The Post Closing Phone Call Blues

[Computer Sandwich]

Spending the last 7 years of my life working face to face with the loathsome public, I've accrued some stories. But, I figure I'll let you all get to know me with one of my most recent ones. I currently work for a company that makes and delivers sandwiches and at my particular location we cater to college students, so we stay open until 2am.

Well, after a ridiculously arduous shift of delivering, I finally got back to the shop at 2:30am, I had five deliveries to make at 2am that were taken before I got back to the store at 2am that night, so I was pretty terse to begin with. Well I made the mistake of answering the phone.

Me: Hey, this is sandwich palace USA, sorry we're closed.
Annoying drunk: Yo, dude, I need a sandwich!
M: Ok, that's great, but, sorry we're closed. We closed like a half hour ago.
AD: That's bulls***, man! I need food, how will I get food?
M: I don't know, just eat whatever you have in your fridge.
AD: If you won't bring me food, why'd you even pickup the phone?
M: Well, I didn't want you to sit on the line with it ringing for thirty minutes.
AD: You're a d**k, man! You guys are just f***ing with me. You need to bring - *bam* my hand slamming the handset down.

It's not great, but I'm wet behind the ears on this forum.

[Squeaksmyalias]

At 2am dealing with a drunk I would have done the same. He isn't likely to remember it and I would want to go home.
Oh and *points to icon thingie* Mal!

[EricKei]

Our greeting at a couple of places I have worked:

During store hours: "Thank you for calling <store>, my name is EricKei, here's our specials, what can I do for you today?"

Exactly one second after the clock hit closing time: "<store>, sorry, but we're closed."

My managers ROCKED ^_^

[Computer Sandwich]

I don't see that I really answered the phone any differently than you, EricKei, but it didn't work for me here. Some people just feel so entitled to think that we work solely for their pleasure. If you expect to get food delivered at 2:30am, you expect too much.

[MoonCat]

Nothing worse than those last-minute calls, either right before or right after closing.

We close at 6 PM, but those working until 6 are told to log off their phones by 5:55 so they don't get stuck. Anybody that waits until 5:59:59 to call us...well, you know they're going to be trouble.

[Android Kaeli]

A few years ago, I started to answer phones after we closed with "Thank you for calling Random Craft Store SECURITY." It has helped a bit, since it gets people confused, and I can say we're closed already and no one is avaliable to help them.

[Sleepwalker]

I think my favorite after hours call was the one that ended with the woman saying

"you better hang up the pho*CLICK"

After hours, I don't do the spiel. I say the store name and location, that's it.

[Racket_Man]

Well I made the mistake of answering the phone.

Me: Hey, this is sandwich palace USA, sorry we're closed.
Annoying drunk: Yo, dude, I need a sandwich!
M: Ok, that's great, but, sorry we're closed. We closed like a half hour ago.
AD: That's bulls***, man! I need food, how will I get food?
M: I don't know, just eat whatever you have in your fridge.
AD: If you won't bring me food, why'd you even pickup the phone?
M: Well, I didn't want you to sit on the line with it ringing for thirty minutes.
AD: You're a d**k, man! You guys are just f***ing with me. You need to bring - *bam* my hand slamming the handset down.

It's not great, but I'm wet behind the ears on this forum.

welcome to the boards. fellow delvery driver here (pizza variety). almost every single night we get the same conversaton as you detailed. some are nice but most are of the "BLARGLE BLARGLE curse curse !!!!!!!! but I want food" or the "Why did you answer the phone" (because you dumbass you would have let it ring and ring and ring and ring and ring..... etc. (and then complain the next day no one is answering the phone) and that IS ANNOYING

[EricKei]

Heh. We'd get the "Then why did you pick up?!" (because it might be the DM and he'd rip us a new one if we didn't pick up) calls, too. He also delighted in calling us at like 2 minutes before closing to make sure we were still actively taking orders, too. Bonus points if he was in bed at home when he did this.

If people tried to go ahead and place an order anyway, I'd just say that we were closed, again, at a higher decibel level.

[MoonCat]

We have a shift that works until 8 PM for death notices only. Years ago that shift used to be here until 10:45 PM, and I had to work it a few times. We had a special phone number to be used by funeral directors only, and I learned very quickly never to answer the regular dept line, or one of the outside sales reps' phones, if they rang after hours, because it was always a major problem that I didn't have the authority to deal with (and no managers were in the building).

One time a company employee whose family owned a funeral home happened to call in for the family business. She heard a phone ringing in the background and asked the ad taker if she had to get that phone. Of course, per instructions, the rep said no. So this woman called some manager the next day and tried to get the rep in trouble for not answering that other phone! Thank god the manager we had at the time explained that the dept line was closed at night and the rep on that shift would not have been able to help the caller anyway.

[auntiem]

A few years ago, I started to answer phones after we closed with "Thank you for calling Random Craft Store SECURITY." It has helped a bit, since it gets people confused, and I can say we're closed already and no one is avaliable to help them.

My last job, at 5:01 I became "the cleaning crew".