Short Closing Time Rant

[Department stores *sigh*]

The passive aggressive story about a customer not wanting to leave pushed my rant button slightly.

What I cant stand is people exactly like this. They shop at the very end of the day and are 20 minutes past closing and will say something like 'Oh I guess the staff need to go home, no matter what the customer wants."

This would be annoying if that was true. But no! The reason I am annoyed is because I have to stay 2-4 hours AFTER close unloading trucks. On weekdays I have to unload or help unload up to 3 or 4 trucks in under 2 hours. Weekend I have to do this PLUS remodel major parts of the store. Thats why I want you to leave when the store closes and not when you feel like it!


/endrant

[RootedPhoenix]

Humans do not equal robots. There are other things to do besides wait on people hand and foot.

[tropicsgoddess]

Customer Service employees =/= drones that have no life of their own. Serving customers is part of their job, but not their entire life. Dumbasses.

[powerboy]

Some people do not give a shit about the store closing.

[Kiwi]

I remember talking to a friend once and she said "the store closes when I am finished shopping"

I asked her if she realised how obnoxious that sounded, she said she had never looked at it that way. She was always preaching about compassion and consideration towards others....

when I pointed that out she seemed pretty shamed at her opinion, I think most people only care about themselves and their own comfort. A very selfish attitude really.

[Peppergirl]

I may get slammed on this, but I have come to the conclusion that most customers (yes, I mean MOST) truly don't give a damn about anyone but themselves.

Even some of my nicer, well meaning customers truly don't care. An example would be something like this:

Me - Travel agent extraordinaire
Cust - well, you know


Me - 'Thanks for calling xxxxx travel, this is Peppergirl'

Cust - 'Yeah, can I speak with CW? He told me he'd be there till 845p'

Me - (glances at clock its 845p on the dot, sees CW walking out). 'One moment and I'll check and see if he's still here'

At this point, I yell over at CW mentioning who is on the phone and offer to help. CW sighs, and says no - it's a big mess and he wants to spare me. He logs back into his computer and tells me to transfer the call.

I couldnt resist a dig...

Me - 'Actually, he was on his way out the door, but he came back to his desk'

Cust - 'Awesome, thanks!'


Now see, at this point if I were the customer, I would have said something to the effect of 'OMG no, if he was on his way out the door I'll call back or can you help me'. I would never, EVER be happy that I caught someone literally leaving for the day. But the majority of customers, yes - even DECENT ones like this guy, don't see it that way.

Maybe it's not a deliberate rudeness, but it certainly is frustrating.

[Bright_Star]

I never could understand why someone would choose to shop at a store less than half an hour before closing time & then have a hissy fit when the store announces that they're closing for the evening.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I never could understand why someone would choose to shop at a store less than half an hour before closing time & then have a hissy fit when the store announces that they're closing for the evening.

Because they've got it in their heads that "the customer is always right" and the store won't rush them out because it's bad customer service.

And unfortunately, there are places that take exactly this attitude toward customers staying after close.

[rts]

I may get slammed on this, but I have come to the conclusion that most customers (yes, I mean MOST) truly don't give a damn about anyone but themselves.

So true!

You'll get no arguments from me on this one!!

[BookstoreEscapee]

You know, just because the employees are asking you to leave because the store is closed, isn't even necessarily because they "want to go home"; the store has posted hours for a reason, and if they are consistently staying open late for stragglers, it will start to be reflected in payroll through overtime, and then people start getting in trouble. Plus some stores have to set an alarm by a certain time and things like that. (When we did things like inventory, or late night book release parties, the manager had to notify the alarm company that they would be setting it late, or else the store manager would get a call asking if there was a problem.) It's not always entirely about the employees having, you know, lives.

That said, yeah, we closed 15 minutes ago? GET OUT!!!

[lineswine]

the store has posted hours for a reason, and if they are consistently staying open late for stragglers, it will start to be reflected in payroll through overtime,

Yep, just tell the fuckwits that - YOU stay late, overtime charges accrue, PRICES GO UP! That is simple enough to penetrate even the toughest shield of entitlement.

[scroob]

it's funny my store has never had people staying past close (9pm). thats b/c we make like 15 announcements and the managers would kill any cust in the store after 9.
it doesn't hurt that we only ever have, at most, 10 ppl btw 8 and 9. and our announcements are amusing. sadly, the best sup we have is leaving tuesday. were throwing her a party. eek ive gotten off track.

[RetailWorkhorse]

I'm a horrible person.

Right at 9pm, the doors get locked and depending on the mood I'm in/Time I have availible, I either clean around everybody, keep pushing stock, or go into Bastard Mode and let everyone know, LOUDLY, that it's time to close-I've been here all day-my dog needs to go out-and my baby brother needs to be fed before he goes to sleep because he's too young to work the stove.

Nevermind the fact I'm rarely at the store for more than 4 hours, I don't have a dog, and my "baby brother" is a Naruto plushie.

What can I say, I'm a bastard.

[Becks]

We're not human, you know.

People think I have a cot or something in one of the supply rooms.

[StarsAreFixed]

90% of our last-10-minutes customers are East-European. I love the excuses 'I need nappies for my baby!' is the best one yet. Also, at the till bank I use, there are 9 tills. One will operate until the shutter goes down/no customers left, which can range from closing time until 20 past. The rest of the tills will be bagging up, noisily emptying coins into bags, tills evident on counter etc. But no, instead of queing at the open till please be absolutely stupid and hand your intended purchases to someone counting €50 notes!