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Something I will never understand...

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  • Something I will never understand...

    Okay, every day it's announced loudly over the loudspeaker when it's 20 minutes until close. Then 15 minutes to close. 10. 5. Okay, now we're CLOSED. I cannot comprehend why this final message is the cue for a mass of people to line up at my register, thus causing me to spend several more minutes in the store. Apparently I have no life, I am simply a mindless slave who exists to serve loud-mouthed Nascar memorbilla-purchasing drunks and ring up trashy romance novels for housewives when I should be on my way out the door to enjoy a few precious hours of sitting on my ass before returning to paradise tommorow.

  • #2
    See i think if they are not IN the checkout line by the time the store closes, they should be SOL. Let them come back the next day when the store is actually open again. They think they're so slick, getting in line at the last minute to hold up that poor employee from getting out on time, but really they're just showing how inconsiderate they are of others.
    Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

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    • #3
      Arrrggghhh! That was a HUGE pet peeve of mine back in my retail hell days! I remember this one night, there was this guy taking his sweet time down one of the aisles after the store had closed. Finally, after twenty minutes of waiting for him, I asked the MOD (who like me was part time & did not give a flying f' about the place) to start cutting the lights & he did! That got the guy up front pretty fast!
      Last edited by Tito; 08-19-2007, 11:21 PM. Reason: 'Cause I can't type....
      "500 bucks, that's almost a million!"
      ~Curly from the 3 Stooges

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      • #4
        Oh, but what if we could do this..........

        I remember seeing on some police show, there was a guy who was trying to hold up a teller, and all of a sudden - WHOOSH! This wall shoots up from the counter to the ceiling.

        Now........picture this same wall system going up around every aisle and checkstand at closing time - RABOOM! Instant corral going out to the exit - no chance to browse, pester clerks, or anything - just leave.

        Ahhh....if wishes were horses......
        Who is this rectal-cranial inverted twit....and where is my sledgehammer??

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        • #5
          Ah, memories.

          When I worked at the grocary store a few years ago, closing time was 10pm. They stationed one of the larger members of the night crew at the door and turned off the automatic door opener on the only entrance.

          I remember laughing my ass off when people walked into the door, which happened at least twice a week. I remember shaking my head in amazement as people used 1,000 excuses to get in after 10. We've been open since 6 that morning, deal!

          The owner was a nice guy to a point. The workers complained that there were too many people coming in at 9:55 and spending 20 minutes shopping and even though we were scheduled to go home at 10, at least one of us had to stay until the last customer left. His solution? Schedule one person to stay until 10:30, which was usually me because I was older and didn't care as much as the young people about staying later. This lasted about a month. As soon as the customers got wind that there was someone scheduled until 10:30, they just shopped longer. Most nights I didn't get out until 10:45 or even 11pm.

          Once, I had a woman enter the store at 9:59 and proceed to fill one cart and half fill a second, taking her time as if it were in the middle of the afternoon. She finally rolled up to my station at 11:25pm, ignoring the 10 announcements that the store was closed. When the 4 of us (myself, 2 people in the office who had to wait to count my till and the LP guy) complained to the owner the next day, he told the office people to make an announcement at 10:25 that the registers would be shut down in 5 minutes. Then he told me that I was to close my register at exactly 10:30.

          I will never forget the looks on people's faces when I turned off the light, removed my till, dropped it off at the office and went to tell the people that the store was closed and we could no longer check anyone out. The only thing that bothered me was that the night crew had to take time out from doing their job to do the put-back when the customer left the cart where it was and walked out.
          This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.

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          • #6
            At the grocery store where I work so many customers will ignore the closing announcements. Our store closes at 12AM Mon-sat and 9PM Sunday. There are two stores in the same chain no more than 7-20 miles away that are open 24hrs except Sunday. I usually don't work to close except if it a 9PM Sunday or holiday close but if I have to make the closing announcements thy get less pleasant as closing approaches. The main sales floor lights are on computerized timers that leave all the main lights on until 30 mins after close. Only the display case lights and decorative/sign lights go off at close. Our GM has tried to have the DM change the timers to turn all lights (except the security and emergency) off at close. Several times the MOD has manually shut the lights off on early closes because customers won't listen. I was "volunteered" to work christmas eve once. A few stubborn people were taking their time, ignoring announcements even when the MOD started shutting of circuit breakers to shut the lights off, they kept on shopping like it was 10AM. Not 4:30 PM, we closed at 4 X-mas eve. When an associate or manger informed them it was their last chance to come up front and pay they ignored them. One even used the shoeing hand motion on me. we closed the registers, at 4:50 (almost an HOUR AFTER CLOSE) and told the customers that the registers were closed and the store would be locked and alarm set if they did not leave NOW they would have to deal with the police when they opened the doors. They took the hint at left. They had the balls to call corp and complain that we forced them out and said a few hundred dollars of gift cards would make them happy. Corp told them they had them on CCTV anf asked them if they wanted to change their story. They got nothing and all the associates involved got gift cards.

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            • #7
              When I was in high school I worked as a cashier at a small independently-owned grocery store. The owner often worked as the manager as well. If he was working until closing, he would go around near closing and talk to each of the straggler customers letting them know we were closing in 5 minutes or whatever and hurrying them along. As it was the owner, if they didn't like it, they couldn't exactly complain to anybody higher up

              It was awesome.

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              • #8
                I'll admit that I've hit a few 10 o'clock stores at 9:55 before.

                BUT.

                I was getting one thing that we NEEDED and that we were dim enough to not have (toilet paper, medicine, etc.)

                I KNEW where it was.

                I RAN to get it.

                I RAN back to the counter with the money already out of my pocket.

                And I was out at 9:58.

                THAT, I have been made to understand, is fine.

                Keeping a store open an hour and a half late is SO not. Isn't that an insurance risk?
                "Maybe the problem just went away...maybe it was the magical sniper fairy that comes and gives silenced hollow point rounds to people who don't eat their vegetables."

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                • #9
                  Quoth mattm04
                  but if I have to make the closing announcements thy get less pleasant as closing approaches
                  I did the same thing. I'd start out all pleasant a half hour before with

                  "Good evening customers, the time is blah and we will be closing in blah, please begin to make your final selections and bring them to the cashier for purchase. Thank you blah blah."

                  then at 15 before, still pleasant tone: "Good evening blah blah 15 minutes blah blah for purchase. We will reopen tomorrow at 9 am, thank you for shopping and have a nice night"

                  then at 5 minutes it was, slightly sterner: "Attention customers, the time is x:55 and we will be closing in 5 minutes. Please bring all final purchases to the cashier at this time. We will reopen tomorrow blah blah nice night"

                  and at closing, stern no nonsensetone: "Attention customers the time is now 11pm and our store is now closed. We will reopen tomorrow at 9am. Thank you and have a nice night."

                  In other words, just GET OUT!!
                  Last edited by BookstoreEscapee; 08-23-2007, 11:11 PM.
                  I don't go in for ancient wisdom
                  I don't believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
                  It means that they're worthy - Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun"

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