Catering to a Request?

Thursday, February 7, 2008

I love e-mail from readers, it gives me joy. I especially love hate mail, or mail from Crazies. It entertains me to no end, and I am often apt to share them with friends. I have never produced them here on the blog because, well, I just want to have some sense of propriety and decency. I think that regardless how I feel I can let them avoid exposure on the blog and let them save face.

This e-mail however, I feel was worth sharing. It was also a post I was unsure of posting, still I am. Spelling and grammar have been left untouched. Names have been changed.

Hi, My name is ---- from X Catering Company. I was reading your reviews and was wnodering if you ever review caterers? My family is starting have problems getting our catering business going due to lots of stupid people complaining about the food not being good (you know how that is, since i read your stories all the time). Was thinking you could maybe come to a wedding we are planing to cater for and review the food. You could come in the back probably during the reception. We would be happy to only charge youy a smaller fee that what is actually the cost. Please let me know. Love your blog!

Wow... I am happy you like the blog's reviews and stories on the Crazies. Sadly, I am lumping you in with the latter. What would help your catering business most is providing good customer service, ensuring high quality food for a reasonable price, and maybe look into hiring someone to do your marketing. Word of mouth can be your best friend or your worst enemy. If people are giving bad reviews of your work on a consistent basis, it warrants attention, not a quick fix from a local website.

I also understand the "stupid" people aspect. I worked in a coffee shop for a long time, and the populous at large did a number on my sanity. However, lumping them all together and calling them that in a semi-business style e-mail is just unprofessional. Would prospective clients hire you if you only see them this way? Would I want to review you if I know you see people this way?

Reviews are usually anonymous. I would never let you know I was coming or reviewing you. Rarely do I do a review with a place having prior knowledge to my arrival (actually, only once). But also asking me to sneak into someone's wedding? I don't even know where to start.

This is not me being a bitch. This is Business & Economics 101. Take the customer feedback seriously and sit down and figure out why you are in the catering business, and if it (like anything else in life) is something you want to do then take the time to approach it in the right way.

Best of luck to you.

For Blogs By Actual Caterer's Check Out:
Just the Two of Us
The Food Whore

13 comments:

  1. that is HILARIOUS. wonderful. ha ha ha

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  2. Dang! I coughed up soda all over my lap top reading this crazy/funny post! All I can say is ...WOW.

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  3. I think customers complaining about the taste of the food is something to take seriously as a caterer..that's pretty much the kiss of death to food based business.
    That was such a strange request that is was hilarious

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  4. LOL - "Let you in the back" and charge you a small fee? OMG, they can't be serious. How completely clueless.

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  5. OMG! Hilarious! I can only imagine what one of his catered events must be like. I want to hire this guy if only to have him pick a fight with me. The lunacy of it all would be sheer entertainment!

    I SIMPLY LOVE how he wants you to do a promo review for him and he'll only charge you a "smaller fee". Priceless.

    I so heart you blog G. Keep it up! Oh... and if I should ever open a restaurant, I promise to only charge you a "smaller fee" if you give me a favorable review.

    Take Care

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  6. A few comments touched on it, but that's what stuck out to me like bulls balls (excuse the expression!)

    They want to CHARGE you to do a review on THEIR event?

    Where does one ever begin? Where, oh where. Wow.

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  7. Too funny! But not only does the person want you to sneak into someone else's wedding, but you have to pay a fee???!!! WTF?

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  8. I had to read this about three times to make sure I was reading it correctly that they wanted to charge you for:

    1. Taking your time to taste their food and give them feedback

    2. Putting you in socially awkward situation of being a "random" at someone's wedding

    Shouldn't they pay YOU to do this?

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  9. Oh my, truly clueless. And they would give you a "discount" to crash someone's wedding so you could give them free advertising? I never cease to be amazed at how some people think.

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  10. Holy Toledo! I was fine until I got to the issue of payment at which point my soup spontaneously flew from my mouth. Unreal!

    Perhaps a good business manager would be of help too. Or maybe a chef... :-)

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  11. Shelley said it best "They want to charge you to review their food".

    That is what got me instantly. Insane.

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  12. How low can this caterer get? And I love your attitude towards people like this. When I have reviewed restaurants and they wonder why I take pics, Ijust tell them that my husband loves photography...

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  13. I can think of many weddings where I would have been happy to pay for the privilege of -not- eating the food. :)

    My favorite part, though, is this person's idea that customers are crazy for saying the food isn't good. Hello? That's priceless feedback he scoffing at. With a customer-hostile attitude like that, failure is the only possible result

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~Garrett

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