Saturday, March 13, 2010

Expired Gift Certificates, Fanfarlo, Mets Excitement (not a typo)

Most people know i work in the restaurant industry.  I am extremely critical of websites where anyone can post reviews.  With the exception of opentable.com, where customers must PROVE they ate at the restaurant, none of these sites require a customer to supply evidence of their experience.  This lends itself to shills (false positive reviews), false criticisms by competitors, and obviously the emotional reviewer review.  These sites have become a place to vent because there is less incentive to leave positive reviews then negative ones.  My favorite example of this behavior is evidenced in the following scenario.
Customer purchases gift certificate or promotional voucher to restaurant.  Said voucher is clearly labeled with an EXPIRATION DATE.  Exp date passes and customer calls to ask whether or not they can use it.  This customer has proven that they won't come to your restaurant through the course of a year for a FREE meal, i ask, is this a customer you should go out of your way for?  If you honor it, you are providing good service, generating good karma, but are probably running your business wrong.  If you don't honor it, this customer will go online and leave a bad review of your restaurant, despite the fact that they have not been to your place in over a year.  Don't believe me, i'll send you a link to multiple reviews showing this exact scenario.

Fanfarlo is a band to follow and take seriously.  Their debut album, "Reservoir" is great from start to finish.   They sound like Talking Heads with traces of REM and Coldplay.  I think they make it if they work hard, and i urge you to check em out.

Opening Day approaches.  Mets fans have a lot to worry about with a daunting beginning to the schedule, including series' against the Marlins, Rockies, Cardinals, Braves and Dodgers.  Couple that with injuries to Reyes and Beltran, and uncertainty in the rotation, and many are counting on the Mets to stumble and fall.
This year aside, the long term view of the Mets has improved this spring.  The state of their farm system is vastly better than they have been given credit for.  Ike Davis will take over at first base next year (if not this) and he is being compared to John Olerud.  Jenry Mejia has been lights out pitching and his cutter is being prematurely compared to Mo Rivera.  Fernando Martinez is hitting again.  We have a future catcher in Josh Thole.  We have a couple of interesting imports from Japan that should be in the bullpen.  The organizational depth seems to be drastically improved.
The Mets will have money at the deadline because they had a prudent offseason, and i can see them making a run at some help if they should remain relevant.  Even if this doesn't occur, the possibility exists right now, and that is exciting.

Have a great weekend.
TB

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