If my retail experience is any indication, acknowledging customers in this situation is a bad idea. Before you know it, the conversation turns to "I just need one thing!" Or "I promise I'll be really quick!" and you have to become the asshole to tell them no... Even though the store hours are clearly listed on the front door.
Or if you agree even once, the conversation could easily become "but you did it for me/my friend last time!"
I've literally had people sneak into the store using an exit, then act all indignant because I tell them to leave. You give some of these fuckers an inch, they'll take a mile.
Sometimes it’s just pure obliviousness and you really need to speak up.
One of my embarrassing moments was shopping at a teacher store to supply my ex’s classroom. We were kind of enjoying the afternoon so taking our time, no big deal. Then the store people started coming over more frequently to ask if we needed help. No thank you. Eventually we make our way to the register and were shocked to discover the store closed half an hour ago. wtf, why didn’t someone kick us out, or at least stop being so damn polite and tell us they were closing since we clearly didn’t realize it? I’ll never forget the cringe of keeping people so late, and we were just enjoying leisurely shopping that could have finished long since
Whenever this is posted, a couple Karen's crawl out of the primordial ooze to remind us they've never worked retail and are incapable of empathizing with the workers (I count 2 of them in this comment section right now). I could never work retail again, people like this are as soul crushing as the manager who will reprimand you because of their 1 star review
Had people knocking on the door 2 minutes before we opened the other day. I acted like I didn't see them and waited until 1101 to open just to be petty.
People like that will be mad either way. There's no right answer.
They were closed, they don't owe you shit.
“I knew I got there too late, but they didn’t even acknowledge me to tell me what I already knew and which was completely obvious due to the locked door and lack of acknowledgement. How rude!”
PSA: Don't be an Assbag
I have a few friends who work retail, and we've talked about nightmare customers. The shop closes at 7:30 every Friday, but two people often walk in between 7:10 and 7:30 to demand service that takes 30minutes to complete for one person and is appointment only which all appointments are closed by 7:00pm for the staff to leave on time. They expect to be served despite the fact that the tools required for the service are already put away by 7:10. Sometimes my friend bends to their requests, but I keep telling him: closing time is closing time, and doing so is like teaching your dog to eat off your plate. It's okay for now, but it will come back to bite you.
If you're going to show up close to closing time and are still willing to be served, then TIP THEM WELL. I've done it a few times, and I'm guilty of it, but I've made it worth their while.
There was one time in 2023 when my friends and I wanted to get together for some wings. We stopped by a dinner on the outskirts of town at 10:30 pm, and they close at 11:00 pm. We went in, and I asked if they would still serve us because I know it's late. And I don't want to be an asshole. They served us, and we enjoyed our wings while catching up on life before leaving a hefty tip on the table.
This year, there was another time when we went out to a local car hop at 8:30 pm, which closes at 9:00 pm. The girls serving and taking orders did a great job, and it was scorching hot outside all day. Since I don't go out to eat often and would rather give my business to mom-and-pop shops rather than the local megacorporation, we all pitched in and left a 40% tip – which came out to be around $24 on our $60 meal. When she came to take the tray from the car window, she asked if we needed anything else, and I handed her the tip of $24. Her face lit up, and she asked if this was a mistake. I said it was on purpose, and for her to have a good night. She smiled and thanked us before we left. Although the tip hurt my wallet quite a bit, with my brain reminding me of the $24 I lost, it felt good to help someone out – especially since she likely deals with a lot of crappy people in crappy weather.
I don't know what platform this is, but such a review should be moderated in some way. If an employee treats you badly during normal service, then fine, it's justified to drop a negative review, but if you're as incompetent as to be unable to understand that nobody is obliged to serve you outside of the stated working hours, it's entirely your problem and it shouldn't affect the rating of the establishment.
One of the many definitions “Asshole” is applied to.
Good
Is this supposed to be ragebait or what? This review is obviously non-sensical end of story
Permanently Deleted
All good but not all good
I was at a hardware store yesterday, locally owned. I didn't look at the hours before I walked in but they started turning off lights within a few minutes of me walking in, so I walked out without buying anything and went to a big box store. I want to support the little guys, and I respect the time of the workers, but at some point I need to get the stuff I need and my hours at work to align exactly with the hours of the little guys. 🤷
I wouldn't jump on to blame on the customer. In fact, have my own hill I'm fighting right now where I'm not completely in the right. Who knows, maybe the working hours were not visible, or maybe there was no closed sign at all. In any case, this made at least one person mad and is a perfect opportunity for a business to do a retro and check if they might need to do something about it. It's much more valuable than a thousandth review from someone who had a great time... or didn't, but didn't care to review either. And, unless your business is genuinely bad, even a Karen once in a while shouldn't affect the total score a bit.
