AM/PM put sign up "will be back in 10 minutes" - thoughts? (El Cajon: home, live)

[djxpress]

I went to an AM/PM store to get gas around 8pm. There were a couple cars that sped away, drivers looking frustrated, as I pulled up. I walked to the front door and noticed there was a sign that said "will be back in 10 minutes". I knocked on the window a couple of times and waited. After about 5 minutes, I knocked again and waited. The employee came out from the back looking jittery and shaking. I proceeded to go in and pay for my gas and pump.

After a couple minutes, the employee came out to my car (still jittery) and told me not to come back if he was working because he was in the bathroom and could hear me knocking on the window.

I'm curious how acceptable it is to close a store during operating hours? It seems as though the guy might have gone to the back room to get high, but of course, that's an assumption.

Was I in the wrong here for expecting a store like AM/PM to be open at 8pm on a Wednesday night?

[hitman619]

Which AM/PM?
And him coming up to you to tell you, "not to come back when he's working" is Unacceptable.
There has been a up trend I've been noticing of, Retail workers verbally not taking crap from the Customer.

Please tell me you weren't this guy

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by djxpress

I went to an AM/PM store to get gas around 8pm. There were a couple cars that sped away, drivers looking frustrated, as I pulled up. I walked to the front door and noticed there was a sign that said "will be back in 10 minutes". I knocked on the window a couple of times and waited. After about 5 minutes, I knocked again and waited. The employee came out from the back looking jittery and shaking. I proceeded to go in and pay for my gas and pump.

After a couple minutes, the employee came out to my car (still jittery) and told me not to come back if he was working because he was in the bathroom and could hear me knocking on the window.

I'm curious how acceptable it is to close a store during operating hours? It seems as though the guy might have gone to the back room to get high, but of course, that's an assumption.

Was I in the wrong here for expecting a store like AM/PM to be open at 8pm on a Wednesday night?

I think the employee was 100% in the wrong for confronting you, but I also think if the dude had to go and knew it was going to take a few minutes, and was the only one on the store, what else should he have done? Maybe he was jittery and shaky because he wasn't feeling so hot after having his emergency break interrupted by someone banging on the door?

Honestly, if it was me and I saw that sign I'd either just chill for a few minutes to see if the attendant came back or, if I was in that much of a hurry, roll a few blocks to the next gas station.

[djxpress]

It was off Main in El Cajon. I waited for 7-8 minutes...even an explosive diarrhea only takes 2 minutes to come out lol (don't ask me how I know). If he had a case of Montezuma's Revenge, he wouldn't have taken as long as he did. 2 explanations - getting high in the back room or a case of constipation, not alleviated by a few knocks on the window.

My knocks were about as hard as the guy in the first few seconds of the video. No verbal remarks, although another guy in a lifted truck was laying his hands on the horn, East County style.

[mortpes]

My employer would not pay for two employees on duty. When nature called there was no other choice but to close up for a few or in some cases several minutes.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Any store that sells propane will have to lock the store while they are outside. It's always been that way for places that have only one employee.

[djxpress]

They were not outside, I even went to the back of the store to check.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by djxpress

They were not outside, I even went to the back of the store to check.

Shift changes used to involve shutting down the register, counting money, cartons of cigs and glasses. Pretty much the same thing door shut or not if you are standing in the line. It's just part of store ops.

We also had the discretion of booting customers/banning them from the store for psycho behavior. Of course the explanation to the manager better be a good one.

It doesn't take 10 minutes to get high, so I heard

[djxpress]

definitely not a shift change, I've worked retail and I've never had a shift change with no other employees in the store.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by djxpress

definitely not a shift change, I've worked retail and I've never had a shift change with no other employees in the store.

Of course it wasn't. My point being, customers are going to have to wait while one is going on. The same as shutting the store.

I forgot gas deliveries or customers having trouble pumping gas. When the employee is alone they are to shut the store if they have to go outside for any reason. That means waiting for the store to empty, lock it up and do whatever needs done. I used to hate having to stock the cooler as our policy was to close the store while in the cooler for any length of time.

This didn't happen often, usually when a co-worker would go home sick and we couldn't raise another employee to cover.