop in the imminent future and have been doing research in this subject. It seems not offering outlets is a strategy. By not doing so, people will stay as long as they have battery power. Once power is exhausted they will leave. This keeps people from loitering way beyond the reasonable limit.

It could be architectural that there are no outlets, or it could be strategic ultimately.