No public restrooms - SO WHAT

[insertNameHere]

This post is to respond to a comment in a thread on CS
http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ad.php?t=78658
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another of my faves is the 'no public restroom' convenience stores. what PITA those are. there should REALLY be a law against that BS: if you have a store that serves the public in any way, bathroom facilities should be available.
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I see nothing wrong in not wanting people who stroll in off the street using your restroom if that is the only purpose they have entered your store. I have found that if your a paying customer places will be more than happy to let you use the one in the back. Working in a C-store where most people come in trash the bathroom and leave without buying anything, I can tell you what a pain it is to clean.

My family was at the Men's Warehouse and my mom was about to walk across the street because she needed a restroom. Funny, The salesman told her they had a restroom in the back room to the left. Now, I'm pretty sure it would have been different had we walked in an said, we just want to use your restroom and not we looking to get particular colored suit for sisters wedding.

[muses_nightmare]

It's annoying if you happen to need one, but I fully understand why stores may not have one. I used to have people tell me I had to let them in to use the washroom when the gas station was locked down for the graveyard shift. Uh no, it is not your right to come in and use the washroom when the law says I have to have the doors locked between 10pm and 6am when I'm working alone.

And it's not a bathroom thing, but I had one woman insist I had to pay for her cab because our bank machine was out of order. I don't see how she thought she was entitled to that, that leap of logic just escapes my understanding.

[anakhouri]

There is also the issue of theft to consider; I worked in a video rental place that had public restrooms until the owners decided not to offer that anymore. People were waiting until we were busy, sneaking DVDs into the restroom and stealing them. Until the ban we would find piles of broken DVD locks in the restrooms at the end of the night.

By law in the US, places that serve food have to have restrooms, which makes sense. Everyone else gets to choose, which is as it should be. It might be nice to offer public restrooms, but seriously, for many stores it's just not worth it.

Although I think gas stations would be wise to have public restrooms, since many people are traveling a long way and might have to pee after they buy gas.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I work in a petrol station and we can not, under any circumstances, let the public in to use our loo. It's situated out the back, next to the stockroom and near the office which contains the safe. If we are asked, we say we don't have one cuz it stops SCs from whining at us and we tell them to use the main store's loos. If the main store is shut, we tell them to go to the McDonalds down the road.

Food places have loos; plus there are public loos on the street. I don't care if you're a parent, you should be able to plan ahead if you're going to take your kids out. Especially since a lot of SC parents do that thing where they ignore their child's pleas to go to the loo til they're practically bursting, just cuz they want to continue shopping.

[Rageaholic]

I can understand that sentiment though. When you're walking through a city and no place has a bathroom, what are you supposed to do? I wouldn't expect every place to have a bathroom available to public, but at the same time, it's pretty dickish when a store has a bathroom in plain sight yet won't let anyone use it. (or even worse, requires a key).

[Lachrymose]

When you're walking through a city and no place has a bathroom, what are you supposed to do?

Depends.

(See what I did there?)

[BlaqueKatt]

I see nothing wrong in not wanting people who stroll in off the street using your restroom, to shoot up heroin

fixed that for what I personally witnessed on a semi-regular basis working in a gas station, well ok we just got to call the cops on the used needles we kept finding on the floors all the damn time.....

[Dreamstalker]

By law in the US, places that serve food have to have restrooms, which makes sense. Everyone else gets to choose, which is as it should be. It might be nice to offer public restrooms, but seriously, for many stores it's just not worth it.

The bookstore I used to work at would let kids/pregnant women use the staff restrooms if they really needed to go; they were through the backroom down some steep stairs and a lot of stock was kept in that basement area. Due to both safety and theft concerns we couldn't let any customers back there unless they were escorted all the time.

[HYHYBT]

Would this also apply during hours when the business is locked up but still open? For instance, a gas station that makes you pay through a window after a certain time, or a McDonald's that only does drive-thru during overnight hours? In those cases, at least, it's a safety issue.

[Racket_Man]

Would this also apply during hours when the business is locked up but still open? For instance, a gas station that makes you pay through a window after a certain time, or a McDonald's that only does drive-thru during overnight hours? In those cases, at least, it's a safety issue.

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ad.php?t=70943

LOL I started a thread over at CS about 8 months ago about this very thing. several replies and in particular one responder just could not understand why locked doors means just that LOCKED and they are locked for a reason. minimal staff, high security risk, robbery/bodily injury/death risk.

unfortuenately the thread got closed after I posted a hostile (my own fault there) reply to that one responder who just did not get safety and security policies are written in blood. to just casually break the rules and let someone in just "cause" invites trouble. it only takes one time and you are dead.

in my currenty job I have to be very aware of safety.

when I used to work 2d shift at the gas station we were open 24/7/365 so I got really used to watching and being paranoid.

[fireheart17]

Re the petrol bit: It seems to be a case of some do, some don't around my neck of the woods. Most petrol stations have a toilet (which the customer has to go to the desk and let the attendant know that they wish to use it), while a few don't.

Nearly every other place will have a toilet in some shape or form nearby.

[Sarah Valentine]

When you're walking through a city and no place has a bathroom, what are you supposed to do?

My friend used to "date" a girl who didn't care, she would just go around the back of the building and take care of business. This was the same girl who also just pick up her skirt or pull down her shorts in front of other people and go in her front yard, and continue phone conversations on her head set on the toilet. They aren't friends any more though, he doesn't do drugs any more but she still does.





Edit:Sorry for the slight threadjack.

[boringscreenname]

The place I work has public restrooms, and we don't have any problem with people using them when we're open. But when it's just me working second shift and the doors are locked or when I'm working 3rd shift, I don't let anyone in to use the restroom. We're located in a busy downtown area and there are tons of other places that are open that have public restrooms.

I remember once when I was 7 or 8 months pregnant my husband and I went to a little strip mall. I had to use the restroom and the store we were in didn't have one. So I went looking for one, and every place I went to didn't have a public restroom.

I finally found a casual dining restaurant and asked if I could use their restroom and explained I was pregnant and it was an emergency. They said it was for paying customers only and I'd have to order something. So I ordered a fountain drink. It actually took longer for them to get me the drink and process my payment, than it would've taken me to just use the restroom and leave. I was a little annoyed, but at that point I was just desperate enough to use a restroom that I didn't mind paying a little.

[Dreamstalker]

The "paying customers only" thing in some fast food restaurants annoys me too, especially if there's a line at the counter to order. All I want to do is use the restroom; if you want me to order something when I come out I'll do that (likely was going to anyway).

Flying Star in ABQ used to have a token system for the restrooms (you got one token per person when you ordered) but did away with it because the mechanism on the doors tended to jam during busy times.

[HYHYBT]

I've never run into a place that was strict about "paying customers only." Seems counter-productive in most situations; just because someone only wants to take a leak *today* doesn't mean they haven't bought there a thousand times in the past, nor that they won't in the future. I'll buy something unless either I'm in a huge hurry or I have no money, and (unless there's no other option) I make restroom runs in places I'm familiar with, if not that exact store then at least in a chain I use regularly... but kick me out today and I'm not likely to be back tomorrow.