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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

in thinking that if Clarks closes at 5.30...

233 replies

Amanderrr · 28/10/2010 01:37

at 5.23 the doors shouldn't be locked?

Went to Richmond today for a mooch around the shops. DS3 (4yrs) kept complaining about his feet hurting so we headed over to Clarks. We wouldn't have taken long as I know his size and width and just wanted the brown version of the black pair we bought last week.

Got to the doors and they were locked. There was a customer inside still trying on shoes and staff milling around. Had a look at my watch and it was just after 5.20. Looked at the opening times and they should have been open until 5.30. Asked DP what the time was in case my watch was wrong and he said it was about 5.23.

This is happening more and more. In the last couple of weeks alone Boots wouldn't let me in with five minutes until they officially closed. Office the shoe shop was shut before the time stated. The security guard in Zara, which was due to close at 7pm, was telling me at 6.50 that the shop was now closed and could I head to the tills. I looked over and there was a long queue so it didn't really matter whether I carried on shopping or not and M&S turned most of the lights off after saying over the loud speaker that the store would be closing in ten minutes.

I know in the grand scheme of things this should just be a slight irritation but today just brought it to a head when I couldn't get a change of shoes for DS3 when I really needed them.

Am I alone in finding this frustrating and would it worth emailing the stores when this happens?

OP posts:
WriterofDreams · 28/10/2010 11:24

People forget too that the people working in shops often have young children or other major responsibilities outside work. They accept the poor wages due to the fact that in many retail jobs you can work part time and your hours are fixed (unlike in other jobs where you might need to do nightshifts etc). Many people really rely on leaving work bang on time to get to the childminders or the hospital or wherever. If people are missing out on this one and possibly only perk of being a retail assistant due to dawdlers then it really pisses them off, understandably.

spleenvent · 28/10/2010 11:26

I still work in retail (can only work one day a week due to limited childcare) and apart from shitbag customers, I like my work. Probably be a different story if I were there 5 days a week though. I work in fashion retail and I genuinely love fashion so I love the stock I sell and love helping (nice) women find their dream dress.

However, we are open twelve hours per day. There is no need for me to be stood by my till twiddling my thumbs, waiting for some cunt idiot to shop up when the store closed ten minutes ago. If you are genuinely looking and you've been in the store a while then I will help you. If you sauntered in at one minute to closing time then you can fuck off.

Thanks.

JFly · 28/10/2010 11:27

Well no, retail wasn't my life's work and I don't expect it to be the case for anyone else. Fair enough, granted, point taken, etc. We all have done jobs we haven't liked in order to pay the bills. I worked in a service laundrette once, and I can tell you some tales of people and their disgusting ways. Shock

However, some people do like retail (or whatever job they do) and those people are more likely to do their jobs well. But if you take out your hatred of the job and the employer's policies on the customer, then maybe it's time to move on. One retailer is not necessarily like the others, you can find decent working conditions and pay across the retail sector. Or try temping in admin and then you really get a taste of the devil's work. Wink

My point is, why is the customer the "arsehole" here? That attitude does make people shop elsewhere. The message I'm getting is that employers need to do more to make their employees more loyal and motivated. If they aren't doing that, they lose sales and probably employees.

spleenvent · 28/10/2010 11:30

Not all customers are arseholes, just the ones with a sense of entitlement.

Suda · 28/10/2010 11:37

I agree its not so much the last minute customer thats the culprit - they are after all just walking into an 'open' shop. I doubt very many of them actually stand up the street waiting to enter the shop at last minute to piss off the assistants. Many will have good reason to be there at that time and not before - many will be oblivious.

No I firmly believe it is mainly the Employers or Retailers fault and therefore any complaint by customers or disgruntled staff should be directed at them.

bubbleOseven · 28/10/2010 11:37

If you work for less than minimum wage your employer is breaking the law and can be reported.

So, if your paid for 20 hours (on minimum wage) and your working for 25 hours, that works out at less than minimum wage and your employers can be prosecuted. In fact, there is a website somewhere enabling you to do this very thing.

ShirleyGarrote · 28/10/2010 11:41

Agreed Suda, but the reality of the situation is that the retailers can just fuck you off out of it and will have 60 biddable candidates lined up for every job.

I BLAME THATCHER.

Suda · 28/10/2010 11:41

Yes BUBBLE as I said in previous post - your boss cant disipline you for leaving on time but technically you can do him for non payment of wages - or as you say effectively paying below the minimum wage. More people need to make a stand to wipe this exploitation out.

bubbleOseven · 28/10/2010 11:42

Why blame Thatcher. If anyones to blame is greedy shop owners.

ShirleyGarrote · 28/10/2010 11:52

Thatcher is to blame for everything that is wrong in the known universe.

JFly · 28/10/2010 11:54

Grin Shirley

Suda · 28/10/2010 11:54

Yes I know Shirley and so do I !

Thats what I meant about winning a battle but not the war. They get you in other ways. I once worked in a shop - treated like shit and unbeknown to them - and many people dont realise you can do this without your employer knowing - I had joined USDAW - shopworkers union.

It was well worth my couple of pound a month - they had me covering a supervisors job on checkout operators rate - fine I saw it as an opportunity - but then one day supervisor - who they'd appointed from outside instead of giving me the job - didnt turn up - and they said I had to cover her shift - still on checkout rate.

Will never forget the Managers face when I turned up later on - after flatly refusing and being told to leave and not bother coming back - with an Area Union Rep in tow - who told him how it really worked !

Took them to a tribunal - got a few thousand pounds compensation and a fair (good i.o.w.) reference and soon after got a much better job.

Discowife · 28/10/2010 11:57

The shop closed at 5:30. You were not going to buy and find a a pair of shoes in 7 minutes. Let the poor feckers go home- they have fmailies too! If you had been inside shoppin already you'd have been warned starting packing up and moving out but would not have been kicked out!

MrsMerlothasabadhead · 28/10/2010 11:59

I want to know why op was buying ds new shoes in the first place? [nosey emotion]

She says she had only bought him a pair of Clarkes shoes the previous week, so therefore knew the exact style, size and width she wanted. But in a different colour.

Surely if he had new shoes a week previously his feet should not be hurting unless,

  1. They were ill fitted
  2. He was wearing his old shoes In which case he would have either needed his feet measured again. Or could have survived until he got home and changed into his new ones.

I don't see much logic in buying two pairs of the same shoes? A pair of shoes and a pair of trainers, maybe. But two pairs of the same shoe? Confused

WriterofDreams · 28/10/2010 12:03

Ha! Well done Suda! It's great that you managed to sort them out but it really pisses me off that people have to work so hard to protect themselves from employers who are trying to screw them over every step of the way.

ShirleyGarrote · 28/10/2010 12:03

The thing is that we're back to a tory government again. How much longer before the attacks on the unions start again?

Not long I expect.

The thing is that society has changed and become skewed into a real "I'm alright Jack" and " I WANT IT NOW" culture. So people who want to buy sodding shoes at 5.23 just think "Fuck you workers, get me my shoes, and SMILE while you're at it, and if you don't like it, why not get a job as a chocolate taster, you twat"

Discowife · 28/10/2010 12:04

bubbleOseven actually most airlines don't pay the poor fuckers on the plane until it takes off.

bubbleOseven · 28/10/2010 12:08

actually most airlines don't pay the poor fuckers on the plane until it takes off.

Hmmmm, not sure your info's right there Discowife but I've got no way of checkingit.

Discowife · 28/10/2010 12:10

My dad (yes, dad not mum ) has been a flightattendant for 20+ years on various airlines. I have also spoken with others on flights it is pretty normal actually.. alhtough I think not right.

You shouldn't make a point of something you don't actually know to be true

Hedgeblunder · 28/10/2010 12:12

If the managers would pay past 5.30 it wouldn't be a problem- my old manager would make us stay upto 45 mins after closing the store and wouldn't pay a penny of overtime, so we told customers the shop was closing.
It is annoying but you'll survive.

MumBarTheDoorZombiesAreComing · 28/10/2010 12:14

MrsMerlo I asked pretty much the same earlier and why was she making him walk all afternoon around the shops to then buy him a pair 7mins before they shut and they were going home to his previosly bought pair that fit Grin.

Shock at the caravan sales story. But that is it isn't - a sense of entiltlement - 'the customer is always right'.....bollocks they are when it comes to needing a service from a shop then use some commen and get there intime to make full use of the service.

JFly · 28/10/2010 12:16

I'm still confused. Shops are there for the convenience of customers, they are entitled to shop during opening hours. It is not as though the businesses are doing customers a favour by providing the service.

Shall we all phone up in advance and see if it's convenient to come in and buy something? Maybe make an appointment? "Dave wants to get to the pub to watch football, so sorry, you'll have to arrive 20 minutes before closing if you want to be served."

Why the rage and angst? I would hope that people working in retail could muster up a smile. Not all customers are horrible, piss takers. Just as I'm sure not all retail workers are miserable.

MumBarTheDoorZombiesAreComing · 28/10/2010 12:17

"The thing is that society has changed and become skewed into a real "I'm alright Jack" and " I WANT IT NOW" culture. So people who want to buy sodding shoes at 5.23 just think "Fuck you workers, get me my shoes, and SMILE while you're at it, and if you don't like it, why not get a job as a chocolate taster, you twat""

Now how do I get that job, I'll do overtime if the chocolate money is good Grin

WriterofDreams · 28/10/2010 12:21

What are you confused about JFly? (honest question) Yes people are entitled to shop during opening hours but equally people are entitled to get paid for the time that they work. The point being made again and again is that shop owners are not paying staff for the extra time they expect them to be there so staff are closing shops early in order to counteract this.

WriterofDreams · 28/10/2010 12:22

Actually MBTDZAC, Green and Blacks were advertising recently for a chocolate taster. Job's probably gone now though :(

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