Selfish people at closing time-first post (sorry-long!)

[BookstoreEscapee]

we once had someone demand that the cafe stay open till bar close.

How bout the people who think the cafe should be open at 6 am like Starbucks is...? In Store1 the "cafe" is a Starbucks and is a separate store (there's a gate in between) but Store2 is a BN Cafe and some people would show up early and hang out by the door wanting coffee and be disappointed to find out the cafe opens at the same time as the store(!). Funny thing is there's a Starbucks not 2 minutes up the highway, and there's a breakfast/lunch place right behind the BN that opens at 7.

[CrazyShoeGirl]

This just happened to me today, actually.
The store had been really slow for the past hour, then about 10 minutes to closing time, I must have had ten people all walk in and want to try on shoes. It was insane. I'm used to dealing with last minute customers, but I've never had the store packed that close to close. And of course they make a huge mess.

My worse incident though happened at my other job (a clothing store). I had a lady come in 10-15 minutes before close. She needed all new clothes for a trip, and that she was leaving at 4:00 am the next morning.
Now I've done a lot of things last minute. But I never would have thought to buy all my vacation clothes at 8:45 the night before I left.

[justZu]

Gah! This used to happen all the time at my old job. I worked at a seasonal craft show and if the manager was working we always got out on time, however if the owner was working she would stay open forever hoping to get an extra dollar or two.
One time a woman came in at closing wanting to look at some of the custom lampshades and lamps that were for sale. I was working with Owner and co-worker J. Owner starts flitting around the store showing the customer various combinations of lamp and shade. J and I just sighed and watched her. Finally, I said I needed to leave because my kids needed to have dinner. Owner barely noticed my departure, her greed was so all-consuming(the lamps and shades were very expensive).
The next time I worked with J, I asked her how late she had to stay with lamplady and owner. Lamplady was there for nearly TWO HOURS.
The icing on the cake? She didn't buy anything.
Owner kissed all that booty for absolutely nothing. It would've been hilarious if it had not been for co-worker J being stuck there all that time.

[csdrone]

Yup. The bad ID thing would not fly: management's focus is on adhering to the written policy regarding ID: No ID no money.

[lilnizzie]

it's time to close!

I work in a 24 hour grocery store. The main store is open 24 hours, but the fresh departments close at 10, and reopen at 6 am. This is so they can be sanitized and so the limited staff can have sleep time, family time, etc.

I have lost count as to how many people have come up at 9 50 wanting a cake made up fresh, or want fresh buns or bread (when we've stopped production at 4 pm: I'm JUST a closer, even though I CAN do these things, i'm not really allowed to) And when I tell them that we're closing soon, but they can return in the morning where we'll be happy to accomodate them, I get the snotty reply of:

"You're a 24 hour store, correct? So WHY aren't you OPEN 24 hours?"

I would love to reply "Because kind sir, us lowly peons would like a moment or two to sleep or see our beloveds!"

I have to ask, are there ANY grocery stores that are open 24 hours that keep their fresh departments running 24 hours a day as well? I mean, deli, seafood, bakery... is there ANY place that does this?

[Pagan]

and I leave pissed off for hours that only drinking or watching an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 can relieve.

Man, I truly, deeply miss that show.

[CrazedClerk]

At the games store, I worked a lot of close shifts and I was pretty hardcore about closing when then sign said. Some nights if we closed at 9 and the place was dead at 8:54, I'd lock it up. We weren't supposed to but it was practically unheard of for management to give us crap for closing 5 minutes or less early, at least no one ever called me on it.

The only times that sucked was when there were a few customers left and both myself and whoever else was on shift were both on tills, that meant neither of us had a chance to lock the door in time, so other customers would wander in. To combat that, I made sure only ONE of us was on till from 15 minutes to close on.

When I'm done a shift, I just want to go home, we have plenty of hours we're open and seriously folks, it's video games, not life or death here, there's no reason you can't wait until tomorrow to get the latest Final Fantasy.

[Chattyaholic]

Well, I don't work retail but I am a waitress in a restaurant and we hate late people too! We close at 8:00 and almost every night we have people walking in at a minute or two before closing and have the audacity to ask "are we too late?" Heck yes you're too late!! But of course we can't say that. I like my job 99% of the time so I have to smile and tell them no, you're not late.

Then they take an hour to eat, and the rest of the customers have long gone and we're all still waiting for this one stupid family/group to be done so we can finish cleaning up and go home!

Don't people realize that when they come in late like that they are causing everyone to stay longer than they would have had to?

Just once I'd like to find out where these people work, go to THEIR workplace at closing time, and stay an HOUR or more and see how THEY like it!

[Shabo]

I have to ask, are there ANY grocery stores that are open 24 hours that keep their fresh departments running 24 hours a day as well? I mean, deli, seafood, bakery... is there ANY place that does this?

Not the one near me. Bakery, Deli, Seafood- All closed by 10 pm. The store itself closes for a few hours on Sunday really early morning to give them time to properly restock.

[wagegoth]

I worked at Nordstrom. Same thing, as long as a customer wanted to shop, we stayed open. Which meant that not only was the salesperson stuck, but someone from security had to stay, and someone at the customer service desk had to stay (they took our register bags and locked them up). I cannot imagine how much it cost to stay open for a $200 sale, when you had to pay overtime and keep extra lights on.

This happened to me at least twice, and then one of the customers had the nerve to complain because all the seamstresses had gone home and she couldn't get one of her items altered that night.

[aurelemsrealm]

I currently work second shift in a 24-hour c-store. The only issue I have to worry about is if the third shift person is late or a no show. Otherwise, it's no big deal.

When I worked at a local Wendy's, we usually tried to lock the dining room doors within the last 5-10 minutes. The only time the manager on duty wouldn't allow that was if the big bosses were supposed to be in town. So, I usually made sure to grab the door keys by 20 or 15 minutes until dining room closing.

Before that, I worked in a c-store which closed at midnight. The town where I lived had a city ordinance which shut down beer sales at 1 a.m. There were many times that I found myself fighting the last-minute drunks, but I quickly learned where I could get by with taking short cuts that would ensure smooth closings. I usually had everything locked up within the last 5 minutes so that all I had to do was shut off the lights and gas pumps at midnight. Then, it was just a matter of ushering customers already in the store out the door and collecting payments for any outstanding fuel purchases. I had the keys, and allowed no one in the building unless they needed to pay for fuel. I refused to authorize anyone who wasn't already at the pumps prior to closing. A few people would get mad, but most of the regulars knew the routine when I worked.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

We always seem to get people who will come into the store at 5:57 pm Christmas Eve (we close at 6 on that day) and leisurely try to do all their Christmas shopping.

The only thing we can do in this case is be uber-helpful (somebody go up to the person every 15 seconds or so) and ask "Can I help you find something?" and hope they get the hint ("FUCK OFF"). Corporate doesn't want us giving people the bum's rush, no matter how deserving of it they may be.

The biggest offender here is a fairly nutsy-cuckoo woman who always wants the hot hot toys that have been out of stock for weeks and won't come in until after Christmas. When we tell her we're out, she gets all frustrated, starts RIPPING HER HAIR OUT and going on and on, "My kid's going to be SOOOO dissappointed!" Well Ms. Mom of the Year, we've been open extended hours from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve and yet somehow you couldn't find some time to do your shopping?!

I'd also like the record to show this particular lady works at a sausage factory in town. I make a point of not consuming any products from this sausage factory because I don't want greasy stringy hair in my hot dog.

[Catwoman2965]

This just happened to me today, actually.
The store had been really slow for the past hour, then about 10 minutes to closing time, I must have had ten people all walk in and want to try on shoes. It was insane. I'm used to dealing with last minute customers, but I've never had the store packed that close to close. And of course they make a huge mess.

My worse incident though happened at my other job (a clothing store). I had a lady come in 10-15 minutes before close. She needed all new clothes for a trip, and that she was leaving at 4:00 am the next morning.
Now I've done a lot of things last minute. But I never would have thought to buy all my vacation clothes at 8:45 the night before I left.

Join the club...we get that all the time. someone asks if we have something they don't see out..we check, and no, we don't, but another store does. We offer to call and have it put on hold, sent to them, etc. "oh, i need it for tomorrow, i'm going to this or that function" - honestly! i went on vacation last month, and started shopping MONTHS before....

three times in a row, all of the associates ringing up customers, time to close, and since we weren't able to get to the doors to lock them, more people wandered in. i was ready to scream, but of course, you can't tell them to get out..but we also will ask them, every minute or so, are they finding everything they need, do they need any help. some of them get it, but some of the regulars, knowing we won't make them leave, are oblivious and take their sweet time.

[slick]

I did that once, got to a restaurant before closing. I was driving to Toronto, ON. I was way behind schedule, I was expecting to check into my hotel at 6pm, I had just crossed the border into Windsor at 6pm.
I got to my hotel at 9:30pm. Checked in. Room service was a no go, they stop service early on Sunday. I headed out to find a place nearby. There was a restaurant close by (forgot the name). Walked in, and there were no customers. Hostess told me that they closed. I asked her if she could recommend any place for me to eat (when I drive long distances, I don't eat much, I spend more time on driving). She felt sorry for me I guess and insisted I eat there. The kitchen was closing, but one of the cooks was still there, the cook, manager and hostess were the only ones left.
I knew my choices were limited, so I asked for whatever was easiest to make. Turkey, bacon and ranch sandwich with mashed potatoes (fryer was off, no fries). It was good, and I was happy. I was wanting to take it to go, but the manager insisted I stay, he mentioned that it is still going to take him an hour to finish up. I quickly ate, and got the check. I put the bill on my credit card, and left a cash tip. $15 sandwich with side and drink, $100 cash tip.

If I am going to inconvenience people with my stupid eating habits, it should be worth there while.

[Aressel]

Well, I don't work retail but I am a waitress in a restaurant and we hate late people too! We close at 8:00 and almost every night we have people walking in at a minute or two before closing and have the audacity to ask "are we too late?" Heck yes you're too late!! But of course we can't say that. I like my job 99% of the time so I have to smile and tell them no, you're not late.

Then they take an hour to eat, and the rest of the customers have long gone and we're all still waiting for this one stupid family/group to be done so we can finish cleaning up and go home!

Don't people realize that when they come in late like that they are causing everyone to stay longer than they would have had to?

Just once I'd like to find out where these people work, go to THEIR workplace at closing time, and stay an HOUR or more and see how THEY like it!

Had that happen plenty of times at the old job. Made a point of locking the gates as soon as the clock struck seven. (The entrance to our restaurant was located inside the hotel lobby.)