Short Closing Time Rant

[KhirasHY]

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.

I always had my own personal (and unofficial) way of dealing with these when I was in retail.

"Folks, our registers are programmed to no longer ring sales within 5 minutes of our closing time, you've got about 2 minutes left on that clock."

Once their 5 minute buffer hit, I informed them that I could no longer ring up sales, and nicely suggested that they go screw themselves until tomorrow. Oddly, no one ever complained...

[Leopardmadcat]

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.

And you've just figured this out now? Been riding the short bus have we? (jk! jk!)

[mattm04]

I always had my own personal (and unofficial) way of dealing with these when I was in retail.

"Folks, our registers are programmed to no longer ring sales within 5 minutes of our closing time, you've got about 2 minutes left on that clock."

Once their 5 minute buffer hit, I informed them that I could no longer ring up sales, and nicely suggested that they go screw themselves until tomorrow. Oddly, no one ever complained...

Now if only they would actually program them that way, and only allow it to be over ridden for a emergency situation. Each OR would be sent to so the biggest penny pincher at corp. so managers would only OR for a real emergency situation.

[dispatch]

first christmas eve I worked at a local supermarket we were supposed to close at 6, that night I was completely appalled at the attitudes of people when we were turning them away. The guy at the door was really approachable, good with people, and explained calmly to everyone that yes, we do have the cranberry sauce insude that your family has had at every christmas eve dinner since they came over on the mayflower, but no, you can't come in to get it because we are closed and our employees haven't seen their families all day and would like to go enjoy their holiday.
they begged, they pleaded, they bribed, they became indignant and all but slapped him then sped off making hand gestures and screaming obscenities. The following year we started turning them away 30 minutes early with NO exceptions as opposed to 15 minutes, and we all went home on time after walking through a gauntlet of holiday edition SCs

[Samaliel]

Most large stores around here give a warning that the store will close 30 minutes prior to closing time, then once every 5 minutes. So, when it's indeed closing time, the store is mostly empty, the registers are ready to being pulled. And for those reluctant to leave, the security/LP team seem to be incentive enough for everybody to get the hell out of there within 5 minutes of closing time.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Oh, how I loathe people who don't know when it's time to leave.

I man the front door at the store where I work, checking receipts and the like as part of my LP job. I got this particular gem, and you get another example of my tendency to be a snarky jerk.

J2K: Sorry, sir, we're closed.
SC: I won't be long, I just need one thing.
J2K: No, sir, I'm sorry, but we're closed, you can't come in.
SC: You've still got customers in the store, right? I just need one thing.
J2K: Sir, we've been closed for five minutes, you can't come in.
SC: I won't be long, I just need the one thing.

And we go back and forth a few more times, with him trying to step around me to go into the store, and me stepping to cut him off each and every time. Finally, my being polite but firm wasn't working, so I was forced to escalate.

J2K: Look! It doesn't matter if you need one thing, or one hundred. We're closed, you can't come in!

SC looks me up and down, looking shocked, then walks out the door. I go back over to where I'm supposed to stand and smile apologetically to the customer who'd been waiting for me to check their receipt.

J2K: Sorry about that.
Cust: Don't worry about it. You handled that well.

Yeah.

[wagegoth]

That was the policy when I was at Nordbum; we stayed open as long as people wanted to shop. Sucky, sucky policy. I got stuck a couple of times with people who wouldn't leave my department. It doesn't really work well. It means that someone in security has to stay; someone in admin has to stay; all the lights have to stay on; etc. Complete waste of time. And if people were waiting outside for the store to open, they'd often let them in to shop before opening time. Then we'd be frantically clearing the racks and boxes off the floor that we'd been hanging new clothes from, and have to toss all the paperwork aside until we could get to it later.

[katie kaboom]

And if people were waiting outside for the store to open, they'd often let them in to shop before opening time.

I don't know why stores like that even bother having business hours posted, since management/corporate is too greedy to stick to them.

[Peppergirl]

I'd always heard it's an insurance liability to open the doors before official opening time.

I guess that's not true. Or some managers are just too greedy and don't care.

Although I'll concede that letting people in early is not as horrible as not making customers leave...still sucks tho.