Hints we are closed

[OfficeSlug]

Some people do this on purpose, I bet, because they get a big power trip on how the store is staying open just for them. I think when closing time comes you should tell them you're closing, then when they don't leave, just turn out the lights and lock the doors. That'll show them.

When I worked at a branch library, at closing, the doors would automatically lock themselves and every third light would go out. We would make a big deal about pausing the alarm, unlocking the outside doors, and letting out the last of the sucky patrons.

Most of them got the hint the first time around.....

[OfficeSlug]

I WISH I had shades to draw down, or at least a metal security gate! Maybe THEN the customers *might* get the hint that the store is CLOSED... but somehow, I doubt it.

Nope.

When I worked at a music store in the mall, we'd put the gate halfway DOWN ten minutes to closing time and let out the people that were already in the store.

Dagnabit if people didn't LIMBO under the gate to ENTER the store...

[South Texan]

There is a MAJOR problem with this thread. It is based upon the assumption that customers actually have the ability to think and comprehend the signs that the store is closed or even CARE whether of not the store is closed.

From what I have seen, their little brains can only register that they want something and must have it NOW. Store rules and employees are irrelevant.

[Luna]

In music store hell, the gate was manual. I had a reachy stick hook thing and used it to pull the gate down. It was a very heavy metal gate.

One day, I pulled it down. Usually I let it go as far as my shoulders by hand and I let it drop the rest of the way with a happy little crash.

This day however, I was in a bad mood and felt it would feel good to just give it a yank with the hook thing, and let it crash down on it's own from the very top. This one day - a man decided that he would dive under the gate as I let it crash down so he could get into the store.

Of course, I then had to put myself under the gate to prevent him from being brained. After it hit me full force, and the blackness of pain went away and I was able to fully see again - I lost it.

I don't remember what I said. I really don't. I wish I did. I do remember the staff staring at me open mouthed and a lot of pain. He left fast. Idiot.

[Jack T. Chance]

Allow me to clarify...

Nope.

When I worked at a music store in the mall, we'd put the gate halfway DOWN ten minutes to closing time and let out the people that were already in the store.

Dagnabit if people didn't LIMBO under the gate to ENTER the store...

I'm not talking about that kind. I work in an open-air shopping center (AKA a strip mall), I have an actual door that locks quite nicely!

What I'm talking about is more like a metal garage door. It drops down inside the windows of the store, to make sure nobody can back a truck through the windows to do a smash & grab! They use them at some Best Buy locations (usually the ones in areas with a higher crime rate) and other similar stores. When the thing's down, it's just this huge, metal barrier that the customers can't even see through! It's quite nice, because if you're still in the store, they can't see you, and more importantly, you don't have to see them!

[Sparkticus]

We get this in our shop. We have two big, glass doors, which concertina open. Once, I came in pretty early 'cos I live a fair distance away and wasn't sure when I started work that day, no more than half an hour before I possibly needed to start. However, the only staff near the shop floor were the cleaner and the guy in charge of deliveries. When letting someone in, one of the doors was left unlocked but closed, and we're obviously not open for business. And yet an elderly lady had pushed open the doors, and come in and started browsing! she was noticed and as the two started to try and explain to her there was no-one to serve her yet, someone ELSE decided to do the same thing! By the time we'd convinced them that we weren't open yet, we actually were!

[KellyHabersham]

The library I work at used to flicker the lights (or at least dim them) shortly before closing......now we just have whichever security guard is working make a verbal announcement.

[JustaCashier]

Of course, I then had to put myself under the gate to prevent him from being brained.

Impossible.

That would be like saying that as the door came flying down, you noticed a dead guy laying there in it's path, and you put yourself under the gate to keep him from being killed.

Mike

[OfficeSlug]

What I'm talking about is more like a metal garage door. It drops down inside the windows of the store, to make sure nobody can back a truck through the windows to do a smash & grab! ... It's quite nice, because if you're still in the store, they can't see you, and more importantly, you don't have to see them!

Ah, I see. I'm surprised more stores with huge glass fronts don't use gates/doors like that!

Ah, to be hidden after-hours, sounds like something that would help workers retain their sanity after closing!

[Andara Bledin]

I passed a store sometime last week that had closing times posted as 4:35, and 5:45, and the like. All were 25 minutes before the hour, except one that was only 15 minutes. I don't know why that one day was different.

Anyway, I thought that was an excellent way to get idiots finished and out so the staff could actually think about leaving (not just closing) at the top of the hour.

^-.-^

[Becks]

There is a MAJOR problem with this thread. It is based upon the assumption that customers actually have the ability to think and comprehend the signs that the store is closed or even CARE whether of not the store is closed.

That pretty much sums it up.