There are so many things wrong with this, I don't know where to start...
First, we aren't Home Depot. If Spot wants to consider moving the flats as "work," then they can do that.
Ok, if you pulled it from the back, how did you get it from the back to the guest?
No matter how, it was your responsibility to be sure that the guest got it to the front lanes in the proper manner (by you or another TM trucking it up there for them).
We're a 7:30am store, so I do get this.
But you can't afford to be held up by a guest??? I seriously hope this is not the attitude of your store. Without those pesky guests, there would be no need to stock the shelves, or money for you to get a paycheck. Remember, the guest simply sees someone in red and khaki who works at the store who can help them. They don't care if you think you are exempt.
If your ETL said, "stop helping this guest, we'll take a gamble that someone on the salesfloor team comes along and helps them instead." You have a serious problem with the guest service culture in your store.
And now I understand why 88% gets my store the number one spot in the group for overall guest service.