Asda - No service: staff gone home!

willing2learn_3

aheaton46 wrote: »

It's irrelevant WHY people are there.

If staff are paid till 4 but need 5/10/15 minutes or whatever to finish off at the end of their shift - it is their employer the supermarket at fault, not the customer. Do not blame a customer for coming in when the shop is open and expecting to be able to buy something!

And by all means kick the customers out at closing time.

I think this is the truth of the matter. I currently work in retail and i think everyone should do some service in it! lol! I've had customers look in horror when a manager has said to me 'you can go to lunch now,' at 3.15 pm....one customer piped up 'lunch?!!! It's nearly teatime!' I looked at her and said 'thankyou!'

Most customers i work with are nice, but you do get a certain type, thankfully in the minority (and the original poster doesn't sound like this at all) who do have a sugar coated view of working life, or haven't worked much at all and just don't have a clue. These people are the ones that are usually rude. They have a stereotyped view of people in retail also, that we are stupid, not very bright, then there's the usual 'i'm in a hurry!' (yes like the thousands of other customers that have passed through here with unrealistic expectations of what they can get done in a day and no awareness that they are creating cumulative stress for the assistant who has to deal with not one, but all of them). While they quiver around you while you are trying as fast as you can to run their items through the til or set up an order. It's plain rude....but retail is one of the last territories where that sort of behaviour towards staff is felt to be allowed. You see human nature at it's worst sometimes....but as i say i am thankful that most customers are not like this so things are changing.

The problem is that because of that attitude towards the staff, there will be staff that feel resentment towards the customer. Staff are not necessarily trained to see the bigger picture, how the organisation is treating them, where their irritation really lies, etc. Their feelings towards a 'late' customer are merely a symptom of a bigger problem.

I would go so far as to say if you feel an assistant has not responded to you very well, the cause of that might be much much wider issues...and you may not create the consequences you want by complaining about that one individual....they may eventually get sacked and someone else will come along but the system that created the problem is still at fault......but yes the truth is that the customer is allowed to shop right up until closing, not all of them will know that the assistants are under pressure from their managers to get cashing up and recovery processes done as well...it's not the customer's fault.

dfh

rustyboy21 wrote: »

Customers are so willing to come out with the quote ''I pay your wages''

How upset they would be, if we were to turn around and say back '' I pay your state pension ''

I absolutely detest people with attitudes like that. You are absolutely right. They work, pay taxes and that goes into the state pension pot. Why do some people have this high and mighty attitude and moan and complain about every tiny thing on this planet?

bowdengr37

If the OP had arrived 15 minutes before closing time to find three people in the queue in front of them, and each of those people had taken just over five minutes each to be served, would the OP have turned around and left, empty-handed. Or, would they have used the 'I was waiting to be served' excuse to try and force the assistant to work unpaid overtime.

And, if the order was important, why did they leave it so late anyway. They could have been delayed by traffic quite easily for ten or fifteen minutes. Unless it was absolutely unavoidable, and the OP doesn't say that it was, leaving such a small margin of time could be seen as irresponsible.

Money_User

aheaton46 wrote: »

No, the point she made was that anyone shopping in the store at 3:55pm on a Sunday was a prat and needs a hobby. Not 4:00pm.

I wholeheartedly agree that at 4pm they should stop serving and stop working - unplug the tills bang on 4pm as far as I'm concerned. But at 3:55 she is there to work, that customer is there to shop, and she has no right to criticise them for that.

Actually if you read what she wrote she said "still there 10 minutes after I should have gone home". That would make 16:10 in my book.

aheaton46 wrote: »

Why?

Maybe it's more convenient for them to shop on the Sunday.

But do you really think people entering a Supermarket at 15:55 will be gone in five minutes? I'm at the till be 15:50 at the lastest. I watch these people go with the largest type of shopping trolley.......not going to be a five minute job is it!! I really think some people on here take offence to people in retail pointing out unreasonable customer behaviour and try the "it's your job card" when in actual fact it isn't, which I think is the case in the particular examples I've quoted.

So your "why" argument above doesn't really add up! Surely I should be able to look at the BBC archives and see thousands of stories of the English dieing of starvation prior to 24/7 Supermarket opening.........I can't! The only can shop at 15:55 on a Sunday argument is a load of rubbish!!!

The 2 Asdas near to me are open 24/7 except on Sundays because of the trading laws. I imagine at least 80% of the population of the UK are within a short drive of something similar. So then how on earth can 15:55 on a Sunday be the only time they have for shopping????

Harry_Flashman

Money_User wrote: »

The 2 Asdas near to me are open 24/7 except on Sundays because of the trading laws. I imagine at least 80% of the population of the UK are within a short drive of something similar. So then how on earth can 15:55 on a Sunday be the only time they have for shopping????

The simple answer to your question is that it isn't, but they have such a cavalier attitude to the staff that they really don't care if they work after 4 or not.

Imagine the squeals of outrage if the staff took the hard line and took their trolley away at 4pm and firmly escorted them to the door?:rotfl:

vikingaero

Harry_Flashman wrote: »

Imagine the squeals of outrage if the staff took the hard line and took their trolley away at 4pm and firmly escorted them to the door?:rotfl:

I would buy shares in any supermarket and promise to shop exclusively there if they allow me in to watch!

peediedj

my wife works in the local tescos, Sunday nights are usually the worst,.but christmas eve and new years eve,bank hols are the same,people come in at 5 min to closing timewith a big shopping trolley expecting to do a large shop! the shops open most days for 12 hrs surely people can do there shopping before its about to close,1 customer on new years eve moaned when entering the shop at 7.00pm(closing time) that the lights were off,my wife said we are closing,all she did was tut,then asked if they were open on new years day,she said no,the woman moaned,the wife said to her,arent we entitled to a day off over the festive period as well? she just stormed off,some people think you should be there 24/7 365 days a year

fozmcfc

You're never going to win with some customers, but I would favour at the larger supermarkets, something along the lines of store closes at xx:xx and last entrance 15 - 30 mins beforehand.

Doors close and security staff are present to only let customers out.

Of course there will be those who say I'll only be 5 mins, but tough.

peediedj

Money_User wrote: »

But do you really think people entering a Supermarket at 15:55 will be gone in five minutes? I'm at the till be 15:50 at the lastest. I watch these people go with the largest type of shopping trolley
The only can shop at 15:55 on a Sunday argument is a load of rubbish!!!

the wife experiences the same, our local tescos on a sundays open 12hrs,you cant tell me someones that busy on a sunday they cant get there earlier,and if they are to busy why cant they use the store the day before when its open for about 16 hrs!

peediedj

fozmcfc wrote: »

You're never going to win with some customers, but I would favour at the larger supermarkets, something along the lines of store closes at xx:xx and last entrance 15 - 30 mins beforehand.

Doors close and security staff are present to only let customers out.

Of course there will be those who say I'll only be 5 mins, but tough.

our local tesco,s gets it all the time,someone on the door 5 mins before they close,a customer says i only want a pint of milk,then 15 mins after closing time are still wandering about the store picking things up!