When the store closes... It's time to leave. (recall, service, employees)

[NYChistorygal]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Obviously you don't own the store. You'd feel differently if you did.

I plan to own a store. I still want people out when they should be

Customer Service =/= indentured servitude. You do NOT have the right to abuse us.

We are open from 10:00 am, until 9:30 to 10:00 pm Monday through Saturday.

Until 7:00 on Sunday.

We only close for 3 holidays, and the occasional bad storm. Why people were pounding on the doors, as we were closing, as Hurricane Sandy barreled down on us, I'll never understand. (24 deaths here).

That means we are open 362 days a year.

If you can't find time to buy your underwear, that's YOUR problem. Learn some time management.

[Crazee Cat Lady]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

I get ready to leave when they start announcing that they're going to close but here's my little rant: I don't like it when they start up the vacuum cleaner while the store is still open and I'm trying to wind up my shopping. I guess the ten minute head start on vacuuming must make a big difference. When I'm shopping and the store is still open, I think it's rude to be vacuuming around me. I'm not a kid and I've never known stores to do this sort of thing until recently.

I use to work in a small family run store and they had to vacuum during store hours. It is not in any way meant to be offensive to customers. It is how the owners expressly wanted it done.
They were on a tight budget, and they wanted employees out of the store right about the time they locked the doors at night.
We would start announcing closing time 15 minutes ahead of time, and yet most people just totally ignored all the announcements...sometimes keeping the whole store waiting 15 minutes while they shopped.

[NJBest]

Originally Posted by NYChistorygal

We make these announcements BECAUSE we're sick of people taking their damn sweet time, getting to the cashier 10 minutes after the store closes! Get to the store earlier or come back tomorrow!

If that's what you want to portray then that's what you should say. Don't be so diplomatic and be like "Please head towards the cashier and make your final purchases". You would be more effective sayin "The doors will look in 2 minutes; everyone leave and come back tomorrow".

[NYChistorygal]

Originally Posted by NJBest

If that's what you want to portray then that's what you should say. Don't be so diplomatic and be like "Please head towards the cashier and make your final purchases". You would be more effective sayin "The doors will look in 2 minutes; everyone leave and come back tomorrow".

That's pretty much what the managers say, just nicer. They still don't listen.

[NYChistorygal]

Seriously, what part of "We're closed" don't you understand?

[dk1113]

Sorry so long. Just a little vent...

I work for a big box pet store. I happen to like it despite the long, back breaking hours standing on my feet. Most of the customers are fantastic and extremely nice to do business with. Because of this, the unpleasant tasks associated with cleaning out all the small animal cages and messes that customer's dogs make all day long don't seem half as bad.

For anyone who doesn't work in retail, here is a little behind the scenes of a day in the life of a lowly retail employee.

Most of us just to try to survive in a world that is getting harder and harder to get by in. Also, we are looked down upon as unskilled workers. However, most of us are college educated or have had high paying white collar jobs in the past. We can no longer find decent paying jobs due to outsourcing and lay offs.

We are exhausted! We stand on our feet for 8 or more hours a day. Yes, it is a job requirement and if we don't like it we can quit, but for most of us we have no choice as the job market has slim pickings right now. Now, I make slightly above minimum wage. I made twice as much 20 years ago working in a bank.

Most of you do not realize how much work store associates do on a daily basis. Not only do we juggle cash registers, we clean the store, unload trucks, place product on shelves, handle customer inquiries and complaints, deal with irate customers over lousy store policies, try our best to remain pleasant all day, fake smiles and bid you a nice day after we are called not so nice names, answer phones, clean toilets, pick up nasty messes customers leave behind for us, put products that were haphazardly tossed in careless piles back in their respective spots, deal with grumpy management who sit on their butts in their comfy office all day, listen to customer's personal tales of woe, process returns of merchandise that was trashed and have to take the items back "because the customer is always right", see people shoplift and not be allowed to thwart it as per corporate, deal with unruly little kids running around the store wrecking it all while being unsupervised, have to handle several tasks at once because corporate only allowed 3 people to be on the schedule for a 12 hour shift, etc...

Yes, it sounds like I hate my job with all my complaints. However, I am thankful for the meager paycheck I receive at the end of the week I am glad I am at least employed and thankfully not on welfare.

Now even when I work a 9-10 hour shift I only get a 30 minute break. By the time I go on my break I wolf my sandwich down like a beast and before you know it my much needed rest is over. By this time my back and feet feel like they are on fire. I go back into my store and finally the time has come to get to go home. Yay! For me, when I go home I do not get to relax. I have two children and a husband to take care of, but I am still excited to see the clock say 5 minutes to 9.

This happens almost every time I am closing. By this time the store usually is dead and we are almost at the home stretch. Just as I am about to count out my register, do a little tidying up and put some product that was carelessly tossed around by customers back on the shelf, I look up and see my doom. All of a sudden a family consisting of a mother, father and a pack of wild children come in thinking it is petting time at the zoo. The kids start shrieking like a train whistle and almost blow my ear drums. "Oooh look daddy, a Nemo fish!", then they start asking if we can take the hamsters out of the cage to pet when they never intend to buy anything. I try to stay positive and keep my retail smile on despite the fact I know these people will blow my chance to get to leave. I look at my watch and see it is 1 minute to 9. Next thing I know, about 5 more people walk in the door and grab shopping carts!

It is now 9:00. Corporate does not allow us to make announcements letting the customers know it is time to check out. With my retail smile and my patience still in check, I tell the remaining customers we are now closed, and if they would like me to get them anything I would be more than glad to get it for them and take it to the last register that is open. I always get the same answers. "Oh, I didn't know you were closed, I am so sorry!" "I will only be a minute" (turns into 30 minutes of browsing without buying anything), "It's not fair because my work hours don't coincide with your store hours", or my least favorite "I have a whole bunch of coupons that are expired, can you have the manager override them? (which he does one by one just to keep the customers happy).

Not only do we have to deal with this, we have customers outside pounding their fists on the door trying to get in and ranting and raving when we tell them we are closed.

By this time, It is now 9:45 and I am not allowed to go past a certain amount of hours and will get reamed out by the general store manager tomorrow because corporate will bust his chops. Since my pay is slightly above minimum wage, and the tax gets deducted for that extra 45 minutes I stood there, I made an extra $4 or $5. By this time, I feel as though I am wiped out mentally and physically and have no more left to give.

If customers only knew what most of us went through when you walk in right before closing, maybe you would understand why we don't seem so enthusiastic about you and the widget you might want to purchase. We tried our best all day and now our brains are left to mush and our bodies sore and tired.

This in no way is meant to insult customers. Like I said earlier, I love 98% of them. It's just that we work a lot harder than you think. The next time you see a retail associate having a rough day, all you have to do is smile or say "Hi, how are you doing today?". That makes us feel like we are human beings and maybe even appreciated.

Thanks so much for letting me vent. P.S. Please Take All Your Purchases To The Front Register ASAP And Have A Nice Evening, lol

[NARFALICIOUS]

I use to work in retail in the mall. We had gates that lowered, people usually got the idea that we were takin' no sh-z when we lowered it halfway down and had someone stand by the front.

Originally Posted by NYChistorygal

I plan to own a store. I still want people out when they should be

Customer Service =/= indentured servitude. You do NOT have the right to abuse us.

We are open from 10:00 am, until 9:30 to 10:00 pm Monday through Saturday.

Until 7:00 on Sunday.

We only close for 3 holidays, and the occasional bad storm. Why people were pounding on the doors, as we were closing, as Hurricane Sandy barreled down on us, I'll never understand. (24 deaths here).

That means we are open 362 days a year.

If you can't find time to buy your underwear, that's YOUR problem. Learn some time management.

Totally agree.

[wit-nit]

Before I retired I owned a retail business and we stayed open until the last person was ready to pay and go. I was always the last person to stay. We were in the business to make money and give good service to our customers. We never had a problem.

[NJBest]

Originally Posted by wit-nit

Before I retired I owned a retail business and we stayed open until the last person was ready to pay and go. I was always the last person to stay. We were in the business to make money and give good service to our customers. We never had a problem.

As you're seeing by future store owners here... providing good service is not a high priority in retail anymore.

[Rabrrita]

Originally Posted by NJBest

As you're seeing by future store owners here... providing good service is not a high priority in retail anymore.

What most of them are really saying is that the management of the store is dysfunctional by not scheduling employees to be available to assist those who were welcomed in by the open doors. It's not my fault the workers are forced to stay behind because I’m still shopping. Had management scheduled end of work well past closing, it wouldn’t be an issue. Unfortunately, retail clerks are not that high on the intellectual ladder so they take it out on the customer (who the store wants to come in and spend money) instead of on management for not accounting for this.

I have a friend who is management in a retail chain and they schedule their staff so they are still working their scheduled hours after closing. This ensures that if a customer comes in at the last minute because the DOORS WERE OPEN, they receive the same attention as all other customers. Her employees are not watching the clock for closing as they are not scheduled to be off until an hour or so after store closing.

This is not a customer issue but a scheduling issue. Obviously some are too low on the totem pole to understand that.