Is a switch to mugs in

MY LOCAL Marks & Spencer cafe is also replacing cups, saucers and a teapot with a tea bag in a mug (Mail). I don’t accept the reason given that it is to cut the cost of washing up.

When will major companies start to ask themselves: ‘What would our customers really like? What would make our service stand out above the others?’

Instead of: ‘How can I cut my service to the bare minimum for the lowest cost?’

Improving service is the way to attract more shoppers.

W. T. COOPER, Birmingham. FLYING saucers at M&S! I regret the loss of properly presented tea at the store’s cafe. Another quintessential tradition gone.

AMANDA YATES, Wideopen, Tyne & Wear. YES, we have to think about the cost of water, power and dishwashers, but there is a simple solution: keep the cups and ditch the saucers! There is nothing wrong with

mugs, but tea is traditionally served in cups. No self-respecting European would accept a cappuccino or flat white in a pottery mug.

ANNE WILLMOTT, Ashby de la Zouch, Leics. I DISLIKE the trend for giant, badly designed mugs in trendy coffee shop chains. They’re heavy and you can barely get your finger through the handle. Supermarket cafes once offered a refuge where you could enjoy tea served in a cup and saucer.

Asda and Morrisons stopped this first, Sainsbury’s cafes no longer have teapots or cups and M&S is next. Tesco is the last one standing, but for how long?

KEN WOOD, Newport, South Wales.

YES, it’s a quintessentially British experience to serve our favourite beverage in cups, saucers and teapots. M&S cafes are not only getting rid of traditional crockery in favour of mugs, but in some stores, customers will soon be exchanging a chat with a friendly assistant for a tussle with a self-service hot drinks machine.

It may be a cost-saving on water and electricity, but definitely has nothing to do with the provision of good customer service.

KAY MORRIS, Birmingham. WHY are some M&S cafe customers outraged that cups are going to be replaced by mugs? For goodness sake, get a grip and try to put things into perspective. It’s another British tradition to complain about the most trivial things.

SUE KAYE, Horsforth, W. Yorks. IF M&S is to replace a cup and saucer with a navvy’s mug, I will have to adjust my demeanour when I pop in for a cuppa.

‘Hello, darlin’, gizza cup of Rosie Lee. Oi, what you looking at, granny? This ain’t bleeding Fortnum’s. Go on, ’ave yer tea in a mug and like it. Nice in ’ere, innit?’