We close at six! Customer Standard Time strikes again.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Other titles I considered for this example of suck were "Sunday closing time waits for no man", "None shall pass" and of course, "You are not a special little snowflake, you are a pain in the arse". XD To set the scene, I work in a supermarket petrol station. Accross the road is the main store, which on Sundays closes at four pm. We close two hours later at six pm. By law, the store can trade til four thirty, but we are not allowed to trade after six, end of.

Last Sunday, as always, my collegue and I were closing up at six pm on the dot. I'd just finished locking up the pumps and was heading in to lock up the cigarettes, fire door, etc when this guy drove in thru the back way (the front was cordoned off cuz, guess what, we're closed!), got out of his car and pushed in thru the door. Said door was broken, so was wide open; cuz I was outside, it couldn't be manually locked.

In the following exchange, I am Me, the SC is SC and my collegue is Jenny, not her real name of course.


SC: Why are the pumps closed? It's ten to six, I want some petrol?
Jenny: Sorry, but we close at six and it's six now.
SC: It's ten to.
Me: Sorry, but we go by the clock in the shop, and that clock says six.
SC: Well, my watch says ten to. This is disgraceful, it wouldn't kill you to unlock the pumps, now would it?
Me: We can't do that. When we close, we lock up the pumps. We can't unlock them cuz we're not allowed to trade after six o'clock.
SC: I want the number of Head Office.
Jenny: We don't have it; you can try ringing up the main store, there might be a manager still there to help.
SC: I don't believe this, I just want to fill up my car. Why is that too much to ask?


Now, all the time this guy was standing there bitching in the doorway, refusing to leave and the minutes are ticking by. I managed to lock up the cigarettes but was unable to do any more closing up tasks inside the shop and Jenny couldn't leave the shop to go round the back either while he was there. Eventually, we managed to get rid of him by telling a white lie about the pumps automatically switching off at six and he finally left.

Jenny told our manager about the incident, just in case he complained, and she agreed with us; fact is, six is closing time and that's final. Just cuz his watch is slow, there's no way we can serve him as it's actually against the law to trade after six. So, we're in the clear; it just totally shook me as rude people always do. I know that after all this time working in retail I should be used to it, but there it is.

[Soulstealer]

Is that why shops here close so early? It's been bugging me for three months now.

[tropicsgoddess]

The title was very apropos, Lace. Too many SC's are stuck on the Customer Standard Time Zone and need to get with the program.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

The title was very apropos, Lace. Too many SC's are stuck on the Customer Standard Time Zone and need to get with the program.

Sadly, there's no Wiki entry for Customer Standard Time listed on Google.

However, this thread is listed on the search results page.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Custo...ient=firefox-a

[fireheart]

Am I the only one who's thinking that he deliberately played around with his watch?

[Lace Neil Singer]

Sadly, there's no Wiki entry for Customer Standard Time listed on Google.

However, this thread is listed on the search results page.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Custo...ient=firefox-a

Maybe we need to make a Wiki entry in that case. xD

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Maybe we need to make a Wiki entry in that case. xD

Go for it. As long as you have a Wiki account, you should be all set.

[evilhomer]

Closed is closed, regardless of the time zone in your crazy little world. If the dumbass has enough time to waste complaining to head office, he's got enough time to get there sooner. Don't get pissed with us for your time mis-management dumbass.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Go for it. As long as you have a Wiki account, you should be all set.

Sadly no.

Maybe it's time for us to have a CS Wiki?

Closed is closed, regardless of the time zone in your crazy little world. If the dumbass has enough time to waste complaining to head office, he's got enough time to get there sooner. Don't get pissed with us for your time mis-management dumbass.

My thoughts exactly. Also, the petrol station is not the only one in the town; there are at least four more, one of which is 24/7 and is only a little way down the road.

[EricKei]

Okay. Here's the basis for the article:

Lace Neil Singer's Law of Customer Standard Time:

If your store/office has closed, the customer's watch will be slow, and they will demand to be let in.

Corrolary:

If your store is not yet open, the customer's watch will be fast, and they will demand to be let in. As the SC's normal reaction to this will be to try and force the doors open, this could potentially result in damage to the door, which could be problematic. This could also result in self-inflicted damage to the SC, which is not so problematic.

[AtDIelement]

Okay. Here's the basis for the article:

Lace Neil Singer's Law of Customer Standard Time:

If your store/office has closed, the customer's watch will be slow, and they will demand to be let in.

Corrolary:

If your store is not yet open, the customer's watch will be fast, and they will demand to be let in. As the SC's normal reaction to this will be to try and force the doors open, this could potentially result in damage to the door, which could be problematic. This could also result in self-inflicted damage to the SC, which is not so problematic.

This is by far my biggest pet peeve. We are supposed to be the most convenient bank in America. Yet, when we close, we're closed. People yank on our giant glass doors and I'm waiting for one of them to come crashing down. I'm sure they would try to take us to court for it.

I also don't think people realize the security hazard of us letting in someone after hours. How do I know you aren't a bank robber?

[Lace Neil Singer]

Exactly. We're cashing tills up, ffs. Plus there's the fact that the government runs spotchecks every so often to make sure stores are following Sunday Trading Laws. For all I know, there could be one watching us.

There's also the small consideration that I BLOODY WELL WANT TO GO HOME AFTER WORKING ALL DAY, DAMMIT.

[QASlave]

I worked the graveyard shift at a convenience store for one summer in college. Anyway, you could sell booze until 2:00 a.m., then not again until 7:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and not until noon on Sunday. (Don't you love the liquor laws?) So, guys wanders in at about 8 minutes after on a Wednesday morning, walks to the cooler, then plunks down a 12 pack. I inform him that he's too late. He declares that he is wearing a $300 watch and it says it's 10 til. I inform him that I'm wearing a $20 watch and it's says it close to 10 after. He was drunk, so he decides to heave the 12 pack through the glass cooler door. Unbeknowst to him, we have some card pumps off to the side that the city used. (Police, fire, city maintence.) I already knew that there was a cop fueling up so I grab the outside intercom mike and ask him to come inside as dipshit had just thrown a 12 pack into the cooler door and shattered it. Cop comes at a dead run to the side door. It was a glass door and the look on the dumbasses face was priceless as he watched the cop sprint across the parking lot. I said, "If you don't want to get slammed to the floor, I'd lay down if I was you." He did. Cop made him clean up the broken glass, then cuffed him and took him away.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Owned. XD Never had anything like that happen, just a few SCs bitching about closing time.

I'm working Christmas Eve, and we shut half an hour after the store closes. However, if it's packed full, we may have to close off the forecourt a little earlier, so we can leave on time. My collegue Jim will be doing all that, however; all I'll do is get rid of any remaining customers, then quickly cash up and close up.