To expect to be able to make a purchase at closing time.

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I was in Laura Ashley today just before closing looking to buy a picture, The assistant showed me the display item which was still marked up at full price and then went over to the tills to check the sale price for me.

Yes I'd like to buy it I replied - only to be told that sorry you can't do that today as the tills are closed now. I checked my phone, bang on 6pm, closing time. I queried this as I have never come across this before. I have been in plenty of shops that advise customers to go to the tills at closing time, but none who refuse to make a sale on the dot of closing.

I said as much to the assistant who looked apologetic and consulted senior assistant. The tills close themselves down at 6pm she advised me. if you want to buy it you'll have to come back in the morning. Don't worry the sale is on until Monday.

Is it unreasonable to expect to complete a purchase when I am already in the shop at closing time?

Which the OP wouldn't have caused!

I was talking generally about people on the thread not about the OP

Problem with the OP is that the till switched off

The sales assistant may have been desperate and ecstatic to serve the customer but if the till is down its down

but there are a lot people complaining about this, I meant to add the word "happily

I was replying to this comment

And I am just trying to defend the OP from the people saying she was the worst type of customer etc. Crossed wires

Of course people who waltz in late and take half an hour to pick out their shopping are annoying and taking the piss. That is just not what she did at all.

Of course people who waltz in late and take half an hour to pick out their shopping are annoying and taking the piss. That is just not what she did at all
^^ This.

Sunday trading laws probably made it a hard and fast cut off time today

Fair enough no

I generally just reply to points rather than relating it back to the OP

Mainly because i have usually forgotten what the detail of the OP was...i have a memory like a sieve

Relevant information like "I can look up the price but you won't be able to purchase this as the tills close at 6?" you mean?

If it's before 18:00 and the sales assistant has assumed the transaction will be completed before then, the time the tills close isn't relevant in that moment. Perhaps there was time for the transaction to be done but by the time the assistant had explained the pricing issue and the OP had decided they did want it, the system had ticked over to 18:00 and it was no longer possible.

The excuses you give could all be valid, but they are just that - excuses for poor service.

It's not poor service, if the customer comes in "just before closing" no matter what the assistant does they cannot physically do anything once the clock hits 18:00 regardless of how soon they told the customer about the till system.

Also, shop staff are still human, we make mistakes, we forget things, we're sometimes too busy dealing with the customer's pricing issue and dealing with that query to notice that it's 17:58 and by the time you've explained the issue between the two prices and whether or not the store can price match the online offer price that it will be too late to process a transaction.

If, as you suggest the assistant gave "the best customer service the assistant could offer under the circumstances" why the need for the long list of excuses?

They aren't "excuses", I was merely trying to illustrate that there are many reasons why the assistant might not have explicitly stated the fact the tills went off at 18:00 on the dot.

However, once the tills were locked, the assistant could not do anything more, even if they wanted to. At that point they could have just said "Too bad, so sad, we're closed so come back some other time" but they didn't. They apologised, explained the issue with the tills and then went to check with a more senior colleague that there was absolutely nothing they could do to make this purchase happen then and there. Once it was confirmed that there was no way to override the system, what was the assistant supposed to do?

I am confused how the odd 10-15 minutes here and there adds up to 2/3 hours a week

Because for every day when I "only" get out of work five minutes late, there's one like last night when I clocked out almost an hour late because a customer couldn't accept that the shop was shut and there was no way we could put their purchases through and kicked off until we had to threaten a call to the police.

I've worked many years in retail and find it very strange that the Op couldn't make her purchase, I don't believe the tills cut off at 6pm on the dot, it sounds like a strange policy.

She didn't just rush in grab an item, whilst apologising profusely, pay then rush out again. OP went in just before closing, and first asked the sales assistant to find the picture she wanted, which SA did. They went to the till where OP asked for the price check as she'd seen it cheaper online. I think that is really pushing it in terms of time.
Perhaps they should have prevented her coming in or advised her of the till shut off, as she was clearly the last customer in the shop. Though it seemed looking up the equivalent online price reduction prevented completion.

Why are people missing buses, surely you know you are going to stay about 20--30-40 minutes after closing time so adjust your travel plans accordingly.

In my case when I was in retail my last bus home was at 18.08. After that it was two buses with an hour's wait between them, a bus and a taxi (on my wages? Yeah, right) or a bus and a lift.

I've worked many years in retail and find it very strange that the Op couldn't make her purchase, I don't believe the tills cut off at 6pm on the dot, it sounds like a strange policy.

It's not that strange - I work in a supermarket and it's an entirely automated system. When we close if the tills aren't showing as actively in use for a transaction as soon as it ticks over to 00:00 (or 22:00 on Saturday night/17:00 Sunday night) all of the tills automatically kick into their daily system backup/update/reboot cycle.

Some stores will have a grace period where they automatically shut down 5/10 minutes after closing time to allow for late transactions, and some have a totally manual system ... but an automated lock out is not a strange system.

Supermarkets seem to have the grace period of a few minutes? I don't know about department stores or anywhere else. I was mortified to find I'd got the closing time wrong in a supermarket once and the shop had just closed. Luckily they were rather nice about it and said they didn't mind putting my few things through.

I worked in a supermarket for many years, the tills would automatically switch off at closing. There wouldn't be anything I could do to turn them back on, they're on timers. I thought it was common practise.

You're being totally unreasonable OP. I personally never go in shops after midday, so the staff have plenty of time to cash up and get their coats on before 5pm.

Furthermore, you should never order a drink in a bar after 9pm, or a meal in a restaurant after 7pm. It takes ages to clear up and mop the floors, and the staff want to be out by 11pm at the latest. "Drinking-up time" is naught but a myth invented by selfish customers lingering over their pints too long.

ruby

Doesnt do it in the shop i work in

But once its closed we can't open it again ( can't think of any logical reason we would shut it down and then get a customer ...but still, we couldn't serve them)

It was quite a few years ago that I worked in retail. Things must've moved on!

So if the shop assistant had approached the OP and said "we're closing in a few minutes, if you'd like to buy the picture today we need to process the transaction now because the tills close at 6" I'm sure the thread would still read along the same lines of "bad customer service"

Yes. The shop assistant may have thought they'd have time to complete the transaction, an ordinary straightforward transaction. They possibly didn't factor in time allowances for OP then querying the price at the till and then having to be check for the online equivalent price.

I understand the tills being cut off thing. I am not suggesting the OP should have been served after the tills have been shut off. The list of reasons the sales assistant didn't notice the time, guess what, the OP didn't notice either. That difference being that the sales assistant knew the implication of the clock ticking over to 6 whilst the OP didn't. They could have warned her but didn't. Poor customer service.

reuset - asking the assistant where the item was saved time, not wasted it. And if the item was correctly priced there wouldn't have been a need to check.

Personally i would have put it through the till which would have brought up the price. If the customer didnt want it i could cancel the transaction

But at least it would be on the till

But thats only the shop i work in...

reuset asking the assistant where the item was saved time, not wasted it
I didn't say that. I mentioned as it was a shopping trip best saved for when more time was available. It wasn't an essential item. Going in to buy a picture, describe and have it located (if it was the one of the feather pictures or the jaunty seascapes there are several similar so that would have taken longer ) just as she knew the shop was closing is probably cutting it a bit fine and not very fair. According to pps many shops have these cut off times at tills.
I've already said a warning, as the OP was the last customer, might have been possible, but OP was at fault also.

I don't think you're unreasonable OP.

They were half way through serving you so should have finished the transaction. This wasted your time which is just as precious as theirs.

I worked in retail many years ago and we always paid to work at least 30 minutes after closing so we could still serve stragglers and still have time to shut up shop.

The list of reasons the sales assistant didn't notice the time, guess what, the OP didn't notice either.

But the OP knew when she went in that it was "just before closing time" therefore she also has a responsibility to keep an eye on the time too.

If I ever need to go into a store within the last 10/15 minutes before closing time, I am always hyper aware of the time, even if there are no store announcements, because I don't want to inconvenience the staff by not getting out on time.

If it's getting to within a couple of minutes of closing and I either haven't found what I want or there is a queue of people at the checkout, unless it's an emergency I'd rather leave it and come back another day than stand my ground for the sake of getting the item right then.

They were half way through serving you so should have finished the transaction. This wasted your time which is just as precious as theirs.

How was the assistant supposed to finish the transaction when the system automatically locked down at closing time, StarTravels?