in thinking that if Clarks closes at 5.30...

[Amanderrr]

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?

haven't read the whole thread but I used to work in a shoe shop. if your DCs feet hurt getting new shoes in the same size and width when the original pair werent old would not have made much difference IMO.

Behind the scenes in a shoe shop is massive it can sometimes take a while to hunt out the selected size and it is a shoew fitters responsibility to ensure the shoes fit correctly so you would have been in there alot longer than 7 minutes. especially during half term when they've probably been rushed off their feet all day.

YABU

Well I agree with the OP. if a shop advertises closing time as 5.30pm then should close the doors at 5.30pm. Staff should be paid and finish 15-20 minutes later. Otherwise the closing time should be 5.15pm.

All the comments aboout unreasonable customers should be aimed at the retailers/employers.

They are trying to have it both ways. Shopping requires time.

Closing time is the time the doors close. If all the staff need to leave by 5.30pm and are only paid until then, the shop doors should close before them and that should be the closing time.

shop closes 5.30 staff not paid beyond that point,so imo reasonable to have last customer in at about 5.15 and close door

they need to cash up etc

Exactly -BUT, the advertised closing time whould be 5.15pm NOT 5.30pm.

Eugh.

Definitely agree with the 'bane of my life' comments from current and former retail workers. I'm a former retail worker as well. All part time while I was studying, so I never rose beyond the ranks of till-scum.

I HATED it. When I worked for a major department store, which we'll call Bebenhams, they insisted you got to work 15 minutes before your shift started, or you'd have to sign a 'late book', and you had to stay until every till in the place was cashed up, however long that took. So when I was doing my 3 hour Thursday evening shift, I regularly worked 20% extra on top of my paid hours.

Paid at

OP is being U.
I say this having been pissed off when DH got refused entry to Sainsbos seventeen minutes before closing on a Tuesday evening when it was bleedin' quiet.

I'd noticed twenty five minutes before closing that we were nearly out of milk, he got to the store eight minutes later and the security guard refused him entry even after he explained that all he wanted was four pints of semi skimmed.

That really did annoy.

The shop WAS open til 5.30. The shopworkers were serving the customers in the store already til 5.30. Would you have liked it if at EXACTLY 5.30, they downed tools, refused to put your shoes through the till, get any other shoes from the back, escorted you out of the premises with your shoes in your hands? Because if they were to let you in and still finish at 5.30, that is what they may have had to do. They obviously have reviewed the situations, found that it takes an average of, say 10 minutes to put a transaction through and put in place a way to ensure that they finish actually at 5.30- by closing the doors at 5.20.

Plus you're not taking into acvount trading laws- on certain days you are only allowed to trade for so many hours. If a sale is put through before/after a certain time, then the cashier is actually breaking the law and the company can be fined for it. Oh the arguments I've had about this!

TBH, I think you are BU. I would never go into a shop with less than 15 mins to closing, as I understand how crappy it is for the staff, who are looking forward to getting finished. I wouldn't think it considerate or fair. (I'm quite a thoughtful person, really!)

OK, you say you would have been in and out before closing, but you must realise there are lots of ignorant people who don't give two hoots that staff might have to get away to pick up a child from childcare, or that someone's parking ticket might run out, or that staff might have a life outside their work and may need to be somewhere soon after closing. Some people would expect to be able to take their own sweet time and to get good service from the poorly paid workers whose evening they have just ruined, by keeping them half an hour later than they were meant to be there for. So I understand why shops would close their doors early to avoid this scenario.

I don't see how it's reasonable for a shop to close at 5.30 and refuse to pay staff beyond that time - unless it's ok for the staff to just walk out of the store at 5.30 and leave it in whatever state it's in for the morning shift. It stands to reason that there WILL be stuff that needs to be done beyond closing time.

The restaurant I work in closes at 10.30pm - ie that's when we stop taking new tables. You could come in at 10.28pm and order 3 courses. We all understand that "closing time" and "going home time" are vastly different, so I don't see why retail management/bosses find it hard to get their heads around the concept.

"We all understand that "closing time" and "going home time" are vastly different, so I don't see why retail management/bosses find it hard to get their heads around the concept"

yes, this.

I don't think OP is being U, and yes I've worked retail before. In fact, we usually had to stay later than closing time to make sure the shelves were organised and things were in place for the next morning's shift. We were paid accordingly, though questioned if we were regularly staying longer than the management-approved time (usually a half hour past closing- very big store though, in the US).

Of course YANBU. If the shop states it closes at 5.30pm then the last customer should be able to walk through the door at 5.30pm.

It is managements fault if the staff aren't being paid past 5.30, not the customer.

I have known many retailer who cash up 15/30 minutes before closing anyway, then anything after that until close is carried over until the next day.

lol at scaryteacher that's hardly the same as working in Mothercare's head office inputting data or whatever is it?! Silly comparison. Obviously retail would be preferable to working in Afghanistan in any capacity and

I used to work at M&S which closed at 5.30pm. I was paid until 5.40pm, but there was always someone who came through the doors at 5.29 and then got a trolley.

I do think customers should be let in at 5.30, but they have to realise that if it's closing time then they need to be quick!

It is the hardest and most thankless job I've ever had though. the manager used to time us if we needed to leave the floor and use the toilet. More than 3 mins and (and there were 2 flights of stairs) and your pay was docked.

Argh! The worst are the ones who roll in 10 minutes before closing, take loads of stuff to the till ask to check the price on every. single. item. as it goes through and then the minute you think "great they're fucking off now, they ask you about their VAT receipt. So you have to take them on a 10 minute trek to the customer service desk to process it, just so the lucky gits don't have to pay any VAT whatsoever. Oh and then they tell you they have changed their minds on couple of bits and want their money back.

I got out an hour late that time and by then I was thisclose to shoving their VAT receipt somewhere very dark indeed.....

it's all very well saying "well, refuse to do the overtime" but if life was that simple no one would work in shitty jobs like retail and the self important plonkers who come in 10 minutes before closing would have no one to serve them.

I don't think it's fair to say people who come into a shop 10 minutes before closing are "self important." They are just simply people who are entering a shop while it is still open and whether that be 9am, 2pm or 5.20pm, the staff are required to serve them.

To my mind, if a shop is open until 5.30pm, that shop door should stay open until 5.30pm. Then any customers (who have probably been warned 10 minutes beforehand anyway) should be asked to go to the checkout. I know there are those who don't, in which case staff should be telling them face to face to bugger off leave.

I really cannot see how anyone can think that it is right to close the doors 10 mintutes before the shop stated closing time. It used to bother me when customers would knock on the door after the stated closing time with "just because i only need one item" excuses. They are the ones you can tell to go away. But i never had any right to moan if the shop was supposed to be open.

MsSparkle, see to me, a shop being "closed" means it is not serving any more customers.

In which case, yes, customers can come in at 5:30, but as the shop is "closed" then they don't get served. Surely that's fair?

Instead, people should use common sense, if a shop is closed at 5:30, then that means no serving from 5:30, so going in at 5:30, or even 5:27, means you wont be served before closing. Therefore, why even try it?

I worked for Dixons in the west end when I was at uni and it was awful. I was called casual staff even though I worked 2-3 days a week. This meant I wasn't entitled to any overtime, extra pay on bank holidays etc and we didn't get paid for a minute past closing time. It always took ages to close the tills down and there would always be one customer who would come in 5 minutes before closing and ask loads of technical questions before buying then asking for a VAT return receipt. The managers were awful and I couldn't wait to get out of there when my shift ended. I even had one customer complain that we weren't open on Xmas day like sales staff don't have a right to celebrate Xmas or something.

Before that I worked in McDonalds, it was that place that convinced me to go to uni. I will never work in retail again and feel for anyone who has to be frontline to the public.

Shopping is not life or death. If you really need somethig buy it in good time or go another day. Shop staff don't always believe you when you say you just want one thing or will be quick because they've been caught out like that before.

YANBU. When I was working in bookshops, they closed at 5.30 (or whatever), we would close the door though not lock them about 10 minutes before and have someone on the door to tell people we were closing in 10 minutes, or whatever. If they knew exactly what they wanted they were welcome to come in, grab it, pay for it and out. We weren't paid past 5.30 but that's just the way it is. Cashing up was done in the morning. Never a problem. It really pisses me off too. Bad management.

I actually had someone come to the door at one shop just as I reached to lock up at dead on 5:30 (I'd been counting down the seconds), he isn't he come in as his wife just wanted 1 item. So we thought we'd be nice and let them in, one hour later his wife had tried on most items in the shop (we shut the changing rooms, so she got changed on the shop floor), then eventually left without buying anything.

We didn't get out till 7:00. We were paid till 5:30.

I learnt (as did my colleagues) from that point to take customer's saying "only one item" with a pinch shedload of salt.

If the shop closes at 5.30pm, the customers ought to have all their browsing/choosing/buying done by 5.30pm, so I can see why they didn't let the OP in at 5.20pm.

I work in a shop. It closes at 5pm. I'm not allowed to lock the door until 5pm, but I have to cash up after that, then lock up & set the alarm, but I'm only paid until 5pm. I normally get away around 5.20. I accept this because it's the 'done thing', and because I want the job, but it's not fair on staff.

yanbu. i work in a high street bank. we are not paid overtime. The advertised opening hours are 9-5. we have to open at 8.55 on the dot and close the doors no earlier than 5.

yes its annoying when a customer comes in at 4.59 to check their accounts (have you not heard of online banking?!) or set up an account but we have no choice, we have to do it. See, banks aren't all horrible

I'd like to say that it's because the powers that be believe in great customer service but actually they just want us to sell until the very last minute

If a shop advertises that they stop trading at 5 then i expect to be let in at 4.59. I know it's shitty for the staff but as someone has already said, who only works their contracted hours these days?

MaimAndKilloki I would have told that woman that we were closed and that she would have to come back another day. Under that circumstance, that customer was being a cheeky cow!

Ah well you see to me a shop being closed means they have let the last customer through the door (which should be until the stated time on the door. Then anyone left in the shop should be finishing up and paying.

Once the shop has closed, all the customers should be told to stop browsing and either leave or go straight away and pay for any items they have in their hand.

If someone comes in at 5.20 and hasn't got anything to buy in their hand by 5.30, they should be made to leave. Once the shop is closed, all browsing should be stopped their and then and the customer shouldn't be allowed to carry on wandering around the shop.