Picture: Thai Rath

 

What Thai Rath called a social media drama was all over the Thai news this morning.

 

A buffet lovers' group contacted Wisdom International Buffet asking to do a review and take pictures of their food.

 

But an admin member was miffed when the restaurant charged them for dining even though they were doing a review.

 

Apparently they turned up with two free food vouchers but there were four diners in the party.

 

Wisdom asked for two of them to pay even though they would be featured in advertising material online and essentially free recommendation if all went well. 

 

After being asked to pay an admin member of the review group allegedly threatened to remove the restaurant from the group when they contacted the restaurant's inbox. 

 

Later the controllers of the group said that the admin member had been removed from their role and they apologised for the threats made. 

 

Posts have since been taken down.

 

Netizens were divided but vocal on the issue with some saying that restaurants should bow down to reviewers while others said turning up with four people and only two vouchers should warrant a charge irrespective of who they represented. 

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2021-09-15

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

Storms and teacups come to mind over this one.

Either way they got some free advertising.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

But an admin member was miffed when the restaurant charged them for dining even though they were doing a review.

So who believes any review by these people, free meal = good review.

Nothing to do with quality and service.

21 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

So who believes any review by these people, free meal = good review.

Nothing to do with quality and service.

Sure i get that, that is why its hard to trust professional food reviewers. They need to make money one way or the other. Plus what about defamation laws and so on. 

Who were the 4?

Personally, I think the "mystery shopper" is the way to go. Anonymous reviewer pays cash for the goods and services provided, and gets refunded his costs by his employer.  The service provider or the reviewing body is invoiced cost plus fees and expenses for the impartial review.

Speaking of social media - ever notice that social media isn't terribly social? 

For some time now. 

 

Just an observation.

ah the old  entitled  freeloaders,  boot  em out....so  called "influencers" cant stand em

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

So who believes any review by these people, free meal = good review.

Nothing to do with quality and service.

99.9% is  total tripe, car reviews the same, dont give it a  glowing report then ad revenue goes to another  co who give that glowing report

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Netizens were divided

They should be, by their heads,  bluddy  busybodies go stick your oar some place  else

15 minutes ago, zzaa09 said:

Speaking of social media - ever notice that social media isn't terribly social? 

For some time now. 

 

Just an observation.

Its a trial by idiots from what I see

thats the problem these days, every idiot has access to internet and every idiot thinks he is the center of universe.

 

Logic would suggest if business provided 2 vouchers, that means its inviting 2 people, 

 

What if he showed up with 10? should they also all eat and drink for free? why stop at 10, would his idiotic logic apply to 20?

 

All businesses i know that have bowed down to this idiots who leave a bad review, all gone out of business. There is only so much you can do to please the idiots and even then it would not be enough.

 

Especially when it comes to food. Every idiot thinks he is a food critique, if something is not cooked how he normally eats it instantly becomes bad meal.

 

If something is not to his/her taste buds, all over sudden its a bad restaurant.

 

Like idiots who are vegetarians but go eat at a steak hose and then bitch about restaurant having a bad menu.

 

One of my favs of all time, was reading a review by Alibaba, who was not happy a 50 baht hole in the wall restaurant did not serve halal meals, so therefore it was a bad and overpriced eatery.

10 hours ago, webfact said:

But an admin member was miffed when the restaurant charged them for dining even though they were doing a review.

What do they expect!

 

Total Thainess.

 

Reviewers, serious ones don't announce there coming.

 

People want to know what to expect when they walk-in.  Not some paid for review.

 

I think we're all in agreement there.

Free Drinks and Food = review
Pay for Drinks and Food = review

Being in Thailand, guess which one will score better marks. I had a restaurant for 10+ years and luckily just sold before the Bang. Had quite a few "review" requests = all denied. The publishers though were invited for a treat under the condition, that I wrote the advertorial myself which was not a review but a simple description of a meal with matching wines. Prices were mentioned; neither food nor drinks were judged price- or quality wise. Some publishers found this great as it was a neutral information with correct information and proper pictures.