"capital one cafes" are some of the most orwellian sh!t I've ever seen

I am a capital one customer. Full disclosure

I have actually been to these cafes about 10 times. I have never been approached about banking or sold anything. I have never discussed anything banking related there. I just order my coffee an go.

Do you feel duped when you go out to dinner and they try to sell you dessert? Because you didn’t realize they had a dessert menu before you walked in?

It’s not like they hide who they are. At least the one I go to says “capital one cafe”. it’s pretty clear.

Do we need to go over the history of Lloyd’s of London or something?

Cafes and business have gone hand in hand for a long time.

nagoya wrote:

Of or relating to the works of George Orwell, specifically 1984. Maybe a better adjective would have been "dystopian"

I guess it's something you immediately "get" as unseemly or creepy, or you don't.

I think the Capital One Cafes are more “Infinite Jest” than “1984.” David Foster Wallace was disturbingly prescient about a lot of things, and corporations turning every aspect of our daily lives into an opportunity for “branding” is one of them.

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment wrote:

nagoya wrote:

Of or relating to the works of George Orwell, specifically 1984. Maybe a better adjective would have been "dystopian"

I guess it's something you immediately "get" as unseemly or creepy, or you don't.

I think the Capital One Cafes are more “Infinite Jest” than “1984.” David Foster Wallace was disturbingly prescient about a lot of things, and corporations turning every aspect of our daily lives into an opportunity for “branding” is one of them.

Wow an Infinite Jest reference on LetsRun. Unexpected but OK well done

I am a Capital One customer because I am too lazy to move my automatic deposit and autopays on my accounts somewhere else. For a checking account, they are acceptable.

I use two local credit unions where my spouse and I receive personal, quality service. They do all kinds of personal banking, including cutting a cashiers check via phone over to a car dealer (I don't finance car purchases). I contribute to my own Roth IRA's above and beyond my 401k and investment and brokerage accounts on their websites. The service is of high quality at these credit unions. I don't care whether a bank has a cafe, or anything of the sort. Somewhere in my early 30's I valued treating money well (clearly something politicians don't do), and the credit unions provide the best value for domestic banking.

I also have an account at a large multi-national bank because of a daughter in graduate school in Europe, where wiring money is much easier than with smaller banks. I don't use the services of the large bank for anything else. Again, a cafe is not going to incentivize me to do business with a bank.

This reminds me of when I used to do a lot of drinking in bars in eastern Nevada. I was always wondering why all these scantily clad women were touching my arm and trying to take me into a back room. Hello! This is a bar! I'm trying to enjoy my drink here.

Grenio wrote:

This reminds me of when I used to do a lot of drinking in bars in eastern Nevada. I was always wondering why all these scantily clad women were touching my arm and trying to take me into a back room. Hello! This is a bar! I'm trying to enjoy my drink here.

So what is your point caller?

Think taking on a sub-tenant in unused space. Banks once needed vast spaces to house large numbers of tellers and platform functionaries to deal face to face with the bank customers.

A bank as a collection & distribution point for in-hand coin of the realm is an outdated business model.

I'd bet dollars to donuts the bank and coffee shop act as independent businesses.

I think the concept is novel, but the execution is weird.

To do any "banking" I have to go into the back room to the ATM where there is a dude who helps answer questions about the ATM transaction. Seems like all the Capital One ATMs are now only in these cafes.

Personal gripe with Capital One for me because I had a business account and savings account with them. They combined into one login and one email to send everything to and never told me. The business account used to have a working app...then it just stopped one day. Clearly a way to force me out of their failed experiment into fee-free business accounts.

Anyone who pays for their coffee is a sucker. There must be 20 banks in town who offer free coffee. Some genius at Capital One figured that people would rather pay for coffee than get it for free. Anyhow, off to Costco for samples.

nagoya wrote:

Hardloper wrote:

Not sure what's more annoying, banks pushing credit cards on millennials, or the 10 identical coffee shops on my block that all pretend to be uniquely branded. Capitol One managed to combine the two

Yeah, exactly.

To put it in very simple terms - it's deceptive marketing. First off, it isn't immediately clear what the cafe really is, or who's behind it until you're actually in it. Secondly, by making you sit in their branded cafe, the company is using you as free advertising. Third, it perverts a wholesome activity (getting a coffee and a local coffee house) and turns into some perverse cross-marketing live action role play, in which you're an unwilling actor.

Is someone actually MAKING you sit there? Get up and walk out if it's so bad.

nagoya wrote:

Yeah, exactly.

To put it in very simple terms - it's deceptive marketing. First off, it isn't immediately clear what the cafe really is, or who's behind it until you're actually in it. Secondly, by making you sit in their branded cafe, the company is using you as free advertising. Third, it perverts a wholesome activity (getting a coffee and a local coffee house) and turns into some perverse cross-marketing live action role play, in which you're an unwilling actor.

None of this is all that different than any other business' model. Uncommon? Sure. Orwellian? That's a reach.

nagoya wrote:

"Capital One Cafes" ---> what are they trying to sell you, exactly? Financial services? Scones? A chill neighborhood hangout? It's nefarious because it's deceptive and forces big business into an activity that should be organic, wholesome and local.

man this is one of the dumbest threads i've read on here and that's saying something guys! lol

DeBron Lames wrote:

Can you go in there to use the bathroom and take a big dump?

Sure. Crop dust the place on your way in

If you have a computer or a smart TV then THEY can already see and hear you in your home. If you have a smart phone they can see you and your surroundings as well as hear you and track your location.

If cops have your phone number then it's trivial for them to track you and in all but a few states they don't even need a warrant to do it.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-keep-your-smart-tv-from-spying-on-you/

https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology/location-tracking/cell-phone-location-tracking-laws-state

nagoya wrote:

Larrysellers wrote:

Call me crazy but millions of people worshipping the police and military empire while being spied on by their own government is more Orwellian than coffee in a bank.

OK, and...?

OK, and...you should change your mind about coffee in a bank being the most Orwellian sh!t you've ever seen.

Impressive that you are able to find fault with this. You even get a discount on the coffee (which, to be fair, is terrible) with a Capital One card!

Rabble rabble rabble

Suck the TRUTH through a garden hose wrote:

It reminds me of Wal-Mart calling their wage slaves "Associates".........

".No we, the largest retailer in the world, can't afford to pay you a living wage....but we CAN give you a cheesy insulting moniker that makes you feel special. 'Associate'.......one day you might make partner, have your name on the door. Heck you have real potential, you might have your name on the building! 'DumbAzz-Mart'.......how does that sound?"

btw, Sam Walton got that from JCPenney, who was calling all their employees "associates" before WalMart existed.

trollism wrote:

nagoya wrote:

Well that's exactly my point - it's called a coffee shop. You know they're trying to sell you coffee. There's no trickery or obfuscation involved.

"Capital One Cafes" ---> what are they trying to sell you, exactly? Financial services? Scones? A chill neighborhood hangout? It's nefarious because it's deceptive and forces big business into an activity that should be organic, wholesome and local.

Do you think there are people going in for a Latte and coming out with a mortgage?

To some measurable extent, yes. Otherwise Capital One wouldn’t be doing this at all