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?

Ok mid operation instead of transaction for for the pedantic amongst you. (And had the op known the correct price it would've been a transaction not a price check).

I worked in a call centre ....the system shut down on closing unless it registered it was still being operated, and would then close on your completion.

Pengwwn. She was in the middle of a transaction- she'd gone in before closing, asked them to check the price before closing and then asked to pay for it at 6pm on the dot. Why are they letting her enter the store/price-checking if they then can't serve her? What a ridiculous policy.

I work in fast food, which is a kind of retail, and I love it.

Did you miss the bit where I said 'If you work in retail...even though you hate it'?

Not talking about you, then, am I?

She was in the middle of a transaction- she'd gone in before closing, asked them to check the price before closing and then asked to pay for it at 6pm on the dot.

Exactly. This is all part of the transaction. You would have to be a complete jobsworth to think otherwise.

Because she was in the middle of being served! She was interacting with a shop assistant at the till. If I told a customer half-way through price-checking an item at 6pm that I wouldn't be taking payment and they had to come back, I'd be very quickly hauled up into the office and given a warning for shit customer service.

We lock the doors at six, but we don't tell customers who are being served at that point to leave and come back tomorrow

The sales assistant should have said she would need to hurry the OP up, as the tills would close in a couple of minutes, not gone to check the price and then told her to leave a minute later!

I find it incredible that the till is programmed to 'shut down' at exactly 6pm - in fact my DB works for Laura Ashley IT so I shall ask him about it .

Also surely it is good customer service to let the customer know well before the transaction that the store will be closing? I used to work for LA myself many years ago and we just stayed until the last customer was served at everything was tidy. Yes, I know it is a pain but if you work in 'customer service' that's the way it is - I still work in retail and just accept it.

I remember not long ago being in a pound shop (an independent one) - I had one item in my hand, and a pound coin, plus my young toddler with me - I was actually shouted at and the lights turned off 'because it was 5 o'clock' . The shop was dark, with lots of steps, fortunately my DS and I got out safely - but the 'assistant' refused to accept my money and so I had to leave without my purchase.

Pengggwn
How pedantic. She was demonstrating intention to buy a product in the store, which she did so before closing time.

If you have ever worked or been trained in customer service, you would recognise that this is a very silly policy.

Yanbu as you were getting the item price checked at presumably the till you were going to pay at. You were with an assistant who could have told you they were closing imminently.
As a side line I stopped at my local one stop at 2245 on Friday on my way home from work and wasn't allowed in to pick up milk as they close at 2300. They don't then do they they close at 2245!

I worked in Laura Ashley from 2004-2009 and the system did this at 6 but we shut at 5.30 so it didn't affect us. It's an online banking system that the company pays for to track stock and money taken. The shops were open to enable customers to have a nosey, make enquiries etc. I loved working there but the brand did bring with it some entitled customers.

I think any staff with an ounce of common sense would tell customers : "just to warn you, we shut in 5 minutes, so any purchases will need to be done now".

Ragwort please ask DB - I suspect porkie pies on the automatic till shut down....!!!

I seriously don't believe the till is programmed to close at precisely 6pm - different LA stores have different closing times, their IT system would have to be incredibly sophisticated to deal with that - and what retailer is going to install a programme that could possibly lose a large sale near closing time - it just doesn't make sense. .

It is more likely that it was an 'excuse' as they wanted to start their end of week procedures.

And if you know your tills shut automatically at exactly 6pm, why didn't you say?

Ragwort- not all the stores were connected to it- the ones that used to be in Homebase weren't neither was the outlet stores from my understanding.

I think in your circumstance OP they were being a bit harsh, as it probably would have only taken a minute to finish the transaction. However, I guess they have to set the cut-off point somewhere as plenty of people do take the piss. I used to work part-time in a supermarket when I was at college and you would be bloody amazed how many people would come in 5-10 minutes before the shop shut and started doing a whole weekly shop, and ignore all the announcements asking them to finish their shopping now and head towards the tills. Sometimes if it was getting really late we would even start turning the lights out and locking up and people would still be ambling around with their trolleys. It wasn't unusual to be 15-20 minutes late out most days (on bad days more than 30) and we never got paid extra for the overtime (and the manager refused to let us leave until the last customer had finished).

I have taken a definitive dislike to Laura Ashley based on this policy. not that I could afford them in any event - 6.01pm or not!

No, but as the till assistant never told the OP that, it is indeed shit customer service!

Okay, the assistant is following policy which is fine, but then it's her job to tell OP she needed to purchase within x minutes!

The big question in my head though is this.

OP - Are you going back today?