You Give Customers An Inch, And They’ll Take Their Sweet Time

Here in the UK, retail stores over a certain size can only be open for six hours on Sundays. Usually, they’re open from 10:00 to 4:00.

Every d*** Sunday, the same people turn up at 3:59 pm wanting to buy things:

Me: “Why do I need to remind you that you tried the same thing last week, and the week before?”

Customer: “We still have a minute! Just let us in! We just need a few things!”

Me: “Come at 3:50 pm on Sundays, like I said last time!”

We had a different duty manager one Sunday who let ten customers in a few seconds before closing.

Me: “Why did you do that?”

Duty Manager: “They just said they needed a few things.”

He learned quickly what a mistake this was when they hadn’t finished shopping by the time the checkouts and self-checkouts were shut down at 4:30 pm. They all had about twenty items each.

Manager: “I need you to help me check out these customers.”

Me: “Sorry, [Duty Manager], I’ve clocked out. Should be okay, though; they just needed a few things… right?”

The next Sunday, that duty manager didn’t let anyone in past closing, and we considered the lesson learned.