Treated Like a Bother at Ross Stores

I'm not sure why you thought it was necessary to mention the race of
the store manager? Why is it that you and your husband go shopping for
items for your new home 20 minutes before the store closes?

What/how much did you think you could find in 20 minutes? They should
have let you shop until you were done.

Optical illusion in your letter. I was expecting something racial,
but then took another look when you didn't and realized that you said
bother, not brother!

Anyone else make that mistake?

I think it's great you shop late. Here's an idea. Support local,
independent retailers only. They'd love that you came in 15 minutes
before closing and would not probably kick you out until you were
finished shopping. If I owned a retail store, I'd let you shop all
night if you wanted to. It's too bad national chains don't care.
Where do they think the money is coming from? Process and policy or
not. We're the customers. We're always right. Our money keeps them
in business. They should be thankful for our patronage.

God speed. Keep shopping late!

If the store's hours say they close at ten, then the doors should
close at ten, and people should already be on line to check out at
ten. If you are still browsing at ten, you should not be allowed to
check out. The time needed to close out the registers is the store's
problem, not the customers. If they need a half an hour, and they
don't want to pay overtime, then they should change their posted
closing time to 9:30. I've worked in these places, and know what it
means to have to stay late sometimes. It goes with the territory.

The clerk didnt have to be rude, but its not fair to employees to stay
an hour past the end of their shift because customers don't want to
leave at the store closing time. Many retails get angry if their
employees cause overtime. It isn't fair for them to be in trouble
because customers like to take their sweet time. Ive seen this many
places, It's why they have to limit people who come in considering
that they are an extremely busy store, and also a fact that they are a
clothing store..people just don't go in for 5 minutes to get something
real quick. This isn't just Ross, this is most retails.

There is no way you would have left the store at closing. By the time
you shopped and then paid for your items, it would be far past close.
I work in retail and have witnessed this so many times...

As I have previously stated, I have been in retail mgmt for more than
20 years. There is no place that I have ever worked that the company
allows a store to lock doors early or to aggressively rush people out.
yes, we make closing announcements and at times I have had to
approach customers to make sure that they knew we were closed, but
regardless of how rude we all think it is to show up to shop near the
end of the day, I am certain that they corporate offices or the
district manager will address this with the store manager.

While most on this site will blast you I am not going to. There are
polite ways of doing anything. Locking the in doors that early and
making crass announcements are not it. I've been in retail for over
20 years and will gladly admit that I've had my frustrations but I've
also seen the time when one more customer purchase would have made my
budget on a short week. The customer may not always be right but they
do ultimately pay the bills.

Ross Stores mgt is busy closing their own stores so they cannot go to
this one and prove your version of this story.

But I find it very rude of you to walk into the EXIT of this store 15
minutes before closing time and then expect to shop at your leisure
and think them rude for wanting to close their store at the designated
time?

Almost every store I have been in announces 5-10 minutes before
closing to please finish selecting your merchandise and take it to the
registers as they are getting ready to close.

They have a closing time for a reason...they need to run their totals
and get ready for the next day.
The majority of their customers seem to understand this...why can't
you?

You show up at a retailer 15 mintues prior to their posted closing
time, find the entrance doors locked (which indicates they are
preparing to close) but somehow enter through the exit doors and are
offended when an announcement is made that the store is closing and
shoppers need to proceed to the registers? Did the fact that the
entrance doors were locked not give you a clue that they were getting
ready to close? Just because the posted closing time is 10:00 p.m.
that doesn't mean that they don't have to take into account the time
it takes to get customers rung up and out of the store. As a previous
posted stated, it doesn't sound like you were running in to pick up a
quick item - - more like you were going to do some serious shopping
that would take more than 10 minutes.

I thought this title was "treated like a brother" and thought there'd
be a bunch of ill-placed race references. I'm glad I took a second
look at the title.

I reluctantly agree with the OP to some extent. Posted hours are
posted hours and should be honored.
But I've been on the other side of the counter in many instances where
(as has been mentioned) someone will slip in the store at the last
minute declaring, "I know exactly what I need!" and then proceed to
shop for 30 minutes or more past closing.
It's rude, inconsiderate and dangerous.

To the OP: it doesn't sound like you just intended to browse for a few
minutes. It sounds like you were set to do some serious shopping. I've
never understood how a store can be open 12 hours or more most days
and folks decide to shop in those last few minutes.

I have to wonder why you and your family and friends all seem to shop
at closing time at this store. Stores have a lot of work to do at
closing. Cleaning up the messes you (we) customers make, some
actually have to clean the stores not just put back merchandies, some
do stock work, and the list goes on and on. During Holidays the hours
extend and they do for management often without increase in pay.

I have worked for Major Dept. Stores in management, one for instance
that has been in business for many decades. We always had closing
announcements and sometimes they have closing songs. You would not
know but many have opening songs and announcements as well.

If you don't prompt people you are closing..some people (probably you)
would think because your inside the store you can shop to you drop.
This also gets people out of the dressing rooms before lights possibly
go out. That said even with announcements and lights out some
customers practically have to be dragged out the door. A lot of stores
will not even begin closing registers while someone is inside due to
the potential of being robbed. Stores have to be checked top to bottom
to make sure people are not hiding in dressing rooms, rest rooms, and
even merchandise racks. People hid and rob the place after everyone
exits or worse when employees are all locked in.

Most larger stores even have their lights on timers and they start
going out at closing time in stages. This goes for outside lights as
well and you exiting the store with those exterior lights out becomes
a risk factor to you.

And lastly all dept. stores are on payroll budgets. Adding 15 minutes
extra just for you to stroll around at leisure time then must be
mulitplied by the number of assocatites working, which makes you
hanging out after closing not worth the cost. As someone pointed out
this can result in managerment getting written up. Many times it is
for not coming in on payroll. This can cause overtime not unbudgeted
that corporate pitches a fit about. A large store can add several
hours because one customer stays 15 minutes late. That is time not
factored in a tight budget.

Ross has great products and prices and I would suggest shopping early.
They are reall not about customer service. It is more of a self
service type retail outlet. But that said even in a store that caters
to service you will find closing procedures and announcements more
likely than not.

Jackson, it certainly does sound like the employees could have treated
you with more courtesy.

And generally speaking, I would say that in theory customers should be
able to enter the store anytime before closing and shop.

However, several years ago, when I was working at a bookstore, we were
robbed by a nice couple who entered the store shortly before closing.
All the other customers paid and left, but this couple remained and
store policy was to not rush people out the door - even after closing.
The man wandered around in the back of the store (near the management
office) while the woman browsed near the cashwrap.

When our manager exited the office, the man pulled out a gun and
grabbed the manager, forcing him to the front of the store, where his
accomplice pulled out a bag and demanded all the cash from our
registers.

It was absolutely terrifying, let me tell you. Even though staff
outnumbered robbers three to one, none of us wanted to risk someone
getting shot.

I own a retail shop of my own now, and while I want to accommodate
customers as much as I can, I don't encourage people to linger at
closing time. It's a security risk.

You actually went through the exit doors? WOW!

Whether they closed early or not, I find it interesting that you felt
"entitled" to shop even though the entry doors were locked. Despite
what is on the local rumor mill, the store may well have had a good
reason for closing early that night.

I can't imagine why you would expect a warm welcome after you entered
through the exit doors. The entry doors were obviously locked for a
reason. They didn't want any more customers to come in. Hello.

If that location habitually closes early then place a call to the
corporate offices if it bothers you that much or just go to a
different location.

My opinion is that the employees may well have been rude, but so were
you by entering a closed store. Although the window sign may say
closing is at ten, it still is a private business and can do as it
sees fit, even closing early. You don't have some kind of "right" to
shop till 10 if the store chooses to close at 9:45. Your recourse is
to take your business elsewhere and/or let the corporate offices know.
I think your behavior was just as bad as theirs.

The obvious question here being - what time did the clocks in the
store say? I remember more than one customer wanting us to stay open
longer, because according to their watch it was not *closing time* and
thought we were being obtuse and rude for wanting to close at
*official corporate computer time*.

Even though I find (your rendition of) the announcements on the rude
side, I spent too many nights waiting for customers to stop diddling
and check out to feel much sympathy for anyone who comes in 20 minutes
from closing time.

When you get right down to it, there is no polite way to say 'go away
so we can go home' since no matter how polite or understanding the
message, someone is going to be insulted.

We close in *x* minutes is just begging to be ignored and yelling fire
is illegal. I use to walk around and every minute or so ask 'can I
help you find anything tonight?'. Annoying and since most people don't
like clerks doing that sort of thing, encouraged people to leave. I
would also try to insert 'we close in five mintues' as often as
possible into every conversation to remind people to hurry up.

I always found it ironic that corporate would encourage us to stay
open as long as possible to satisfy customers browsing late, but if a
store stayed open late too often, the entire store could be
fined/written up and the managers fired.

The sad thing is, I can see both sides of this situation. I do agree
that closing before the posted closing time is not acceptable, but as
another poster said, did you compare your timepieces? Is it possible
yours was running slow? When I worked in a retail store, our clocks
were set on some kind of satellite. I'm not sure if Ross does this or
not.
Closing announcements are not targeted at you personally. They are
made because many people get caught up in shopping and lose track of
time. Each store starts at a different time. We usually closed at
about 30 minutes prior to closing. I also know that some customers
choose to ignore the announcements. Unfortunately, our policy was to
keep at least one register open till the store was declared "clear",
even if that was an hour past closing. Believe me, that did happen.
If our security personnel saw someone just browsing or loitering, they
would remind them that we are closed and tell them (politely) that if
they want to make a purchase the register in (wherever) was open and
if not, the store is closed and security protocol says that they need
to be off the premisis. It worked 99.9% of the time.
If this OP was shopping and had two arms full of stuff to buy, they
should have probably left him alone to finish, within reason. My
guess is that he was just browsing and the employees didn't see a sale
coming and decided to encourage him to leave.

You wrote a lengthy letter that could have been a lot shorter and
communicated the same message. Everything you experienced was
consistent. They told you what to expect when you arrived, and
everything they did was in accordance with that.

While I think they shut down earlier than I would expect, you know
everyone has to go home sometime. Even though I haven't worked
retail, boy I like to go home on time. Maybe their clock was off.
Maybe you ahould have arrived a bit earlier.

I do hope you hear back from them, but personally I give retail
employees some slack when it comes to closing up and getting to leave
the store. In any other job, you just leave. It does seem that based
on what you said the hours should be posted xx:xx - 9:50pm, if their
clock was correct. Did you ask them what time they were using, and
compare to your watch?

Having worked in retail before, 15 minutes before closing time,
workers want nothing more than to get the hell out of there and go
home to be with their families (or whatever they do.) Put up with
some of the bull-crap retail employees do from customers and you'd be
the same way. Plus, when a retail store is open 12+ hours during the
day, 6 or 7 days a week, why wait until 20 minutes before they close
to do your shopping?

Also, when I worked, we almost HAD to start making the closing
announcements a few minutes early because otherwise we'd NEVER get
people out of there. A lot of people don't think that announcement
that "WE ARE CLOSED" applies to them which is even more frustrating...

I agree, I hope someone from corporate management tries to enter the
store 15 minutes before closing and sees how customers are treated.
When I worked in retail, we would have gotten in so much trouble if we
tried to close the store early (especially during the holiday season).
Stores list a certain closing time, which means they should stay open
till that time. Register employees are usually listed on the schedule
till half an hr after stores close so that they can get the rest of
the customers out of the store and close up. Now, if it's 9:55 and
people are still trying to shop rather than heading to the registers,
that's another story. This customer entered the store 20 minutes
before closing; there is nothing wrong with that. Why anyone is
against this OP is beyond me.

Again, I understand the need for employees to go home, but as I said
before, if the store is open until 10 p.m., then they are open until
10 p.m. It is not entirely unreasonable to enter a store 20 minutes
before closing. I've done it, but I've also made sure to leave by the
posted closing time.

The stores I've worked at would not only be penalized for closing
early, they'd be penalized for **announcing** the closing anytime
before ten minutes to closing.

Although, I agree they should not close prior to closing time, I
question exactly what time you were really there. But what I really
wanna know is how is this "treating you like a brother??" Make
yourself a little more clear on that please...

it has nothing to do with treating you like a bother and more like
treating you as the rude jerk you are.

If you were actually, "looking at items for our new home we're
purchasing," it makes no sense to show up even 30 minutes prior to
closing with plans to shop. Can you explain to us why you felt it was
appropriate for you to show up so late to "look around" instead of
arriving hours earlier?

My guess is that the staff has had a difficult time with many
shoppers who are completely ignorant of their posted times, and like
you, think nothing of showing up to "browse" so late. You don't
mention that you were there specifically for certain items, so I
think its safe to say that you had no real purpose other than to
look.

And clearly they did need to show you where the registers were as you
were still wandering around the store at 10 till.

It is incredibly inconsiderate and thoughtless to expect that just
because a store is open until a posted time that you think it means
you may loiter there until that point in time.

I too had guests show up at our store mere minutes before closing
insisting that they just needed "one thing" and then spent 30 minutes
casually browsing. How would you feel if someone called or showed up
at your job just as you were getting ready to leave and expected to
take up your time just because you were still on the clock?

Furthermore, if you felt upset and offended, perhaps it was your own
guilt at being there so late and having it pointed out to you.

Jackson,

You make reference to it having been "approximately" 9:40PM which in
my mind means it could be either side of that number by 5 - 10
minutes.

I do not think it is a reasonable expectation to show up 10 minutes
prior to close and expect that the staff cater to your ever whim.

From your statement it appears that you and people in your immediate
circle have experienced this making me think that you are more intent
on finding chinks in this store's practices as opposed to shopping.

What next? Testing to see what time they open according to your
approximate watch time?

BillR.

Although I do agree with the poster here in that they should not CLOSE
early and lock the doors, let me share why they MIGHT be doing it.

My children worked at Banana Republic and many times they will hjave
"shoppers" come in at or near closing time and try on clothes,
sometimes for an hour, and then leave buying nothing. Of course this
is the exception, not the rule but it does happen more than you would
think.

With this in mind it is appropriate to begin announcing closing a few
minutes prior and encouraging folks to make their way to the register
but to lock the doors 20 minutes early and close down before the
acutal closing time is not right.

My first question would be whether your watch/car clock was accurate.
I would agree though that if the time line is correct there's no
reason for treating you as they did.