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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To make a complaint about this shop?

51 replies

Passthebutterplease · 01/09/2011 21:04

I wanted to quickly chose a new top to wear tomorrow and when I was finished work I rushed down to the high street and got to the shop (well known high street shop) at 5.20pm.

The sign on the window said that it closed at 5.30pm but the shop assistants had closed th door over. I opened the door and was told that I couldn't come in as I wouldn't have time to choose something. Does this sound reasonable of the shop assistant, or am right to be a bit pissed off by it?

OP posts:

hairypotter · 01/09/2011 23:06

I'm a travel agent. Tonight we closed at 6.30. At 6.29 (I checked my watch) customers wandered in to 'just get an idea of prices' code for 'and them we will book online having wasted around an hour of your time for a motorhome trip down route 66. Oh and could you just price a west coast tour as well. Whats the Rocky Mountains like in May? Or October? Etc etc...

We don't get paid after 6.30.

Twats

hocuspontas · 01/09/2011 23:11

There's nothing wrong in stopping people actually entering 10 minutes before closing. The shop is still open until 5.30 for customers who are already in there.

TheMagnificentBathykolpian · 01/09/2011 23:17

Supermarkets do this, don't they?

I think it is quite reasonable. Although it would be better to perhaps have a sign.

If someone comes in at 5.29, what do they do? 60 seconds later say sorry, you have to leave now? No. So the poor assistants have to stay late. That's not fair.

I think it's a good idea to have a cut off, of, say 15 minutes or so. And to warn people that the shop will be closing shortly.

It's not unreasonable of people to want to leave work on time. And in a shop, you could end up working an hour late every day of the week! That's not right. If people were forced to stay in the office an hour late every day they'd soon start complaining! Got to get the children, got an appt, or simply done a day's work and really want to leave!

It's important to consider the poor sods who you are keeping around, I think.

Mspontipine · 01/09/2011 23:17

Not twats - cutomers. Customers who buy your product, keep your shop open, give you a job and pay your wage. Is your business taking SOOOOO much money that it can say no thanks to custom? It astounds me, especially in this day and age that staff do not bend over backwards to welcome that extra £1/£5/£100 into that till. To me it seems crazy that they are not do everything possible to get that customer's business. But it seems that for the excuse of being paid minimum wage or actually oooh having to work that extra minute or two that they're not paid for they can say no fuck off and call these customers twats Maybe if you put a little more into your job you'd get more job satisfaction, be happier in your position and not be ready with your coats on, tills off the minute the clock strikes.

fishfingersandcustard · 01/09/2011 23:22

I don't think you're being unreasonable. When I had a summer job answering the phone for the council, I couldn't decide not to pick up 5 minutes before my shift ended in case it was a complicated query.

I do think that shops should pay staff for 10 mins after closing so that this situation doesn't arise - it would probably increase customer satisfaction too.

CaptainKirksNipples · 01/09/2011 23:24

I hate people like this, it is quite common in retail for staff to stay 10-20 minutes after to cash up and chuck customers out and not get paid for it. I make someone stand at the door and tel people they have x minutes before we close. After 5.30 I frogmarch people to the till. Go to a 24 hour tesco or something!

CaptainKirksNipples · 01/09/2011 23:33

I'm pretty sure company I work for wouldn't have posted such high profits if it was paying staff for the hours they actually worked! 10-20mins x 7 days x 20 staff x 52 weeks is a shitload!

sayithowitis · 01/09/2011 23:39

Whilst in a perfect world, shops would pay for the extra time their staff work after hours, the fact is, they don't. I had various Saturday jobs in shops when I was still at school and it was always common practice for someone to be stationed at the door from about 10 minutes before closing time to deter people from coming in. Even if there were no customers still to serve at closing time ( and that was rare), it still took time to cash up, all of which is unpaid.

DC has a weekend job in a particular chain. He always prefers the early shift to the late one, as not only are there always customers still hanging around after closing time, but then, the staff have to tidy up the mess that the customers leave. And even if they are there an hour over their time, they only get paid up to closing time.

hairypotter · 01/09/2011 23:40

mspointepine you seem to have misunderstood my point. They did not and had no intention of booking anything. They were in to get ideas and said after an hour (not a few minutes) that they always book online and just use agents to do all the donkey work.

So we get to work an hour of unpaid overtime for nothing?

They saw the doors being locked as they sat down, yet still had my colleague check several different and complex holidays, they would never book.

I stand by my original statement.

CardyMow · 01/09/2011 23:44

FGS mspontipine - They are NOT paid for that extra minute or 10, and they (like I would have had to) may actually have to PAY out money for being late, if they have dc in childcare.

The staff could take an extra £10,000 into the till - it's not going to benefit THEM only their bosses, they will still only get paid min wage until the time the doors shut. That's the way retail works.

Job satisfaction? In retail? Are you having a bloody LAUGH?

And some of us that have no choice but to work in retail DO absolutely have to have coats on and off on the dot of 5.30pm. In my last job I actually had to RUN from work to the bus stop and from the bus stop at the other end to the nursery then RUN to the after school club to pick up my older dc's. I often got there to pick up the older two at 5.59pm. If I was 1 minute late, I would have to pay an extra £10 to the after-school club.

So I wouldn't have let you in, mspontipine, certainly not with your entitled attitude that you are paying my (shitty) wages so I should cost myself money to make YOUR life easier!!

EduStudent · 01/09/2011 23:58

When I worked in a shop they used to send me to stand by the doors jangling the keys in 'do-fuck-off-now, there's a dear ' kind of a way. For some reason I used to get people shifting quicker than everyone else

But I do think YAB a bit U. We would always get people coming in about 10 minutes before and faffing. We once had a lady who was still there at 5.55pm, refusing to leave, outright refusing, despite the fact we were supposed to be out the building at 6. Before that, we had to tidy, cash up, sort out refunds, bank, put all the figures into the computer, print off anything for the next day and just generally sort stuff out. We were lucky if we made it out by 6 as it was, even if we closed dead on 5.30pm.

And it is always the annoying customers that come at that time. Never the lovely ones who would be as quick as they promised, smile at you and generally be nice. Ohhh no.

And I cannot stand people who take the 'I pay your wages' line whilst complaining about the work I did. If I was so shit at it, take your custom elsewhere

Mspontipine · 02/09/2011 00:01

I don't have an "entitled attitude that I am paying anyone's (shitty) wages." Obviously without customers however, there would be no business. I appreciate it when I am made to feel welcome and get a decent customer service in a shop, made alternatively I'm saddened by the attitude of some staff that they would be a lot happier if the customers weren't actually there! Like I said earlier, in this day and age where High Streets sport huge gaps where once there were shops we thought we would be there forever, it makes good business sense surely to grab every penny a shopper's willing to give. (Genuine shoppers I mean - whether they're browsing or paying hairypotter. Obviously what those people did just wasn't on.)

CardyMow · 02/09/2011 00:04

Yes, obviously, without customers there would be no businesses, but why should the shop staff be considerate to those customers that can't be considerate towards them?

I class it as inconsiderate for a customer to expect that they are SO important that I should stay on to serve them, unpaid, IN MY OWN TIME.

I don't go into a shop and keep the staff, therefore I do not expect anyone to do it to me! Basic rules of being considerate, no?

Mspontipine · 02/09/2011 00:10

The job satisfaction part is from my personal experience that whatever job I've done - retail, bar work, working for DWP, babysitting (all whether paid or voluntary) I've always done the best job that I could possibly do in that position. A xase of making the best of things. A feeling of a job well-done has you walking out the door with a smile, even if you are 1/2 hour into your own time, even if your feet are killing you. Anything less leaves a bitter taste.

BustleInYourHedgerow · 02/09/2011 00:12

I do wonder, MrsPontipine, if you have ever had to work in retail?

EduStudent · 02/09/2011 00:12

But Mspontipine, it happens every day. It is not a one off, once a week, 'oh well, we'll just stay late this time' occurence. Everyday we could easily have still had customers keeping us back if we had let them in past 5.20pm. At what point do we get to say no? You can't keep doing it.

Is it essentially any different from museums/attractions having a last admission time? Ok, so it's not advertised and it's a bit less formal, but you wouldn't expect places like that to stay open for the whims of potential customers.

EduStudent · 02/09/2011 00:14

But I've done my job well all day. Can I not stop doing said job well at the point I am supposed to?

Mspontipine · 02/09/2011 00:16

Maybe what colours my judgement is for the last 9 months or so I have been desperately looking for work. When I see people openly complaining about the job they're doing while they're actually doing it or showing a couldn't care less attitude or doing a shockingly dire job of it (whatever service not specifically in a shop) it pisses me off as I could be doing that job, be a darn sight more enthusiastic about it and trying a little harder to do the job properly.

EduStudent · 02/09/2011 00:19

That must be frustrating, but doesn't everyone moan about their jobs sometimes? Even those that are happy? Or even those that do hate their job, but do it and do it well because they know they have to?

Moaning about work is fairly universal. I also think this has extended somewhat from not being allowed into a shop at 5.20pm, which I, personally, still feel is entirely acceptable and actually very inconsiderate on the 'customer's' part.

Mspontipine · 02/09/2011 00:20

I'm not suggesting for one minute that all of the above applies to those posting here.

CardyMow · 02/09/2011 00:20

Mspontipine - obviously you've never been a lone parent working in retail because it's all you are qualified to do (and can't afford other qualifications on min wage), and having to rush home to grab dc from childcare. I have been.

That's not to say that I don't work my very hardest and put everything I can into my job in the contracted hours, just that there are logistical problems that would arise if I stayed late. Let alone the fact that I would be working for nothing, and probably ending up paying late fees.

If you are in that sort of job and you are the main or only wage earner, you just CAN'T stay late. And I don't get job satisfaction from retail when the customers often treat you like something you've trodden in, like you're not thankful enough for them deigning to grace your business with their presence.

In some of my previous retail jobs I have been burned with a cigarette when I asked a customer to put it out, been threatened with a broken bottle, had a knife held to my throat, been sworn at frequently, been spat at, and most of these were because the shop was closing on the dot of closing time, these customers hadn't chosen their items, and I had cashed up the tills and asked them to leave as I had to leave.

BumbleBo · 02/09/2011 00:26

..brings back such happy memories working in a small, overpriced, women's high street chain store. Minimum wage, even though they charge ££££ for their stuff so customers probably think you are on more money (no!). We had to be at work 45 minutes before the shop opened and stay half an hour after it shut but we didn't get paid for it! I actually got yelled at by the manager for being 'late' by a few mins one day even though it was another 40 mins till the shop opened and I wasn't being paid!!! Another women's clothes store I worked for wouldn't let us drink water or go to the loo unless it was lunch break & made us stand on the door saying "hello" even in the middle of winter when it was freezing cold.

So, though it is annoying for customers, if a shop shuts early, it might be the sign of a good manager who is trying to look after their staff.

randommoment · 02/09/2011 00:28

The point that everyone's missing is that all the shop-owners are getting away with blue murder in unpaid overtime from their staff. Sadly, until there are more jobs than people to do them, these sort of unfair practises will probably continue.
We were the last customers out today, I apologised to the staff as it was 5.37 as we left, and they were very sweet about it. So well done staff at New Look Swindon, and I hope you get commission on the huge bag of stuff we took with us, but I bet you don't.

EduStudent · 02/09/2011 00:29

What is this commission that you speak of? It was much fabled amongst the customers I used to serve [hollow laugh]

Mspontipine · 02/09/2011 00:34

I was once in Primark where a mini riot was brewing when they were closing up and customers refused to stop shopping.

I'm not one of them! I know when it's my time to go!

I hope I appear as polite and appreciative to retail staff as I genuinely feel. I have some peeves - like many people, one being staff who carry on chatting to each other while serving me and don't even acknowledge my presence, or ones who forget even the most basic please and thank you - but if I've had a good experience I usually make it clear :)

As for the childcare issue - I am always late and therefore build a safety net system of extra hours into my childcare where possible to avoid crazy rushing.

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