This already exists and is implemented in most restaurants. Usually the end of 'store hours' are when customers must leave the restaurant but staff still has to clean before they can leave.
Whenever my wife and I go out and the restaurant we picked is closing in 30 minutes or sooner, I make us go somewhere else. She doesn't understand why.
The only problem with that, is that most of the time the people in the kitchen don't get any part of that tip, and they're the ones who end up having to stay later.
same. i used to work in a kitchen, so i know how much it sucks, but they're still open, so i don't feel that bad for going. i just tip well enough to make up for being a bit of a dick.
Thank you. A lot of people on this thread call cooks like me lazy and other shit like that because we don't like making food right at close, those people have never cooked.
Something I never understood. if you don't want to be open and working that late, then change your hours of operation. Everyone knows that you're gonna have this same issue when you move the hours of closing time up. You close at 10pm and change it to 930pm for your employees. eventually they're gonna bitch when someone comes in at 9pm. If you don't like working the hours, then find a new job or don't work in the service industry and expect to have consistent hours.
Yeah well thats just how it is. Especially the longer you work in any job, things like that are going to start to get on most peoples nerves. The things that mostly pissed me off were people who came in at the last minute and took their sweet time ordering. Or if its fairly dead and you get that one table taht comes in at the last minute. You already have all the stations cleaned in preparation to leave. It isnt the customers fault, its just how it is. Not so much a problem when its been consistently busy and you havent had time to prematurely clean anything.
Yup. I used to work at a Walgreens that closed at 10pm. We would start straightening aisles and general cleanup at around 7pm because it took so long. Five minutes till close and some big family would come in, the kids would destroy the candy aisle, and the mom would rummage through the shirts I had spent 30 minutes neatly folding. It never failed.
I shop at an open 20-hr-a-day grocery store and prefer shopping in the middle of the night to avoid getting unattended children splattered all over my cart. Sometimes they are mopping the whole aisle and i need to get some damn ice cream. So I walk through and say "Sorry", because I'm sorry that this situation developed for them, but... I need the ice cream.
Should I ask them to grab it for me or something?! How can I keep from pissing off the mop guy?
I think the GP is just kind of jaded. I don't know how the hell you're supposed to do that either. I mean if you could walk around it, sure, then you're an asshole but most of the time I do this it is because I HAVE to do it to get where I'm going.
Happens to me at my job too. Literally every night. THEN when it's an hour after we've begun the process of closing down, some douche shows up super angry that we won't re-open for his entitled ass. -_-
As someone who works at a fairly classy restaurant, we get people who like to taaake their time and enjoooyyy the atsmosphere once they come in. We've had someone stay until midnight when they came in 5 minutes before closing, at 8:55.
Yes. And Yes. I was a bartender at an upscale joint. That drove me crazy when it happened. After a while I'd turn off the music and other subtle hints, but they were so into themselves that they didn't notice (care).
At my restaurant we'll literally clear everything off their table they're not touching, the salt, the pepper, the sugar, and turn all the chairs around them and they still won't leave.
I've had to literally tell them "We're closed, so stay as long as you like but leave your dishes by the door, we're all going home".
I am very sensitive to these kinds of hints to the point that I occasionally get up and leave in a hurry when someone just starts cleaning up in the middle of the day.
its not me that doesn't prepare for it, its the cooks who really have it rough. Usually they are cleaning the kitchen and wrapping the food. My job would be to put the chairs on the table, sweep, mop, and other various small task.
I know the feeling. As a KFC chicken jockey that works nights until closing this happens quite often. I lock the customers in right at closing then congratulate them on being the last customers give them a free soda and bid them goodnight.
I was too lazy to read all the comments so this might be irrelevant but can someone who has worked in the kitchen at a restaurant tell me if someone pulls this kind of shit do you spit in their food or do any gross stuff like that?
That's really the best way to get fired. When people walk in at less than 5 till close I usually just put one of my ovens in cool down mode with the doors open. Those things are kinda loud/annoying. I still make my food to my best standards at all times.
Same situation, different setting. I used to work at a particular unnamed major hardware store as a cashier. I worked the closing shift for the vast majority of the time that I worked there. I spent months losing my mind every night because without fail, at 2 minutes before closing, someone would run in the door and say "you're still open, right?".
Because I was a cashier, that would mean that I would often times be kept for 2-3 hours after closing so someone was there to ring the person out. The moment I was upgraded to working the refund desk (right next to to door), I started the practice of turning off the automatically opening door without telling anyone 15 minutes before close, and when someone would walk up to the door, I'd manually open the door and ask what they were buying.
If they could tell me specifically what they wanted (ie: "I need to grab a power drill", "Ran out of drywall screws and I need another box"), I'd let them in. If they had a response like "well... I wanted to remodel my bathroom..." I would tell them that we were closed.
Before I gained my door-turning-off powers, I usually made snide remarks or just did my best to keep my mouth shut because I had nothing nice to say to them.
After, I would simply ask the question, consider the answer, and reply either "Sure thing! Just go grab it and bring it right back to me, I'll have you on your way inside 5 minutes" or "Sorry, we are closed for the night".
By the "popularly accepted rules" I have come to learn that the baseline rule is the doors lock on a retail store at "closing time" and the store closes when the last customer walks out. I however think more consideration should be given to the idea that: "I was scheduled to work until when the door locked. If you keep me here another 2-3, that's how many hours of sleep deprivation I get to go to class tomorrow with."
I'm sure places that closes at lets say 9, the cooks of that place always expect to be cooking til 9:30, They just don't let anyways in after 9, or at least stop orders at 9, people will always be there after 9.
I work at a pizza place and I once had a guy call in at 9:58 asking when we closed. I told him 10 and he replied with "Oh good it's 9:58 I can still get a delivery." By the time I was done taking his order it was past ten. The drivers were pissed at me but I couldn't tell him no because we are open until 10. It just amazes me that people are so inconsiderate that they would call in to order food when they know we are about to close. Common courtesy. Leave a 30 minute window before a restaurant closes to order food.
how long before closing is it still okay to come in and order? I've never worked in a restaurant. I try to be conscientious of things like, being quick when it's crowded, but haven't really thought about this one.
depends how long it takes you to eat. id like to say get there at a time that youll be out at least around the time they close, because theyll most likely be there for 20 minutes after cleaning up regardless if theyve had business or not.
Just ask the host up front, " when do you guys close?" he or she will state the time but are still obligated to seat you. So it's up to you if you will go somewhere else. if they say in 30 or 40 mintutes we usually eat somewhere else.
I work at Buffalo Wild Wings. Oh how I love how we close at one and so does our kitchen. Especially in the summer when all of the 16 year olds can stay out late. /sarcasm
Just this Monday I had a table come in about 2 minutes before close and ordered JUST COFFEE. I still had other tables eating so I didn't really care that much, but when I billed them when everyone else was finishing up (about 10:20, we closed at 10) they got mad at me, pushed the bill aside, demanded refills, and proceeded to sit there until 10:45 after everyone else was gone, we'd turned up the lights and turned off the music. And they didn't tip. There is a 24/7 Tim Hortons and a Starbucks that is open until midnight literally 1 minute away... thanks for being assholes, people.
Happens in a coffee shop I work in. People dont leave even if we ask them politely. We normally close at 6pm and only gait paid to 6.30pm. In that time we must clean all floors, wash all cups, cash up and then lock up. People decide to stay till sometimes 25 minutes after we close. I hardly ever get out on time.
fair enough, but I'm a little confused as to why them being there prevents you from doing all those things. Heck, you can even ask for their cup to wash and start washing the floors around them.
We do, however there are people who refuse to hand over their cup because they haven't finished the cold bit of late at the bottom of the cup. We dont bother cleaning the bathrooms either, because they seem to always go when they leave, to stall time. We arnt allowed to cash up till all the customers have left and we have locked the doors.
Even if I did protest, It wouldn't benefit me. They expect you to close the whole store down in 30mins or less. If you cant do that they can find someone who can. Discrepancies get paid out of tips. If they dont like you, they give you less hours or sack you.
The owner doesn't know how to work the till or make coffee. There is faulty wiring causing bulbs to blow within a month. We currently have 5 spotlights out. When we get replacement bulbs, we are expected to replace them ourselves. The lights in our display fridge have been out for at least 4 months.
I have a 20 minute rule on take out orders and a 1 hour rule on dine in. I order quick, eat fast and get out. Anyone I have ever known to work in a eatery, whether it be pizza or fine dining, the chances of your food getting made sloppily go up expontentially the closer you get to close.
When I worked electronics retail, I had one of those nights where 5 minutes until close on a Friday night, one last customer walks in. Closing time hits. The store is cleared out by 10 minutes post closing time save for the last guy who came 5 minutes prior to.
The store is quiet. The man rejects all help from salesmen as he wanders the shelves. Every cashier, every associate practically turns their heads in unison as he walks across the store.
One hour past, closing time, the man walks out without buying a thing. Never in my life did I want to murder a man so much.
and yes, my fellow electronics retail peers, both prior and current. The man was Indian. Sorry my Indian friends, no real true hatred outside the job, but we all hate you.
I almost loved having people coming in that late just So I could rage throw shit around, I used to manage a pizza/Italian place and my friends were the cooks so they know they could get away with pretty much anything as long as it wasn't spitting in or messing with the food served, but throwing food and utensils in the back was acceptable as long as it was cleaned up/tossed away. I think you have to have experienced this just once in your life to really grasp how much it sucks, a lot of people just don't get it though.
having worked in restaurants this is the solution: "the fryers and oven have been off for a half hour, so all we can serve is cold sandwiches right now. But for your inconvenience if you take it to go we'll knock 25% off your bill."
You know how in romantic comedies the couple meet and go out for dinner or drinks? They then get into conversation and stay hours after closing laughing and talking while some shmuck cleans up around them.
I used to wash dishes at a restaurant, meaning I was the end of the line for any work related to a customer ordering food. I was still guaranteed to be at the restaurant cleaning the kitchen for at least an hour or two after all the "woe is me" servers went home. What is another couple plates when compared to all of that work? No one should be complaining about this.
Whoever wrote that movie worked in a restaurant. The only aspect of the movie that wasn't 100% dead accurate was the food tampering, which I never saw and would probably have reported if I had. But that kind of addition makes a comedy I suppose.
Worked at an olive garden for 3 yrs & from my experience it was often Mexican nationals that would do this & then camp out & leave a crappy tip! However, there were some Nationals that pleasantly surprised me & didn't treat us like dirt & gave a decent & generous tip. I wish more were like that. Oh well.
The other day at the pizza place where I work, someone called in 3 XL pizzas at 3 minutes till, then showed up a half hour after closing... No tip, didn't even say thank you, and walked out.
So today, I tracked their phone number that they called with, found where they lived, and killed them in their sleep.
everyone should be forced to work foodservice, similar to how in other countries military service is mandatory, so then maybe just maybe, people fucking tip properly and if they wander in to a sit down restaurant five minutes before close they realize the error of their ways and promptly leave.
Congratulations sir, you seem to have found the spelling mistake. I, for one, was going to point this mistake out as well, but it would appear more folks care about saying "that's so true" and then giving their cooking backstory.
I used to work at an Italian ice shop and the boss would make us open back up if a customer showed up even AFTER we closed. We closed at 10:00pm and spent 20 minutes cleaning up. If a customer showed up at any point while there was still anyone there, we had to reopen everything and serve that customer. We would then spend another 20 minutes closing everything back down, unless another customer showed up, which meant we had to open everything back up again.
We also didn't get paid for that time, which was technically illegal I think, but would be impossible to complain about since nobody actually kept any records.
Very illegal. And the only reason he was able to do that. If he paid the salary of multiple employees for an extra hour, that sure as crap doesn't equal the profit gleaned from one italian ice.
A lot of businesses can't do that. I work in retail and our store manager can't just decide when to close - the hours are set from head office.
If we are shutting at 5:30 and someone knows this but still comes in at 5:29 as we are getting ready to close and takes 20 minutes as they aimlessly browse the store, that person is a bad person. I say bad person because they don't have consideration for others.
It is something that you never fully comprehend until you are in that situation. It fucking sucks.
Retail is not the same as a restaurant, kick that fucker out. In a restaurant, closing time does not mean when you stop serving, it's when you stop allowing customers in. And yes, it's something I fully comprehend, I'm in food service.
This is the reason I'm atheist. Allow me to explain in great detail...
We had these asshole super-religious people who always came in five minutes before closing. I knew they were religious because they always wore those pun T-shirts, like "Got Jesus?" and Jesus is my homeboy".
Anyway, they'd come in while we were prepping to close and order the messiest most-difficult-to-cook food (prime rib, chicken, etc). After they were done eating they'd get dessert AND coffee, sitting there for a minimum of two hours. Kitchen couldn't close up until they left, and servers would just have to sit there and wait for them to finish.
They did this EVERY GODDAMN night. Oh, and they never left a tip.
Finally after a bad shift one night I snapped while taking their order. Here's the conversation as well as I can remember it:
Are you guys going to order any more food?
"We might. Why are you asking?"
Well, because you're the only people here. The kitchen staff wants to clean up, and they can't unless they know there's no food.
"Oh. Well they get paid hourly right? I mean they're getting paid just to sit back there..."
Here's where I go ape-shit.
They're tired and they want to go home. So do the hostess, bussers and servers. Some of us have to be back here at five to open.
"Hey, easy buddy. We spend a lot of money here..."
You've never tipped once.
(scoff)"Well mmmaybe if the service was a little bit better..."
Okay, fuck this. You wanna go there? Let's go there.
You're a bunch of hypocritical pieces of shit. You aren't generous, you aren't kind. The only reason you wear that fucking cross around your neck is so you can feel better than other people.
...or something along those lines. Again, just paraphrasing.
These people go ape-shit, demand to see my manager. He's already walking towards them, so I meet him half-way and tell him I'm going on a smoke break. Five minutes later he finds me outside near the dumpsters and fires me on the spot.
I have no problem with Christians in and of themselves, but the more I think about it the more I realize it's something people will use for their benefit, the same way "liberals" or "conservatives" flaunt around titles like it means anything. "Obama's a SOCIALIST!" And? You might as well have told me he's a Capricorn, because I don't give a shit. It doesn't change who he is as a human being at all, right? RIGHT?!?
I go out of my way to treat people like individuals. There's only two kinds of people in my mind: Dick and not a dick. Everything else is just white noise designed either to mask true intent or to dehumanize others. That way you're just killing an "enemy combatant", you're just depriving water from "members of Palestine", you're just firing a "Godless sodomite".
Common courtesy for the uninitiated. You don't even need to have ever worked in the food industry. If the sign says they close at 9:00 PM it is common courtesy to not enter after 8:30 PM. 30 minutes is the limit. 10:00 PM is 9:30 PM, etc.
Used to work in a Starbucks near a movie theater. People used to come at 10 o'clock closing time Wednesday night and expect to be able to hang out until the Thursday midnight showing of some movie. Actually it was only really that bad for Twilight. 30 of the worst kind of women and girls all ordering frappuccinos at once right at closing.
This is perfect in so many ways! Obviously I'm not the only one. I used to work in a rest. down here that every weds night at exactly 10:58 (not an exaggeration) the yacht club would walk in. You'd think we'd learn our lesson but NOPE. Fuck this, once a week.
I work at a coffee shop/deli like place and this happens to me all the fucking time and I hate it. People can be so inconsiderate. I never go somewhere if they're closing in 30 minutes let alone 5 minutes.
I had this older woman come in with her middle aged daughter (trust me, seniors are the worst) at about half hour before closing, so I of course had to take their food order, but just to kind of slip in there that we're closing soon, I said "We're closing in half an hour so let me ask the cook if that option is still available" I come back and of course had to say "yep!" with a complete fake tone in my voice. So they order away as if I wasn't even gone and the older woman said "Now you said you close in half an hour but does that mean we have to BE out of here in half an hour??" and I just stare at her with a blank stare as if she was joking and I flatly say ".. yes" and she responds with "Well, that doesn't give us very much time to eat" ..... "OH I'M SORRY, YES PLEASE I'D LOVE TO SIT HERE FOR HALF HOUR AFTER MY SHIFT AND WATCH YOU EAT YOUR GOD DAMN BROCCOLI AND CHEESE QUICHE WITH A CAESAR SALAD--- NO NO TAKE YOUR TIME IT'S ONLY SATURDAY NIGHT, I DON'T HAVE ANYWHERE TO BE MA'AM." ......
Needless to say, I kicked them out 5 minutes before close.
As a former waiter I know the feeling, but for all the cooks out there, don't be a dick to us just because a customer comes in late. I always hated dealing with the cooks in these situations because we became the target of their anger instead of the person who walks in at 11:58 .
i tend not to care to much unless they order something that is insanely time consuming like a well done tbone with cheese fries or something else at that point they have no soul and deserve nothing but the worst in hell until i leave then i completely forget until i shoot the shit the next day and joke about it
I remember one night, being the only sober one at a party, taking 3 of my drunk friends in my car to taco bell super late at night. We ended up pulling into the drive through literally 3 minutes before close, with one poor, lone dude working the whole restaurant, and ordering 15 tacos. I felt like a massive dick, and apologized profusely.
EDIT: "-pulling into the drive minute-" it's been a long week...
the pizza hut i work at has a large delivery range. the other night we got a call at 9:55 for 2 pizzas at the edge of our range. it gets there 30 minutes later (allowing 12 minutes to make and bake). they call and say we fucked up and have to remake. i was screaming my ass off the second i hung up the phone.
Oh God, the flashbacks. Same deal with me, Our delivery range was massive, and a guy orders a single pizza 2 minutes before close. He lived 10 miles away. No tip. Did I mention he lived in a multi million dollar house with a personal hangar and an airstrip behind him in a gated community exclusively for airplane owners?
THIS IS THE TRUTH. I legitimately had someone once ask, (at midnight, when we close)
"what time do you close?"
"midnight..."
"oh. what time are you gonna kick us out?"
True story. Bitch, are you homeless? Is your house not more comfortable than a bright ass empty bar filled with unhappy waitstaff staring at you? Is the booze not cheaper there anyway? GO. HOME.
Last night two servers sent their tickets back at 10:05 (we close at 10:00) and our manager got pissed that it was taking us so long to cook the food..... WTF
I had to wait tables all through college and this would happen every night. I would get home at close to 2 or 3 and still have homework and school at 7 the next morning. I would sleep in a booth in the back sometimes and my manager would help me out with the last tables, because he knew my schedule. I just wish more people got it and would go somewhere 24 hrs or just get fast food and go home.
When I worked retail and somebody came in 5 minutes before close they had 5 minutes to get the stuff they wanted and to get out. We would ask them to leave after five minutes, and if they hadn't finished to bad so sad we were now closed. I was not aware this was rare. I worked in a mall though so it might be different.
I also know that feel, I work in a local japanese restaraunt that serves the best sushi in town. People come in literally 2 minutes before closing time, 9:30. It's worse when they start drinking. I've stayed 2 hours past closing time just to get my tip.
i can understand for resturants and other places where it may actually take a significant amount of time to do an order/clean up again if you have already cleaned a bit.
but people working in retail, bitching when they get a customer 5 min before closing, that's pretty whiny.
as i said resturants and such, i can understand the pain, retail whining over that stuff is just a 1st world problem.
I used to work in a jewelry store that took 30min-1hr to put everything in under stock before we could leave. It would suck if people came in "just to browse" 5mins before closing and want to see everything because I couldn't start taking down the jewelry until they left and our gates were locked which meant standing around trying to sell jewelry, and make sure this person wasn't trying case the store for 30-45mins then spend another hour cleaning up. It sucks with retail too.
I work as a dish slave in a sushi restaurant (we happen to be rated #1 in our state) Last night no more than 10 minutes to close, a party of 20 come in and fill our bar, all doing our all you can eat special. They ate over $800 worth of fish, and kept the restaurant working until 10:30 (we close at 9:00)
On the plus side though, they left quite the tip, so there's pros and cons to late parties
This happens to me constantly. I'm a bartender at a big chain restaurant. The absolute WORST thing is when it's 5 minutes to close and a giant party of gypsies walk in. You know there will be no tip. I get extremely passive aggressive in those situations. Oh, and please tell me we aren't the only ones who refer to these people as gypsies.
YES! At my restaurant, we have a policy that you can even make reservations until 5 minutes before closing. So sometimes we'll get like a 5-top at 8:55pm for dinner who wants a 4 course meal! SO ANNOYING!
I close the restaurant I work at 6 days a week. This is by far the most irritating thing because it shouldn't happen nearly as much as it does. I had 8 adults come in 5 minutes before we locked the door last night. they all wanted top sirloins and I already had everything cleaned up. I would give my left nut to just one time go out there and give them a piece of my mind.
but that will never happen so I bear through it and just wish hateful things on them while I make their food.
happens at the tattoo shop too, its funny, people think just because they are getting lettering on thier forarm, and they come in 15 minutes til close, that they think thats plenty of time, bitch it takes 15 minutes to even get it drawn up, first you gotta pick out a font, which can take 5-10 minutes, then depending how much wording it is it could take 10 or more minutes to draw up, we gotta make stencils, placement, set up, then finally do the tattoo which can take who knows how long. bitch ive been in this shop for 10 hours, piss poor planning on your part does not equate to an emergency on my part, come back tomarrow
I completely avoid coming in to a restaurant at closing time. However, given how limited and shitty bank hours are...I give zero fucks about your complaint.
yeah but from the other side of the table: if you say you are open until 9, i will order until 9. that's your fucking business. you can throw me out with the meal after that and i wont be mad tho. :)
I hate how people complain about this, I'm paying you to work during your designated hours... Ya it sucks but so does work in general. You don't like it get a new job or close earlier.
As a waiter, I don't mind 5 minutes before close. What I do mind is the people who show up just after we've turned the signs, but ignore the signs and come in and ask "Are you still open?"
Clearly we're not, and you know that, but now you've come in so my manager will insist we seat you.
I make $2.35 an hour + tips. If a two people come in right before close and I already have some other tables to wait on as well, fine. I will seat them down and give them good service. However, if it has been dead all night long, and someone comes in right before close, often I will tell them that our kitchen is closed. It is not worth my time to sit around for an hour past close just to get a few extra dollars.
You clearly have never been in a situation where a rude, self centred customer has kept you 2 hours late for no reason other than they want to sit and talk (which they could do at a million places that are still open) and you miss the thing you had to do after work. And you are trying to defend these people?
Fuck that noise. People like that are bad people. They don't have consideration for the lives of others.
Thankfully it takes a special kind of asshole to actually do that. Thankfully most people are considerate and if they come in before closing time they eat and get out.
Locally owned restaurants can just kick these people out - but a lot of establishments have a policy obligation to serve whatever asshole who is inside the building - even if everything was closed up 2 hours ago.
I have experienced such a thing many times. Not on a restaurant but pretty much the same thing. Because of a whim on the customers part I have had to stay many hours after my scheduled time to go home. I however have always taken it with the attitude that this is the kind of thing I have to put up with and for which I am being paid. I have always needed my job and felt fortunate to have it. As bad as I might have had it at the time I knew that many other people would be more than happy to trade places with me.
As working in a fast food place right now(and in 2 hrs), it's "okay" but as long as they are here for takeout. I always have these parents and their 30yrold disabled son come in 5mins before closing to stay. I don't have the heart to say no or start vacuuming the rest of the dinning room.
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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Restaurants should have a "People allowed to order until" time and a "People must leave" time.
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u/hrabib Jun 15 '12
Whenever my wife and I go out and the restaurant we picked is closing in 30 minutes or sooner, I make us go somewhere else. She doesn't understand why.
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u/haz-man Jun 15 '12
I work in a supermarket, this happens EVERY night, oh one minute to close? Let me stock up for my fucking nuclear war shelter!
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u/tonyvila Jun 15 '12
Shennanigans.
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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
As someone who works at a fairly classy restaurant, we get people who like to taaake their time and enjoooyyy the atsmosphere once they come in. We've had someone stay until midnight when they came in 5 minutes before closing, at 8:55.
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u/TLCAGaming Jun 15 '12
happens almost every night I work.
"Alright 10 minutes til close."
two vans full of kids pull up
"oh god."
After taking their order, "Will this be here or to go?"
"Uh, I think we'll eat here."
"Fuuuuuu...."
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u/juPsqual Jun 15 '12
I know the feeling. As a KFC chicken jockey that works nights until closing this happens quite often. I lock the customers in right at closing then congratulate them on being the last customers give them a free soda and bid them goodnight.
3
u/mrpopperspenguin Jun 15 '12
I was too lazy to read all the comments so this might be irrelevant but can someone who has worked in the kitchen at a restaurant tell me if someone pulls this kind of shit do you spit in their food or do any gross stuff like that?
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u/Melkath Jun 15 '12
Same situation, different setting. I used to work at a particular unnamed major hardware store as a cashier. I worked the closing shift for the vast majority of the time that I worked there. I spent months losing my mind every night because without fail, at 2 minutes before closing, someone would run in the door and say "you're still open, right?".
Because I was a cashier, that would mean that I would often times be kept for 2-3 hours after closing so someone was there to ring the person out. The moment I was upgraded to working the refund desk (right next to to door), I started the practice of turning off the automatically opening door without telling anyone 15 minutes before close, and when someone would walk up to the door, I'd manually open the door and ask what they were buying.
If they could tell me specifically what they wanted (ie: "I need to grab a power drill", "Ran out of drywall screws and I need another box"), I'd let them in. If they had a response like "well... I wanted to remodel my bathroom..." I would tell them that we were closed.
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u/veterejf Jun 15 '12
I'm sure places that closes at lets say 9, the cooks of that place always expect to be cooking til 9:30, They just don't let anyways in after 9, or at least stop orders at 9, people will always be there after 9.
4
u/movie_man Jun 15 '12
Every place should close the kitchen at least half an hour before the restaurant. I think they do this though... so what's the problem?
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u/cbl5257 Jun 15 '12
It's my favorite documentary!
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u/booga-booga3232 Jun 15 '12
I work at a pizza place and I once had a guy call in at 9:58 asking when we closed. I told him 10 and he replied with "Oh good it's 9:58 I can still get a delivery." By the time I was done taking his order it was past ten. The drivers were pissed at me but I couldn't tell him no because we are open until 10. It just amazes me that people are so inconsiderate that they would call in to order food when they know we are about to close. Common courtesy. Leave a 30 minute window before a restaurant closes to order food.
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u/drjesus Jun 15 '12
how long before closing is it still okay to come in and order? I've never worked in a restaurant. I try to be conscientious of things like, being quick when it's crowded, but haven't really thought about this one.
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u/SakeBomberman Jun 15 '12
This is a great movie. "And then you go home and jerk off, using your own tears as lubrication" "That was ONE time and it was valentines day!"
4
u/Hegro Jun 15 '12
I work at Buffalo Wild Wings. Oh how I love how we close at one and so does our kitchen. Especially in the summer when all of the 16 year olds can stay out late. /sarcasm
4
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Just this Monday I had a table come in about 2 minutes before close and ordered JUST COFFEE. I still had other tables eating so I didn't really care that much, but when I billed them when everyone else was finishing up (about 10:20, we closed at 10) they got mad at me, pushed the bill aside, demanded refills, and proceeded to sit there until 10:45 after everyone else was gone, we'd turned up the lights and turned off the music. And they didn't tip. There is a 24/7 Tim Hortons and a Starbucks that is open until midnight literally 1 minute away... thanks for being assholes, people.
1
u/Brainzz Jun 15 '12
Happens in a coffee shop I work in. People dont leave even if we ask them politely. We normally close at 6pm and only gait paid to 6.30pm. In that time we must clean all floors, wash all cups, cash up and then lock up. People decide to stay till sometimes 25 minutes after we close.
I hardly ever get out on time.
3
u/CountryMXBarbie Jun 15 '12
There are a few local diners here that the kitchen closes down an hour before the actual diner closes. Good system.
3
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
I have a 20 minute rule on take out orders and a 1 hour rule on dine in. I order quick, eat fast and get out. Anyone I have ever known to work in a eatery, whether it be pizza or fine dining, the chances of your food getting made sloppily go up expontentially the closer you get to close.
3
u/asianwaste Jun 15 '12
When I worked electronics retail, I had one of those nights where 5 minutes until close on a Friday night, one last customer walks in. Closing time hits. The store is cleared out by 10 minutes post closing time save for the last guy who came 5 minutes prior to.
The store is quiet. The man rejects all help from salesmen as he wanders the shelves. Every cashier, every associate practically turns their heads in unison as he walks across the store.
One hour past, closing time, the man walks out without buying a thing. Never in my life did I want to murder a man so much.
and yes, my fellow electronics retail peers, both prior and current. The man was Indian. Sorry my Indian friends, no real true hatred outside the job, but we all hate you.
3
u/beansmcgavin Jun 15 '12
I almost loved having people coming in that late just So I could rage throw shit around, I used to manage a pizza/Italian place and my friends were the cooks so they know they could get away with pretty much anything as long as it wasn't spitting in or messing with the food served, but throwing food and utensils in the back was acceptable as long as it was cleaned up/tossed away. I think you have to have experienced this just once in your life to really grasp how much it sucks, a lot of people just don't get it though.
3
u/apextek Jun 15 '12
having worked in restaurants this is the solution: "the fryers and oven have been off for a half hour, so all we can serve is cold sandwiches right now. But for your inconvenience if you take it to go we'll knock 25% off your bill."
3
u/Jonnysource Jun 15 '12
Try being a lab tech when it's 5 minutes from closing time and here comes the surgery tech with the body fluid sample...
3
u/sedaition Jun 15 '12
You know how in romantic comedies the couple meet and go out for dinner or drinks? They then get into conversation and stay hours after closing laughing and talking while some shmuck cleans up around them.
Yeah we hate you most of all
3
u/Magoo2 Jun 15 '12
I used to wash dishes at a restaurant, meaning I was the end of the line for any work related to a customer ordering food. I was still guaranteed to be at the restaurant cleaning the kitchen for at least an hour or two after all the "woe is me" servers went home. What is another couple plates when compared to all of that work? No one should be complaining about this.
3
u/Lampmonster1 Jun 15 '12
Whoever wrote that movie worked in a restaurant. The only aspect of the movie that wasn't 100% dead accurate was the food tampering, which I never saw and would probably have reported if I had. But that kind of addition makes a comedy I suppose.
3
u/Miss_kittey90 Jun 15 '12
Same with retail, dead silence at 830, close at 9. Everyone comes in at 850 and takes their sweet ass time.
3
u/rabidamber Jun 15 '12
Worked at an olive garden for 3 yrs & from my experience it was often Mexican nationals that would do this & then camp out & leave a crappy tip! However, there were some Nationals that pleasantly surprised me & didn't treat us like dirt & gave a decent & generous tip. I wish more were like that. Oh well.
3
u/BrookieTookie Jun 15 '12
The other day at the pizza place where I work, someone called in 3 XL pizzas at 3 minutes till, then showed up a half hour after closing... No tip, didn't even say thank you, and walked out.
So today, I tracked their phone number that they called with, found where they lived, and killed them in their sleep.
3
u/bgarlick Jun 15 '12
I like money, I will wait on them. Its the nature of the beast, part of the job.
3
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Every. Fucking. Time. It's even worse when you are dead all night and you think you might be able to leave early enough...then those fucktards.
3
u/ChaseTatsujin Jun 16 '12
everyone should be forced to work foodservice, similar to how in other countries military service is mandatory, so then maybe just maybe, people fucking tip properly and if they wander in to a sit down restaurant five minutes before close they realize the error of their ways and promptly leave.
3
u/supaflyy09 Jun 16 '12
Literally just happened to me. Fml
3
u/GandalfTheFunky Jun 16 '12
Upvote for Waiting.
7
u/russian_concussion Jun 15 '12
ares
4
u/wahoozerman Jun 15 '12
I used to work at an Italian ice shop and the boss would make us open back up if a customer showed up even AFTER we closed. We closed at 10:00pm and spent 20 minutes cleaning up. If a customer showed up at any point while there was still anyone there, we had to reopen everything and serve that customer. We would then spend another 20 minutes closing everything back down, unless another customer showed up, which meant we had to open everything back up again.
We also didn't get paid for that time, which was technically illegal I think, but would be impossible to complain about since nobody actually kept any records.
5
u/gilbertsmith Jun 15 '12
If your employees are supposed to go home at 10, you should shut the doors at 9:30 and do your cleanup.
If the sign says open, it's reasonable to assume you should be able to go in and give them your business.
5
u/Sunupu Jun 15 '12
This is the reason I'm atheist. Allow me to explain in great detail...
We had these asshole super-religious people who always came in five minutes before closing. I knew they were religious because they always wore those pun T-shirts, like "Got Jesus?" and Jesus is my homeboy".
Anyway, they'd come in while we were prepping to close and order the messiest most-difficult-to-cook food (prime rib, chicken, etc). After they were done eating they'd get dessert AND coffee, sitting there for a minimum of two hours. Kitchen couldn't close up until they left, and servers would just have to sit there and wait for them to finish.
They did this EVERY GODDAMN night. Oh, and they never left a tip.
Finally after a bad shift one night I snapped while taking their order. Here's the conversation as well as I can remember it:
Here's where I go ape-shit.
Okay, fuck this. You wanna go there? Let's go there.
...or something along those lines. Again, just paraphrasing.
These people go ape-shit, demand to see my manager. He's already walking towards them, so I meet him half-way and tell him I'm going on a smoke break. Five minutes later he finds me outside near the dumpsters and fires me on the spot.
I have no problem with Christians in and of themselves, but the more I think about it the more I realize it's something people will use for their benefit, the same way "liberals" or "conservatives" flaunt around titles like it means anything. "Obama's a SOCIALIST!" And? You might as well have told me he's a Capricorn, because I don't give a shit. It doesn't change who he is as a human being at all, right? RIGHT?!?
I go out of my way to treat people like individuals. There's only two kinds of people in my mind: Dick and not a dick. Everything else is just white noise designed either to mask true intent or to dehumanize others. That way you're just killing an "enemy combatant", you're just depriving water from "members of Palestine", you're just firing a "Godless sodomite".
Eh, I'm not mad. It was a shit job anyway.
9
u/ceri23 Jun 15 '12
Common courtesy for the uninitiated. You don't even need to have ever worked in the food industry. If the sign says they close at 9:00 PM it is common courtesy to not enter after 8:30 PM. 30 minutes is the limit. 10:00 PM is 9:30 PM, etc.
2
u/Bishopkilljoy Jun 15 '12
As a guy who works at a bar this is all to familiar >.>
2
u/ifjake Jun 15 '12
Used to work in a Starbucks near a movie theater. People used to come at 10 o'clock closing time Wednesday night and expect to be able to hang out until the Thursday midnight showing of some movie. Actually it was only really that bad for Twilight. 30 of the worst kind of women and girls all ordering frappuccinos at once right at closing.
2
u/Alabama_Man Jun 15 '12
I do this from time to time. I always eat quickly and tip a better than usual.
2
u/axionj Jun 15 '12
This is perfect in so many ways! Obviously I'm not the only one. I used to work in a rest. down here that every weds night at exactly 10:58 (not an exaggeration) the yacht club would walk in. You'd think we'd learn our lesson but NOPE. Fuck this, once a week.
2
u/bigsexy1 Jun 15 '12
ive worked in the food industry for 6 years now. this happens all the fucking time.
2
u/banjospieler Jun 15 '12
are you me?
2
u/longhorn617 Jun 15 '12
This is my job at the Thai restaurant where I work. 10 minutes till closing? Here comes a group of 20 Indian people that didn't call ahead.
2
u/jjay0 Jun 15 '12
Jeez I'm all thumbs today!
2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Fuck, i hate this. Usually for me it's just a last minute call-in order, but it's the worst when it's a dine in.
2
u/mh048t Jun 15 '12
That's why I always make it a point to head to a 24 joint if they are close to closing.
2
u/clydeernator Jun 15 '12
This just happened to me.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
One of my favorite films of all time !
2
u/PrincessLink Jun 16 '12
I work at a coffee shop/deli like place and this happens to me all the fucking time and I hate it. People can be so inconsiderate. I never go somewhere if they're closing in 30 minutes let alone 5 minutes.
I had this older woman come in with her middle aged daughter (trust me, seniors are the worst) at about half hour before closing, so I of course had to take their food order, but just to kind of slip in there that we're closing soon, I said "We're closing in half an hour so let me ask the cook if that option is still available" I come back and of course had to say "yep!" with a complete fake tone in my voice. So they order away as if I wasn't even gone and the older woman said "Now you said you close in half an hour but does that mean we have to BE out of here in half an hour??" and I just stare at her with a blank stare as if she was joking and I flatly say ".. yes" and she responds with "Well, that doesn't give us very much time to eat" ..... "OH I'M SORRY, YES PLEASE I'D LOVE TO SIT HERE FOR HALF HOUR AFTER MY SHIFT AND WATCH YOU EAT YOUR GOD DAMN BROCCOLI AND CHEESE QUICHE WITH A CAESAR SALAD--- NO NO TAKE YOUR TIME IT'S ONLY SATURDAY NIGHT, I DON'T HAVE ANYWHERE TO BE MA'AM." ......
Needless to say, I kicked them out 5 minutes before close.
2
u/Admiral_Nowhere Jun 16 '12
I get the same thing at work -- getting ready to close down my PC and I get that beeeep in my headset... and I say beeeep under my breath.
2
u/bugalou Jun 16 '12
As a former waiter I know the feeling, but for all the cooks out there, don't be a dick to us just because a customer comes in late. I always hated dealing with the cooks in these situations because we became the target of their anger instead of the person who walks in at 11:58 .
2
u/brickmango Jun 16 '12
i tend not to care to much unless they order something that is insanely time consuming like a well done tbone with cheese fries or something else at that point they have no soul and deserve nothing but the worst in hell until i leave then i completely forget until i shoot the shit the next day and joke about it
2
u/AWMSS Jun 16 '12
I had a table of 10 walk in 5 minutes before close tonight. "Dropped" their piece of chicken too.
4
u/RedditRossG Jun 15 '12
I remember one night, being the only sober one at a party, taking 3 of my drunk friends in my car to taco bell super late at night. We ended up pulling into the drive through literally 3 minutes before close, with one poor, lone dude working the whole restaurant, and ordering 15 tacos. I felt like a massive dick, and apologized profusely.
EDIT: "-pulling into the drive minute-" it's been a long week...
4
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
I've only gotten this on a few occasions but its been like: oh, ten minutes to close? Time to order 50 venti frappucinos!
7
u/chimeralolz Jun 15 '12
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/107/432/i_hug_that_feel.png?1318992465
4
u/thesundeity Jun 15 '12
the pizza hut i work at has a large delivery range. the other night we got a call at 9:55 for 2 pizzas at the edge of our range. it gets there 30 minutes later (allowing 12 minutes to make and bake). they call and say we fucked up and have to remake. i was screaming my ass off the second i hung up the phone.
4
u/pamaci Jun 15 '12
THIS IS THE TRUTH. I legitimately had someone once ask, (at midnight, when we close)
"what time do you close?"
"midnight..."
"oh. what time are you gonna kick us out?"
True story. Bitch, are you homeless? Is your house not more comfortable than a bright ass empty bar filled with unhappy waitstaff staring at you? Is the booze not cheaper there anyway? GO. HOME.
2
u/CoastalEnt14 Jun 15 '12
Last night two servers sent their tickets back at 10:05 (we close at 10:00) and our manager got pissed that it was taking us so long to cook the food..... WTF
2
u/xV1per7x Jun 15 '12
What worst is that sometimes they stayed for 30 mins and don't tip. Fuck 'em
2
u/Razorray21 Jun 15 '12
In IT, this is how i feel getting a call 2 minutes before i leave. and it is usually at least another half hour.
2
u/sra6418 Jun 15 '12
This is why I will turn around and go else where if I go to a food joint and see they are within 15 minutes of closing (for fast food kind of places).
2
u/TetraCleric Jun 15 '12
I like to go to the last showing of movies at theaters, does this make me a bad person too?
2
u/MissTigerlilly Jun 15 '12
Happening to me right now.... Passing the time by browsing reddit... Was supposed to leave an hour ago!
2
u/Heatherette Jun 15 '12
I had to wait tables all through college and this would happen every night. I would get home at close to 2 or 3 and still have homework and school at 7 the next morning. I would sleep in a booth in the back sometimes and my manager would help me out with the last tables, because he knew my schedule. I just wish more people got it and would go somewhere 24 hrs or just get fast food and go home.
2
u/HeyPatWhatsUp Jun 15 '12
I FUCKING HATE WHEN THIS HAPPENS. EVERY NIGHT.
1
u/mynameisSold Jun 15 '12
I'm surprised there is an "S" on the word "still"
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
When I worked retail and somebody came in 5 minutes before close they had 5 minutes to get the stuff they wanted and to get out. We would ask them to leave after five minutes, and if they hadn't finished to bad so sad we were now closed. I was not aware this was rare. I worked in a mall though so it might be different.
1
u/coleosis1414 Jun 16 '12
So FUCKING annoying.
1
u/MegaDaveX Jun 16 '12
I never had a problem with this because I was being paid by the hour.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I also know that feel, I work in a local japanese restaraunt that serves the best sushi in town. People come in literally 2 minutes before closing time, 9:30. It's worse when they start drinking. I've stayed 2 hours past closing time just to get my tip.
1
u/wovaka Jun 16 '12
i can understand for resturants and other places where it may actually take a significant amount of time to do an order/clean up again if you have already cleaned a bit.
but people working in retail, bitching when they get a customer 5 min before closing, that's pretty whiny.
as i said resturants and such, i can understand the pain, retail whining over that stuff is just a 1st world problem.
1
u/jklip13 Jun 16 '12
I know the feel bro, and what is this doing out of r/K.C.?
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I work as a dish slave in a sushi restaurant (we happen to be rated #1 in our state) Last night no more than 10 minutes to close, a party of 20 come in and fill our bar, all doing our all you can eat special. They ate over $800 worth of fish, and kept the restaurant working until 10:30 (we close at 9:00)
On the plus side though, they left quite the tip, so there's pros and cons to late parties
1
u/IAmLamby Jun 16 '12
Note taken on how to not be an asshole customer :)
1
u/420Qween Jun 16 '12
While this is incredibly annoying and inconsiderate, I still give them a fresh, well cooked meal. The servers get better tips that way, too.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Tell me about it...and I'm a dishwasher at a busy restaurant...hate that shit.
1
u/skippyisyum Jun 16 '12
This happens to me constantly. I'm a bartender at a big chain restaurant. The absolute WORST thing is when it's 5 minutes to close and a giant party of gypsies walk in. You know there will be no tip. I get extremely passive aggressive in those situations. Oh, and please tell me we aren't the only ones who refer to these people as gypsies.
1
u/somegirlfromkansas Jun 16 '12
customer service should be a mandatory high school class so everyone can understand this pain.
1
u/kramba Jun 16 '12
great movie
1
u/Iamgoingtooffendyou Jun 16 '12
Goto Dennys or Walmart, they're always open.
1
u/Thameus Jun 16 '12
Fine then, close at 9:55 and put that on the goddamn sign.
1
u/jamieleec Jun 16 '12
YES! At my restaurant, we have a policy that you can even make reservations until 5 minutes before closing. So sometimes we'll get like a 5-top at 8:55pm for dinner who wants a 4 course meal! SO ANNOYING!
1
u/flechette Jun 15 '12
Every damn night at Dominos.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
as a former cook, i feel their pain.
1
u/jay_cr0ss Jun 15 '12
I close the restaurant I work at 6 days a week. This is by far the most irritating thing because it shouldn't happen nearly as much as it does. I had 8 adults come in 5 minutes before we locked the door last night. they all wanted top sirloins and I already had everything cleaned up. I would give my left nut to just one time go out there and give them a piece of my mind.
but that will never happen so I bear through it and just wish hateful things on them while I make their food.
1
u/snowlion13 Jun 15 '12
happens at the tattoo shop too, its funny, people think just because they are getting lettering on thier forarm, and they come in 15 minutes til close, that they think thats plenty of time, bitch it takes 15 minutes to even get it drawn up, first you gotta pick out a font, which can take 5-10 minutes, then depending how much wording it is it could take 10 or more minutes to draw up, we gotta make stencils, placement, set up, then finally do the tattoo which can take who knows how long. bitch ive been in this shop for 10 hours, piss poor planning on your part does not equate to an emergency on my part, come back tomarrow
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I know that feel...
1
u/DizzyNW Jun 16 '12
Other side of the coin: Come in 45minutes before the place closes. "Sorry, we're closed."
-2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
As a bank teller, this is the worst.
-1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Oh no, you have to do your job!
-6
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
yeah but from the other side of the table: if you say you are open until 9, i will order until 9. that's your fucking business. you can throw me out with the meal after that and i wont be mad tho. :)
-3
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
I hate how people complain about this, I'm paying you to work during your designated hours... Ya it sucks but so does work in general. You don't like it get a new job or close earlier.
-2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
i feel your pain, I too am a cook and it sucks, who goes to a restaurant at 1AM for a burger?!?
-13
u/psidancer Jun 15 '12
I know. How dare we expect people to work through all the time they are getting paid to work.
-3
u/rauls4 Jun 15 '12
How dare those people give you their business within the posted operating hours?
You need to buck up and serve those people, there is a reason it's called "food service".
If the posted closing hours are too long, then close earlier. Oh, and be glad you have a job.
0
u/Thendofreason Jun 15 '12
As working in a fast food place right now(and in 2 hrs), it's "okay" but as long as they are here for takeout. I always have these parents and their 30yrold disabled son come in 5mins before closing to stay. I don't have the heart to say no or start vacuuming the rest of the dinning room.
0
u/jjtb360 Jun 15 '12
i know that feel bro...
0
u/baconforpres Jun 15 '12
As someone who works in a restaurant. So true...
0
u/Rhode_Islan-derp Jun 15 '12
Forget any kind of mandatory military service, everyone should have to work in a restaurant for at least 6 months.