Ease my concsious

[draftermatt]

This thread brought back a memory.

I was 15 working a the giant Q subs.

It was Saturday and we had been closed for about a half hour. The food had been covered and stuck in the fridge, the dishes were being washed, I had taken the trash out, swept, put the chairs up and was mopping the floor.

A car pulls up.

I ask myself "did I remember to lock the door after I took the trash out?" I then say "they'll see the chairs up and me mopping, so it's ok"

Then the door opens

"Are you open?"
"Uh, what do you need?" (Thinking if they only want a drink I can sell them that since I hadn't started breaking the machine down yet)

"Subs!" (while licking lips, staring at me expectantly)
"Sorry, we're closed" I replied

She left, but for years I felt guilty. Thinking that I should have made her a sub. I know if the owner would have been up front (we had no manager, just the owner) he would have made me.

After reading stories like the one I reference, and others like it I feel much better.

So thank-you Customersuck.com for easing my mind.

[Sheldonrs]

You cruel bastard!!!!!

[Teskeria]

You cruel bastard!!!!!

*giggles* Why take a few hours helping them when you are officially closed? I wouldn't. Of course my nickname amongst friends IS "The Queen of Cruelty" (not S&M - RPG GM)

[Meegz]

Bahaha, actually had that happen before. One of my co-workers forgot to lock the one side door back up after she came in (an hour before we opened). The look of astonishment on us when we found a customer milling about the store looking around the store, even before the lights came on!

But no, don't feel bad. In fact you really did go out of your way

[South Texan]

Back when I was waiting tables at a really expensive steak place, we had closed one night at midnight (the usual time) and were busily getting the dining room ready for the next day.

The mood lighting was turned off and all the harsh work lights were on, the waiters had their ties off and were taking down the salad bar (all the kale lettuce was off the mountain of ice into which all forty of the canisters of salad bar stuff had been pushed – it really was something to see when put together) and restocking tables and the wait stations. The busboys were using Brasso on all the railings, mopping and vacuuming. Chairs had been turned upside down onto some of the tables to accomplish this. The speakers no longer played the gentle dinner music and Back in Black was blaring.

The chef was sprawled out at the bar still in his chef’s attire. The outside lights and our sign were turned off. Our hours were clearly posted on the front doors. One thing had not been done, however. The bimbo hostess that evening had not locked those doors before she went home even though that had been her ONLY closing task.

At 12:30, I happened to be taking a tray of something to one of the wait stations when I almost knocked over a party of eight standing at the entrance to the dining room. They had walked through the dark and empty parking lot, past the hours on the door, into the front lobby where the music was blaring, past the empty hostess stand, past the obvious chef drinking a beer in the bar, and were standing there looking at the scene in the dining room. The woman at the front of the group had a wide eyed expression when she blurted out “Are you CLOSED?????” to me.

Thankfully, I was leaving in a few weeks to go back to college as my brain to mouth filter was not working right then, and I replied, “How on Earth did you guess?”

They actually expected us to reopen and serve them. It took almost ten minutes to get them to comprehend that we were seriously not going to do that regardless of how much they whined that they had brought out of town guests with them to show us off. The woman almost was apoplectic as they left.

Add me to the list, therefore, of those who tell you not to feel guilty about telling someone you are closed.

[BlaqueKatt]

all the kale lettuce was off the mountain of ice into which all forty of the canisters of salad bar stuff had been pushed – it really was something to see when put together

ahhh I almost miss getting my salad bars perfectly arranged.....that takes skill....

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I've told the story several times before, might as well tell it again:

Summer/fall 2005, as the swamp was being remodeled. It was well after close. I had helped unload that night's truck, but was still working until 1:30 helping stock all the freight.

Sometime close to midnight (I think), nature started calling so I headed up to the bathroom--and saw a group of high-school aged kids just waltzing on through the front manual doors.

I asked them what they were doing. They told me the door was open so they thought we were open yet. I told them they had to leave, and they did.

Only after they left did the alarms start going off.

It turned out that the closing manager, while closing the store for the night, just slammed the manual doors shut but didn't pull them shut completely to lock them, thus the kids were able to just walk on in.

It was a damn good thing I happened to go to the bathroom when I did. Those kids could've stolen a bunch of shit and been out the doors before anybody would know otherwise.

[EvilEmpryss]

"Uh, what do you need?"
"Subs!" (while licking lips, staring at me expectantly)
"Sorry, we're closed" I replied

Good answer. Even though there was only one person standing there, you don't know that she wasn't looking to buy two dozen subs (each one with something unique to be done to it) for a party she was at.

[Imogene]

I'm sure I posted this story before at some point, but it fits here...
Back at the Chesterfield, we'd just gotten a new, very goth, very poseur assistant manager, whom the third key and I both hated because of various reasons.
Lucky me, I was closing with him one night. The gate was down, he'd already pulled my drawer for me to begin counting it, at the registers (there were two on the counter) Mall's closed... and some guy, apparently walking out to his car, hangs on the gate.
"Hey, you guys got StarGate season X?"
Since AM's busy doing closing type stuff, I walk around the corner to check it out. "Yes, indeed we do."
"Cool, can I buy it?"
I look at AM, wondering what he'll do, because, we're closed, there's money out in the open, etc...
AM walks over and opens the gate for the guy to come in (Strike!). He leads the guy to the register next to my cash drawer (strike!) Guy pays and leaves, and AM, in an attempt to rag on the third key, says, "Now, THAT'S customer service!" as he closes the gate again. No, that's a liability issue. (STRIKE!)
I tell the story to third key when I work with him next, and then, tell store manager, who is entirely non-plussed abut it. (Uh... take yer base?)

It was no surprise to third key and I when AM left us, and we found evidence that he was the one filching money from our Christmas registers...

[rerant]

I've never felt guilty about turning people away when I'm closed.
The main reason is I don't get paid to stay late, but on top of that nothing in my store is a necessity of life so it won't kill them to come back in the morning.
If they get pissed, oh well.

[Nohbody]

The main reason is I don't get paid to stay late, but on top of that nothing in my store is a necessity of life so it won't kill them to come back in the morning.

Save for serious medical problems, how much is there, in modern society, that is so absolutely important (and by "absolutely important", I mean "if you don't have this Right F Now you will literally die", not how most SCs define "important") that it can't wait 8 hours or so for the store carrying it to re-open? I'm honestly puzzled.

[XCashier]

Save for serious medical problems, how much is there, in modern society, that is so absolutely important (and by "absolutely important", I mean "if you don't have this Right F Now you will literally die", not how most SCs define "important") that it can't wait 8 hours or so for the store carrying it to re-open? I'm honestly puzzled.

Nothing I can think of that can't be found at a 24-hour Walmart Superstore or someplace similar.

[hinakiba777]

Medicine can't wait 8 hours most of the time. I'm saying this because my home town doesn't have any 24 hour places. In fact, all the pharmacies close at 9, and don't open until ten. But this is the only thing.

Now my story about closing, which i think I told last summer;
When I was working at the Railways Museum it was my job to run the gift shop, and do the deposits. We closed at 5pm and I'd usually start closing at 4:30. I'd collect the admissions, then do up the sales reports, and put them in the deposit bag. I'd keep it all on hand as I cleaned up and locked up my building, and didn't run the money to the safe in the Station until about 4:55pm. If someone showed up between when I finished my deposits and close, then I didn't have to worry about mixing up the money or anything.

It didn't happen often that people arrived too close to closing. However, one day a family arrived at 5:01pm just after I had locked the safe and was climbing into my car. In fact, the whole property was locked down. They asked if we were closed, and my boss said he could open it back up for them. Now I was only getting paid until 5pm and I lived 40 minutes away. I was about to bawk, when my boss told me I could head home.

The next day I had a lot of stuff to sort through, but I was happy my boss never made me stay late unpaid.

Note= It was a Grant Job. The Museum only receives enough money to pay each worker for a 35 hour week, for a set number of weeks.

[Nohbody]

Medicine can't wait 8 hours most of the time.

Medicine was included in that "serious medical problems". Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

[hinakiba777]

Medicine was included in that "serious medical problems". Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

Yes i missed that I suppose. I was once sick and needed medication, but my friend did not want me to go out alone so late. SO instead of coming with me she blocked the door of my rez room until after the pharmacy had closed.