If I was one of those employees, my response would be to smile and wave, maybe give a thumbs up, and go back to ignoring them. They can interpret it how they like, and only I know for sure that it means “Lol, you’re getting nothing from me, you dumb buttmunch.”
buttmunch
I haven’t heard that since the Beavis and Butthead days. LOL, thanks for taking me back.
Edit: ROFL… I’m at a bar and right after I posted this comment I saw a sticker on the beer tap. The bar logo here is a woman in a Martini glass and someone made a sticker with that woman’s face as (what looks like) Butthead. Perfect timing.
Here’s the sticker:
Zoomed out:
Had people knocking on the door 2 minutes before we opened the other day. I acted like I didn’t see them and waited until 1101 to open just to be petty.
Everyone should work food service and retail at least once in their lives. It would give perspective to, and teach respect for, what those workers have to endure.
The worst part of retail/food service is the inescapable feeling of dread when you stare down the endless abyss of being stuck in that job day in and day out, forever, until you die. Only by resigning yourself to that fate does one gain the perspective needed to truly sympathize with the working class.
And that’s why I went to trade school at age 30. “I gotta get out of these fuckin places.”
It was a good move
Fucking SAME. I bartended and served through college (my degree doesn’t pay well due to YouTube tutorials that have flourished in my industry, lol ouch) and after, and then finally at 30 I started temping in manufacturing, which led to me permanently hired at a huge company with ridiculous benefits, and am now a supervisor in engine assembly that will make 6 figures in 3 years.
I desperately wish I had gone into trade school when I was 18.
Hell yeah! I became an electrician and now I work for myself. Which, so far, absolutely rocks. It turns out I didn’t hate working, I hated having bosses lol
It’s a great path if you’re up for it, to anyone reading
fuck the draft, make everyone spend a year or two in the service industry after high school
From the bottom up. No skipping washing dishes, cleaning out the walk-in cooler, scraping grills, cleaning fryers… Yeah, front of house has its own difficulties, but it’s a lot easier than the grunt work in the back.
I don’t think we need to compare. Both suck, and both teach valuable life skills. Back of house how terrible you can be treated by corporate overlords and management with some of the worst jobs. Front of house teaches you how terrible you can be treated by the general public. I have both scars on my hands from molten grease and I’ve been screamed at by old ladies because corporate raised the senior coffee price from 49 to 53 cents. Both show you how awful different things can be.
Agreed. I wasn’t trying to suggest otherwise, just that the suggestion was customer-facing was the only difficult side of the service industry and we need to see all of it.
I don’t know. Some people who experience abuse and escape it become far worse abusers when they’re in position to do so.
This is very true. I was at my retail job and a customer walked up to me while I happened to be leaning on my workstation because my back hurt. The first thing he says to me is, “when I had a fast food job, if there was time to lean, there was time to clean!“ I looked at him, and then I turned around and walked away. He had this stunned look on his face. I walked into the back room To cool off a bit before I walked back onto the floor. It was probably five or eight minutes. When I walked back out, he was still standing there, at my workstation, waiting for me.
I went to lunch.
deleted by creator
Add call-centers to that list.
And hospitality.
Having worked both retail and call center, no, they’re not in the same league. People can be assholes over the phone, absolutely, but it’s quite different from face-to-face. Someone threatens to kill me over the phone, I can say “I’d like to see you try” and hang up, and the worst that happens is I get fired. In person, they can carry out the threat.
Food service and retail needs to exist, (
commercialsales) call centers should be banned and their owners shunned from polite society.Sales call centers I would agree with you. Costumer service ones are necessary.
To a point. Beyond that point, they exist so that businesses can make anti-customer decisions while underpaying people to be abused for it.
deleted by creator
The workers have learned that they can’t pre-judge the person knocking on the door; that opening the door opens a conversation, and that a conversation can only impact them negatively despite following the rules.
They know a belligerent Karen can cause more problems on a phone than they need, and that it’s easier and safer to play deaf until the person goes away so there’s no specific target for her rage – if she’s that kind of person.
But, as mentioned, they don’t know whether she or he is a Chad or a Karen, and the odds are low but the impact is high. So, best to play deaf and work another day.
Writes a bad review when all he had to do was look at the store hours on the sign. Did he also need their personal confirmation that they were closed? People are getting so strange in 2024.
In addition to that there’s usually also working hours on Google Maps that are up to date for most businesses.
They’ve always been like this
“I knew I got there too late, but they didn’t even acknowledge me to tell me what I already knew and which was completely obvious due to the locked door and lack of acknowledgement. How rude!”
There’s a reason on the doors or windows there are openings and closings. Nobody is going to roll the red carpet out for you with 10 minutes left because they know all that you’re going to do is waltz in and take time beyond 10 minutes.
Good
They mad because they wouldn’t acknowledge them or service them after the placed closed? What fucking Karen.
I’m sorry, but… no. Like, if you don’t know it’s closed and people do see you and just say nothing, that’s just… not nice. It takes three seconds to shake their head or say we’re closed something.
LONG EDIT: Trying to explain myself a bit as this got many negative comments. (I also said most of this in responses to people answering this).
I originally thought that they didn’t know the store is closed, and just tried to put myself in their shoes. In that case, it just doesn’t hurt to clarify by the staff and I can get the frustration of being ignored. I personally also had situations where I was confused because a store closed an hour earlier than it said on the door and online, and I was really grateful for the staff to clarify. Of course, if they know that the store is closed and just demanded some kind of personal acknowledgement, this is pretty ridiculous behaviour. And I personally definitely wouldn’t behave like that (or even write such a review).
I also think that it’s still good if the staff responds to someone knocking at the store. This doesn’t mean that they are an “asshole that demands to be served”. I personally also did this at one point because I lost my wallet inside the store. Luckily, the people there were really nice and opened it so I could search for it. I was really thankful, and the day would have been really horrible if they ignored me.
In the end, I think this also might be a cultural thing. Many people answered with stories of awful entitled customers that demanded ridiculous things. If this is your base experience, maybe you have other prejudices against someone knocking at the door.
As a customer, I always see a store worker as a human and engage respectfully, and most people I know do the same. I hope this is true for most people. Therefore, if someone knocks, it seems reasonable that they have a valid concern and / or are confused. But of course, if someone would do that just to push a store worked and asking them to do something they can’t do, that would be absolutely awful behaviour.Nope, you never engage. Never ever engage. That flaming asshole who’s too self centered and ignorant to read the hours posed on the door they’re banging on and refuses to accept that the store is closed for EVERYONE including them, isn’t going to be polite, honest, or responsible. If you engage, they will immediately punish you for it. Don’t ever make that mistake.
You don’t work for the customer, you work for the store. It’s not always a crime to go along with a customer, but it’s always a negative when they want to push you to violate policy, change prices, complain about Mike in sporting goods for having a mustache, or ‘‘I’ll be real quick I sware’’ shopping when the store is closed. They will always punish you.
I eventually figured out that when a customer gets shitty, more than half the time if I say ''I work for the store and I’m responsible for [the dumbass shit you want me to do], if I violate store policy I’ll be fired" they suddenly realize this isn’t a game, and stop acting like a can of smashed assholes.
I get it, but I’d also like to share an experience I had a couple years ago. I looked up the closing time online for a Taco Bell, or some such fast food place, that I don’t frequent. I then order online and head to the store to pick it up. I get there less than 10 minutes later. The store appears to be closed but there are people inside.
I was left confused because I didn’t know what the hell was going on. Also, I’m at the drive-thru which does not have posted hours. And to make it even better, they charged me for the order so I’m left having to deal with getting the money back on my own.
Yeah that’s not on you. New systems sometimes never really come online and customers just wise up and stop trying. It’s frustrating for workers too, because the only thing worse than a terrible customer, is losing a sale over nothing.
That’s on the employees. If you order the food before they close then they should still just give it to you out the door or something.
I think you shouldn’t just prejudge and categorize someone without knowing their thought process. Just because someone knocks on the door after the store is closed, it doesn’t mean they’re a “flaming asshole”. E.g. I also also knocked at a store at such a point because I lost my wallet inside the store. (Luckily, the people there were really nice and opened it so I could search for it.) Most customers are just… people. Maybe that’s a cultural difference (I’m not from the US), but as I customer, I always see a store worker as a human and engage respectfully, and at least most people I know do the same. Doing something like pushing them to do something they can’t do is awful behaviour, but I don’t see why you would expect that from a customer or think every customer is an asshole like that.
And about the original comment, I thought they weren’t aware that the store is closed and just confused, and then it doesn’t hurt to clarify. Of course if they wanted to be served after hours, this would be pretty ridiculous.
(And I personally also had situations where I was confused because a store closed an hour earlier than it said on the door and online.)
“but as I customer, I always see a store worker as a human and engage respectfully, and at least most people I know do the same”
Yeah, that’s a HUGE problem in US culture, people are fucking awful to anyone in customer service. They look down on you like there’s some class system and they are the lords and service people are the lowest peasant. I developed a nasty habit working in service of ‘‘never falling for their bullshit’’. Never show weakness, never give them an opportunity to fuck with you. It’s actually a terrible approch to social interactions, most of normal social interactions are built on mutual trust or understanding, if you never allow either to manifest, it’s a big communication breakdown.
a can of smashed assholes.
I can’t find that on ebay! Why are you mentioning that if i can’t find it on ebay?!
I demand to speak to the manager!
I understand that, but is that worthy of an instant 1-star review?
No, it isn’t. I also originally thought that they were not aware of the store being closed, which makes me more sympathetic towards the customer. But if they really just wanted the staff to personally tell them no, it’s really petty. (although I don’t think it’s deserving of the hate they get here, I don’t like this groupthink of all people turning onto one, especially if you never know the background and thought process of a person).
It doesn’t say why they were there, but we’ve all left a phone, jacket, bag, keys, something and had to go knock on a door and it sucks when they ignore you.
Don’t literally make up excuses to act like a Karen. She made no mention of such an issue, and such an issue doesn’t have to be an immediate, “everyone needs to change what they’re doing for ME!” situation.
I think if there was an important, relatable reason for them to be there, they would have made sure to mention it. I have to assume the reason that detail was left out is because even the Karen knew it was stupid.
Actually in that specific situation, the store is closed and you have to come back when they’re opened. It’s not closed for fun. It’s closed because the store closes, and there’s 45mins of tasks that have to be done and many of them require the registers to be closed and the doors to be locked and if you unlock the door you have to reset the timer and start over. It’s not a game, your bullshit isn’t worth 10-15 people working an extra 45min at a time when the store isn’t making money. I gotta tell you when your a specialist or manager and you have to close and open, getting to bed in time to sleep enough to not die is a bigger problem than your lost item. Literally everyone else knows you don’t get special treatment for losing something, Come back in the morning you spoiled little shit.
our bullshit isn’t worth 10-15 people working an extra 45min
I’ve worked a LOT of service jobs and I’ve never seen one that required 10-15 people to fulfill a request.
If it’s a forgotten phone, it’s more like 1 person needs to spend 20 seconds grabbing the phone.
Like, if you don’t know it’s closed
They literally stated that they knew it was closed
It takes three seconds to shake their head or say we’re closed something
The signage on the door explains the hours of operation, and the door is locked. Why should that have to be explained?
The bigger deal is how many customers will react worse if you engage with them in any way. If that weren’t the case, pointing to the hours, shaking your head, etc, would be reasonable.
It isn’t stated that they knew it was closed when they arrived. They might have figured it out after the fact.
Karens don’t have to follow the rules, they’re special! If you don’t understand that, get your manager and I can tell them…
They stated it was closed, not that they knew it beforehand. And while I personally wouldn’t behave that way and definitely wouldn’t make such a review, I just tried to put yourself in another person’s shoes. If they know that the store is closed, of course this is pretty ridiculous behaviour, but I originally thought about someone not knowing the store is closed and being confused, and then it just doesn’t hurt to clarify.
I personally also had situations where I was confused because a store closed an hour earlier than it said on the door and online.
Fuck that bullshit, she knew they were fucking closed. They shouldn’t have to explain it. I am sure there was a sign on the door. No this woman wanted them to waste time acknowledging her so she could spend 10 minutes explaining why they should service her after hours.
They were busy doing clean up after close so they could go home. Just by reading her review I can promise you she bitch if they had shaken their heads. I stare at dumb bitch too who was probably banging on the door trying get them to let her in.
I’m jut copy pasting my other comment:
They stated it was closed, not that they knew it beforehand. And while I personally wouldn’t behave that way and definitely wouldn’t make such a review, I just tried to put yourself in another person’s shoes. If they know that the store is closed, of course this is pretty ridiculous behaviour, but I originally thought about someone not knowing the store is closed and being confused, and then it just doesn’t hurt to clarify.
I personally also had situations where I was confused because a store closed an hour earlier than it said on the door and online.
I don’t see anyone mentioning the “tossing their hair”. Bitch they werent staring at you and doing a fucking model shoot they were telling your entitled ass “no”.
TMDH
It takes fewer seconds for assholes like you to fuck off though, sooooooo…
Do you really need to personally insult me -.-
I personally wouldn’t behave that way and definitely wouldn’t make a review, but it just takes a bit of empathy to try to put yourself in another person’s shoes. Especially when I thought about someone not knowing the store is closed and being confused, it would be good to just clarify (I personally also had situations where I was confused because a store closed an hour earlier than it said on the door and online).
And even if that’s not the case here, there’s no reason to directly villainify and insult me without knowing any of my thought process.
My initial instinct is to agree with you, actually, but according to the rest of the thread that’s a bad idea, because most people aren’t as nice as us. I’ve never had the displeasure of that kind of job.
I’m impressed with how downvoted this is. RIP.
I responded to every other comment with a clarification, maybe read one of those. Summarized, I originally thought they weren’t aware of it and it doesn’t hurt to clarify, and just tried to put myself in their shoes. But if they know that the store is closed, of course this is ridiculous behaviour.
Although I generally think it’s still better for the staff to acknowledge such a customer, e.g. I lost a wallet in the store before and luckily they helped me get it.
It also seems that a lot of customers in the US(?) are pretty awful which means that a person behaving like that might probably be respectless or even order the staff to still serve them, which of course is not okay. In my experience, if someone is knocking, they usually have a valid reason, why is also why I might see this differently than other people.
I actually don’t mind being downvoted. I think this kind of groupthink where everyone cheer each other on and the whole group gets to one strong opinion (that might not be that good) is really bad. And I take some kind of pride in resisting that and just posting an unpopular opinion I think is right. On Reddit I once had -200 for being against torture and death penalty (context: child rapist). The only thing that actually hurts me is being personally insulted (like by @butwhyishischinabook@lemmy.world). I don’t know why someone would just do that and not try to understand me first :/
On Reddit I once had -200 for being against torture and death penalty (context: child rapist).
Yep, that tracks. I got trashed for criticising (a probably fake story about) a high school kid that beat an 11-year old into unconciousness for hitting his 11-year-old sister after being rejected. Reddit loves a good keyboard lynching. I treasure those downvotes. I sincerely hope it was just a bubble of rage-jerking people, and that’s not actually seen as acceptable or proportionate for a (very very naughty) kid.
It’s not just the US, I’ve heard stories about people bugging closed businesses semi-regularly here in Canada too. That said, I have noticed staff south of the border are surprised when I pick up products I knock over, which is interesting.
“Just kept tossing their hair and looking at me.”
Are we sure the employees weren’t shaking their heads at the customer and they are just an idiot? I’m also assuming the doors were already locked, or they would have just walked in, and the hours are typically posted on the door. I feel that should be enough of an indication the store is closed. People don’t need to have their hands held through everything I life. Expecting a little independence from them isn’t being not nice.
It’s hard to ascertain, because the reviewer *is" in fact, an idiot.
The best solution I have seen to this was the guy I worked with, sick of people shaking the doors repeatedly while we were redoing signage after close exclaimed at some door shakers: “what the fuck you doing bro?!” Those of us in the store lost it and the customers walked away embarrassed. From your comment, I can tell you have not had a job that works with the general population directly like retail. You lose patience pretty quickly with others trying to complain to get their way, push boundaries, and sometimes just be assholes. You should try it sometime. It is quite enlightening.
Here’s a tip I’ve found useful: if I show up somewhere after closing time and find that the door is locked, it’s because the store is closed.
Hey, I edited my post. I’d appreciate if you could tell me what you think about the edit. But to summarize it, I thought that they didn’t know the store is closed and tried to put myself in their shoes (in that situation it wouldn’t hurt to just clarify it). Of course if they knew that the store is closed, and just wanted some personal acknowledgement, that’s ridiculous. And if they wanted to push the worker to still serve them or something like that, that would have been really awful.
Some people here told awful stories about customers, and if that’s the baseline, I can understand why you have a bad prejudice against someone knocking at the door. This might also be a cultural thing. But I still usually think that it’s not good to ignore them (and you can never know their true intentions), there can be valid concerns (e.g. I once lost a wallet inside a store and was very grateful for the staff to help me).
What if it’s after closing time, it’s locked, but the people inside are nodding at me?
Then they have some illegal after-hours business going on and are waiting for you to say the password.
Is it password1?
It’s ‘swordfish’.
It’s hunter2.
It’s after closing time. So leave.
They’re not nodding at you, they’re listening to good music.
Green light, happy shopping!
what if some are nodding and others are shaking their heads
DANCE PARTY
What if they’re doing this?
I’ve worked retail and food service and I would go to the door and let people know we’re closed.
(a) I have no problem saying no to people, and (b) sometimes there’s an emergency or something and they need help, or they’re trying to notify us of a problem we can’t see.
I haven’t found my time saturated by this basic courtesy. Maybe I’ve lived in nicer areas, but in all my years of service experience I haven’t seen the waves of assholes people talk about.
Thanks for the nice answer. I see it the same. I can imagine this is a cultural thing, and if you have that many bad experiences with customers, I can get why you have a prejudice of someone knocking at the door, but as you said, there still are important reasons why someone might do this, and you never know their true intentions.
However, I originally didn’t think that they were aware that the store is closed (I experienced the same when a store closed earlier than stated on the sign and online), in which case it’s just nice to explain them. But if they knew about it and just wanted some personal acknowledgement or even trying to still get served, of course that’s really awful.
(I also edited my post to make this more clear).
People like you and the reviewer need to work a service job, at least once in your lives. “Closed”, I wonder what that means?? The registers are all shut down, there’s no cash. If it’s a food place, the grill is off. They are not serving customers. So no, just because there happens to be glass or bars you can see workers through, they are not required to acknowledge people on the street or “be nice”. They are trying to get home at a somewhat reasonable time!
PTSD from having to literally stop people from entering grocery stores after 11:00p in a previous job…
It’s literally PTSD. No it’s not as bad as being in a war but damn it sure feels like it sometimes.
I originally thought about someone not knowing the store is closed and being confused, and then it just doesn’t hurt to clarify. Of course if they were aware that the place is closed, then this is pretty ridiculous (especially such a one star review is just awful). I personally also had situations where I was confused because a store closed an hour earlier than it said on the door and online, and I was thankful for the clarification.
Maybe this is also a cultural thing (I’m not from the US), but it seems like many customers there are… worse. I personally always see the service worker as a human and try to be as respectful and appreciating as possible, and would assume most do the same. If I were knocking (because I am confused or didn’t see the signs), I’d just say something like “Oh thanks, I’m sorry I didn’t know” (honestly, them doing nothing also tells it, I’d just find it a bit rude), but never in my mind think about trying to talk them into doing something for me. Apparently some here assume people in the US would do that.
But honestly, I still think that not acknowledging the customer is not the best idea, although for a different reason. I once lost a wallet in a restaurant and also had to knock. Luckily the staff there was really nice and they let me in to get it, but I’d felt pretty awful if they didn’t.
Thank you for the different perspective and clarification. I’ve only visited outside the US, never lived, but I think you’re correct: customers here are worse. Entitlement practically surrounds them… I once had a couple with some minor issue as I rung up their order. They looked me in the eye, then the husband later submitted a complaint and straight-up lied about the interaction trying to get me fired. Luckily I don’t do that job any more…
But you make a good point about forgetting a wallet, or an emergency! I guess workers shouldn’t completely ignore people banging on the locked door…
I also hate people who fall for rage bait.
So much work to hate 95% of everyone
No, its quite easy. People inherently suck.
This does not exclude you; It’s directionless and self abnegating. We’re all a little crappy, so focus on those who choose not to at least try. It’s a much more valuable use of your energies.
Not OP, but sure, I resent myself too.
I have trouble imagining a way I could be impressed with humanity in general, without actual willful ignorance. I’m not a dick about it, though. Kind of the opposite; it makes it a lot easier to refrain from judging any individual person.
Not impressed? We’re the funniest natural phenomenon in the known universe, that has to count for something.
Probably true, but humour is pretty human-specific, so that’s a bit like saying we’re the most conventionally attractive by human standards.
Not really, all it requires is theory of mind, social norms, and the ability to anticipate outcomes. Plenty of animals exhibit comedic behavior patterns, but they all know we’re funnier.
It’s that what this comment is? Everything is either bait, trolling, or not real. Only fools react to things on the Internet.
I’m more furious they left a shit review.
These reviews fuck with business, especially without context. Map apps while driving only show you the value.
I don’t know what platform this is, but such a review should be moderated in some way. If an employee treats you badly during normal service, then fine, it’s justified to drop a negative review, but if you’re as incompetent as to be unable to understand that nobody is obliged to serve you outside of the stated working hours, it’s entirely your problem and it shouldn’t affect the rating of the establishment.
Looks like Google Maps
Is this supposed to be ragebait or what? This review is obviously non-sensical end of story
All good but not all good
They were closed, they don’t owe you shit.
Whenever this is posted, a couple Karen’s crawl out of the primordial ooze to remind us they’ve never worked retail and are incapable of empathizing with the workers (I count 2 of them in this comment section right now). I could never work retail again, people like this are as soul crushing as the manager who will reprimand you because of their 1 star review