Sorry, Closed Means Closed!!!

[Shalom]

Lots of times we don't get to close the gate and leave until 4:30 or later because if people keep walking up to the counter to drop off or pick up we cannot refuse to serve them. One time a customer came into the store almost 45 minutes after we had closed. The pharmacist was still in the store shopping for her groceries and the customer wanted her to open back up the pharmacy to fill a prescription. The pharmacist refused saying she needed to get home. The customer complained to corporate and the pharmacist was written up.

I hope that at least the pharmacist was paid for that time.

When I worked for the chain named after two streets in downtown Manhattan, the store closed at 9 and the pharmacy at 8 every day. Did I ever get out at 8? Of course not. Worse yet was that I didn't get paid for that time either.

Yes, I know that's illegal. That's one of the reasons I don't work there anymore.

(And yes, I did once refuse to dispense a prescription for someone who showed up at 8:40 while I was back behind the locked pharmacy door. Mgr asked why not, I told him I was off the clock and would not do anything that required the official presence of a pharmacist, such as dispensing a prescription, unless I got paid for the hour. Can't do that? Then I can't dispense that medication. Tell him to come back tomorrow morning. Never even heard from Corporate on that one; they probably realized how stupid they would have looked trying to write me up for refusing to work for free. I suppose they could have tried to ding me for being in the pharmacy after hours, or if they really wanted to be weasels, pay me for the hour and then write me up for taking unauthorised overtime. Had they done that, of course, I would have used that thenceforth as an excuse to slam the gate at exactly 8 PM, regardless of how long the line is. Sorry, folks, not gonna jeopardize my job 'cos you couldn't get here before the department closes. See how many complaints that generates...)

[RxBoy]

...no no, you see the thing is we minions of common labor are meant to serve their every whim. After all "The Customer Is Always Right" you know, so if they say we should stay open for an extra half hour so they can shop...we absolutely have to. It's OUR JOB! /sarcasm

Sometimes I wonder what goes through the heads of these people. They act like they think we aren't actually real people with families, homes, lives, and activities we need to do outside of work. It's as if what we do isn't a "real job" like what they have. Somehow I have the feeling that they would be very upset if they were told they had to stay an extra half hour at their jobs.

Dude, that's messed up. You shouldn't have to fear that if you're doing something in your store on your own time, you'll get in trouble for not helping would-be customers. And where would you draw the line with a policy like that? What if the pharmacist had left for a couple hours before doing her shopping? Would she still have been expected to open the pharmacy back up at the first offhand request?

I thought that was ridiculous that they disciplined a pharmacist for refusing to open the dept back up after closing, but apparently they can. Pharmacists are salaried and therefore don't punch the time clock. Ever since that happened, the closing pharmacist shuts the gate, locks it, and bolts for the door. I don't blame them. If I was them and had to shop after work, I would go to our competitor to do it just to avoid something like what happened.

I hope that at least the pharmacist was paid for that time.

When I worked for the chain named after two streets in downtown Manhattan, the store closed at 9 and the pharmacy at 8 every day..... if they really wanted to be weasels, pay me for the hour and then write me up for taking unauthorised overtime. Had they done that, of course, I would have used that thenceforth as an excuse to slam the gate at exactly 8 PM, regardless of how long the line is. Sorry, folks, not gonna jeopardize my job 'cos you couldn't get here before the department closes. See how many complaints that generates...)

The pharmacists at my store do not get paid for overtime. Where I live, salaried employees are exempt from laws requiring you to be paid overtime or for extra hours worked. I, being a tech, get paid for every minute that I work. It's really amazing how they have special rules for the pharmacy though. Our store has a policy of no unauthorized overtime. Full-time employees are not supposed to exceed 40 hours per week.

Full timers in other departments who work late on a certain day are required to shave that time off by the end of the week so that they don't have overtime. Yet in the pharmacy it seems to be no problem that I get as much as 2 hours worth of overtime every week. I know why they don't say anything to the techs in the pharmacy though. The only way to prevent the pharmacy techs from getting overtime would be to shut the gate and close right on time every day, which never happens because we can't turn people away who walk in at the last second.

[Magpie]

I have walked into a closed store before, I felt 2 inches high walking out....

It is a mystery how someone can have the total opposite reaction.

There are people who, to avoid feeling shame, will act like cocky jerks even if they weren't ones to start with. Or so I've been told, when I rant about the idiots who ride on the wrong side of the road, and then give you the biggest grin if you try to avoid hitting them.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Sometimes I wonder what goes through the heads of these people. They act like they think we aren't actually real people with families, homes, lives, and activities we need to do outside of work. It's as if what we do isn't a "real job" like what they have. Somehow I have the feeling that they would be very upset if they were told they had to stay an extra half hour at their jobs.

I always used to fantasise about finding out where these people worked, then deliberately ringing them up at their work or walking in two minutes before they closed. "See how YOU like it! Mwahahahah!!!"

Gah, people trying to come in after the petrol station's closed. -.- Drives me up the wall. Without fail, they will whine, "But I neeeeeeed petrol!" Well, guess what... there's a Shell just five minutes away. Go there! Often when I work the late shift or Sunday shift, I have been there for eight hours. I just want to go home, have my dinner, chill online for a bit then go to bed. I don't want to hang around after closing time to cater for people who think they're special snowflakes and don't have to obey closing times like everyone else... and I refuse to. If it was that urgent, then why the hell did you leave it so late?

[Kristev]

Absolutely. Closed doesn't mean "Closed to everyone but you." I have that trouble with bathrooms, too. Every single working day.

[MadMike]

My wife and I stopped off at Arby's on our way to a New Year's party one year, just before 8:00. We were going to eat there, until we found out they were closing at 8. We took it to go, and we were out of there at 7:58. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, we saw three other cars pull in. I felt so sorry for the people who got stuck working that night.

[ExRetailDrone]

This kind of thing baffles me. I feel horrible when I walk into a place thinking they're open later than they actually are. I feel worse if I've already ordered something in a restaurant setting before I realized their closing time, and I will apologize profusely to the waitstaff.

On the subject, here's one of these buffoons in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHIZ2Jl2vuQ