Scots_Al

StartinSanDiego

Moderator Note: A number of posts have just been edited for being overly personal, snarky, etc. Please respond to the idea and do not argue or bicker with an individual who has a differing opinion than yours.
Thanks and enjoy your breakfast, if you get in on time, that is....

Qwkynuf

With regard to the oil change shop hours, obviously I can't speak for every business offering the service, but I managed stores for 3 different brands in 4 states, and every one of those had the same rule - if a customer pulled into the parking lot prior to doors down, they were serviced. It was sometimes frustrating on a Saturday when you had 6 cars in the lot at 6pm, knowing that you still had to clean up and do inventory once the last car was done, but those was the rules.

Kevin AA

For crying out loud, even the Post Office will service people who arrive one minute before closing time. With a closing time of 5 PM, if there's 12 people already in line and another one enters at 4:59 PM, the postal workers will serve those thirteen people. A worker will lock the door so more people don't come in after 5 PM, but if it takes them 30 minutes to service the thirteen customers, they will do it.

How on Earth can a privately run business justify turning people away 15 minutes prior to closing, yet the Post Office will continue to take people into the queue at 4:59 PM?

FlyingUnderTheRadar

IMHO that goes well beyond what should be expected. If my car could not be in the bay before closing I would come back another day.

Weak sauce: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weak%20sauce

FinsToTheLeft

emma69

Yes, in many cases they do. If someone had shown up at 10:45pm wanting food when we closed at 11pm, they would be told sorry, the kitchen is closed, as no food could be cooked and served to them before 11pm. Our licensing meant that every customer had to be off the premises by 11:20pm and I would rather say sorry, no can do, or offer drinks and a bag of crisps, than to be forced to kick them out before they had finished eating, which would be a worse experience for the customer, IMO. I frequently locked the doors at 11pm, and left a couple of minutes later, having grabbed my purse and coat - I was paid until midnight, in case we were busy, to give me time to finish up, clear out customers, and clean up, but often on quiet nights it was a case of watching the clock, then locking the door!

OccasionalFlyerPerson

Was there clear signage saying that no new orders would be taken after 5pm?

I agree with those who feel that if closing time is 10pm (e.g.) that people should only start eating if they're going to be out by 10pm. However, I agree with those that where service stops early, that this should be clearly stated.

pinniped

They should just post the hours clearly. Last drop-off 5PM, store closes at 6PM.

Dry cleaners are usually good at posting their same-day service cutoff in addition to their open/close times.

Closing times for restaurants and bars are a bit of a different animal because they usually plan on *some* stragglers, within reason, and can do much of their clean-up if a couple people are still left finishing up. There's etiquette on the part of the establishment - not kicking you out at a precise time - and etiquette on the part of the patrons - finishing up at a reasonable time when the food/drink is no longer flowing.

One of our regular local joints has last food order at 9:30PM, taps turn off at 10:30PM, the lights gradually come on at 10:45PM, and they start playing cats meowing Christmas carols at 11PM.

Scots_Al

Need

My father owns an one-hour photo shop back in the 90's. About 45 min before we close, we have a sign saying "Next Day Pick Up Only" on the door. The problem with late comers are not really that they made us stay late, but often they won't even come back to pick up the pictures. So we printed out the pictures... wait... wait... wait... after another 30 min it is a no show. Back then, there was no cell phones... they would only leave their home number.. and of course no one answers.

As for breakfast, I have seen servers not happy about showing up late a few times. I think they want to clean up all the dirty plates before breakfast close. Some restaurant also need to set up the tables for lunch. I try to either eat really fast or just grab a few bread/pastry to go. I think the latest I showed up was about 10 min before closing. It is really hard to wake up early on vacation to make it to breakfast before 10am especially if there is any jet lag.

fastflyer

Back when men wore suits everyday, I sold menswear on Sundays in Boston, mainly as a cheap method to supplement my workweek wardrobe. We were open Noon to 5pm. The same shop was open weeknights until 7pm, so I understood that regular customers might be confused by our different hours on Sundays. However, the manager was clear about quitting time. The registers were turned OFF at 5pm sharp, so she could finish her accounting work, which involved IIRC some kind of FTP/ flat file transfer back to HQ. She wanted to be out the door by 5:15pm.

Many times, customers would linger, and we had to hurry them to finish their shopping. Once the registers were off, the only choice was to put items on hold and come back another day. This was always explained as a technical limitation with "our point of sale system." There were some raised eyebrows from time to time, but I don't remember any conflict beyond that.

pinniped

One time we were about to leave early (10:55), and one of our guys was like "no, we have to stay for the cats."

Fortunately, we know the bartender well and always make sure to tip well.

x1achilles

I'm amazed at the difference of opinion here. I really thought everyone would say that it is ok to come to breakfast until 09:59. I was wrong.

MSPeconomist