We're closed! Get out!

[Rine]

Okay, so these weren't my customers. FYI: we close at 9 PM. We begin to make closing announcements at 8:30 PM. Management and security cannot leave until ALL customers are gone.

I arrive at the store at 8:50 for my overnight shift and I go upstairs. I pass electronics and see a family loitering around in the electronics department. I go and put my stuff up in the back and come back out. Five minutes have passed. They are now at the electronics check out, talking with a sales rep.

Fast forward. The time is now 9:25 PM. The customers are still upstairs in electronics.

Ten minutes pass. They are still upstairs in electronics.

Five minutes pass. I see them coming down the main aisle. Security is waiting at the door to let them out. Management is still in the office waiting for the all clear. The wife is proclaiming loudly at how much money they just saved. They pass the lawnmowers. The husband stops.

Husband: Oh, look at this lawnmower!
Son: WOW, it's so cool!
Wife: HONEY, they want to go home! (in an annoying, high pitched voice.)
Husband: Hold on, I'm just looking!

He looks at the other ones, proclaiming how he wants to have one with a 52 inch deck, but the wife said they didn't need one because their yard isn't that big...blah, blah. A few minutes pass and then they continue to walk down the aisle. They pass by me and then I hear...

Husband: Look at that patio set! That's really cheap!
Son: It's only 200 dollars!
Wife: Really, that sounds like a good deal.

They go over to the patio set (which is a frickin' great deal; five hundred dollars off the original price) and they SIT DOWN.

Wife: (again!) Honey, they want to go home! (same annoying voice!)
Husband: This would look good in our back yard.
Wife: Yeah, I think our patio is big enough.

Then they stand up and finally leave.

The time was 9:50.

Oh my god! What the hell is wrong with people?! I don't even know what took them so long upstairs. They bought a TV. The salesguy seemed a little shellshocked when he came downstairs, so I suppose it wasn't a happy, pretty sale.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I will never understand companies who do not allow employees to ask customers to actually leave at closing (as I'm assuming is the case here). If we had people loitering after closing we were fully allowed to ask tell them (politely, of course) to leave. What is so wrong with, "I'm sorry, but we are closed now and we need to lock up."?

[Glutton4Punishment]

I have taken to at times having the "automatic timer" turn off the lights. 1 set about 10 minutes after close the next about 5 minutes later and then the last set about 5 minutes after that. I figure they'll either get the point or shop in the dark. You' would be amazed at he number (ok I forgot the SC mentality we're dealing with for a second, maybe you wouldn't) of people that want to stay a bit longer.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

What a couple of rudie-poos. It's a shame nobody gave them the bum's rush out.

It's one thing to just dash in, go right to the item you want, and then check out. It's the height of rudeness to wander around gawking at things like you have all day when the store is supposed to be closed.

[Ree]

We have customers who do that all the time.

People who do that are inconsiderate and self-absorbed.

I just want to track them down at their job, and then just start hanging around, puttering at nothing, making them stay later at their workplace.

I think the reason a lot of places don't have a policy of giving the bum's rush is, there is always the possibility of that last big sale.
In this case, though, I think it was obvious he was just a Looky Lou, and had no intention of spending more money.

There was one time we actually did tell the people we were closed, and our staff helped them along with their purchases, asking what they needed and just grabbing it from the aisles. The store lights were off, and it was just the night lights on, so it was a safety/security measure. We couldn't have them wandering around the darkened aisles.

The ladies wrote a nasty letter to our head office, and we got a note back from the CEO about it. (Our company is majorly big on service, and the HO really does care about stuff like that.)

[jrh215]

At five minutes before closing, I flip a switch on our autmoatic doors that lets the door open for someone leaving but not for someone attempting to come in. Does a great job at keeping those last minute people out. Of course, some ass clown occasionally stands at the door (I tell my employees not to make eye contact with them) saying something to the effect of, "But it's only 9:57!" when of course we close at 10pm and the store has been open for 14 hours. Sorry, my watch says 10--no sympathy from me.

I'd like to be able to believe people when they say they only need "one thing," but as usual, it's the assholes who say that then stay inside for 10 or 15 minutes that ruin it for everyone else that genuinely would only need one thing.

[aurelemsrealm]

I worked for one c-store which closed at midnight each night. I had it down to the point that all I had left to do was to lock the doors at midnight. Usually within the last half hour, all of the outdoor trash was changed, squeegee buckets brought inside, ice box and kerosene pump locked, etc. All outside chores were done early on my closings. Within the last five minutes, the canopy lights and gas pumps were shut down.

Usually, toward Friday and Saturday nights, you'd have some stray drunk wanting to buy beer at the last minute. Sometimes, you'd have some last minute lottery idiot wanting tickets. I just told them it was tough luck, we were closed for the night. A couple of times, the drunks would continue beating on the doors wanting in, but I told them no, we're closed, go away.

When I worked for Wendy's, I got in the habit of locking the doors at five minutes until closing time. If anyone was still in the dining room, I watched like a hawk to make sure the door shut behind them when they left. We had a policy about not rushing customers who wanted to dine in, but I usually told them to hurry up anyway. At that point in the night, I don't care about their dining pleasure. They should have been considerate enough to get it to go and leave when I mentioned the dining room closes at 11 p.m. No, it's almost closing time.

My closing time philosophy has always been: You're no longer welcome here. I'm not sorry about it. Get your stuff and get out of my way! I want to go home, too. I'm tired of waiting on jerks like you. If they try to put me on a guilt trip about it by saying I'm rude or complaining on me, I just ask them how they'd like being delayed when it's time to get off work.

[JLG]

There are a couple of regular customers that walk through the doors at 9:25 whenever they shop. We close at 9:30 Mon-Sat and they KNOW it. They do it on purpose. There is this one lady that usually has a return to do and while you are doing a price check for her return she wanders away to shop some more. We usually can't get her out of the store until 10:00
There is another lady that also has some complex return and asks to use our bathroom before she leaves and that takes her another 5-10 minutes
Eveytime we see these ladies walk in the store it ruins our chances of getting out of the store at a decent time. I can't start any closing procedures until all customers are out of the store.

[JustaCashier]

I just had an idea, while reading this thread, that never occured to me while reading other threads that have appeared on this subject.

It would be great to have a virtual reality set-up, that the totally rude after closing shoppers could be put into as punishment. And this would mess with their minds enough that it would seriously seem real to them, for the duration that were in this VR.

They would have the perception that they were retail employees, stuck in their store after closing, due to lingering customers taking their own sweet time. The thing is, this perception would be that they are the Forever!!

Mike

[aurelemsrealm]

That's a great idea! Let's expand on that idea. All sucky customers are sent to a virtual hell in which they are forced into slavery as helpless customer service workers subject to the wrath of all types of sucky customer and spineless managers.

[Imogene]

That's a great idea! Let's expand on that idea. All sucky customers are sent to a virtual hell in which they are forced into slavery as helpless customer service workers subject to the wrath of all types of sucky customer and spineless managers.

So, in other words, our old suggestion that everyone who wants to buy stuff should work retail for X years of their lives?

[iradney]

Um. If someone stays after the store has closed, are not buying anything and are not employees, are they not trespassing? I mean, announcements have been made to the effect of "Your welcome will be outstayed in 5 minutes. Please leave."

[reformedwaitress]

I have a different kind of loiterer. As most of you know, I would in a spa at a resort here in Tourist Town (henceforth known as The Spa). We are open until seven so our last appointments are at six (for 50 min. appts) or at 6:30 (for 25 min. appts). If you are coming in for one of the later appointments, we tell you that we close the spa at seven. We turn off the steam rooms at 6:45 and close the front doors and turn off the phones at seven. There is no doubt that we are closed.

And yet you wouldn't believe the number of people that take their time and shower and all that good stuff. If you want to use the steam rooms and jaccuzi and showers make an early appointment or do so before hand! I work two jobs and very often have to be at The Bar at 7:30 when I get out of The Spa at "seven" (rarely before 7:15). I'm pushing it some days. We have to be really careful and walk lightly with a lot of the guests since they're spa members or hotel guests and they can -- and will and do and have -- raise holy heck.

We had one creepy guy the other week stay until 8:30 before my coworker finally got him to leave. We have now been given permission to make security the bad guy. Tell them that all guests have to be out by 7:30 for security measures and, if they still won't leave, we are allowed to call security and have them come stay with us.

But yeah. You would think working in a spa I'd be free from SCs, right? Nope. I'll have to post a lot of the stories up one of these days.

[AirHostess]

I used to tell people that the tills automatically turn off at a closing time And that we couldn't use them.

[Becks]

We had a policy about not rushing customers who wanted to dine in, but I usually told them to hurry up anyway. At that point in the night, I don't care about their dining pleasure.

Well, while I see your point, I think that's rude.

My closing time philosophy has always been: You're no longer welcome here. I'm not sorry about it. Get your stuff and get out of my way! I want to go home, too. I'm tired of waiting on jerks like you. If they try to put me on a guilt trip about it by saying I'm rude or complaining on me, I just ask them how they'd like being delayed when it's time to get off work.

As I said above...

Anyhoo. I sincerely hope that I don't ever come to your place of employment. I fear that your customer service "skills" would turn me into an SC.

And no, I'm not trying to start anything. I'm just expressing my opinions. (If it causes too much trouble, I apologize in advance.)