If a customer comes in right before closing, and serving him requires you to stay until 9pm, even if the store closes at 8:30, what do you write on your timecard?
This is the 21st century. People don't write anything on their time-card. You punch in and out through an electronic computer system. (Small businesses might still use hand-written time machine, however.
It was a figure of speach rather than directions on how to get paid, Trekker. Although when I finished working at that grocery store in 2002, it HAD just transfered from a manual punch card (which you could also write on) to a card you had to scan at the registers.
All that is beside the point though, as I'll assume that if you stayed the 30 minutes late your timecard (and paycheck) would reflect that, yes?
If you write "9pm", most of your ability to bitch goes away right there.
Right. How dare someone after working an 8-hour shift expect to get out of work at a reasonable time without being delayed by someone who suddenly wanted a cellphone at 8:30 at night?
I guess that would come with the job, and it would be "reasonable" to plan on a little overage if something like that came up. My job ends at 4:30, I rarely make plans or expectations for 4:45 or 5pm, because there's always the chance I could have to stay a few minutes extra to finish something up. Part of having a job, I suppose. At least in retail, you're likely to get paid for it. If you get a salaried job, you work for what you work for. 50-60 hours of work aren't uncommon if you're on a project, you still get paid the same as if you worked 40.
Only thing unreasonable is your expectation that you can drop your apron and run at 2 minutes past closing, like the high school kid that was sweeping the floors. HE is probably allowed to leave, but if you want the same ability, you're probably going to get the corresponding cut in pay, benefits, and responsiblities.
You're right. Retail employees should not have personal lives. We should be at whims of people 24/7. Our phone numbers should be posted on the front door so if that guy who comes up at 11pm wants a cellphone all he has to do is call someone at home. How DARE someone make plans for when they get off work! Someone wants their goddamn cellphone!
Yes, that's exactly what I said. Add a little more drama, Trekker! And as luck would have it, you managed to accidently make a point, but it's the opposite of what you intended! MY cell phone number, plus my home phone number, IS posted on the door where I work. On SEVERAL occasions, I've been called in and had to support some testing, or open up a lab, or do security shit, a couple times in the middle of the night. How often do YOU get called with a really stupid question about one of your products at 2am? I got such a call last week. So..?
It's expected that most people have an understanding of the concept of "other people" and won't walk in to a store five minutes before closing and want to dilly-dally around or go through a long process of adding a phone to a contract.
Never said doing so wasn't a little rude, but it IS your job to help them without being an asshole about it, or locking the doors 20 minutes early so you can sneak out at exactly 9pm. Part of the retail experience. If your company can make a sale right before close, they probably want you to do it.
If the doors are open, you should be ready and willing to serve a customer, otherwise, close the doors.
Again. It's expected that customers have an ounce or two of common sense and courtesy. If they walk through the doors at 8:25 they should make their business fairly brief. It's unlikely they just "close the doors" at 8:30 either and may still have another hour of post-closing work to do: cleaning, doing paperwork, organizing shelves, etc.
I don't disagree, having been there myself. There's often a little overflow, though, and getting pissy about it instead of expecting it is silly. And in my experience, not everyone is 100% busy in the 'post-closing' process, someone could probably take a minute and help out. Agree with your other examples, about the slicers and grinder, though, as that's much more time consuming, plus produces waste that you can't properly deal with at close. We always used to make sure we had enough at about the 30 minute mark before closing, and then broke down and washed the machines. Didn't have a big problem saying NO there, as there were other options for ground beef and sliced cold cuts available, and that was the company policy.
And yes, I worked retail. All through high school, college breaks and summers. I understand your complaints (worked in a grocery store), they're just not particularly valid, and fairly immature. I decided I didn't like it (and it was never meant to be a career), so I got another job. Seems to be the options...
You've obviously forgotten what a pain in the ass other people are or worked in retail before people got a sense of entitlement over their fellow human beings.
Not at all. More a matter of knowing what you can do something about, and what you can't. Some people are just dicks, can't do much there. Also was never much for all the drama, like how in most of these retail horror stories, the abused employee likes using words like "treating us like we're less than human" and variants. Which part of the cell phone story illustrates that? A whole lot of the stories the retail employees tell about THEIR actions, however, don't sound like "employee of the month" material. Then again, in any story someone tells, they're usually the hero or put-upon person, and the other person is ALWAYS rude and unreasonable...
Sorry. Retail employees are human beings and they expect to be able to go home when their shift is up, they may also have other things to do that they can't until the last customer is gone.
Sounds like part of the job to me! If you want to be able to run when the whistle blows, get a manual labor job, or step back down to the bagboy. The more you take on, the more you have to do. Sucks, huh? And as it's a retail job, and customer-oriented, OF COURSE you have to do things after the last customer leaves. To make plans and not expect that is stupid.
If you're in a store at closing don't stand around picking your nose. Get your shopping done and get out. That courtesy to your fellow human being. I know, unheard of in this day and age, but to walk into an electronics store at 8:25 and expect to be able to hook up a new cellphone plan -apparently a long process- is asinine, selfish and a dickish thing to do.
I don't disagree. On the other hand, the store was OPEN, and not closed, and maybe there was a reason he needed the phone, or wasn't available first thing in the morning? Easier to just rant about it, though, even though it should be expected (especially given how many people have chimed in to complain about the same thing).
And I never thought I'd say this. I agree with Scout. It's unbelievable this is even in question.
Then again, maybe I need to reconsider my post?
I gotta go take a shower, i feel dirty...
