Guide · For venues
Should your bar or restaurant have a phone charging station?
A dead phone quietly ends a visit early. This is what a charging station actually does about that, the three ways to get one into your room, and what to ask before you agree to anything.
7 min read · Ampz Guides
The problem is not the phone. It is the exit.
A guest whose battery is dying starts doing arithmetic. Can they still pay? Get a ride home? Find the friend who is meeting them? Take the photo they came for? Every one of those is a reason to leave sooner than they planned, and none of them has anything to do with your food, your drinks or your service.
It is a small, invisible leak. Nobody complains about it on the way out and it never appears in a review, which is exactly why most venues have never counted it.
The workaround most rooms already run is worse than nothing: a cable behind the bar, a guest’s phone charging next to the till, and a staff member now responsible for somebody else’s property. That is a liability and an interruption, not a service.
What a station actually changes
A rental station holds portable power banks. A guest scans the code on the machine or uses the app, takes one bank, and carries on — at their table, on the patio, wherever they were. They return it to any station in the network, which may or may not be yours.
The difference from a wall-mounted charging dock is that nobody is tethered to a corner of your room and nobody leaves a phone unattended. The guest keeps their phone, keeps their seat, and stops watching the battery.
The three ways to get one
Vendors describe these differently, but almost every arrangement in this category is one of three things. Know which one you are being offered before the meeting ends:
- 1HostedThe operator owns the machine, installs it and services it. You provide the space and an outlet, and share in what it earns. No capital from you, and the least control over the unit.
- 2PurchaseYou buy the station outright and keep the rental income. Highest return per machine, and the money is yours at risk if the room turns out to be wrong for it.
- 3LeaseA fixed monthly cost with no revenue-share arithmetic. Predictable, easy to budget, and you are paying whether the machine is busy or not.
There is no universally correct answer. A room that is certain of its traffic does better buying; a room testing the idea does better hosting.
What it costs you in practice
Beyond the model above, the real costs to a venue are floor or counter space, a power outlet, and the attention it takes to point a guest at it occasionally. There is no plumbing, no build-out, no wiring job and no connection to your network — these machines run on cellular rather than venue wifi, which also means your IT is not involved.
What it does not cost you is staff time. If a vendor’s answer to “what do my people have to do” is anything other than “nothing”, that is a different product than the one described here.
Seven questions to ask any vendor
Including us. A vendor who is uncomfortable with these is answering the question anyway.
- 1Who owns the hardware, and who fixes it?Get the answer for both, in writing. They are not always the same party.
- 2What happens if a power bank is not returned?Specifically: is my venue ever liable? The answer should be a clear no.
- 3How long am I committed, and how do I end it?Ask about removal, not just term length. A machine you cannot get rid of is a fixture you did not agree to.
- 4Can I see the actual unit first?In the finish I would receive. Photos of a different model do not count.
- 5What is on the screen?Every one of these machines has a screen. Find out whether you control what is on it, whether third-party advertising can appear in your room, and whether you get a say.
- 6Does it touch my wifi or my payment system?It should touch neither. If it does, your IT and your processor need to know before it arrives.
- 7What does the install day look like?Who turns up, how long, and what has to be signed or insured before it happens.
When the answer is no
A charging station is not right for every room, and it is worth saying so plainly. If your average visit is fifteen minutes, if guests are rarely seated, or if there is genuinely nowhere a machine can stand where people will see it, you will not get much out of one — and a machine nobody uses is a piece of furniture with a logo on it.
The rooms where this works are the ones where people stay a while and the phone is doing something: bars, restaurants with a bar trade, gyms, salons, hotel lobbies, waiting areas, campuses.
How Ampz does it
Ampz supplies the stations and runs the network behind them. Guests scan the code on the machine or use the app, take one power bank, and return it to any station in the network. We install and service the machines; your team does not manage batteries, troubleshoot the unit, or add anything to close duties.
There is no service area and no waitlist — if you want a station, that is where one goes. Terms are set per venue rather than off a rate card, which is why we would rather talk about your room than send you a brochure. Start at hosting a station, or read the operator-side guide if you are thinking about running machines yourself: how to start a power bank rental business.
Frequently asked questions
Does a charging station cost the venue anything?
It depends which model you take. Under a hosted arrangement the operator owns and services the machine and the venue provides space and power, so there is no hardware cost to you. If you buy or lease the unit yourself, you carry that cost and keep more of what it earns.
What do my staff have to do?
Nothing. The customer scans the code on the machine or uses the app, takes one power bank and returns it. Staff do not hand anything out, do not take payment and do not manage batteries.
What does it need to be installed?
A standard power outlet and somewhere visible to stand or sit. No plumbing, no build-out, and no connection to your wifi — the machines run on cellular.
What if a guest walks off with a power bank?
The rental terms handle it and it is not the venue’s liability. This is worth confirming in writing with any vendor before you sign, whoever they are.
Will it look cheap in my room?
That is a fair worry and the honest answer is that it depends on the unit and where you put it. Ask to see the actual machine, in the finish you would get, before agreeing to anything. A vendor who will not show you one is telling you something.
Do guests need to download an app?
No. They can scan the code on the machine, or use the app if they prefer. Both work.
How long is the commitment?
Term length varies by model and vendor. Ask for it in writing, and ask specifically what happens if you want the machine removed.
Want one in your room?
Tell us about the venue and we will tell you straight whether a station makes sense in it — including when it does not.