Poor Planning

Closing procedures.......there are a lot of things to do before we can leave. So in order to go home at any kind of decent hour (since we have customer-friendly hours), we start early. By the time it's a quarter 'til close we have most stuff done and only one register open. Usually, that's OK and totally adequate. But tonight we had four times the normal number of last minute shoppers. I HATE last minute shoppers!!

One woman was having a fit because she "had to get to another store before they close!" They closed at the same time as us.....there was no way she was making it. Not only was she impatient, she also skipped in line, which luckily didn't cause a riot, just some murderous stares. The teenage cashier had already begun ringing her up before I could correct the out-of-turn issue and it would have taken longer to void the started sale than just to continue.

But suddenly her sale wasn't very easy or fast. She was buying something (and accessories) that she really shouldn't have been buying that late at night. It was a totally unnecessary item that required extra paperwork and getting a couple of items that she had missed because she had no idea what she needed because it was an impulse buy that she should have bought earlier in the day! (Did you get all that? I'm too tired to make it any clearer.) Pretend she bought a cell phone with the case but forgot the battery and the charger and then had to sign up for the calling plan and warranty. Well, not quite that much paperwork, but more than what most sales require.

So she's complaining about the wait even though she didn't really have to wait since she butted in line, the customers behind her are killing her with their stares, with a few of the evil looks going to the cashier, a few to me, and a few to the guy cleaning the front.

It being ten 'til close, none of the other customers said anything about opening another register (at least not that I heard). So the paperwork and sale were finally done and the lady rushed out with five minutes left to load her purchases in her car and drive to the other store before they closed. Impossible. The other customers were checked out quickly and efficiently, and amazingly enough, we managed to leave the store on time.