Customers complain all the time about a store's hours of operation. Even when a store is open 24 hours, it's never enough. When a shopper feels they absolutely need something, he or she will be upset if they show up and the store isn't open. Now, the frustrating thing is when you work somewhere that opens at 6 in the morning. That's right, 6 a.m. So contractors can get what they need, or if customers have an emergency that needs a part or a piece to fix something, the store is open and employees are there, ready to help.
This place has people who come in a 3 in the morning to make sure product is on the shelf. It has people dedicated to making sure things are stocked, that if the store is out of something more is ordered, that everything a customer could possibly need is there and available for them. These people get up at ridiculous times, sacrifice what would normally count as a regular work week in order to make things easier for others, and put themselves in the position of potentially ending up with repetitive motion injuries just for customers.
There are arguments out there already, I'm sure, about how these people are getting paid to do this and so they shouldn't complain. If that's the case, for those arguing that a paycheck justifies an employer's behavior, I would ask just how many jobs these individuals had worked in their lives. If the answer is more than one, I would ask just why they left that job. After all, according to their own argument, they were being paid for it. So why did that suddenly cease to be enough to be worth staying at the job?
Of course, those asking why retail workers complain have in all likelihood never worked retail. Those who have know all too well just how stressful and frustrating a job it can be. The last thing retail workers want or need is someone coming in just to complain about a store's hours of operation. So what kind of disrespectful individual would go into a store to whine at 6 a.m.?
These ones.
This is just a brief list of the complaints I've personally had to handle at opening while working a customer service desk. They have been edited for clarity.
"Why weren't you open earlier? Your competitor is open at 5."
"What do you mean I can't return this? I drove all the way from the other side of town!"
"I can't believe your store would hire people who are so incompetent they can't even be fully awake and aware while your store is open."
"I ordered a custom item 15 minutes before closing last night. Can I pick it up now?"
"Your store is terrible! Worst customer service I've ever seen! I'm never shopping here again!" All I said was good morning as this individual entered the store.
"I can't believe you only offer free coffee. Your competitor offers free doughnuts."
"I broke my (insert random product here) and need it today. Can you fix it?"
Of course, this only covers the start of the day. I've had to personally deal with "privileged" customers at the other end of the work day, too. People who wander in right as a store is preparing to close and assume they can take their time shopping. Ones who wander in through an exit because that door happens to be open. Or the ones who try to argue that they'll only be a minute. A personal favorite, though, will always be the "business owner" who refused to leave until I threatened to have the cops come remove him.
He was wandering up and down aisles, looking at movies; just browsing, really. I had three separate associates approach him to ask if he needed help and to tell him the store had closed. He told all three he was fine and he'd leave when he was done. At the time I was working at an electronics store, and the system would automatically shut down to process the day's transactions at a specific time every night so the data could be uploaded to the corporate server in bulk. There was no way to halt or suspend that process, and no way to use the registers while it was running. This "gentleman" was quickly running out of time if he wanted to make a purchase. Fed up, I finally decided to approach him myself.
"Good evening, sir. Can I help you find anything?"
"No, I'm good. Just looking."
"All right, well as you know the store closed half an hour ago and our registers will be shutting down in five more minutes. If you have any purchases to make, you'll need to head up there now."
"You know, you people are really annoying."
"Excuse me?"
"I own a business myself, and I don't close until my last customer is satisfied and out the door."
"Well that's great for you, sir, but our system shuts down at 9:35 regardless of whether or not we still have people in the building. That would be why we have been trying to assist you with your shopping for the last thirty minutes."
"That's terrible business."
"That's retail, sir. I'd be happy to hold your items for you until tomorrow, if you don't thing you're going to be done shopping in the next few minutes, but at this point I do have to ask you to leave."
"I'm a paying customer! You can't kick me out!"
"Actually, sir, you haven't paid for anything yet, and as the store is officially closed and has been for thirty-five minutes, I can ask you to leave. As I said, I'll happily hold your items for you to pay for tomorrow..."
"I'm not leaving until I'm done shopping! You can just open up a register for me!"
"Our systems are on a schedule. We don't have the ability to just turn one on to suit you. Now, you can leave your stuff with me and exit under your own power, or you can leave your stuff with me when the police come to escort you out for trespassing, as non-employees are not allowed in the store after closing. It's your choice."
He left.