To complain about shop staff emptying my "abandoned" trolley...

[LeftMyRidingCropInTheMortuary]

Evening all,

I arrived at a large chain homeware store at about 7pm last night, going round with a trolley. I put quite a lot in so it was heavy and I parked it whilst I finished browsing. At about 7.50pm, a storeperson reminded me they were closing at 8 so I went to get my trolley to get it through the checkout but it has disappeared.

It transpired that the staff had emptied it and put everything back on the shelves! They quickly grabbed back a few of the items and rushed me through the checkout as they were clearly desperate to get me out and the shop closed. I couldn't remember everything I had put in and it was clear they weren't going to give me any time to think about what was missing.

Had I not been desperate for the mattress topper I originally went for, I would just have left but I had promised to pick it up for a friend of mine who has joint problems.

The staff were very rude when I complained saying it was my fault for "abandoning" my trolley and that they were just trying to get the shop tidied in time for closing. They said that no other customer had ever "abandoned" their trolley in this way and didn't I realise they closed at 8?!

They all stood around obviously waiting for me to leave because it was shock horror 8.02pm by the time they had deigned to allow me to pay £75 for the goods shoved back in my trolley.

I have now got home and realised I am without various items I had originally put in my trolley such as a laundry basket, lampshade and under-shelf storage trays and wardrobe organiser. Which is a pain because I travelled specifically to this store and spend time choosing items. Now I have to make another trip and try and locate the items again.

AIBU to think this is off and that you don't put back stock and close the store until, er, closing time? And AIBU to think they should have apologised? AIBU to think that even if you think your customers are a massive inconvenience to you clocking off at 8pm on the dot, that you try and conceal that fact from the aforementioned customers?!

Thanks in advance.

OK, I've admitted IABU but don't you agree it's not the same as abandoning a trolley in Tescos for 20mins? I mean in these big places, I find it hard to believe I'm the only person who doesn't want to push the heavy trolley round and who parks it and uses it more like a personal collection point?!

Starts to think I am very strange

See now I ENTERED the shop a full hour before closing but got carried away browsing...

Maybe they should have a "final admittance" time.

I mean in these big places, I find it hard to believe I'm the only person who doesn't want to push the heavy trolley round and who parks it and uses it more like a personal collection point?!

I have never seen anyone do it before and it wouldn't occur to me to do it. So it seems a bit strange to me, yes.

OP, I shudder to think what you'd do in a busy bus/airport terminal with no nearby collection point, a heavy suitcase and several hours to kill ....

Yabu if they asked you to head to the checkout at 7.50 for an 8pm closing time and you had a trolley full of goods there is no way you would have been scanned and paid and left the store by 8pm.

I work in retail and I get paid till 5.30 when the store is supposed to close , but so far this week, today was the only day I finished on time as customers just needed to grab a few extra things before heading to the checkout , I don't get paid extra or get the time back and a lot of my colleagues have missed their bus home and had to wait an hour for another one . I would have emptied the trolley too if I had seen it abandoned for 20 mins

20 minutes I would have emptied it. It's utter madness to abandon a trolley for so long. Imagine if everyone did it? You would have to slalom through trollies.

I've dragged two full trolleys round ikea, one with toddler, boxes and all the other essential tat, and the other trolley with Expedit, Trofast, 4yo etc. Still didn't leave them anywhere. Use your fucking arms and legs and get a bloody move on. Bet the cashiers knew exactly what you were doing but just got fucked off with your faffing, then played dumb because they just wanted to go home.

I tend to shop like OP when the trolley gets full, however when I "park" the trolley I keep it within sight. You must have left it along way from where you were browsing to not notice it being emptied.

I have sympathy. The same thing happened to me in IKEA a few weeks ago. It was nowhere near closing time and I had left the trolley for around 5 mins as I suddenly remembered I needed something further back in the store and didn't want to go against the flow of people (it was a very busy Saturday). Annoying! I was so exasperated I didn't end up going back for anything I wanted to purchase!

"Desperate for a mattress topper?"

"I have now got home and realised I am without various items I had originally put in my trolley such as a laundry basket, lampshade and under-shelf storage trays and wardrobe organiser."

Honestly, this reads like a Viz Comic parody. Obviously, I suggest you immediately contact the DM for a Sadface Spread, but in the meantime, consider:

1. Most retail staff are on minimum wage. They can't afford mattress toppers, and stuff.

2. If you are on minimum wage and use public transport, then missing it because of a selfish person can mean a long wait,and especially for a woman alone at a bus stop on a Friday night, this is dangerous. Parents miss their child's bedtimes or have to pay extra for their childcare...

3. Retail is hard work for not much money. People are tired and want to go home, but are forced to work longer and longer hours because of consumer demands. You cannot cash up tills until everyone is out and the doors are locked, and then there is usually tidying and cleaning to do. Retail stores are on tight budgets, so this has to get done in minimum time.

You can see opening hours online before you go or displayed by the door. There is no excuse not to be considerate.

I can't believe some of the responses you are getting, OP. Yes, 20 minutes is a long time, and it's not surprising the trolley got emptied. But when you told the staff what had happened they absolutely should have apologised and stayed open long enough for you to refill it with everything you needed. The practice of shooing any customer with the temerity to still be shopping ten minutes before closing really pisses me off- there are still ten minutes to go! I've worked in retail, and if a customer came in at the last minute you stayed open for them and were grateful for the chance to take more money. I've worked in call centres, and it was a disciplinary offence not to stay available until the last minute, or not to handle a call properly even if it took you over the end of your shift. It's just part of the job in both cases, you have to suck it up. Some people actually seem to believe the business is being run for the convenience of the staff, not the customer!
Having said that, I do think staff should be paid for the hours they actually work, not do unpaid overtime. It's not right that tidying up after closing isn't counted as part of the shift and paid for.

Yabu. You were told the store was closing at that point you pay. You dont leave the trolley and keep shopping.

I'm afraid I think YWBU too. Its a pain in the arse that you have to go back but 20 is a long time to leave your trolley so of course they emptied it.

And they didn't apologise prob because they didn't do anything wrong. To be honest I think you should have a apologised to them for keeping them back, but then I'm a pathetic people pleaser anyway!

As there is "trolley park" in the store for customers who do not wish to push their full trolleys, what you did was to abandon your trolley.
If it was so cumbersome, why didn't you leave it at an aisle end, browse the contents of that aisle then push the trolley to the next aisle, thus keeping the goods you wished to purchase with you?
The staff are not mind readers. They saw a trolley piled up with goods that had been left unattended for twenty minutes and then had to go around putting all the stuff back onto the shelves just before closing.
YABU. Don't just dump your trolley next time and expect the world to know you intend to come back for it.

'OP, I shudder to think what you'd do in a busy bus/airport terminal with no nearby collection point, a heavy suitcase and several hours to kill ....'

Something similar happened to my uncle in the late 70s. Came back to an exclusion zone and a controlled explosion. Everyone blamed the IRA.

OP, the staff really didn't want the extra work. They'd rather have waited and hoped that you hadn't gone home, but obviously that isn't the stotre's policy.
So they'd have been in trouble with management if they hadn't unpacked, and they were grumped at by you because they had.
Not surprised they weren't doing the happy munchkin dance.

20 mins!

No a trolley isn't your own personal collection point! You are expected to push it & keep it with you.

You went in for 1 thing at 7pm then spent 50 mins browsing? That seems like an awfully long time, especially as it was the last hour of opening.

Maybe order online next time?

I used to leave mine when the children were little and needed the toilet.
I always took the precaution of parking it near a checkout and saying I would be back.

If it was so cumbersome, why didn't you leave it at an aisle end, browse the contents of that aisle then push the trolley to the next aisle, thus keeping the goods you wished to purchase with you?

This is the technique I use.

I'm very amused by the idea of using a trolley like a shelf and leaving it somewhere and loading it.....! Never, ever heard of or seen that done in the lifetime I've worked in retail. .. surely the whole point of a trolley is that it's on wheels so you push it round with you?

I've never understood why some shoppers feel compelled to leave their trolleys and go of for a wander, having left their trolley cunningly blocking everyone else. Just keep the thing with you! Other people want to shop too without having to navigate around your trolley just because you can't be bothered to push it with you.

Or don't be surprised if other shoppers push it somewhere out of the way or staff decide it is abandoned and have to go to the time and trouble of putting all the items back on the shelves. You don't go leaving things randomly in public places and expect them still to be there when you eventually toddle back at your leisure.

I think most people just Order those large items online. They aren't expecting you to drag mattress toppers around ( I mean how do they even fit in a trolley)

Is this the shopping equivalent of leaving a towel on a sun lounger?

Mattress toppers are rolled up and easily fit in a trolley.