How to: Nearly get locked in a store overnight

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Filler in the baler?

Tempting as that may be, I'd hate to have to be the one to find that mess.

At out store, the baler is located in the back DSD Receiving area - five feet from my desk at that.

And that ancient beast seems to want to break down at least once every other month and Grasshopper has to put a work order in on the thing . . . ugh.

But yeah, rushing into a store right at closing time for a Scrabble game and a pillow . . . I wouldn't think that purchase would justify the payroll spent to keep those employees there past closing.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Back when I worked at the pet store in the garden centre, this nearly happened to a customer. She came in just before we closed and somehow managed to elude the security cameras ans she wandered the store. She only escaped being locked in the store overnight cuz it happened to be payday and as all of us were paid cash in hand, instead of running out the store the moment we were able to, we were all hanging around the front waiting for our pay when the elusive customer appeared. Sadly for her, my manager (despite being a complete arse hired due to the Dilbert Principle) didn't want to stay any longer than he had to (like us, he was paid a fixed wage; no extra for working extra, hence why we all fled the store at the end of the night! XD) and told her she had to leave her shopping and go. The customer left in a huff swearing never to return cuz of such "terrible customer service". Well, a terrible customer gets terrible service... and yeah, she came back the next day. Cept she managed to leave before we closed this time.

[mjr]

But yeah, rushing into a store right at closing time for a Scrabble game and a pillow . . . I wouldn't think that purchase would justify the payroll spent to keep those employees there past closing.

I don't like that sort of behavior, either, and I REALLY hate to sound like an SC, but technically if you're open until 10 PM, and someone comes in at 9:59:30, you're still open.

It's unfortunate, and I wholeheartedly agree that I don't like it. But if you have store hours that are, say, 9AM to 10PM, and someone saunters in at 9:59:30, you're still technically open for 30 seconds...It's like the person who walks in the door at 9:00:01 (and yes, I've done this, but it was at a haircut place and we had an appointment).

[XCashier]

I did once go into a store shortly before closing. I needed some ibuprofen, went straight to the shelf, grabbed what I needed, straight to the register and was out of there maybe one minute after closing. I don't mind the folks who do that.

It's the ones who say "I only need one thing!" and then proceed to mosey around the store, looking at everything, taking their own sweet time and making us stay until half an hour or more after closing. Those people suck.

[notalwaysright]

I don't like that sort of behavior, either, and I REALLY hate to sound like an SC, but technically if you're open until 10 PM, and someone comes in at 9:59:30, you're still open.

It's unfortunate, and I wholeheartedly agree that I don't like it. But if you have store hours that are, say, 9AM to 10PM, and someone saunters in at 9:59:30, you're still technically open for 30 seconds...It's like the person who walks in the door at 9:00:01 (and yes, I've done this, but it was at a haircut place and we had an appointment).

Right. My issue is the way I view closing time. To me, the posted closing time means you (as a customer) are out the door, no more shopping, or even buying. In my perfect world, I'd just kick people out and not even let them buy anything. Keep in mind, this is a craft store. We sell nothing that is required to live. It's not like a drug store, or grocery store.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Where I work, we're not allowed to trade fifteen minutes after closing time, so we can quite legally boot slow customers out the door. Well, if we let someone stay, sod's law would mean that person was from Trading Standards. XD Stores have been fined for breaking trading laws; a place in the town is on its last warning for staying open later than allowed.

[Seshat]

Keep in mind, this is a craft store. We sell nothing that is required to live. It's not like a drug store, or grocery store.

Even in a drug store or a grocery store, I'd view a person bringing in a script from the local ER or buying baby formula differently from a person wanting to buy chapstick or soda.

[Jetfire]

I suspect most people working Retail are usually experienced enough to recognize the "I only need 1 (hundred) thing!" from those who really are looking for an emergency item, and most will rarely hold any ill will for the later.

[prjkt]

I suspect most people working Retail are usually experienced enough to recognize the "I only need 1 (hundred) thing!" from those who really are looking for an emergency item, and most will rarely hold any ill will for the later.

Because instead of saying "one thing" they'll actually tell you what they need

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I don't like that sort of behavior, either, and I REALLY hate to sound like an SC, but technically if you're open until 10 PM, and someone comes in at 9:59:30, you're still open.

It's unfortunate, and I wholeheartedly agree that I don't like it. But if you have store hours that are, say, 9AM to 10PM, and someone saunters in at 9:59:30, you're still technically open for 30 seconds...It's like the person who walks in the door at 9:00:01 (and yes, I've done this, but it was at a haircut place and we had an appointment).

I'm with the person who said closing time means all customers are out of the store, or at least are at the registers. It doesn't just mean nobody else is allowed to come in the store.

You need to grab a bottle of aspirin or something small like that and will check out right away? That is fine.

But if somebody dashes in 30 seconds before close wanting to buy furniture requiring a carryout, I would turn them away because it's going to take too long for the transaction to be complete and the customer to be gone. Somebody will have to retrieve the item from the backroom, deliver it to the customer's vehicle, bring the item back inside and take down the customer's info if it doesn't fit. Meanwhile everybody else not involved in the carryout is still waiting to leave, because the rule is everybody leaves as a group for safety reasons.

And also, people need to quit coming in fifteen minutes or a half hour before we close, grabbing a cart, and leisurely browsing as the closing announcements are going over the PA and the lights are dimming. People do this at the swamp because they know we will not just kick them out. All the employees can do is keep bugging them, asking if they can help them find something repeatedly until they take the hint. If they tell the employee to buzz off, that's it. Corporate may or may not back us if the closing manager tells the person to just leave, and for that reason they generally don't.

[downforit2008]

My current store closes at 9PM. At 9:10PM, an announcement comes over the P.A for all employees to check their departments for customer stragglers. I don't think we've ever let a customer shop around until 9:45 like most stores have to go through.

Plus, I work overnight freight, so it's pretty cool to come in and start my shift an hour from closing. Most of my hours are when the store is devoid of customers and most coworkers, so it's pretty relaxing.

[XCashier]

I don't think we've ever let a customer shop around until 9:45 like most stores have to go through.

It's not so much a case of "letting" them shop. They come in right before close and take their time of their own volition, looking around. Corporate rules prohibit us from chivvying them out the door; all we can do is make announcements and try to contact them personally. This arc in the Retail strip shows what a lot of us go through.

[taxguykarl]

I did once go into a store shortly before closing. I needed some ibuprofen, went straight to the shelf, grabbed what I needed, straight to the register and was out of there maybe one minute after closing. I don't mind the folks who do that.

I made a cat litter run like that once.

[paxillated]

All the suits and upper management want their giant bonus for keeping payroll under a certain dollar amount

I had a boss like that once. The job was "safety related," and one of the several things we did was watch the radio (we got a lot of radio traffic). We had to be there in case someone said "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!"

Boss declared we could only have two people for the overnight shift. One night one of them called in sick - after everyone went home. When called, Assistant manager (a true asshole) refused to call someone in because overtime. (Big Boss got big bonuses every year for keeping overtime down.)

Since the bathrooms were so far from the radio that you couldn't hear it, our poor solo midshift guy had to use a trash can instead.

Big Boss had never meant No Overtime, and was shocked that Ass-istant Mgr didn't call someone in. I was off that day; I wish I'd heard the loud chewing out Ass got. But whose fault was it? Big wanted to keep overtime down and had told Ass so. Maybe Big hadn't learned yet what a fool Ass was. I'm glad I helped get Big forced to retire, and Ass demoted.

[Lace Neil Singer]

It's not so much a case of "letting" them shop. They come in right before close and take their time of their own volition, looking around. Corporate rules prohibit us from chivvying them out the door; all we can do is make announcements and try to contact them personally. This arc in the Retail strip shows what a lot of us go through.

I guess I'm just lucky that I've never had to go thru that. Even in the garden centre, cuz the manager wanted to go home as soon as possible, customers were told to get out if they overstayed their welcome. Plus, no-one was ever allowed in the store five minutes before closing time. Those of us, like me, who closed their departments half an hour before closing time had to stand on the door like bouncers.