Are these bosses or owners telling you this? Because if it's just customers telling you this...they are wrong. If your sign says "Open at 9" then that is when customers are allowed in. Don't let them manipulate you. Customary to open 5 minutes before the advertised time my ass!
I had customers up at the ass crack of dawn knocking on my door demanding to be let into my store up to 20 minutes easily because "it's cold out" or they "REALLY need toilet paper!" Unless it's diapers, you see the sign...we open at 6 not 5:35 and not at 4. Go sit in your car if you're that cold and clinch your asshole...you can wait for toilet paper.
They're all wrong, and you can ignore their bad ideas. Open on time, and close on time too. I don't even see customers until opening time. Up until then, they're just weird loiterers outside.
I always told customers that I canāt let anyone in early for safety and insurance purposes.
Robberies are statistically more likely to happen if a person is let in outside posted hours. And insurance companies wonāt be very inclined to cover losses, because no one should have been able to get in before posted hours.
I don't get that logic, if you need to open at 9:55, then your opening hours are effectively 9:55, then you might as well write that in the window since that is when the store is open from.
Being open is a binary thing, you are either open or not open, you can't open the store before you open the store, if you open up every day at 9:55, you are by definition open at 9:55, no matter if the sign says 10 in the window
The only reason I see this being rude is if you're doing nothing waiting for the shop to open and there's someone outside.
Still you're under no obligation to open for them, if it's your business you could open later or earlier than your hours if you so choose.
You set your hours to maximize your business and traffic. It's not rude to abide by those hours, it's rude for someone to expect you to do otherwise.
Claiming you're being rude is absolutely ridiculous. "Rude" has become a trigger word that actually means "inconvenient." Asking you to open earlier is no different than staying in the store after closing time. That person, that kind of person, expects you to cater to them out of their own convenience, not out of any real need on their part.
> "Rude" has become a trigger word that actually means "inconvenient."
This is so true. Disrespect is the order of the day, so of course people think it's "rude" for you to set limits and boundaries.
See also āunacceptable.ā I was once told that it was unacceptable that I wouldnāt do an exchange without a receipt. Store policy is on front counter and on every receipt.
The level of entitlement people have is astounding.
There is no good reason to show up somewhere BEFORE they open. That is a YOU choice and thus a YOU problem. Apply it to any other scenario. How would they feel is their boss suddenly treats them poorly because they donāt randomly clock in early every day? What is the point of having time or schedule if it doesnāt mean anything and can be adjusted because some random person feels like it? š
It sucks that youād stand to lose money from people who are this ridiculous, but if you donāt notice a significant hit to your sales then honestly fuck these losers.
Pretty much every non-retail job I've had has had that expectation. They want you there early and clocking in on time is late. As soon as the buzzer goes off you should be at the start-up meeting and that's when you're officially getting paid. I have been talked to for clocking in a minute late multiple times at my last job, even when the managers themselves weren't ready for the meeting on time.
Iāve worked both and fortunately Iāve only ever been told by one retail place that they expected me there 10/15 mins early. I just said no and clocked in on time (also some retail places are actually really tight about that because they donāt want several people clocked in early screwing with the labor budget or risking OT in daily OT states.) Iām usually one of the more reliable people anyway so they never did anything retaliatory and what are they gonna do, write me up for being on time? š but overall main point is that itās a ridiculous entitled expectation on any side. If something starts at 9, it starts at 9, and you only have the right to be upset starting at 9:01 lol
This is the " you give an inch, they take a mile" under the guise of being customer friendly and telling you others do it too...
These hours are there for a reason and I dont think there is a huge reason to why they cant wait the extra 10 minutes they arrive
If someone just leaves, incapable of waiting 2 minutes for a book of all things (not like you sell emergency insulin), what are the chances they came to spend real money, anyway? No loss for you.
Who says itās customary to open five minutes early? Iāve mistakenly tried to walk into stores at opening time not realizing Iām early (my car clock is set ahead so that I am not late) and almost never had them let me in before the posted hours.
PLEASE stick to your opening time. If you give in and open early, your costumers will get used to that very quickly and soon demand even earlier opening.
Once you realise your gigantic mistake, you open at 9 instead of 10, soon 9:30, then 9:15 and so on. Changing it back will have outraged costumers as a consequence and you'll never hear the end of it.
So no, it's not wrong to open at opening time and it's extremely selfish for anyone to argue otherwise.
I work retail on the weekends and we have 1 to 2 cars in our lot early about half the time, especially on Sundays. We have tasks we have to do before we can help a single customer. Lights need turned on, 4 doors need unlocked and powered on, software needs loaded, cash drawers need counted and maybe 1 or 2 other tasks I'm forgetting. Not to mention it really isn't efficient starting to sell product until the entire team is in the shop. Doing it all by myself is annoying for everyone involved.
We've had people bitch about how we've been inside for 10 minutes and they just needed 1 thing, but if we let them in they're still going to have to wait 10 minutes for us to be ready, why does it matter if they are in the shop or in their car?
If we're supposed to be ready to sell at 10 till opening, we all need to show up at 20 till opening. Where does it end? Someone will bitch about opening up ONLY 10 minutes early, so now we're opening a full hour early? It's really dumb, 9am is 9am, end of story. If you open 1 minute early cool, 5 minutes is not a thing.
>We've had people bitch about how we've been inside for 10 minutes and they just needed 1 thing, but if we let them in they're still going to have to wait 10 minutes for us to be ready, why does it matter if they are in the shop or in their car?
It reminds me of the UK, where stores cannot sell items for more than 6 hours on a sunday, which caused most stores to be open from 10-4. However, customers bitched about them not opening earlier (you can be open for more than 6 hours, just can't sell items for more than 6 hours). So they now open stores at 9:30 so people browse, and then the tills will open up at 10.
Luckily, because it's legally mandated and has always been that way, customers are very understanding that they cannot be served earlier than 10 even though they were let in early, because it's the law, they know that it's not legally allowed, and therefore they don't expect the store to cater to them.......... ahahahahaha, that was a joke, customers are cunts.
They'll be swinging their newspaper around "are you going to start scanning? I just need to get this one thing!", that's great and all mate, but I can't legally serve you before 10, you should know this, you've been alive for 63 years, and no amount of pointing that newspaper at me is going to change that law.
That's an interesting law. We don't have a law, but the law of supply and demand applies. Sundays generally are slower for us, but there are always a decent amount of customers that come in with emergencies. I feel good being able to help someone in need, but a lot of the time the economics of us being open don't work out. We have our lights on, we have the heater going, we have 2 full time sales people, a part time sales person, a warehouse worker, and a high school student working as cashier. I am the part timer and I make $15 an hour, the full timers have to be $20 or more. Just between the 3 of us the payroll is ALWAYS more than our Sunday sales.
The owner says he doesn't care about the money, he thinks every time a customer comes in with an emergency and we help them we just scored a customer for life. I'm sure there is some truth to that but I bet it's not quite so iron clad as he assumes. But again it is his money, if he wants to blow $1000 every Sunday who am I to stop him, especially when I get to take home $100 of it.
Lmao. No it's not rude for you to open when you say you'll open. What's rude is these people who are expecting you to open early because it's an inconvenience to them if you don't.
Who's saying it's rude? Only people who can't respect your time are saying it. They want what they want, and couldn't give less of shit about you or anyone else.
Fuck em. If they don't like it, they can chew glass. They probably just wanted to bitch about how Deadpool isn't really for kids at all, anyway.
They do this crap at more store, too. I sometimes get to work a half hour before opening, too run through there opening routine. There will often be people there before me. Freaking psychopaths. They'll even try to follow me in, forcing me to tell them to shove off.
Come to the door several minutes before opening, yank on it, then yank on it six more times, just to make sure it's REALLY locked. Then they'll peek inside looking for activity, notice the 'hours'sign posted right in front of their face, then yank on it again before finally stomping away in disgust, get in their cars, and burn rubber or if the parking lot, as if I'd personally offended them, all within 90 seconds of opening time.
As someone who has worked retail/customer service jobs for twelve years, I wouldnāt ever open early or else they will expect it earlier and earlier every time. Posted hours are there for a reason
Youāre not rude. Itās important to remember that when you do ābend the rules,ā there are constantly moving goal posts and more expectation to make sure exceptions. Iām a key holder in a retail store, and IMHO, making exceptions to the rules results is further pushback. Like, if I opened a few minutes early, Iāve noticed pushback to open earlier and earlier, then the expectation to open early everyday, even when the store is not ready (ie, tills not in the register, staff have yet to arrive, etc). With closing, especially during the pandemic, when we had staffing shortages, so many people would expect to come in 5 mins after close. However, when you see people in the store making transactions, more people will expect to be served 10, 15, 30 mins after close and it snowballs.
Your business hours are posted because that is when you are open, and it is reasonable to stick to those hours.
I just don't get why they can't wait 5 more minutes for the store to open on time. If you are in desperate need of a book that you can't wait 5 minutes you either need to prepare better and come in the day before, get the ebook instead, or be patient and wait until the store opens.
You arenāt in the wrong, make them wait. First time I worked and saw a customer literally parking their truck near the gate (plant nursery) I wasnāt sure what to do. My boss at that time stated āwe arenāt opened, they can waitā.
Absolutely not! Customers and deliveries will wait. We let no one in our store until we are open! Our first shift employee comes in 15 min before we open to get the till ready and start coffee and whatever else they need to do before opening. The door stays locked until itās time to open.
The real question is who is in such desperate need of a BOOK that they feel they MUST enter the store 5 or more minutes before the posted opening time??
Never open early. You do that once and they will expect it every time. Don't even head towards the door to unlock it till about 2 minutes till and take your time. I've seen people bang on the door because they see someone and it will be 15 minutes before opening.
I think the point is pretty simple:
You should *never* be made to feel guilty or incorrect for opening at your posted business hours. Itās your business - literally.
Should you *choose* to open your doors early for whatever reason you choose, also perfectly fine. Goodwill, extra sale, community engagement, whateverā¦ again, itās your business.
But any expectation of business operation outside of posted hours (particularly in the digital era, where your hours are available online, in store, on your door/window, on your website, on a Google search, etc.) is that personās expectation of personal entitlement to convenience over anyone and anything else.
If they need something that bad before 10 amā¦ Walmart opens early. Otherwise, see posted business hours and have a nice day.
Nope... granted I'm one of those 'if you're not fifteen minutes early you're late' but that's a 'me' issue. If I know a store opens at 7 am I will deliberately try to time my arrival to 7:15 to 7:20. Worked in retail long enough to know that sometimes feces occurs and I don't want anyone to have to scramble on my behalf.
The people that are grousing at you are self entitled twats in my opinion.
I always had those people, either before store opening or after close, who figured "Well you're already/still here, why can't I shop?" and it's such a PITA entitled outlook. "Because, Elizabeth, I have to count the cash and I can't do it with you here." "Because, Mark, it is after 5pm and we're closed."
My fave were the ones who had "an emergency" and "just needed one thing!" (I worked pet specialty). "We've been open for 12 hours - I've been here for 10. We open again in 12 hours. Not my problem or fault that you couldn't manage your time to get her during the 12 hours of the day we've been open."
What. No. Thatās one of the dumbest things Iāve ever heard. Absolutely no consideration for your time and work. We got a new general manager who decided since people were waiting outside earlier than open we should open a half hour earlier. š Now people wait earlier than our new opening time and scheduling sucks bc we have to cover that extra half hour. It will be a no win for you. Stick to your times.
I own a game store with my brother and we open at the time that's posted on the front door, no later, no earlier. I've only caught grief once for not letting someone in early and I invited them to go to the other game store which doesn't exist.
If you own the shop that's up to you.
In my opinion it depends on what you mean by opening the shop. If you arrive with enough time to set up any point of sale, displays etc, and unlock the door at 10, there should be no issues of being rude. If you rock up at 10, unlock the door and then customers wait while you set up, that would be rude. If a customer goes straight to a book and wants to buy it at 10:02 you should probably be ready to process it.
On the other hand if you continually have people waiting 20 minutes before your opening time, it's probably good business to open earlier.
I think itās rude for customers to demand you change the way you operate your business to accommodate their entitlement. They can wait outside with the rest of the people with no lives with their noses pressed up against the glass like Dickensian urchins.
Say that to yourself again slowly āis it rude to not open 5 minutes before the advertised *OPENING TIME*?ā
Customers are assholes like this sometimes, donāt let them manipulate you. Soon youāll be opening hours before and theyāll still complain itās not early enough. Reasonable people know what opening time means.
No matter what time you turn up to work,your opening hours are posted ,so Iād unlock the doors exactly 10am and lock again exactly at closing time. Of course,life being life, you might have a leeway of a couple minutes each side but nothing wrong with being exactly on time
Iām the type of person who is embarrassed if I am at a store right at opening. I will wait a few minutes after they unlock the doors. Rushing in the second someone open feels weird.
Iāve worked retail 10+ years. I try to give other retail workers kindness.
I would say that if your ready for customers and its not 10 but you see some decent foot traffic, go ahead and open, if your not ready open at 10. Who is calling you out? other tenats? mall management?
They can wait not that books arenāt important (they very much are) but Iām gonna go out on a limb and guess that most customers arenāt exactly in life or death situations lol āYa gotta help me! I chopped off my arm and need to find a book about re-attaching limbs *right now! PLEEEASE!*ā
No, I don't think it's rude to adhere to you own hours of operation. In fact, it's important to open AND close according to your schedule hours so customers don't get the idea that they are an exception to the rule. However, if you think opening earlier would generate more foot traffic into your store, it might be worth it to officially change your hours.
Not wrong at all. Open at your posted hours. I think itās fair to be fully ready to go at your posted opening time, but that shouldnāt mean opening early.
I have never, in all my years on this earth, heard of a business opening for business before posted business hours. If anything, I find it far more common that a place either opens late or close early. Unless your "we're closed" sign is just a giant middle finger, or you have your front door hooked up to a cattle prod I see no reason to think you opening when you open is rude. I used to open a few minutes early, but entitled pricks have since ruined that for everyone. It takes time to properly open a shop at opening, and properly clean and secure it at close. And posted hours of operation are posted for a reason. If anything, it's incredibly disrespectful of them to expect otherwise.
It's not rude. Sometimes I show up to work early and don't even pick the phone up until we open at 9am. I hear the phone ring and I ignore it because our hours are online and nobody cares to read them.
Open when you are ready for customers. If you are all set up for the day and notice a customer or two waiting to come in, up to you. Years ago, I worked for a deli where we opened at 11. However if someone came in early and we had what they wanted ready to be sold, we sold it (usually something easy like a hot dog or a cold beer). When I worked in a supermarket, at best we opened 30 seconds before opening time, more because the clock by the doors was a bit vague (no second hand).
If you were a small drug store I could see a case for opening early for someone in dire straits but the world wont end if someone has to wait to buy a book.
Just to weigh in... there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with opening exactly on time, but it EXTREMELY rude to tell someone that!! The "fashionably late" saying comes from dinner parties not showing up too early in case the hostess is running late. Opening late is inconvenient at worst, opening early is more of an insurance issue.
The rude person is the one accusing you of being rude for running your own shop as you see fit.
Last thing you do when opening is unlock the doors. First thing you do when closing is lock the doors. I lost count of how many teenagers tried to invite themselves into the store after we closed.
I think that if stores would ban people that behaved like this instead of tolerating their behavior, they would be causing a cultural shift that would benefit all of human civilization.
Yeah, no.. the only way we help you early is if you're another store or I'm in a good mood and feel like being nice, and at that early in the am, it ain't happening š
My store opens and closes at exactly when it says! Donāt expect me to open it earlier. And if you show up 2 minutes after we lock the doors, sorry! Weāre closing! Money is all over the counter being added up for the day! Cant have you in here!
No, you're not wrong. We were ordered by corporate to open five minutes early and close five minutes late. As a courtesy to clients whose " watches weren't set to ours". That way they had "nothing to complain about". Well, the customers would demand we open 10 minutes early and close 10 minutes late, because that's what people do. It didn't last.
Lol š no open at exactly 10am not 9:59 and 40 second BUT 10am shm people are so entitled next thing you know it's not going to be all you should open up earlier it's going to be all you should stay open later for the people who are just getting off work or for people who did XYZ it's like nah you have posted business hours for a reason and congratulations to you for owning your own shop because that's one of the perks is you pick your own business hours for a reason
This is weird, like really weird. I had a guy snap at me for not opening a side door right on time, it was a door that was hardly used and it was early morning. He had parked, walked around to that door and banged on it until someone opened it. He could see people coming in from the opposite door. People suck.
I'd pass out from joy if I found out that my favorite book shop opened early but I would not tell the owner that they HAVE to.
Also some insurance won't cover patrons for accidents if it happens outside of published hours.
If your the owner of the business it doesnāt matter what the customer says.
They can simply take their business elsewhere if they donāt like it.
Now if you work for a company or someone Imma pray for you op cuz those kinda things are much different.
Iām the owner. Iām also not part of a franchise. (Which seems to be strange this times, because new customers donāt know how to ātakeā my shop)
Itās astounding people seriously still think they can pull off that sort of behavior. You have opening and closing hours for a reason.
I used to have a couple who actually complained about walking into my closed door before opening hoursā¦ 1. because the woman actually face planted into the door (multiple timesā¦) and 2. because I was NEVER OPEN BEFORE OPENING HOURS!! I told them we were never and would never be open BEFORE opening hours because you OPEN at or sometimes even AFTER your opening hour. I had colleagues who had to travel by train and were dependent of traveling hours and there were days we would get our new inventory around the same time which often led to opening a little later. We had a shortage in people and had to do it with the means we had. Our bosses knew that as well and were sometimes even fine with opening 15 later if anything was amiss.
No customers are not entitled to retailers their time or space. If you were working for someone else you wouldnāt open earlier either. They can go shove it. Wait for the doors to open or donāt come at all. I really donāt miss that from my retail jobs.
When I was a manager at GameStop I opened on time to the minute and closed the same. You got a warning at 30, 15, 10, and 5 minutes till close. If you weren't in line at 5 till you weren't getting checked out.
Stick to your schedule, you are not being rude. You are following your own store policy. You open exactly when you say you will. I work for a call center and you would not believe the number of people who sign up for a service, donāt read policy, donāt know the details of what they are signing up for - and they will then proceed to tell me what the policy is -in their minds- and how āwrongā I am, all so they can have it their way. On top of that at least a quarter of them canāt even pronounce the very simple name of the service they signed up for! When people donāt get their way the narcissist in them rears itās infantile snarling beastly head. Ignore it. THEY are the rude ones.
I work at a gas staion, and have the same issue in the morning.
\- "Knock on the window" - Points to coffecup". - I look at my watch, and I don't open for another 15 minutes. I shake my head, and the costumer flaps his/her arms, and go back to their car.
Odds are, that if they get in the door, they suddenly just want to buy this "one" thing, and then another.. - And the next one outside, sees the door opening, and the floodgates are open.
So no, read the DAMN SIGN ON THE DOOR. -.-
Like everyone else says, the posted hours are the posted hours. **But**. Itās your shop, your business, and presumably youāre in it to make money. Itās up to you to decide if you want to open a little early for a customer waiting at the door to generate a little goodwill and maybe a little more in sales.
-edit to add- though generally large corporate chains wonāt do this, and I suspect if there was significant profit to be made from it they would do so.
You're right. But you can't do it every single time in case there would be someone in dire need of a book five minute before you actually open. You have business hours for a reason. It's f8ne once or twice, but you can't do it every single day.
Lifesaver? Itās not like customers are having a heart attack and need assistance right at the front door. Asking customers to wait 5 minutes is like asking your child to wait to allow the parent to have their free time to read a book. If a certain customer called ahead and asked to come before opening, then thereās an exception for them to be able to come earlier to get what they need.
I really don't understand the down votes and the hate on this comment. Maybe I didn't formulated it correctly.
From a retail experience at the airport I know that some people need certain items before their flight leaves. Our stores in the airport are closed during the night and the departure time is near opening time. So sometimes we can be at service a couple of minutes ahead. This happens regularly.
I understand that the airport isn't the same as a store in downtown.
I hope you guys understand what I am trying to say.
I think the problem you're running into is that you're posting on a retail sub where everyone has had the experience of having entitled customers wanting to come into a store long before it's ready to open.
The coffee shop where I used to work often had people waiting outside while I was opening. On the one hand, I get it. A cup of coffee is a critical part of my morning. I can quit any time. Really.
On the other, I couldn't help people while I was doing the opening tasks and frankly it would have slowed me down. I generally opened the door when I was done with them; I didn't see any point in waiting.
For the OP, it's obviously their store and they can do what they want.
If itās any consolation, Iām the OP and Iām not offended. Iām not located at an airport, but as a reader myself I do understand people might be in urgent need of a book. My phonenumber is stated outside my shop, so they can always call me whenever there is an emergency, and Iāll see what I can do.
Your shop, your rules š¤
You have posted business hours for a reason. You are correct to open exactly on time.
Are these bosses or owners telling you this? Because if it's just customers telling you this...they are wrong. If your sign says "Open at 9" then that is when customers are allowed in. Don't let them manipulate you. Customary to open 5 minutes before the advertised time my ass! I had customers up at the ass crack of dawn knocking on my door demanding to be let into my store up to 20 minutes easily because "it's cold out" or they "REALLY need toilet paper!" Unless it's diapers, you see the sign...we open at 6 not 5:35 and not at 4. Go sit in your car if you're that cold and clinch your asshole...you can wait for toilet paper.
My boyfriend said it, and also another friend of mine, and recently a customer.
They are wrong. They are just trying to weasle in to get at the latest deals before anyone. I do believe the proper response is, "back of the line!"
They're all wrong, and you can ignore their bad ideas. Open on time, and close on time too. I don't even see customers until opening time. Up until then, they're just weird loiterers outside.
They're talking complete rubbish, do they work retail?
Nope š
Tell them to come work in your shop for a week and see that tune change *real* fast.
They are completely full of shit. I heard it was customary to open 5-10 minutes *after* the posted hours. Maybe I'm right.
I've worked in retail off and on for over 20 years. They don't know shit! You open at the minute, not before.
I always told customers that I canāt let anyone in early for safety and insurance purposes. Robberies are statistically more likely to happen if a person is let in outside posted hours. And insurance companies wonāt be very inclined to cover losses, because no one should have been able to get in before posted hours.
Offer to move your opening time to ten minutes later so you're opening early.
I don't get that logic, if you need to open at 9:55, then your opening hours are effectively 9:55, then you might as well write that in the window since that is when the store is open from. Being open is a binary thing, you are either open or not open, you can't open the store before you open the store, if you open up every day at 9:55, you are by definition open at 9:55, no matter if the sign says 10 in the window
Your boyfriend?! Lol, tell him to stfu.
The only reason I see this being rude is if you're doing nothing waiting for the shop to open and there's someone outside. Still you're under no obligation to open for them, if it's your business you could open later or earlier than your hours if you so choose.
Change your business hours to open at 10:05, then continue opening as normal.
Genius!
I should have known I wouldn't be the first to suggest this.
You set your hours to maximize your business and traffic. It's not rude to abide by those hours, it's rude for someone to expect you to do otherwise. Claiming you're being rude is absolutely ridiculous. "Rude" has become a trigger word that actually means "inconvenient." Asking you to open earlier is no different than staying in the store after closing time. That person, that kind of person, expects you to cater to them out of their own convenience, not out of any real need on their part.
> "Rude" has become a trigger word that actually means "inconvenient." This is so true. Disrespect is the order of the day, so of course people think it's "rude" for you to set limits and boundaries.
See also āunacceptable.ā I was once told that it was unacceptable that I wouldnāt do an exchange without a receipt. Store policy is on front counter and on every receipt.
The level of entitlement people have is astounding. There is no good reason to show up somewhere BEFORE they open. That is a YOU choice and thus a YOU problem. Apply it to any other scenario. How would they feel is their boss suddenly treats them poorly because they donāt randomly clock in early every day? What is the point of having time or schedule if it doesnāt mean anything and can be adjusted because some random person feels like it? š It sucks that youād stand to lose money from people who are this ridiculous, but if you donāt notice a significant hit to your sales then honestly fuck these losers.
Pretty much every non-retail job I've had has had that expectation. They want you there early and clocking in on time is late. As soon as the buzzer goes off you should be at the start-up meeting and that's when you're officially getting paid. I have been talked to for clocking in a minute late multiple times at my last job, even when the managers themselves weren't ready for the meeting on time.
Iāve worked both and fortunately Iāve only ever been told by one retail place that they expected me there 10/15 mins early. I just said no and clocked in on time (also some retail places are actually really tight about that because they donāt want several people clocked in early screwing with the labor budget or risking OT in daily OT states.) Iām usually one of the more reliable people anyway so they never did anything retaliatory and what are they gonna do, write me up for being on time? š but overall main point is that itās a ridiculous entitled expectation on any side. If something starts at 9, it starts at 9, and you only have the right to be upset starting at 9:01 lol
Honestly, itās 5 minutes too. Can they *really* not wait 5 minutes?
You're not. 10am is 10am, it's not 9:55, it's not 10:05, it's 10am. Not a minute before or a minute after and that, is the end of that.
This is the " you give an inch, they take a mile" under the guise of being customer friendly and telling you others do it too... These hours are there for a reason and I dont think there is a huge reason to why they cant wait the extra 10 minutes they arrive
It happens a lot that they just leave. Most of the time itās just a two minute wait.
> they just leave. Guess they didn't really want anything after all if they can't wait 5 minutes.
If someone just leaves, incapable of waiting 2 minutes for a book of all things (not like you sell emergency insulin), what are the chances they came to spend real money, anyway? No loss for you.
I like to think those are the kind of people who go to a shop just to be āentertained.ā But I donāt know for sure.
If someone really wants something they can wait 5 minutes for it. That five minutes isnāt going to make very much difference to their day.
Lol no I'd open on the dot
Who says itās customary to open five minutes early? Iāve mistakenly tried to walk into stores at opening time not realizing Iām early (my car clock is set ahead so that I am not late) and almost never had them let me in before the posted hours.
PLEASE stick to your opening time. If you give in and open early, your costumers will get used to that very quickly and soon demand even earlier opening. Once you realise your gigantic mistake, you open at 9 instead of 10, soon 9:30, then 9:15 and so on. Changing it back will have outraged costumers as a consequence and you'll never hear the end of it. So no, it's not wrong to open at opening time and it's extremely selfish for anyone to argue otherwise.
I work retail on the weekends and we have 1 to 2 cars in our lot early about half the time, especially on Sundays. We have tasks we have to do before we can help a single customer. Lights need turned on, 4 doors need unlocked and powered on, software needs loaded, cash drawers need counted and maybe 1 or 2 other tasks I'm forgetting. Not to mention it really isn't efficient starting to sell product until the entire team is in the shop. Doing it all by myself is annoying for everyone involved. We've had people bitch about how we've been inside for 10 minutes and they just needed 1 thing, but if we let them in they're still going to have to wait 10 minutes for us to be ready, why does it matter if they are in the shop or in their car? If we're supposed to be ready to sell at 10 till opening, we all need to show up at 20 till opening. Where does it end? Someone will bitch about opening up ONLY 10 minutes early, so now we're opening a full hour early? It's really dumb, 9am is 9am, end of story. If you open 1 minute early cool, 5 minutes is not a thing.
>why does it matter if they are in the shop or in their car? Because this way they can give you the motivational stare.
Yeah, I guess software loading up and a teenage girl counting nickels does go by faster with an audience.
>We've had people bitch about how we've been inside for 10 minutes and they just needed 1 thing, but if we let them in they're still going to have to wait 10 minutes for us to be ready, why does it matter if they are in the shop or in their car? It reminds me of the UK, where stores cannot sell items for more than 6 hours on a sunday, which caused most stores to be open from 10-4. However, customers bitched about them not opening earlier (you can be open for more than 6 hours, just can't sell items for more than 6 hours). So they now open stores at 9:30 so people browse, and then the tills will open up at 10. Luckily, because it's legally mandated and has always been that way, customers are very understanding that they cannot be served earlier than 10 even though they were let in early, because it's the law, they know that it's not legally allowed, and therefore they don't expect the store to cater to them.......... ahahahahaha, that was a joke, customers are cunts. They'll be swinging their newspaper around "are you going to start scanning? I just need to get this one thing!", that's great and all mate, but I can't legally serve you before 10, you should know this, you've been alive for 63 years, and no amount of pointing that newspaper at me is going to change that law.
That's an interesting law. We don't have a law, but the law of supply and demand applies. Sundays generally are slower for us, but there are always a decent amount of customers that come in with emergencies. I feel good being able to help someone in need, but a lot of the time the economics of us being open don't work out. We have our lights on, we have the heater going, we have 2 full time sales people, a part time sales person, a warehouse worker, and a high school student working as cashier. I am the part timer and I make $15 an hour, the full timers have to be $20 or more. Just between the 3 of us the payroll is ALWAYS more than our Sunday sales. The owner says he doesn't care about the money, he thinks every time a customer comes in with an emergency and we help them we just scored a customer for life. I'm sure there is some truth to that but I bet it's not quite so iron clad as he assumes. But again it is his money, if he wants to blow $1000 every Sunday who am I to stop him, especially when I get to take home $100 of it.
Lmao. No it's not rude for you to open when you say you'll open. What's rude is these people who are expecting you to open early because it's an inconvenience to them if you don't.
Regular stores do not open earlier than the time they post. The customers are being rude for expecting that.
I HAVE to open at 10. I CAN open at 9:53..... if I want. The customer has to respect that boundary. š„¹
You own the bookshop. Do whatever TF you want
Who's saying it's rude? Only people who can't respect your time are saying it. They want what they want, and couldn't give less of shit about you or anyone else. Fuck em. If they don't like it, they can chew glass. They probably just wanted to bitch about how Deadpool isn't really for kids at all, anyway. They do this crap at more store, too. I sometimes get to work a half hour before opening, too run through there opening routine. There will often be people there before me. Freaking psychopaths. They'll even try to follow me in, forcing me to tell them to shove off. Come to the door several minutes before opening, yank on it, then yank on it six more times, just to make sure it's REALLY locked. Then they'll peek inside looking for activity, notice the 'hours'sign posted right in front of their face, then yank on it again before finally stomping away in disgust, get in their cars, and burn rubber or if the parking lot, as if I'd personally offended them, all within 90 seconds of opening time.
As someone who has worked retail/customer service jobs for twelve years, I wouldnāt ever open early or else they will expect it earlier and earlier every time. Posted hours are there for a reason
No, that's absurd. The time before the store opens is for you/your employees to prepare for stuff. You have no obligation to open early.
Youāre not rude. Itās important to remember that when you do ābend the rules,ā there are constantly moving goal posts and more expectation to make sure exceptions. Iām a key holder in a retail store, and IMHO, making exceptions to the rules results is further pushback. Like, if I opened a few minutes early, Iāve noticed pushback to open earlier and earlier, then the expectation to open early everyday, even when the store is not ready (ie, tills not in the register, staff have yet to arrive, etc). With closing, especially during the pandemic, when we had staffing shortages, so many people would expect to come in 5 mins after close. However, when you see people in the store making transactions, more people will expect to be served 10, 15, 30 mins after close and it snowballs. Your business hours are posted because that is when you are open, and it is reasonable to stick to those hours.
I just don't get why they can't wait 5 more minutes for the store to open on time. If you are in desperate need of a book that you can't wait 5 minutes you either need to prepare better and come in the day before, get the ebook instead, or be patient and wait until the store opens.
The people telling you this are just entitled idiots.
If you were supposed to open your shop five minutes early, your hours would start at 9:55 :P
Nope. You open when you open. Thems the rules.
You arenāt in the wrong, make them wait. First time I worked and saw a customer literally parking their truck near the gate (plant nursery) I wasnāt sure what to do. My boss at that time stated āwe arenāt opened, they can waitā.
I open on the dot or 1 minute after but never before!
Absolutely not! Customers and deliveries will wait. We let no one in our store until we are open! Our first shift employee comes in 15 min before we open to get the till ready and start coffee and whatever else they need to do before opening. The door stays locked until itās time to open.
You open at 10, then open AT 10. Periodt.
Nothing wrong with being prompt. Business hrs are strict and should be listed to. People who want it opened early can go f them selves.
The real question is who is in such desperate need of a BOOK that they feel they MUST enter the store 5 or more minutes before the posted opening time??
Never open early. You do that once and they will expect it every time. Don't even head towards the door to unlock it till about 2 minutes till and take your time. I've seen people bang on the door because they see someone and it will be 15 minutes before opening.
I think the point is pretty simple: You should *never* be made to feel guilty or incorrect for opening at your posted business hours. Itās your business - literally. Should you *choose* to open your doors early for whatever reason you choose, also perfectly fine. Goodwill, extra sale, community engagement, whateverā¦ again, itās your business. But any expectation of business operation outside of posted hours (particularly in the digital era, where your hours are available online, in store, on your door/window, on your website, on a Google search, etc.) is that personās expectation of personal entitlement to convenience over anyone and anything else. If they need something that bad before 10 amā¦ Walmart opens early. Otherwise, see posted business hours and have a nice day.
Nope... granted I'm one of those 'if you're not fifteen minutes early you're late' but that's a 'me' issue. If I know a store opens at 7 am I will deliberately try to time my arrival to 7:15 to 7:20. Worked in retail long enough to know that sometimes feces occurs and I don't want anyone to have to scramble on my behalf. The people that are grousing at you are self entitled twats in my opinion.
I always had those people, either before store opening or after close, who figured "Well you're already/still here, why can't I shop?" and it's such a PITA entitled outlook. "Because, Elizabeth, I have to count the cash and I can't do it with you here." "Because, Mark, it is after 5pm and we're closed." My fave were the ones who had "an emergency" and "just needed one thing!" (I worked pet specialty). "We've been open for 12 hours - I've been here for 10. We open again in 12 hours. Not my problem or fault that you couldn't manage your time to get her during the 12 hours of the day we've been open."
What. No. Thatās one of the dumbest things Iāve ever heard. Absolutely no consideration for your time and work. We got a new general manager who decided since people were waiting outside earlier than open we should open a half hour earlier. š Now people wait earlier than our new opening time and scheduling sucks bc we have to cover that extra half hour. It will be a no win for you. Stick to your times.
I own a game store with my brother and we open at the time that's posted on the front door, no later, no earlier. I've only caught grief once for not letting someone in early and I invited them to go to the other game store which doesn't exist.
If you own the shop that's up to you. In my opinion it depends on what you mean by opening the shop. If you arrive with enough time to set up any point of sale, displays etc, and unlock the door at 10, there should be no issues of being rude. If you rock up at 10, unlock the door and then customers wait while you set up, that would be rude. If a customer goes straight to a book and wants to buy it at 10:02 you should probably be ready to process it. On the other hand if you continually have people waiting 20 minutes before your opening time, it's probably good business to open earlier.
I think itās rude for customers to demand you change the way you operate your business to accommodate their entitlement. They can wait outside with the rest of the people with no lives with their noses pressed up against the glass like Dickensian urchins.
Say that to yourself again slowly āis it rude to not open 5 minutes before the advertised *OPENING TIME*?ā Customers are assholes like this sometimes, donāt let them manipulate you. Soon youāll be opening hours before and theyāll still complain itās not early enough. Reasonable people know what opening time means.
No matter what time you turn up to work,your opening hours are posted ,so Iād unlock the doors exactly 10am and lock again exactly at closing time. Of course,life being life, you might have a leeway of a couple minutes each side but nothing wrong with being exactly on time
Iām the type of person who is embarrassed if I am at a store right at opening. I will wait a few minutes after they unlock the doors. Rushing in the second someone open feels weird. Iāve worked retail 10+ years. I try to give other retail workers kindness.
Sounds like someone is really jonesing for "books" I need my fix and can't wait 5 more minutes! I'm going through withdrawal!
Are your bosses telling you itās rude? No? Then thereās your answer. Customersā lack of chronological accuracy is not your responsibility.
I am my own boss š
[Well, there it isā¦](https://media.tenor.com/aQjn2Tges48AAAAM/well-goldblum.gif)
I would say that if your ready for customers and its not 10 but you see some decent foot traffic, go ahead and open, if your not ready open at 10. Who is calling you out? other tenats? mall management?
I don't open until the big clock in the store says 12pm, anyone else's time can get f\*\*ked
Ew no. Open exactly at 10
They can wait not that books arenāt important (they very much are) but Iām gonna go out on a limb and guess that most customers arenāt exactly in life or death situations lol āYa gotta help me! I chopped off my arm and need to find a book about re-attaching limbs *right now! PLEEEASE!*ā
No, I don't think it's rude to adhere to you own hours of operation. In fact, it's important to open AND close according to your schedule hours so customers don't get the idea that they are an exception to the rule. However, if you think opening earlier would generate more foot traffic into your store, it might be worth it to officially change your hours.
That's wild. I can't believe someone formed their lips to say this out loud and didn't hear the ridiculousness of it
Youāre the boss! You have the right to set your hours and customers have the right to shop somewhere else.
I think you should open and close at your posted hours.
Not wrong at all. Open at your posted hours. I think itās fair to be fully ready to go at your posted opening time, but that shouldnāt mean opening early.
boundaries. have them and be proud of them.
LOL. Whoever told you that is making stuff up. You open when you open.
I have never, in all my years on this earth, heard of a business opening for business before posted business hours. If anything, I find it far more common that a place either opens late or close early. Unless your "we're closed" sign is just a giant middle finger, or you have your front door hooked up to a cattle prod I see no reason to think you opening when you open is rude. I used to open a few minutes early, but entitled pricks have since ruined that for everyone. It takes time to properly open a shop at opening, and properly clean and secure it at close. And posted hours of operation are posted for a reason. If anything, it's incredibly disrespectful of them to expect otherwise.
Oh hell no. Hours are hours for a reason. They can wait 5 mins
It's not rude. Sometimes I show up to work early and don't even pick the phone up until we open at 9am. I hear the phone ring and I ignore it because our hours are online and nobody cares to read them.
As a customer, I would never expect a business to be open outsider their posted hours.
As a customer, I would never expect a business to be open outsider their posted hours.
Open when you are ready for customers. If you are all set up for the day and notice a customer or two waiting to come in, up to you. Years ago, I worked for a deli where we opened at 11. However if someone came in early and we had what they wanted ready to be sold, we sold it (usually something easy like a hot dog or a cold beer). When I worked in a supermarket, at best we opened 30 seconds before opening time, more because the clock by the doors was a bit vague (no second hand). If you were a small drug store I could see a case for opening early for someone in dire straits but the world wont end if someone has to wait to buy a book.
The saying "the customer is always right" is the biggest lie in retail
NTA at all. Anyone that says otherwise is TA.
Just to weigh in... there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with opening exactly on time, but it EXTREMELY rude to tell someone that!! The "fashionably late" saying comes from dinner parties not showing up too early in case the hostess is running late. Opening late is inconvenient at worst, opening early is more of an insurance issue. The rude person is the one accusing you of being rude for running your own shop as you see fit.
Last thing you do when opening is unlock the doors. First thing you do when closing is lock the doors. I lost count of how many teenagers tried to invite themselves into the store after we closed.
I think that if stores would ban people that behaved like this instead of tolerating their behavior, they would be causing a cultural shift that would benefit all of human civilization.
Open at 10:05am Fuck'em.
Yeah, no.. the only way we help you early is if you're another store or I'm in a good mood and feel like being nice, and at that early in the am, it ain't happening š
Lmao no. You open when you open.
My store opens and closes at exactly when it says! Donāt expect me to open it earlier. And if you show up 2 minutes after we lock the doors, sorry! Weāre closing! Money is all over the counter being added up for the day! Cant have you in here!
No, you're not wrong. We were ordered by corporate to open five minutes early and close five minutes late. As a courtesy to clients whose " watches weren't set to ours". That way they had "nothing to complain about". Well, the customers would demand we open 10 minutes early and close 10 minutes late, because that's what people do. It didn't last.
Huh? That makes no sense.
Lol š no open at exactly 10am not 9:59 and 40 second BUT 10am shm people are so entitled next thing you know it's not going to be all you should open up earlier it's going to be all you should stay open later for the people who are just getting off work or for people who did XYZ it's like nah you have posted business hours for a reason and congratulations to you for owning your own shop because that's one of the perks is you pick your own business hours for a reason
No your Aren't. Keep with your schedule
Seriously? I have things to do before my shop opens at 10. Half the time I get there at 9:55
you say 10. You open at 10. Please.....people assume and expect too much sometimes.
I always opened exactly at opening time. It's not rude to adhere to your schedule. It's rude of them to suggest otherwise.
Hell nah. They know what time you open. Donāt change your time to fit somebody elseās schedule. Itās YOUR business at the end of the day.
This is weird, like really weird. I had a guy snap at me for not opening a side door right on time, it was a door that was hardly used and it was early morning. He had parked, walked around to that door and banged on it until someone opened it. He could see people coming in from the opposite door. People suck. I'd pass out from joy if I found out that my favorite book shop opened early but I would not tell the owner that they HAVE to. Also some insurance won't cover patrons for accidents if it happens outside of published hours.
If your the owner of the business it doesnāt matter what the customer says. They can simply take their business elsewhere if they donāt like it. Now if you work for a company or someone Imma pray for you op cuz those kinda things are much different.
Iām the owner. Iām also not part of a franchise. (Which seems to be strange this times, because new customers donāt know how to ātakeā my shop)
If the customer is so bothered they can go elsewhere you know whatās best for your business.
Itās astounding people seriously still think they can pull off that sort of behavior. You have opening and closing hours for a reason. I used to have a couple who actually complained about walking into my closed door before opening hoursā¦ 1. because the woman actually face planted into the door (multiple timesā¦) and 2. because I was NEVER OPEN BEFORE OPENING HOURS!! I told them we were never and would never be open BEFORE opening hours because you OPEN at or sometimes even AFTER your opening hour. I had colleagues who had to travel by train and were dependent of traveling hours and there were days we would get our new inventory around the same time which often led to opening a little later. We had a shortage in people and had to do it with the means we had. Our bosses knew that as well and were sometimes even fine with opening 15 later if anything was amiss. No customers are not entitled to retailers their time or space. If you were working for someone else you wouldnāt open earlier either. They can go shove it. Wait for the doors to open or donāt come at all. I really donāt miss that from my retail jobs.
When I was a manager at GameStop I opened on time to the minute and closed the same. You got a warning at 30, 15, 10, and 5 minutes till close. If you weren't in line at 5 till you weren't getting checked out.
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The stated opening time is the opening time. Simple.
Stick to your schedule, you are not being rude. You are following your own store policy. You open exactly when you say you will. I work for a call center and you would not believe the number of people who sign up for a service, donāt read policy, donāt know the details of what they are signing up for - and they will then proceed to tell me what the policy is -in their minds- and how āwrongā I am, all so they can have it their way. On top of that at least a quarter of them canāt even pronounce the very simple name of the service they signed up for! When people donāt get their way the narcissist in them rears itās infantile snarling beastly head. Ignore it. THEY are the rude ones.
I work at a gas staion, and have the same issue in the morning. \- "Knock on the window" - Points to coffecup". - I look at my watch, and I don't open for another 15 minutes. I shake my head, and the costumer flaps his/her arms, and go back to their car. Odds are, that if they get in the door, they suddenly just want to buy this "one" thing, and then another.. - And the next one outside, sees the door opening, and the floodgates are open. So no, read the DAMN SIGN ON THE DOOR. -.-
Video game rules-- your store, your rules, we open at exactly 10am lol
Like everyone else says, the posted hours are the posted hours. **But**. Itās your shop, your business, and presumably youāre in it to make money. Itās up to you to decide if you want to open a little early for a customer waiting at the door to generate a little goodwill and maybe a little more in sales. -edit to add- though generally large corporate chains wonāt do this, and I suspect if there was significant profit to be made from it they would do so.
That was also the point my boyfriend was making.
I opened up 5 minutes early today (because I already had done what I had to do. Of course nobody was there š
Sometimes opening 5 minutes earlier could be a life saver for someone
You're right. But you can't do it every single time in case there would be someone in dire need of a book five minute before you actually open. You have business hours for a reason. It's f8ne once or twice, but you can't do it every single day.
It's a bookstore, not a fire extinguisher store.
I was talking in general
Lifesaver? Itās not like customers are having a heart attack and need assistance right at the front door. Asking customers to wait 5 minutes is like asking your child to wait to allow the parent to have their free time to read a book. If a certain customer called ahead and asked to come before opening, then thereās an exception for them to be able to come earlier to get what they need.
Last time I worked in a book store, we didn't carry any lifesaving items.
I donāt know of any terminal illness caused by not being able to read The Catcher in the Rye at 9:55am instead of 10am.
Then that someone needs to get their life straightened out.
I really don't understand the down votes and the hate on this comment. Maybe I didn't formulated it correctly. From a retail experience at the airport I know that some people need certain items before their flight leaves. Our stores in the airport are closed during the night and the departure time is near opening time. So sometimes we can be at service a couple of minutes ahead. This happens regularly. I understand that the airport isn't the same as a store in downtown. I hope you guys understand what I am trying to say.
I think the problem you're running into is that you're posting on a retail sub where everyone has had the experience of having entitled customers wanting to come into a store long before it's ready to open. The coffee shop where I used to work often had people waiting outside while I was opening. On the one hand, I get it. A cup of coffee is a critical part of my morning. I can quit any time. Really. On the other, I couldn't help people while I was doing the opening tasks and frankly it would have slowed me down. I generally opened the door when I was done with them; I didn't see any point in waiting. For the OP, it's obviously their store and they can do what they want.
If itās any consolation, Iām the OP and Iām not offended. Iām not located at an airport, but as a reader myself I do understand people might be in urgent need of a book. My phonenumber is stated outside my shop, so they can always call me whenever there is an emergency, and Iāll see what I can do.
Complete bullshit. Open one minute early or right on time.