An F.U. to latecomers

[TravisRB69]

We have been closing at the EXACT. SAME. TIME. for the last thirty years. Our store hours are CLEARLY posted on the doors, in plain, sans serif black and white, with no obstructions whatsoever. Numerous announcements have been made over the intercom that "ATTENTION ****** SHOPPERS, THE STORE WILL BE CLOSING IN * MINUTES, PLEASE MAKE YOUR FINAL SELECTIONS AND MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE FRONT, AND THE CASHIERS WILL BE HAPPY TO ASSIST YOU." That last announcement of "ATTENTION ****** SHOPPERS, THE STORE IS NOW CLOSED, ETC ETC...." was clear as a bell and completely unmistakable.

We're open 13 hours a day. We are not in a big town. AT ALL. I assure you, from anywhere in town, just start driving and BOOM you're there in 5 minutes or less. I assure you, you CAN make it here sooner than two minutes before closing, even if you've worked a full work day. Guess what? We've been working all day too! And on top of all of that, that day has been spent dealing with people like YOU.

SHOW UP DURING REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS!!! If I remember right, we all had to learn how to read a clock in like the first grade. Even the Special Ed kids had to do it. One would naturally assume that now that you have lived long enough to achieve adulthood (technically), you would have it down pretty well by now. I guess not. Are you that stupid and ignorant that you can't read a clock? Or are you so self-important that for some strange reason, you and only you are somehow "above" obeying the clearly posted hours and are therefore perfectly within your rights to just lollygag nimby pimby around the store, meandering aimlessly while you take your sweet time to closely inspect every single label on every single item, even though the employees are quite obviously trying to shoo you out, half the lights have just been turned off, and numerous announcements have been made? Go take a flying **** at a rolling donut if you think you're that important, jackass.

Peering into the door is not going to make us open back up. Glancing at your watch is not going to make us open back up. It doesn't matter what time it says on your watch - OUR clock is accurate, and OUR clock is what we go by. Glancing at the posted hours, then your watch, then back at the posted hours before peering into the door is not going to make us open back up. Glancing at the posted hours, glancing at you watch, shaking your head, getting back in your vehicle, glancing at your watch and shaking your head again before leaving? NOT GONNA GET US TO OPEN BACK UP. Getting back into your vehicle and shaking your head and overly acting to make absolutely sure anyone watching KNOWS that you're mouthing the word "fuck" or some other variant, just before making sure to peel out your tires or rev loudly while you leave for extra emphasis? Also not going to make us open back up. And finally, if you are one of those 1 percenters out there that are stupid enough to come peek into the door when the store is clearly dark inside, then there is a Carlos Mencia DUR DUR DURRR with your name on it, buddy.

I swear, I wish I could find out where each and every one of these people worked and show up at their workplace 2 minutes to close and see how much they'd like it. COME DURING REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS. It's common sense, and more importantly, COMMON COURTESY.

OK, I know this has been touched on a lot in here but oh my God. THAT. FELT. GOOD.

[Scorpion559]

Yeah, I used to work at a certain Wholesale Warehouse place and we'd get people who show up 2 minutes before closing then spend 30 minutes shopping then drop in on us poor Food Court employees and order a bunch of crap. Not to mention we always spent every second of time we had at the end of the night just to get out on time anyway. I wish we could've told these people to piss off, but no we have to serve these people.

So then we get yelled at by one of the big shot managers for not being cleaned up on time. I'm glad I don't work there anymore.

[thehippie777]

That's "Dee de de" I am a fan...

[KhirasHY]

This is probably the one dumb customer thing I do a lot...I find that, more often than not, I have to stop myself from trying to go shopping at 2am, since that's midday to me

Damn graveyards

[ShadedWings]

Go take a flying **** at a rolling donut if you think you're that important, jackass.

I love that. Can I steal that?

Yeah, I used to work at a big grocery store too... I feel the hate for SCs like that.

[clod75]

Ooooh buddy you have so reaffirmed why I won't work till closing anymore yeap I remember those days well.

[Rapscallion]

Used to have the Potato Man come in for potatoes for his tea near enough every night as we were closing. He lived across the road. He could see we were open all day long. As soon as you were bringing in the last of the display, there he was. Each time he protested that he just needed a few potatoes for his tea. Most times he was eating said tea as he was talking.

Later on, he'd go to the newsagent as he was trying to close the door. We're talking about the newsagent that was the next shop along.

Rapscallion

[TravisRB69]

I love that. Can I steal that?

Go right ahead!

[kirk2010]

I seriously don't understand why customers think that an announcement doesn't apply to them. I worked at "Bullseye" for a few years, often times on the close shift and was sooooo close to physically moving customers because they were still browsing and we announced closing twice or thrice!

What's worse - everyone knows that "Bullseye" uses walkies, and they are VERY audible when the store has emptied... so we would use this to our advantage if we had a "stray."

"Kirk2010 is your area clear?"

"No, I still have a guest shopping."

"Haven't we been closed for a few minutes?"

"Yeah, can you make another announcement?"

And it's not like the customer couldn't hear it.

So then comes the announcement. "Good evening "Bullseye" guests, the time is now 1015 and "Bullseye" has been closed for FIFTEEN MINUTES! Etc... etc..."

If I am ever in that situation again... fire extinguisher. Nuff said.

[RetailActress]

I continually flaunt our corporate guidelines by locking our doors 5 minutes before official closing time .... AND IT NEVER FAILS ... within that 5 minutes before closing, some a-hole will jerk those door handles HARD!

Too bad, so sad .......... our 66 open hours a week aren't enough for you?

Well, all is not lost ... we also have a website and a catalog so get your ass home & access those.

Bottom line: if I don't have to deal with you personally, so much the better.

R.A.

[Belari]

Oh lordy, I know that feeling. We close at 7. Exactly at 7:05, the MOD locks the entrance (then guards the exits to turn away the dummies who try to sneak in that way). People who come in right at 7 will often shop until 7:30 (ignoring the multiple announcements), then come to the Deli at 7:30 and ask for 13 pounds of various meats (I'm exaggerating...obviously....). We explain that we've already sprayed bleach on the slicers, so no dice buddy. They become irate, demanding to know why we'd shut down before closing Are you serious????

[kirk2010]

What was kinda sucky for me was when Bullseye changed its Sunday hours to close at 9pm.

You would not believe the whiners who came at 859 and bitched endlessly.

[Gabrielle Proctor]

Used to have the Potato Man come in for potatoes for his tea near enough every night as we were closing. He lived across the road. He could see we were open all day long. As soon as you were bringing in the last of the display, there he was. Each time he protested that he just needed a few potatoes for his tea. Most times he was eating said tea as he was talking.

Rapscallion

Wut?

Potatoes and tea? Is this a brit thing? And shouldn't you be drinking tea instead of eating it? But why potatoes?

[Rapscallion]

'Tea' can mean either the drink or the evening meal. It's a regional thing over here.

Rapscallion

[Alpha Strike]

'Tea' can mean either the drink or the evening meal. It's a regional thing over here.

Rapscallion

So the drink=tea and the evening meal=tea time? Inquiring Americans want to know!

Re the OP: I used to work at an Electronics Boutique (video game store) in the local mall, which meant that we had the oh-so-common chain door that we pulled to close up the place.

The managers, who had a very limited number of manpower hours to use each week, were very much in favor of us getting the shop closed up and us out of there as quickly as possible every night. So they were a bit more... relaxed about how we dealt with end of night shoppers.

Among other things we did: if there were two of us closing that night, one of us would start the cash-register procedures while the other would pull the gate half-way closed and stand by the entrance. While we didn't completely stop people coming in, having one of us partially blocking the gate and "casually" mentioning that we were closing in X minutes helped dissuade a lot of folks from last-minute browsing. Also that same person by the gate could switch to hovering around any customers still in the store; since it was a pretty small area-wise, the customers couldn't hide in a corner and pretend not to hear announcements - and it's obviously much harder to ignore a person then a loudspeaker.

We'd also start the cleaning tasks right in front of the customers - I had no problem doing my garbage collection, and vacuuming with the customer around if all the previous cues fell on deaf ears. As a last resort we were allowed to just boot people out of the store - most of the time we were passingly polite about it but sometimes nothing less then a "It's 30 minutes past close - you need to get out." would work.