Stores closing earlier than advertised time

chopps

Happened to be coming out of a large Tesco Extra store at 6:45pm on Christmas Eve and noticed about 20 irate customers being refused entry. They pointed out to the security guard and store staff that the opening times on the window poster stated 'closes 7pm' so they expected to be allowed in up until 7pm , but were refused entry.
Why not advertise the correct time of 6:45pm in the first place to avoid any confusion ?
I don't think this is related to it being Christmas Eve but happens whenever it's not a 24 hour opening (eg. Sundays).
Spoke to tesco's customer services about it but they just said everyone has to be through the tills by 7pm and this is common practice to all supermarkets.
Staff continued to work inside the store after 7pm doing shelf filling etc.

gardner1

chopps wrote: »

Happened to be coming out of a large Tesco Extra store at 6:45pm on Christmas Eve and noticed about 20 irate customers being refused entry. They pointed out to the security guard and store staff that the opening times on the window poster stated 'closes 7pm' so they expected to be allowed in up until 7pm , but were refused entry.
Why not advertise the correct time of 6:45pm in the first place to avoid any confusion ?
I don't think this is related to it being Christmas Eve but happens whenever it's not a 24 hour opening (eg. Sundays).

If they had advertised 6.45 close they would stop people entering at 6.30 and who goes shopping on christmas eve 15 min before shop closes

chopps

The point is that if you state opening hours are 10am - 4pm does it mean you are only allowed in from 10am - 3.45pm ?

gardner1

chopps wrote: »

The point is that if you state opening hours are 10am - 4pm does it mean you are only allowed in from 10am - 3.45pm ?

imagine how long it takes to get all the customers through the tills and out the shop

geordie_joe

chopps wrote: »

The point is that if you state opening hours are 10am - 4pm does it mean you are only allowed in from 10am - 3.45pm ?

Yes, they stop serving at 4.00pm so need a "last entry" time to ensure people have enough time to get their shopping and get served before 4.00pm.

I think you are confusing "closed" and "letting people in". The shop didn't close at 3.45, it just stopped letting people in. It was still "open" for those already in the store.

It's like pubs, they call last orders so you can't buy another drink, but you can still stay and drink the one you already have.

Murtle

That surprised me as our Sainsburys doesn't work like that so it's not common across all shops.

They have a cut off time, but I don't know what it is but they do let people in till "closing".

anatomical

This may be because it was christmas eve, and shops are only allowed to trade for a certain number of hours, the same as sunday trading laws. All transactions must be completed by the store's closing time, in this case 7pm. Any transactions made after that time could result in the shop being heavily fined. It is not reasonable to expect every customer running in the door at 5 to 7 will finish shopping and complete their transaction by 7. This is not a case of the shop being difficult but trying to avoid serving customers after their closing time which on bank holidays and sundays is actually illegal.

Staff are allowed to work after the closing time as they are not trading.

Florenceem

anatomical wrote: »

This may be because it was christmas eve, and shops are only allowed to trade for a certain number of hours, the same as sunday trading laws. All transactions must be completed by the store's closing time, in this case 7pm. Any transactions made after that time could result in the shop being heavily fined. It is not reasonable to expect every customer running in the door at 5 to 7 will finish shopping and complete their transaction by 7. This is not a case of the shop being difficult but trying to avoid serving customers after their closing time which on bank holidays and sundays is actually illegal.

Staff are allowed to work after the closing time as they are not trading.

When I was head checkout supervisor at Tesco's and responsible for locking the door - I had to do it at the stated time. It didn't matter if it was Christmas Eve - if we stated 6pm closing - that was the time I closed the door. It did cause problems with my checkout staff - used to complain about not leaving on time - had to give them extra break time as compensation after Christmas. I would have been hauled over the coals by management if I had shut early.

anatomical

I know in my shop we shut the doors 5 minutes before the closing time. It is dependant on each shop and the manager's views, whether they want to risk being fined for squeezing the last few transactions through the till.

chopps

Florenceem wrote: »

When I was head checkout supervisor at Tesco's and responsible for locking the door - I had to do it at the stated time. It didn't matter if it was Christmas Eve - if we stated 6pm closing - that was the time I closed the door. It did cause problems with my checkout staff - used to complain about not leaving on time - had to give them extra break time as compensation after Christmas. I would have been hauled over the coals by management if I had shut early.

It would be impossible to ensure all customers were through the tills no later than 7pm.
Even those who entered up to 30 minutes earlier could still be wandering around after 7pm looking at things before deciding to make their way to the till(s).
It's just confusing to state a 7pm closing time when they really mean it be interpreted as no entry after 6.45pm they should add a footnote to say so.

EssexGirl

Maybe it was partly to do with trading laws and partly because it was Christmas Eve and staff want to be at home with their families instead of cowtowing to the public, the majority of whom would have had plenty of time to shop in the run up to Christmas.