To think closing times shouldn’t be treated as an estimate? Disagreement with friend AIBU

[friendship1234]

i have been friends with this woman for about two months, met her at work as I recently started a new job.

so, we went out shopping today, to pick up stuff for the kids and just have a browse really. We had a really good time and it was about five to six and we were almost ready to head home. Friend says to me “oh let’s just go into xyz shop” (think discount store like b&m or something.)
I say okay, we go towards the door and I see on the sign they close at 6. I say to her “oh they’re closing in five minutes, do you want to come back another day?”

she goes “oh it’s okay, I only need a few bits” so I’m like okay and we go in. There’s a worker standing at the door telling people that they close soon.

Friend takes a trolley, that should have been my first clue. Im like, maybe she just wants a couple of larger items.
basically, she goes round the shop browsing each aisle as slow as humanly possible it seems like, grabbing stuff off the shelves, comparing prices, asking me whether or not she should buy xyz, etc etc.

well at 6 a staff member goes on the tannoy and does the close announcement, friend is still browsing without a care in the world. I say to her “oh they’re closing now, let’s go to the till” and she goes “well I haven’t finished shopping” in an almost confused voice.

I say to her “I know but the tills are closing and the staff probably want to go home”

her response? “I’m sure they have staff that stay later”

I’ve only known this woman 2 months and I’ve never really see this side of her before so I was a bit shocked really. Anyway, I’m kind of trying to walk faster in the hope that she’ll hurry up and go to the tills. 6.04 a staff member comes down the aisles and is like, we’re closed now so could you please make your way to the tills” my friend goes “oh, excuse me” and then starts asking him if they have any more of something out the back!!! I gave this guy an apologetic look and was like “they’re closed, you can come back another day and ask” and my “friend” goes “I came in the door before 6pm. I came in before closing time, so I’m entitled to be here” and gives me a dirty look I think for not backing her up.

im shellshocked at this point really and I didn’t say anything as I had no idea this is how she behaved and I was really in shock.

The (lovely) store employee basically tells her politely that the tills will be closing imminently so if she wants to buy her shopping, she needs to go and pay now.

Well she huffs, goes (slowly) towards the tills, and I’m just standing there waiting for her to pay so we can leave. I would have waited outside but they’d closed the doors at that point so we needed to wait to be let out!
At the till, friend:
-argues about prices (“the label on the shelf said xyz”
-decides she doesn’t want a few things after all and leaves them at the till
-decides she HAS to buy a bottle of gin which is in a locked cabinet by the tills (I don’t know how the staff were keeping a straight face by this point, I was staring at the floor in second hand embarrassment)

then she takes AGES to get her money out of her wallet, faffs around with small change when she could have just given a 20 and be done with it, decides she wants carrier bags which have to be put through seperately, and FINALLY leaves. At 21 minutes past closing time, all in all. I actually apologised to the staff on the way out.

so once we got out of the shop we got into an argument over this, I said to her I can’t believe you acted that way and she shrugs and says well if you go in the shop before closing time it’s fine, it’s just an estimate not an exact science. She said she was annoyed at me for apologising for her, which she said made her “feel like the bad guy” I was like yeah because you were acting entitled.

basically, wibu to distance myself from her from now on? She has form for being a bit self absorbed but this seemed like a new level of entitlement! I just feel bad for the poor shop staff really. “Friend” says that she used to work in retail and that it really wasn’t an issue and that I was being dramatic and holier than thou. Aibu??

This 100%

I work in retail and we have regular customers who deliberately turn up less than 5 min before close. One always comes with a pile of complicated returns. The first time she came I quickly took the pile to get the process started and she grabbed it back aggressively and said she needed to sort out the receipts. She knew she was being difficult taking her time to find each particular receipt , then wanting to use a discount coupon 🙄. It took 40 minutes to process and then I had to cash up and that needs two people so another person had to stay. I missed at least one train . We get the time back in exceptional circumstances like that but always at a time to suit the business rather than own choice.
And as others have said its regularly 5/10 min which adds up especially after a long day.

@Noseylittlemoo Can you not just turn her away and tell her to come back.There’s no way I’d be starting a job knowing it was going to take that long.
Do you not have a manager that will support you ?

@Anothercrappyusername when she first came I had no idea it would take such a ridiculously long time- if it had been one transaction it would be annoying but probs 5 min. We are wise to her now. She often just walks in and asks what time we close - I often tell her an earlier time to stop this shenanigans. Managers are supportive now they are aware!

Thats reminded me of a customer we used to have at en independent shop, the owner eventually said she was the only person we could tell to leave 😀

She sounds awful!

@RufustheSpecuIatingreindeer I think now with online reviews /twitter/social media retailers are so scared of a bad review etc that we get manipulated by these kind of people. Good for you and your managers! 👍

I'd ditch her as a friend. Like a pp said if she treats retail workers like this then she isn't pleasant.

I don't work in retail and I still think your friend is an arse. I will go into a shop at 5 to closing but only if I need one or two particular things, no browsing, just straight off the shelf and to the checkout and I apologise for holding them up. Shops used to be open for very limited hours, Sunday afternoon there was just nothing open so you planned ahead or went without, so your friend needs to get her act together. For me this would be a dealbreaker now I'd seen how enttiled she really could be

A key point for me is that customers can shop online 24/7. Shops and staff therefore need to do everything possible to attract shoppers to their premises.

Imo it’s up to staff to meet the needs of customers- if that requires staying a few minutes mate or getting a later bus home in order to deliver excellent service that caters to the desires of the customer, so be it.

So it’s purely a one-way street for you, @SummerDuck?

You don’t owe any sort of kindness or consideration to someone on a low wage, trying to earn a living?

I don’t think people should see @SummerDuck views as being in any way representative of the majority. She lives a very strange life, with a strict schedule laid down by her husband, due to her previous “output” being low. Hence the slightly bizarre views on human beings and interactions.

I think the rest of us understand that when you’re paying £2.50 for a ton of fruit pastilles from B&M, you can’t expect the worker on minimum wage to treat you as if you’re buying an Aston Martin and they’re getting commission!!

@SummerDuck I expect you are THAT CUSTOMER in every shop you go in if you go in with that sort of entitled attitude. Do you think your desire to shop outside of opening hours is more important than the life outside of work that the person earning £10 or £12 ph has? You would definitely get bitched about in the lunch room if you come in with those opinions.

Ah, @SummerDuck’s the OP from thatthread. I was feeling sorry for her over there. Not so much, now…

And you, and anyone with the same attitude, can get to fuck. How disgusting!

Same, I was quite concerned, but quite clearly, her DH was right if she can't organise herself to get to shops as a SAHM. 🤔

As someone who works in retail, please, PLEASE do shop online for everything and never go to a retail store again. We don't want to attract people like you, I 100% guarantee that at some point you have said "I'm never shopping here again!" and staff have quietly cheered.

Have you ever worked in retail?

On a technicality we are all a subset of living things called animals, as opposed to plants. I once had to listen to someone argue for half an hour that birds are not animals!

Yeah well birds aren't real so ...

She is a total self entitled twat and obviously never worked on retail. The staff will be paid provably to 6pm as that's when shop closes, anything after they don't get paid - well that was my experience years ago.
My lovely manager used to man and lock the doors at 5.50pm on a Sunday to stop people coming in so her staff could actually get away on time.

The staff will be paid provably to 6pm as that's when shop closes, anything after they don't get paid - well that was my experience years ago.

Yes, mine too, although this is also a problem in itself, as companies should ensure staff are paid for the work they do. I got so sick of it in a supermarket once, when I was constantly expected to stay past the end of my shift, that if nobody came to take me off on time I'd just stand up at the till and stop serving people, and just wait for someone to replace me. Over the months I worked there I was working hours for free in total otherwise - it adds up!

@friendship1234 I've just remembered a time I once went shopping with a friend just before closing time. First she needed the toilet. We looked and there were no customer toilets but she spotted a toilet door the window of some heavy double doors for staff. She barged through the doors which set off a siren type alarm. I was mortified!!
Then she took her purchases to the till and brought out a receipt from a previous transaction where she believed she wasn't given the '3 for 2' offer on. There was a lot of discussion plus calculations scribbled on the receipt. I can't remember the outcome but we left a good 20 min after close. I told her she would be my nightmare customer!
It was about 12 years ago now but I'm still embarrassed thinking about it!!

I used to work in a city centre supermarket. On Sundays were were only scheduled for store opening hours. We did not get paid overtime if people like this woman faffed about. Also, I'd miss the bus if I did not leave on time. It sucked.

Agree. The shops are unreasonable too - the should lay staff for when they work, but many do not.

I'd never go near her again what a supermassive entitled prick
What an embarassment