Well thanks....

[RSS-S3]

Just popped to my local Audi dealer in Slough..... arrived at 12:45pm -shuts at 1pm (just wanted a little look round)

So im just having a very quick look round and its about ten minutes to one ... as im walking around to the door someone locked it in front of me .....

Ok i get its new years eve.... but christ what a rude way of going about it!

So glad I didnt buy my car from them!

 

[RichardT]

Maybe a bit abrupt, but consider, you are not at work and they want to get away.

I used to work in a shop and it's really irritating when someone comes in just as you are about to shut and just browses - sometimes looks like taking the p...s.

Go back next Saturday and I bet they will sell you a car

Happy New Year.

 

[vacant]

To be fair it's one of the single most annoying things you can do to car sales staff, remember they already work long hours, weekends, bank holidays...

 

[davemk]

That was rude, if they're open until 1, the door shouldn't be locked.

That said, in my 'yoof' I worked in a restaurant kitchen. There was nothing more annoying than a diner turning up as you were about to close the kitchen having cleaned up.

 

[RSS-S3]

That was rude, if they're open until 1, the door shouldn't be locked.

That said, in my 'yoof' I worked in a restaurant kitchen. There was nothing more annoying than a diner turning up as you were about to close the kitchen having cleaned up.

It was more the abruptness of how they did it!
Totally agree it must be annoying to have people coming in last minute.

 

[Audi Bairn]

Sorry but if they're open until 1pm they're open until 1pm not 12:45pm.
At work I don't start putting my jacket on and switching my pc off 15 mins before my finishing time and refusing to answer the phone.
And to lock the door as your walk up is completely unforgivable.
They could've invited you in, said politely that they were closing in 15 mins and could they help with anything quickly. I would consider that acceptable.

 

[davc]

To be fair it's one of the single most annoying things you can do to car sales staff, remember they already work long hours, weekends, bank holidays...

As do a lot of others including myself.

There is no excuse for rudeness and people need to remember that the customer always comes first.

The door should have remained unlocked until the OP had vacated the showroom.

 

[Jassyo06]

Just popped to my local Audi dealer in Slough..... arrived at 12:45pm -shuts at 1pm (just wanted a little look round)

So im just having a very quick look round and its about ten minutes to one ... as im walking around to the door someone locked it in front of me .....

Ok i get its new years eve.... but christ what a rude way of going about it!

So glad I didnt buy my car from them!

l would have volleyed ye right oot the automatic doors....lol........

 

[Martinbanshee]

To be fair, rocking up 15 minutes before closing time isn't the smartest thing to do when wanting a browse round a car showroom, especially at this time of year. I'd be locking the door for new customers and giving 15 minutes notice to those inside, that way I'd get home at a decent time.

 

[RSS-S3]

To be fair, rocking up 15 minutes before closing time isn't the smartest thing to do when wanting a browse round a car showroom, especially at this time of year. I'd be locking the door for new customers and giving 15 minutes notice to those inside, that way I'd get home at a decent time.

Wasn't intended to be a full on shopping spree.... I actually just wanted a brochure.

And got shot down in flames ...

 

[RSS-S3]

l would have volleyed ye right oot the automatic doors....lol........

With the way some people have been treated by Audi ......... this would Not have surprised me

 

[Jassyo06]

With the way some people have been treated by Audi ......... this would Not have surprised me

Come on mate.... seriously who buys a car on New Years Eve....? l understand your enthusiasm for yer new yellow brief....and its proven by visiting a showroom at this time of year....on this day especially,but on the flip side of the coin,my sons a salesman for Audi.....and l hear some real nasty stories from him about customer/potential customers/time wasters.....time is money in that business....and New Years Eve is exactly that


Go Squat on one there fancy Sofas after the holidays and drink all there coffee on Jan 3RD....lol

 

[CarloS3]

You may not have been wanting a full on shopping spree but you can bet your bottom dollar that there are people that would walk into that dealership 15 mins before closing time on NYE and expect the full service, so that's why they close slightly earlier in order to finish up with people already inside.

For every 1 understanding person there are 10 others that take the biscuit.

I admit they could've handled it better without locking it in your face but still.

 

[Martinbanshee]

Wasn't intended to be a full on shopping spree.... I actually just wanted a brochure.

And got shot down in flames ...

Technically, they should have let you in for a while or asked if there was anything they could help with and on another day they might have, but if you can't get home sharp at this time of year there's something wrong.
If it was July I'd find it easier to understand your frustration.

 

[Martinbanshee]

Have a good New Year anyway folks

 

[S32B]

Reminds me of a miserable security guy a good few years back, it was Christmas day and my young nephew who was/is car mad was bored. I said come on I'll take you down to look through the window at Porsche, we got there and walked up just looking through the window...then over the speaker system we hear "Can you get away from the windows please? we are closed and you are being recorded, come back when we're open". We looked inside and could see him sitting at the desk looking at us...miserable git

Wouldn't have minded if we had jumped a fence to look, but it's open:

 

[THQuattro]

Reminds me of a miserable security guy a good few years back, it was Christmas day and my young nephew who was/is car mad was bored. I said come on I'll take you down to look through the window at Porsche, we got there and walked up just looking through the window...then over the speaker system we hear "Can you get away from the windows please? we are closed and you are being recorded, come back when we're open". We looked inside and could see him sitting at the desk looking at us...miserable git

Wouldn't have minded if we had jumped a fence to look, but it's open:

View attachment 113663

Hi mate
I think i would of messed about outside to wind him up, pulling a moonie would be funny.

 

[Reznor]

Just popped to my local Audi dealer in Slough..... arrived at 12:45pm -shuts at 1pm (just wanted a little look round)
So im just having a very quick look round and its about ten minutes to one ... as im walking around to the door someone locked it in front of me .....
Ok i get its new years eve.... but christ what a rude way of going about it!
So glad I didnt buy my car from them!

Okay, I have to put my two cents into this discussion and say - Don't be that guy! DO NOT be that guy!
As a person who has previously worked in retail environments, there is nothing worse than an entitled customer thinking they have the right to be in a place of business until the very last second of the posted hours. You are a guest in a place of business and as much as you may have "just wanted a little look around", the people that work there are anxious to start their time away from the place.
Consider the thoughts of the people working there when they see you pull up at 10 minutes to close. Are you going to buy a car in 10 minutes? No. Is there anything you can possibly do in 10 minutes at a car dealership? No. Are you going to look around until probably after closing and waste the time of the people who want to get their personal time off started? Probably.
So the salespeople, who probably work on 100% commission, do not want you there. Same goes for managers or any other employee who's income is based wholly or partly on sales. The receptionist and any other hourly-wage earner certainly doesn't want you there, they wont be getting overtime pay for that extra time they put in past closing to take care of you. The boss or whoever has the keys to actually lock the place up certainly has better things to do, they know you won't be buying a car in 10 minutes.
I don't want to make this a personal attack on you, RRS-S3, I just want all people out there, (especially those who have never worked in a retail environment), to realize that it is actually you who is being rude in expecting to use the personal time of multiple employees at a dealership, or any other business, when you expect to come in that close to closing time.
END RANT!!!

 

[Jassyo06]

Okay, I have to put my two cents into this discussion and say - Don't be that guy! DO NOT be that guy!
As a person who has previously worked in retail environments, there is nothing worse than an entitled customer thinking they have the right to be in a place of business until the very last second of the posted hours. You are a guest in a place of business and as much as you may have "just wanted a little look around", the people that work there are anxious to start their time away from the place.
Consider the thoughts of the people working there when they see you pull up at 10 minutes to close. Are you going to buy a car in 10 minutes? No. Is there anything you can possibly do in 10 minutes at a car dealership? No. Are you going to look around until probably after closing and waste the time of the people who want to get their personal time off started? Probably.
So the salespeople, who probably work on 100% commission, do not want you there. Same goes for managers or any other employee who's income is based wholly or partly on sales. The receptionist and any other hourly-wage earner certainly doesn't want you there, they wont be getting overtime pay for that extra time they put in past closing to take care of you. The boss or whoever has the keys to actually lock the place up certainly has better things to do, they know you won't be buying a car in 10 minutes.
I don't want to make this a personal attack on you, RRS-S3, I just want all people out there, (especially those who have never worked in a retail environment), to realize that it is actually you who is being rude in expecting to use the personal time of multiple employees at a dealership, or any other business, when you expect to come in that close to closing time.
END RANT!!!

Wicked Reply lol

 

[Ormesome]

Okay, I have to put my two cents into this discussion and say - Don't be that guy! DO NOT be that guy!
As a person who has previously worked in retail environments, there is nothing worse than an entitled customer thinking they have the right to be in a place of business until the very last second of the posted hours. You are a guest in a place of business and as much as you may have "just wanted a little look around", the people that work there are anxious to start their time away from the place.
Consider the thoughts of the people working there when they see you pull up at 10 minutes to close. Are you going to buy a car in 10 minutes? No. Is there anything you can possibly do in 10 minutes at a car dealership? No. Are you going to look around until probably after closing and waste the time of the people who want to get their personal time off started? Probably.
So the salespeople, who probably work on 100% commission, do not want you there. Same goes for managers or any other employee who's income is based wholly or partly on sales. The receptionist and any other hourly-wage earner certainly doesn't want you there, they wont be getting overtime pay for that extra time they put in past closing to take care of you. The boss or whoever has the keys to actually lock the place up certainly has better things to do, they know you won't be buying a car in 10 minutes.
I don't want to make this a personal attack on you, RRS-S3, I just want all people out there, (especially those who have never worked in a retail environment), to realize that it is actually you who is being rude in expecting to use the personal time of multiple employees at a dealership, or any other business, when you expect to come in that close to closing time.
END RANT!!!

Anyone who has worked in retail will also surely know that a 10minute chat and good customer service can lead to better things! A car cant be sold in 10mins correct, but a nice chat and good customer service can persuade them to come back when open. We know the context of what he went in the dealership for. The sales advisors/employees didn't. If i was the manager of the dealership and i had seen the employee's actions i would have thought he could have received a warning. They are paid until they are closed (in this case 1pm) so it wasn't wasting any personal time as you put it. Im all for turning off computers or getting ready to close but to turn away a potential customer is very bad. I would imagine the person who shut the doors won't have much luck in sales in the future.

On a similar note, a similar thing happened to me recently in a North Face store. I had left my snow coat behind while travelling back to the UK and was going to buy a new one anyway so thought id try the shops. I walked in with 10mins to closing time & was kicked out by the shop owner. Was clearly going to spend a lot but he didn't want to know. Went to a different store as didn't want to go back to that one after he was rude. Its my money and I didn't want to line his pockets with profit. Much like how i would feel if i was going to buy a car from a car dealer who closed the door on me when there are 15mins left till closing time. Without the customer, a business is nothing!

 

[Martinbanshee]

Some people probably value their spare time more than your money though, and I don't blame them.

 

[davc]

Okay, I have to put my two cents into this discussion and say - Don't be that guy! DO NOT be that guy!
As a person who has previously worked in retail environments, there is nothing worse than an entitled customer thinking they have the right to be in a place of business until the very last second of the posted hours. You are a guest in a place of business and as much as you may have "just wanted a little look around", the people that work there are anxious to start their time away from the place.
Consider the thoughts of the people working there when they see you pull up at 10 minutes to close. Are you going to buy a car in 10 minutes? No. Is there anything you can possibly do in 10 minutes at a car dealership? No. Are you going to look around until probably after closing and waste the time of the people who want to get their personal time off started? Probably.
So the salespeople, who probably work on 100% commission, do not want you there. Same goes for managers or any other employee who's income is based wholly or partly on sales. The receptionist and any other hourly-wage earner certainly doesn't want you there, they wont be getting overtime pay for that extra time they put in past closing to take care of you. The boss or whoever has the keys to actually lock the place up certainly has better things to do, they know you won't be buying a car in 10 minutes.
I don't want to make this a personal attack on you, RRS-S3, I just want all people out there, (especially those who have never worked in a retail environment), to realize that it is actually you who is being rude in expecting to use the personal time of multiple employees at a dealership, or any other business, when you expect to come in that close to closing time.
END RANT!!!

Sorry but I don't agree. If someone goes in 10 minutes before closing time he/she is entitled to the same respect as someone who goes in at any other time of the day. The point people are missing is that the garage was still open.

On the subject of "personal time", this affects us all from time to time, it is a fact of life. I don't get paid overtime in my job, yet I'm obliged to fulfill my duties to delver what our customers expect from us. If that means working 50 hours a week instead of 37 then so be it.

Anyone who has worked in retail will also surely know that a 10minute chat and good customer service can lead to better things! A car cant be sold in 10mins correct, but a nice chat and good customer service can persuade them to come back when open. We know the context of what he went in the dealership for. The sales advisors/employees didn't. If i was the manager of the dealership and i had seen the employee's actions i would have thought he could have received a warning. They are paid until they are closed (in this case 1pm) so it wasn't wasting any personal time as you put it. Im all for turning off computers or getting ready to close but to turn away a potential customer is very bad. I would imagine the person who shut the doors won't have much luck in sales in the future.

On a similar note, a similar thing happened to me recently in a North Face store. I had left my snow coat behind while travelling back to the UK and was going to buy a new one anyway so thought id try the shops. I walked in with 10mins to closing time & was kicked out by the shop owner. Was clearly going to spend a lot but he didn't want to know. Went to a different store as didn't want to go back to that one after he was rude. Its my money and I didn't want to line his pockets with profit. Much like how i would feel if i was going to buy a car from a car dealer who closed the door on me when there are 15mins left till closing time. Without the customer, a business is nothing!

Spot on mate.

 

[Audi Bairn]

Sorry but I don't agree. If someone goes in 10 minutes before closing time he/she is entitled to the same respect as someone who goes in at any other time of the day. The point people are missing is that the garage was still open.

On the subject of "personal time", this affects us all from time to time, it is a fact of life. I don't get paid overtime in my job, yet I'm obliged to fulfill my duties to delver what our customers expect from us. If that means working 50 hours a week instead of 37 then so be it.



Spot on mate.

100% with you on that

 

[AndrewBates]

I agree and disagree with some of the things said in this post, I work in a dealer all be it the workshop side but where do you draw the line, let a customer in at a minute til closing but not at closing on the dot, everything is so customer based these days but I think a customer has to give some respect to people who have lifes outside the work place. There is such a thing as a bad customer and rocking up ten minutes before closing time I'd say is one of those attributes

 

[Martinbanshee]

I honestly can't stand people that think because they're the customer with money to spend they should get special treatment. We're all people with families and friends with much better things to do once we escape from work.

 

[richinsoton]

Personally speaking I have no issue with the retailer closing the doors slightly earlier than their advertised closing time so they can finish up with any customers already in there & get away on time especially at a bank holiday. It's no different to last orders & calling time at a bar which everyone accepts. Roll into the retailer at 07.30am on a week day like I do & there's plenty of staff more than willing to help you & the same goes for weekends (no one in there first thing as people are generally having a lay in & then expecting a retailer to stay open passed their closing time because you're too lazy to get there any earlier isn't on imho).

 

[Jassyo06]

Worst customer l have heard of was taking 3 test drives on 3 consecutive nights in the same car at 18/30 hours each night for a hour at time and then said cheerio....

l say