Stop Rushing Your Customers, Target

Are you kidding me? If the store closes at 10pm and you walk in at
9:20 you have 40 min to shop and get out! The hours are not 8 to
around 10.. employees have lives to live and stores have policies to
adhere to. If you are injured in the store after closing time are you
covered by their insurance? Does the bank accept charges for the day
after 10:00pm.. Stop being selfish and think of the world around
you... the store closes at 10 be considerate and be done shopping at
10!!!!! Your unbelievable...

As an employee of another retail chain I understand why they were
anouncing that they were closing. At the store I work for we close at
9:30 and we are allowed to make anouncements pertaining to the time
and when we will be closing and our lights turn off automatically as
well. With all of this in mind you would think that customers would
leave, but there are often customers who stay past 10 pm. I think that
the associates should be considerate as well as customers. You knew
all day what you had to do instead you waited until the last minute.
We must all remember that associates have lives outside of work and
they don't want to stay all night waiting on late customers.

There are so many elements of this letter I disagree with, I don't
know where to begin.

"This particular store closes at 10pm. I arrived to shop at this store
around 9:20pm"

So you knew the store closed at 10, and entered anyhow, without a
shopping list, to just purchase things that could've probably waited a
day?

"I arrived to shop at this store around 9:20pm and while shopping, at
least every 10 minutes someone announced over the loudspeaker that
"the store will be closing in 30 minutes" etc. and that we (the
customers) should make our final selections and proceed to checkout."

This is a courtesy, so that you know when they're closing and you know
how much time you have. Also so when they close, customers don't say
"but I didn't know!" when ushered out of the store. The employees have
to clean and straighten and put all the gobacks away. They can't
alter their schedule for one customer. I'm sorry.

"At 9:58 pm I was standing in line at the register when I realized I
forgot paper towels, so I went back into the store to get some."

You knew they were closing. I'm all for customer service, but it
would've taken you at least 4 minutes to go back and return with the
paper towels.

"As I walked back to the register I noticed a shirt that I thought my
sister would like so I stopped to take a quick look at it when yet
another employee told me "the store was closed". I looked at my watch
and it read 10:01."

The shirt was not a matter of life and death and would be there
tomorrow. Do you seriously think people who have parents, spouses, and
children waiting for them to return home would want to wait for you to
assess a shirt for your sister?

On Christmas Eve, when I worked in a bookstore, we closed at 6 pm. We
had a guy enter the store at 5:55 pm and tell me it would only be a
minute. He proceeded to stick around PAST 6 and had to be shooed out
of the door. The hours are there for EVERYBODY, not just special
snowflakes.

After years experience working full time for various retail
establishments, it never ceases to amaze me how many people seem to
feel that when a store closes it means that it's time for their own
personal shopping spree to begin. How would Jill feel if I came into
her place of work right at closing time with no apparent intention of
leaving? I'm tired of hearing how customer service has gone downhill.
I have never treated any of my customers rudely, or with disrespect,
but I have had many customers treat me as if I'm less than the dirt on
the bottom of their shoes. I have a feeling Jill would be one of those
customers.

I had to revisit this letter one more time. I find it interesting
that Jill did not reply to any of the postings on this letter, and
it's been up for one month.

Since 100% of the comments on here are in agreement with each other, I
would like to see Jill's reaction regarding how she feels about how
she acted that night. Has it changed any? Or is it a lost cause?
Perhaps maybe she now feels embarrassed in the way she acted, after
reading all the posts? Maybe that's why she hasn't replied?

Interesting.

You don't have a god-given right to be in a store AFTER it closes--and
no, I don't care if it's only by one minute (by your watch). You
realize that there are things that must be done after all the
customers leave, right?

These people are not paid enough to care whether or not you get to
look at a stupid shirt or not--they have a job to do, and people are
going to continue shopping at Target when it is actually open, whether
you feel "unwelcome" there or not.

It must be nice to think that Target should cater to you. Talk about
the world revolving around one person...

Target has a law that if you are a high school student that you MUST
clock out at 10. So if the cashier is in high school, they end up
staying later than they are supposed to due to people like you...

I used to work in retail. At the time, I could not afford a car, and
had to rely on public transit. When I worked closing shifts, it was
always a tight squeeze to get my drawer counted out and myself out of
the store in order to catch the last bus home. If the store had been
kept open so that people like you can shop for as long as they wanted
to, I'd have gone bankrupt paying for cab fare home.

This is why I think that everyone should be REQUIRED to work a retail
job for at least a month. If this were the case, we'd see a lot fewer
whiny letters like this one.

Instead of writing all those letters to complain to someone about your
poor planning, try writing a shopping list and go early next time.

Closed means closed.Big stores like Target,Wal-Mart and the like have
to make announcements like this simply because they don't have enough
employees to police the entire store at closing time.Some people lose
track of the time when they are shopping so the announcements are for
them...and for inconsiderate people who think that as long as they are
in the store they have the right to shop as long as they want no
matter when the store closes.
Next time you need to buy something,here is a tip:unless you know
exactly what you want and do not intend to buy anything else,don't go
to the store that close to closing time.Go anytime you like,but don't
do this 15 minutes before the store closes.I have worked in retail for
years and when the store closes,we want to get our jobs done and go
home.Retail employees have lives too you know.

Two words, shoppers anonymous! Get the hell out when the store closes.

sORRY BUT NOT TO BE MEAN BUT PEOPLE DO WANT TO GO HOME
TARGET IS NOT THERE LIFE, I WORKED IN RETAIL FOR MANY YEARS AND CANT
STAND LAST MINUTE SHOPPERS YUCK YUCK YUCK, THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN
RUDE THOUGH

These people commenting on your letter are right. When the store is
closed - it's closed. I understand why the staff is trying to clear
out and go home - I don't want to hang around my office job any longer
than I need to as well. Try making a list in the future so you don't
"forget" anything when you are running into the store so close to
closing time. If you don't like Target's PA system messages and store
closing time, shop somewhere else!

You knew they were closing, why would you think it was OK to stop and
check out a shirt your sister would like? Who cares if your sister
likes the shirt you needed to get out of the store. When you realized
that you forgot paper towels you should have also realized that they
were CLOSED!

'Stop rushing your customers and stop making those annoying
announcements.'

Stop taking your sweet time at closing time, and you will not have
this problem. The employees have lives outside of work. They do not
want to be stuck there all night because of some slowpoke, no life
customer taking his or her sweet time.

People who work in retail do have lives. And would like to go home and
lead them.

Oh hello people do have a life chick. You mentioned coming back into
the store at 9:58 and 10:01. Are you scared to go home or lonely?
Workers do have a life, you may need to get one. The store is open
seven days a week, you could have always returned another time. I
think your posting is annoying and a waste of Targets time and need no
response.

I hate to tell you, but the lights go out automatically when the store
is scheduled to close. So it no one's fault that you stayed to shop in
the dark. I was someone who worked for Target and had to make those
"annoying" announcements. Now, I am glad that I did. I would literally
have to go around and make people leave the store beacause they just
wouldn't leave. Also, this is done because the risk for shoplifting
goes up when the lights are off and you only have a few employees to
check the whole store for the lingering people.

This letter should go into the dictionary, would be a great example
for the word, "PEST!"

I'm sorry, butI don't sympathize for you at all. You didnt have an
emergency necessity to buy, therefore why should you be special? You
knew the store was closed, why did you stop and look at things?Without
those "annoying announcements" customers would still be in the store
taking their time.It's not the employees fault that they get in
trouble for overtime caused by customers taking their sweet time after
KNOWING the store is closing. Most stores will discipline their
employees for causing any sort of overtime no matter what the excuse
is..how would you know if they only had 10 minutes to close up and go?
Try going earlier next time

I can't believe that you stopped to look at a shirt that you thought
your sister would like AFTER you knew that the store was closing
BECAUSE they had made that abundantly clear over and over again. They
even went so far as to tell you to your face - and you disrespect them
by stopping to look at a shirt.

I don't believe you even actually liked that shirt OR thought your
sister would like it. I think, as a few other posters have stated, you
did that on purpose as a way to taunt and disrespect the stores wishes
that they requested of you again and again.

Yeah, I think the official verdict on this complaint would be an
appropriate, "Get bent!"

You are the exact reason why I close my shop two or three mins
early.I've had people come in and say oh I just need a coke.Twenty
mins later they are still looking.Grow up the world doesn't revole
around you.This might be hard to believe but workers are people with
lives outside of work,with families and friends.

As others have pointed out, customers like you are pretty much the
reason they need to make "annoying announcements". They close for
business at 10:00. Not 10:01.

I worked for Domino's pizza while going to college. We'd get a call
about twice a week from the same address, within a couple minutes of
our closing. Which was annoying, because by the time we made the
pizza and delivered it, we were at least 1/2 an hour behind where we
wanted to be. Now, this customer was within her rights, but it was
annoying. Until one night when she called right at closing, and my
manger told me that we were closed. I told her, and she got mad and
said that she still had a minute. Turns out she worked for another
Dominos store, and knew full well how annoying what she was doing was.
The fun part was that she called the office to complain, and was told
not to do it again...

When I worked at Motherhood Maternity in the outlet mall, we had
winter hours from January 1st until April 1st and we closed at 6 every
night besides Friday and Saturday. I had a woman come in at 5:30 and
stay until 7:30. I had to stay until well past 8 to clean and close
the register when I should have been out at 6:15. The woman spent a
very small amount of money and I had to pay my baby-sitter extra for
keeping my child extra. She also had to cancel her plans for the night
and I felt the need to compensate her for that, so I lost money.
I hate people like this, and I refuse to even set foot in a store half
an hour before close.

Some people just don't take the hint and leave...

How do you think that you are any more important then the employees.
You feel like it is rude and annoying for them to do their job (which
is making the announcements). Did you EVER stop to think that being
there after closing is rude and annoying to the employees? NO, I
didn't think so. They may be there to assist you in the store, but
they are people too. You the OP are a hippocrit. You are doing to
someone else exactly what you don't want done to you.

I doubt if someone as selfish as the OP works in the real world like
most of us. She doesn't know what it is like to welcome the end of the
work day to go home to one's loved ones. Or to be able to leave on
time to get the kids from daycare or to be able to get dinner started
on time.
I just don't get the attitude that just because as she says she was
"spending money" she has the right to treat the employees like her
personal servants without respect to their rights.
I hope she carries through her threats to put her story on every
customer service blog and consumer advocacy group as she says she will
so they can tell her what an inconsiderate person she is.

precisely which part of closed is giving you trouble? closed is
closed. they can't make exceptions, because where would it end?
suppose one second after you someone forgot something and had to run
back and a few seconds later... i'm hoping you get the picture, tho i
doubt you will. good for target for sticking to the rules.

Speaking from experience, I've had someone come in so close to close
that had to change something about their receipt. By the time we were
done, it was 10:40pm, a full 40 minutes after the store had closed.
Normally it wouldn't have taken that long, but they had a lot of
"problems" with their receipt.

Being the only one at the Guest Service area that night, I had to
finish my closing duties which on that Saturday, took me an extra hour
to complete. Luckily the rest of the store was still there when I
finished with those duties, but they had one less person helping them
out.

Those "annoying" reminders DO apply to you. Have a heart and respect
the store's and employee's wishes of finishing up for the night in
order to go home in a reasonable amount of time.

They do the overhead announcements so people are aware of the time it
is and when the store closes. It is 10:01, that means the store is
closed. Why would they let you in? Employees need to balance the
till and do others things, I'm sure. They want to get home! Think
next time and don't be so inconsiderate, OK!! :)

Don't feed the trolls people. There's a lot of bait in this message.
Sounds like "Jill" just wanted to stir people up and sit back and
enjoy the upheaval.

When I was in my late teens, I worked at a Safeway grocery store.
Usually, I would have the closing shift. Our closing time was 11:00
pm. Promptly at 11, I would lock the in-door so that no more
customers could enter. Did that stop people? Nope. People would
simply pull open the out-door and grab a shopping cart, indicating
that they weren't just buying one or two items, but were planning on
staying for a while. It finally got to the point where I would
stealthily wait near the doors, and as soon as someone tried to get
in, I would literally block their ingress. Of course, all of them
said the same thing: "Oh, I only have to get one item!" Yeah right,
I'm sure it's an emergency item too, right? Just like I'm sure that
those paper towels and that shirt HAD to be bought that night, right
Jill?

Working retail can be rewarding. Most customers are very pleasant,
and it makes the employee feel good to know that you're making the
customers happy. It's always those handful of rude, self-important,
and entitled people who ruin your day. Customers like the OP are the
reason I'm SO glad I don't work retail anymore.

Tell me where you work so I can come to your workplace, hang out, and
keep you from leaving work on time...did it ever occur to you that
maybe one or two or more of those employees needed to catch the last
bus home or needed to get to a babysitter, or needed to pick up a
spouse after work?

store closes at 10, they make announcements for the people who may not
know when they close, but you hear it over and over, yet like most
mouthbreathers, you choose to ignore it and go on your merry way, all
about you, who cares about the employees who want to balance and run
the store close, but who cares, its all about you and your rude ass
upbringing.

everyone should work retail at least once in their life...

There are many reasons that stores need to close on time: employee
shifts are ending, alarm systems might be timed to go on at a certain
time...and safety!

When I was in college, I worked at a bookstore. We were open until
11pm, but our manager's policy was that no customer would be rushed
out of the store. We would politely offer to help, we would stand at
the front of the store and hope they got the hint, but we would not
tell them to leave.

Well one night two customers "lingered" for over half an hour - and
then they robbed us at gunpoint. They had been casing the place for
weeks and knew that they could hang around the store until most of the
staff (and people in the other shops in our strip center) had gone.

The very next day our new policy was established - everybody out and
the door locked promptly at closing time.

Three issues to mention; Where were you all day when the store was
open. Possibly WORKING! Insurance premiums go down when the store is
closed, allowing night shift to restock the papertowel and shirts with
the utmost speed without putting customers in danger. Finally, some
employees use Public Transit and doubt you have considered the safety
of women(without bias) travelling alone late at night. My final word
is necessity? Apparently not.

Well, for all the rushing they did you took your sweet time.

I hope you never darken their doorstep again.

". . I noticed a shirt that I thought my sister would like so I
stopped to take a quick look at it when yet another employee told me
"the store was closed". I looked at my watch and it read 10:01."

Target closes at 10:00 p.m. and you were still shopping at 10:01 p.m.
- - you do the math.

How many times do they have to warn you before you get the hint? The
store closes at 10:00pm so people can go home to their families. You
were still shopping and stopping and looking at 10:01 after all of
those warnings!
I am guessing you are one of the people that show up 5 minutes after
close and pound on the door because you just need one thing, and then
proceed to shop for an hour if they let you in.
How late should they stay open for you and pay employees you are
holding up that put in a full day at work and won't get paid overtime?
1/2 the time the store will write them up them if they clock out 5
minutes late.
YOU ARE NOT WELCOME TO SHOP AFTER 10:00pm, so you should feel
unwelcome. They want you to go home. They warned you over and over
again and you just ignored it. How rude is that?

As a former waiter I can sympathize with the employees. Some
customers would sit in my section till after closing. I couldn't
leave till my section was done, but I also couldn't clean my section
until they were gone. One inconsiderate family or couple could hold
me up till past midnight.

That is your fault...Why did you wait to go so late to Target to shop
if you knew you would be long? And then you expect the employees to
wait around for you after close so you can shop? Get real here. What
did you want them to do? Not say anything and let you keep them there
till midnight?

I remember working at grocery store as a casher while I was in high
school. They scheduled our shifts for 4 to close. Which means you
didn't get out until everything was done. I hated the people who came
in at 10 minutes before closing to do their weekly shopping as I
couldn't settle out my drawer until they were gone.

To this day, I try to be consideate to the employees and not go into a
place to shop that close to closing. But as a single mom who worked
40+ hours a week and went to work in the evenings (both undergrad and
law), sometimes there just aren't enough hours to get everything done
and you have to. Life happens.

I personally don't think the employees should have chastised her. But
I also wouldn't have stopped to look at the shirt ~ that just smacks
of "in your face".

Oprah. Winfrey.

OK, it was at Hermes, in Paris. But OPRAH got turned away because the
store had just closed. She could have easily called ahead to let the
store know that she was on the way. After all, she's OPRAH. Most
places in this world would bend over backwards to accommodate Oprah.

I'm guessing you do not rate at the same level that Oprah does.

I'm also guessing that you haven't worked retail in a very long time.
Other jobs are similar. Many people make plans for after work.
Sometimes, things like doctor's appointments or getting to the bank
before it closes. Sometimes, picking kids up from the babysitter. Or
getting the babysitter home so he/she can go to sleep before school
the next day. Sometimes, relieving the other parent so that he/she
can get to work on time.

You "need a serious refresher course in" being a customer. Grab and
go, when the store is closing soon. Just because YOU have no place to
go--doesn't mean employees have no place.
Sometimes, people just want to get home and relax or go to bed.

I worked at Walmart several years ago. This was a regular Walmart,
not a even a
Super Walmart. And you know what? There were times that we had
customers in the store until almost 11pm, even though we closed at 10.
We also made announcements starting at 9:30, but because management
allowed the customers to continue shopping after 10, they took
advantage. So what did this cost management? The loyalty of their
employees. If you are told that you can go home as soon as every
customer has left and as soon as your area looks spectacular, you're
going to feel a bit bitter when management turns around and allows
customers to continue shopping beyond the hours of the store's
operation. Not only is this an inconvenience to the cashiers who need
to count their drawers, but this also ensures that the employees have
to continue picking up after the remaining customers. Some stores
also have policies regarding employees working overtime hours.
Obviously overtime costs can add up quickly and it makes no sense to
pay to have 5+ employees wait around while a handful of customers
complete their purchases after hours.

It's really nothing new. It's merely a reminder to shoppesrs and
staff. they weren't singling you out. I know I want out when my work
day is over too!

You must not have a job, because you obviously don't know what it's
like to want to go home at the end of your shift.

I agree. Those announcements ARE annoying. And, we have people like
you, Jill, to thank for them. People who cannot seem to get their
shopping done in time for the store to close on time.

And, thank you Jill, for forcing them to pay overtime so that our
prices go up. Thank you very much.

I bet they would have sold you a watch.

Here's an excerpt from the book "Pretending You Care" by Norm Feuti:

Chapter 6 The Customers: Lingerer (The Latin term is "Overstayum
Welcomus")

A lingerer is a customer who dawdles in the store long after the
closing announcement has been made and the doors have been locked.
Lingerers have no respect or common courtesy. In their mind, it's
perfectly acceptable to wander into a store five minutes before
closing and then browse for half an hour.

No matter how many times you ask if they need help or announce that
the store is closed over the loudspeaker, lingerers won't take the
hint. When they finally make it up to the front of the store, they'll
act shocked when they see the entire staff sitting pissed-off at the
registers and say, "Oh, are you closed, I'm sorry, I had no idea".

Unfortunately, many stores make it a policy never to rush a customer
or ask them to leave, so the only way to deal with a lingerer is to
make them uncomfortable. Rudeness deserves rudeness. After the
second announcement is ignored, a more personal message should be
repeated every two minutes to get the point across. ---- If you need
to, you can up the pressure by saying things like, "Are you sure I
can't help you with anything or You know we're closed, right? Just
checking".
___________________________________________
My favorite announcement: Attention lone (Your store name) shopper!
We have been closed for over 40 minutes, which means that you have
officially beaten the old record for most inconsiderate customer!
Congratulations!

What exactly were you buying? I get the feeling it wasn't enough to
warrant the Target employees staying over to help you out. You admit
that you knew when the store closed--how else couldn't you, since you
just complained that they made announcements every ten minutes? And
yet, you still chose to ignore them.

The time to do shopping is when the store is open, not when it is
closed. Don't you agree? Should a store accomadate you because you
were in there well before closing? Should employees have to put off
being able to go home after a long day of work just so you can shop
when the store isn't even open?

The employees didn't talk to you until after the store was closed.

Also, what's wrong with making closing announcements? I like it when
stores do that because I often lose track of time and I like to get
out of the store before it closes.

I agree you are out of line. Your letter oozes entitlement. When I
worked at a gym that closed at 10pm, people who showed up to start
their work-outs at 9:45 would get all huffy that we wouldn't stay open
for them. We also made announcements within 30 minutes of closing, and
other closing cues like turning off fans, music, etc. And like you,
some of them would feign cluelessness and/or complain because they
don't think the rules apply to them.
It is your choice to cut it that close, and it is the choice of the
business to exercise their right to adhere to their posted and
verbalized closing time.
Maybe you should shop at 24 hour Wal-Mart instead if you want
round-the-clock access to a discount store.

Here's the deal. The larger the store the more apt they are of
starting the closing announcements earlier and with more frequency. I
work for Walgreens and most stores give a 10 minutes / 5 minutes / and
closing announcements. Even then we have people that linger around the
store. I can just imagine a store like Target would be in a much worse
situation if they weren't a little bit assertive about it. There is a
psychological aspect of this also. If a customer sees another
customer still shopping then they get the idea that it must be OK for
them to continue shopping. It may not be until they see themselves as
the last customer that they might consider it urgent that they check
out. I see this all the time at Walgreens stores and, once again, if
I just multiply my experience by 4 I can come up with something in my
mind on what Target may have to deal with.

yes, because i'm sure you LOVE dealing with customers who call/show up
at the very last minute.

you're a great example of why pretty much every service employee ever
is two screaming kids, a loudmouthed teenager and a cranky
check-writing old lady away from going postal.

I think you should consider yourself lucky that they allowed you to
get back into the register line and make your purchase. They could
have (should have, IMHO) closed the registers on time, and informed
you that you were too late to make your purchases. It's not as if you
weren't fairly warned.

I don't know about you, but when I've worked a long day, I'm ready to
go home. I don't want to take a phone call or late client visit that
is going to delay my departure. And I don't have to stand on my feet
for 4 - 8 hours at a time. I really feel for the retail & food
service workers who spend their entire shift on their feet & then have
to deal with people like you who think that the world's clock revolves
around them. From the tone of your letter, I would have to say that
you are one of the most inconsiderate people I've ever been around.
Some of the Target employees were probably hungry, tired, working a
second job, needing to get home to relieve a spouse or sitter, put
kids to bed, check homework, whatever... Not stay so you can look at a
shirt that your sister might like. Rude - that sums it all up nicely!

I know this is a shocker to you Jill so please sit down and take a
deep breath...the world does not revolve around you no matter what you
think.
And just by the tone of this letter, I think you deliberately stopped
to look at that blouse just to dare them to saying anything.
Also customer service does not mean leaving a store open for your
personal convenience.

Grow up and act like a responsible adult for a change...you may not
like it but others around you most certainly will!

Target closes at 10:00 p.m. which means that you need to be checked
out by that time - - not taking a quick look at a shirt you think your
sister might like. I agree that the repeated announcements are
annoying but that is what is to be expected when you are still
shopping at the posted closing time. Retailers schedule their
employees on a strict schedule and that schedule does not allow them
to work overtime so customers can shop past closing time.

In the spirit of PFB, I'm trying to look at things from a more
pro-consumer persepctive. So, I agree that an announcement every 10
minutes would be annoying. I've always maintained that if a store is
open until 10 p.m., then that store is open unti 10 p.m. And a
customer shouldn't be made to feel unwelcome while the store is open.
So, I'm with you there, Jill.

"At the stroke of 10:00, not a minute after the lights were turned off
and again an announcement was made that the store was closed."

I don't see a problem with this. The store is closed, and all bets are
off. And you KNEW the store was closed; they kept announcing it every
10 minutes after all. So why were you still dilly-dallying through the
aisles looking at t-shirts?

See, a posted closing of 10 p.m. means just that. It doesn't mean
closing at 9:55 p.m., but it also doesn't mean you get to wander
around until you feel like leaving.

Yeah, keep posting this on every blog and forum you can find so maybe
you will come to realize, through the comments, that you were being
rude!

What part of the store is closed was confusing to you?

How rude.

Not the store's behavior, mind you. Yours.

Also, your stopping to look a tshirt AFTER THE STORE HAD CLOSED (and
you KNEW it was closed--all those announcements made it very clear)
just reeks of passive-aggressiveness. Get thee to a headshrinker
before you become unable to buy anything unless it's under the gun.

I worked in a grocery store part time, after my regular full-time job.
We closed at 10. I know who you are. I know EXACTLY who you are.

You're awfully full of yourself for someone who can't focus and buy
her damn paper towels within 40 minutes.

Let me ask you this; is the profit from the items you buy even equal
to what it would cost to employee every worker in the store, pay for
the lights and other electronics, so on and so forth, for the store to
be open later?

The announcements are annoying, no question about that, and you had me
up until you stopped to look at the shirt. Don't you see? That's
EXACTLY why they keep making the announcements. It's people like you
that make them turn off the lights. It's the only way to get people
like you out of the store. So why don't you start being a little more
considerate and stop ruining it for the rest of us who would have been
grateful just to grab the paper towels.

ACK! Go home already. It always amazed me when I worked retail - it
still does, as a matter of fact - how people can be so self-centered
to think they are the only ones who matter. You KNEW the store was
closing and you kept finding reasons to delay check-out in a juvenile
attempt to play chicken with the workers. I hope the consumer advocacy
groups you post this drivel to laugh at you and hold this up as an
example of how NOT to act if you want courteous and polite customer
service.

Christ... be considerate of the MANY people that work in that store,
who I'm sure would like to get home to their friends, family, pets,
etc.

And I can't believe you are admitting that you couldn't properly make
your selections and get to the registers in time, when they were
announcing "at least every 10 minutes" how much time you had left.

And hopefully they will publish your account, with a discussion that
this is the wrong way to behave as a customer.

You knew for 30 minutes before needed that the store would be closing,
but you chose to window shop for 31 minutes and were still trying to
make selections at 10:01pm.

Why didn't you have everything selected at 9:55, so you could stand in
line and be out by 10pm? You were well aware that is closing time by
your own admission.

If your argument is, "well I was in the store, I have the right to
keep shopping until I am done," at exactly what time should the
employees insist you leave? 10:05pm, 10:10pm, 10:15pm? Don't you see
the best thing to do is get your butt in line by 10pm at the absolute
latest? Employees have to go home, you know.

be easier to make those final selections and get to the check-out.
NEVER have I EVER spent 40 minutes in a store that I knew was closing
and not been out well before they killed the lights.
Good luck with your future timing.