Well, there's another story to it.
At a buffet, the staff will clear your plate after you've finished and you get a new one as you go for another round of food.
When one of the staff came over to my table to clear the plates, she said, "Welcome back."
I was surprised.
How did she know I've been there before?
The last time I went was almost two months back.
Was her memory so good that she could still recognize me after so long? Did I leave such a deep impression on her the last time? Did she remember because I'm one of first to arrive and the last to leave? Or the restaurant has so few guests for their brunch that she remembers me?
The only logical explanation I could find is they have record of my previous reservation.
That reminds me of another hotel's restaurant that I frequent with my cousin for lunch, once or twice every month.
This restaurant used to serve a brand of tea and latte for their buffet lunch, which we would requested at the end of the meal.
Beginning of last year, they stopped serving them and only offer normal tea and coffee. Ordering the more expensive drinks would require additional charges. I guess it's probably due to rising costs.
There is a supervisor who recognizes us. Despite them stopped serving the more expensive drinks, he never fails to ask us if we would like to have that particular brand of tea or latte and served them to us without any charges. Sometimes, he would just send the tea over without us asking for it.
There were a few other permanent staff that we recognize. However, it was a pretty weird situation. It seemed like sometimes they recognized us, and sometimes they didn't. The most interesting was a particular staff who only recognizes my cousin, but not me although he saw us together.
This morning, there was an article about the trustworthiness and credibility of food bloggers who charge for writing reviews of restaurants and cafes.
Everyone knows the power of social media.
A blogger with a large following on social media can have a multiplier effect when his or her posts get read by the hundred thousands of followers and shared by them to their friends online.
Due to this power, bloggers get invited to free meals, overseas trips, free products and services by companies in the hope that they will write posts and reviews to increase exposure for these companies.
The blogging world has evolved to such a stage that those with large followers start charging businesses for writing reviews about their products and services and through advertisement placed on their blogs.
And when money is involved, how trustworthy or credible is a review by a blogger?
While some bloggers maintained that they paid for their own meals in all their reviews and posts, others choose to state on their posts that the meal is hosted, albeit in small prints.
There are also horror stories of bloggers taking advantage of such free products and services by behaving like spoilt brats when their demands were not met.
On the other hand, companies feel the pressure of the need to be on social media especially those that caters to young customers. Others fear they are missing out because their competitors are all using social media. And sometimes, managements want to be on social media because of their wives or kids.
Bloggers provide fast and wide exposure for a business. If your company has the money to splurge to invite them for free meals, free products or services, by all means do it. For those without the financial resources, they'll just have to wait out till a blogger discovers them.
What's interesting is how these companies can spend thousands of dollars without measuring how effective is this tactic. It's tactic and not strategy because this free stuff can be easily copied by any competitors with the money to spend.
The most puzzling question is why these companies are spending money in the hope of gaining exposure which may or may not attract customers. Would it be better for the to focus on their existing customers already buying from them?