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Saturday, November 9, 2013

Bar-B-Screw-U : The Story of the Resto That Tried to Go Cheap-O


Wazzup Pilipinas!

Never in my life have I encountered such a restaurant where the management was a strange group of weird and struggling entrepreneurs.

I received an invitation on Facebook by this lady to visit a new restaurant in Timog Avenue corner Tomas Morato to try out their food. Below was her message:

"Hi there, a good friend of mine just opened a resto at Timog Ave in QC and I'm doing a bit of social media stuff for him. This is the first of its kind restaurant in the Philippines so I thought you might want to be one of the first bloggers to review it? Here is the facebook page of the resto with some pictures and videos.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bar-B-Screw-U/ If you want to come experience this new concept and do a review, let me know and I'll arrange a visit for you and a friend. Or if you prefer, just visit the resto in your own time. We are happy to provide a giveaway to your readers too, maybe we can discuss ideas about how we can work together? Look forward to hearing from you."











I blog about food and new restos so I accepted the invitation:


Me: "Sure. We would love to visit the resto. Just send us the dates/time when we could visit, or maybe we'll just drop by when we are near the area. The giveaways to our readers will be great! Let us know what exactly will be the items and how many. Thanks!"

Bar-B-Screw-U: "Wow, great ! So Any kind of giveaways sir?"

Me: "For the giveaways, that will be up to your group what kind.... but of course, it should be a minimum of 1K or more in value to make it attractive to those who will join our contest, raffle, etc. If you want to promote your resto further, then perhaps GCs at your resto will be the most ideal,.... or anything useful."
Bar-B-Screw-U: "Ok sure, no worries with that sir, ill message you tom. for the sched, im really hoping that you could visit us. "

After a couple of days:

Bar-B-Screw-U: "hi sir im from bar-b-skew, are you available this weekend?"

Me: "Let me know the exact date and time please"

Bar-B-Screw-U: "Are you free on sunday? 7pm."

Me: "We prefer lunch time please."
Bar-B-Screw-U: "ok sir, whos with you po ba? Is it free for you guys?"
Me: "? I don't understand your question?"
Bar-B-Screw-U: "babayaran po ba nmn kau? ask ko lng po"
Me: "Aaahhh... Usually we don't call it payment when an organizer invites us to their events. They just call it tokens or complimentary gifts."
Bar-B-Screw-U: "ok sir got it, so free kau bukas?"
Me: "I also need to know how many can I invite to join me tomorrow.
or do I just bring along one of my friends?"

Me: "
Hello_______ , just text me at ___________ if its all set for tomorrow at lunch time.. We will proceed to your resto after going to church. Thanks. I need to log off na for the night... thanks"

Bar-B-Screw-U: "ok will text you"
  

My wife and I attended the invitation after going to church and we tried their Southeast Asian inspired street food done indoors. The only thing nice is that you get to cook your food in a no-pollution environment at the convenience of a clean restaurant though the food serving was too small as compared to the bigger chunks or bits available from your favorite "Manong" or "Manang" street food vendors.

What makes it different from the street food outside or on the streets?

Pros: 

1. You are safe from street pollution going to your food.
2. You are comfortable sitting in the comfy chairs.
3. You are sure that your food are cleaner.
4. There is an option of dining on other dishes aside from the barbecues.

Cons:
1. The servings of skewers are too small.
2. The street foods are admittedly tastier. 

3. It is more expensive compared to the street food.
4. The acting PR is a backstabbing bitch.
 
Why is she a bitch?

After lunch, we discussed on the idea of a bloggers event when they told us another blogger was inviting fellow bloggers for a bloggers event at their resto scheduled on the 30th of October.

They agreed I organize a second batch.We left and went home afterwards. A few days later thru text messages, they asked for ideas on what to give the bloggers as tokens. They asked me if resto vouchers will suffice. I told them the minimum amount of GCs that we usually get at events as a suggestion....and they said it was something they can arrange.

I wasn't able to join the scheduled food review because of a conflicting schedule so I just monitored the event by asking my fellow bloggers some info thru text message inquiries. 


Later, I was shocked when bloggers told me there was no tokens given. I was even more surprised when the people from Bar-B-Screw-U sent me this text message:




"Ross you promised "big name food bloggers" when you first brought up the idea of organising the event. I don't think you had complied to our promise either? Having said that, we will be sending out GCs but the value will reflect the worth of their blogs. Mind you we had another group of 15 more prominent bloggers in last week and even they were happy with a lesser valued token."

Here's the cheap-O resto's letter to the bloggers after the event....and after sending me a text message that they will provide food vouchers or GCs to the bloggers but the value will reflect based on their perceived worth of their blogs.


Hello Bloggers,

First of all we would like to our express our sincere gratitude for your visit tonight, we hope you enjoyed your dinner and experience.

I understand that _____ has posted some nasty words about us and we would like to take this opportunity to provide our side of the story.

Last week we invited ________ and his partner to visit our resto in good faith, he enjoyed his meal and during our discussion he made the suggestion of organising a bloggers meet up with some big name food bloggers and started naming some celebrity bloggers to entice us. He also suggested that we provide a token. We have never dealt with celebrities before so we asked him what would be a reasonable token and he suggested "at least 1k".

So he had set the expectation in our minds that a celebrity blogger is happy to accept a 1k token, and hence a non-celebrity would be happy to accept a lesser valued token. It's like someone putting the idea into your head that a big house is valued at 1 million, therefore in your mind you would think that a smaller house is valued at less than 1 million. It is simply a matter of perceived value, a value that was set by Ross,not by us.

We are not undermining you or your blog's value, the fact is we really do not understand what your blog is worth. To add to our confusion, we had many bloggers visit us and reviewed last week who did not ask for anything at all. So in our mind, such a review is worth somewhere between 0 and 1000, what exact figure we are not entirely sure.

It was never meant to be a demeaning comment on our part, we appreciate each and everyone of you which is why we were super happy that all of you visited tonight. We had also told everyone to leave their emails so that we can email you your tokens after.

Bar-B-Skew is just a start up business and like all start ups, it is a struggle just to survive the first year, let alone the first month. So it is not by choice that we are being careful with our expenses, it is a matter of survival. We hope you understand.

Having said all this, we will honor _______' promise of 1k GC for each and everyone of you who attended. We will send out a digital copy of GC later tonight.

We are sorry if there has been any misunderstanding about all this. And we sincerely apologise if you had felt insulted in any way, it was not our intention.

Kind Regards,

Bar-B-Screw-U

PS. Please forward this to anyone who attended tonight we have missed out due to misspelling of their email.

Here is their email that was sent individually to the bloggers. Take special note of the part of the message which I highlighted in red.



Hi ________,

Again we would like to extend a big thank you for taking time out to visit Bar-B-Skew tonight. All we intended was to provide a venue for bloggers to meet one another and try out a new restaurant at the same time. We just wanted everyone to have a good time.
Please understand that the event tonight was not a small investment on our part, and we do not expect much in return, all we ask is that if you enjoyed your time tonight, please help spread the word however you can. Like us on facebook, do a foursquare review, post on instagram, tweet about us, etc. Every little bit helps.

If you are kind enough to take time out to write a review on your blog, there will be a further token of appreciation for you. Attached are 2 Gift Vouchers for you to do as you choose, you can use it for yourself, give to your friends, or use as giveaways on your blogs. Your vouchers will be activated once you send us a link to the review. A link to our website (www.bar-b-skew.ph) and/or facebook page (www.facebook.com/BBSkew) would be appreciated.

Getting people through the door is not an easy task for a new business, especially one that has only been open less than a month. We understand that bloggers have the power to make or break us, so please be kind if ever you decide to post a review. A bad review could potentially destroy the business and the staff's livelihood and I hope we haven't done anything to deserve that.


Kind Regards,

W____
Bar-B-Screw-U

Here is my side of the story:


Don't believe their excuse guys. I have all the email and text messages intact so I have proof that there was no mention of inviting celebrity bloggers...

If they will put me in a bad light I will dedicate several articles for them to expose how cheap they really are and how demeaning they looked at you guys.

Its up to you if you will write about them. Just wanted to let you all know that I was just looking after the honor of the blogging community.

I was outraged when they said you were not big name bloggers and will decrease the amount of your GCs based on what you are worth.

It is crazy that they would assume that a celebrity blogger will be happy with a 1k GC token, and that a less popular blogger will settle for less.

I am not after the token or the amount. I am after their word of honor...and the insult they made me feel declaring the bloggers I invited were not big enough for them.

When I tried their place upon their invitation, I did not receive any token, and I never expected any.

But they were the ones who asked me to form a bloggers event, and they asked me what they can give in return...so I told them what I usually get as a minimum after attending most events. They were the ones who offered a token...I gave them a suggestion and they agreed to it.

That's it. Nothing more...

I was only angry when they told that me they will decrease the GCs amount because they felt that the bloggers who came were not big name bloggers or as they call it on the email..." celebrity" bloggers...

How would you feel if somebody calls your friends the "lesser" class?

I am not going against you if you're going to blog about them. It's up to you. But I will never deal again with liars and cheapskates who try to deceive just to get reviews for less your true worth.

Admittedly, the bloggers I invited may not have reached the status of "big name bloggers" yet. But the resto owners could have just stayed away from saying that frankly and just requested to lower their promised tokens.

My wife was there when we were discussing these with the owners...and she was even shocked on how the owners were trying to turn this around against me....and trying to make me look bad.

I emphasize...I did not negotiate for a value for the bloggers' tokens. I just gave the Bar-B-Screw-U owners the minimum amount of token that I normally get after attending events because they asked for it....and never made it look like bloggers always require a payment or ex-deal.

I have been organizing events and I have never requested for a specific amount or token. I will always tell the sponsors that its up to them and that it is not compulsory.




I posted this article because of the Facebook status message above. I know this was meant for me because FYI , I am still her Facebook friend and she knows I will be able to read it in my timeline...Unless I am wrong and she is also against a different person of similar circumstances.

So to the owners of the Bar-B-Screw-U restaurant, I pity all of you! But instead of cursing you and wishing for your downfall. I hope this blog post attracts many people to visit your resto. I would prefer that many customers go to your resto to try what you have to offer so you'll realize that we "not so prominent" and "not big name" bloggers can also influence people. Just don't allow this person to be the one serving the customers because she's a real "bitchy brat".

Praying for the owners to wake up and become more sensitive to the feelings of people.....and if in case I was so insensitive as well, the hatred was just too deep back then. Let us also hope time will erase their hatred so everyone can finally move on.

Update: Apparently, this blog article is working. It has also attracted the attention of a group of bloggers who has been throwing insults against Wazzup Pilipinas. I know the real reason why they are doing this.


I've posted the above screenshot a few weeks ago at my group and they all interpret the sarcastic "Bwhahahaha "reply negatively.

It says a lot about these group of bloggers.

About ""

WazzupPilipinas.com is the fastest growing and most awarded blog and social media community that has transcended beyond online media. It has successfully collaborated with all forms of media namely print, radio and television making it the most diverse multimedia organization. The numerous collaborations with hundreds of brands and organizations as online media partner and brand ambassador makes WazzupPilipinas.com a truly successful advocate of everything about the Philippines, and even more since its support extends further to even international organizations including startups and SMEs that have made our country their second home.

21 comments:

  1. haha too bad for Bar-B-Skew and to Charmaine Rin, ang tanda mo na jejemon ka pa rin?! anong petsa na teh?!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hindi ba dapat pag-usapan na lang in private ito instead na ipahiya pa yung resto? Baka naman miscommunication lang.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Its just a matter of miscommunication we have to consider putting up a business is really difficult i agree na dapat hindi nalang pinahiya yng restaurant because of this. Mahirap mg business hindi lahat ng desisyon jan eh lagi tama but that doesnt make their restaurant bad dba? Just my 2 cents.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sa post na to nasisira ang ang mga blogger ... ang PG ng dating mo pre.... sana sinettle mo na lang to in private... not on line.. kala mo sisikat ka sa paninira ng kapwa .. well you are wrong...

    ReplyDelete
  5. E inuna mo pa iconfirm kung anong klaseng gc ibibigay sayo kesa info sa restaurant! Ganito lang yan e, kung di mo nagustuhan ang ginawa sa yo e di wag nyo na iendorse. E kaso talagang attack to kill ka over gcs? Di ka naman nag invest ng pera. Parang GC ba importante sa Wazzup?

    ReplyDelete
  6. So someone tipped me over this article...

    If you say the blogging community can spread this, then us in the restaurant industry can also talk with each other not to entertain you nor any of the bloggers associated with this group. Not due to this incident, but it seems like controversy with how you relate to the people who work in the food service industry follows you like a fly that found the stench pile on wheels.
    It's a headache already to run a resto, what more to deal with unnecessary hassles like these.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Part 1:

    So let me get this straight...
    The restaurant invited you & your wife, and afterwards, your blogger friends, to eat at their restaurant.
    You were not asked to pay a single cent.

    Yet it is Bar B Skew that is the "cheapskate", simply because they didn't give you the GC value that you wanted?

    Please remember, they did not tell you that they would NOT be giving you and your group GCs at all, despite the fact that they were not pleased with the readership of the bloggers you brought.
    Just that they would not be meeting the value that YOU yourself suggested.

    You said you did not negotiate the value of the GCs, but the minimum amount came from you, and clearly you are not pleased that they got less than what YOU proposed, regardless of the reason.

    Just so you know, I've been to food invites where I was given a GC as a token and I have been to just as many wherein I was not.

    Either way my response has always been the same to the restaurant owners: "Thank You"

    ReplyDelete
  8. "I am not after the token or the amount. I am after their word of honor..." ---> this would have been believable if you're not making such a big fuss out of the GC amount. The free food is the real token. The GCs are just a bonus and are entirely up to the discretion of the restaurant owners. Being a food blogger yourself, all you should care about is the food and the overall experience at the restaurant. Was it good? Was it great value for money? Is it something worth sharing to your readers?

    I think it's time for you to take a step back, read your public rants again, and realize how lame this all sounds. If your are really just looking after the blogging community, or your group, you wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the image of Wazzup Pilipinas.

    If I'm correct, this is not the first time you've been associated with issues like this. What does that say about you?

    ReplyDelete
  9. If giveaways are the only primary motivation for you and your group to review or give insight about a restaurant, then you are not called bloggers.

    You are called extortionists.

    To the owner:
    You pretty much are the equivalent of low-class, opportunistic tabloid journalists that sensationalize news in the hopes that such methods gain the attention you want, and leverage it for your personal advantage.I feel sorry for those associated with you.

    And geez, the blogging community is smaller than you think, and now you give all of us who blog for the love of writing a bad reputation.

    To bloggers of this site:
    Study your craft, and learn how to write well. Do not rely on GCs / tokens / giveaways just for you to keep on writing. Learn to make friends and fix problems privately. None of this "Remate/Abante/Tiktik" kind of posts. Believe me. You will benefit in the long term.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is a sad circumstances for the group of bloggers who are affected and the establishment as well.

    To the readers, let us be reminded that this shared by Wazzup Pilipinas is only one side of the story... Believe me there is more to it than you know. As you can see there is no actual documentation screenshot presented except for the facebook status which is not even specific.

    To fellow bloggers who felt degraded, I hope you understand you are just a casualty in this circumstance between someone who promised top named bloggers (who we honestly know are in a different league from us like anton diaz of awesomeplanet and the like) but failed to deliver and yet asking for HIS OWN "luxurious" token. Please remember that how you are swayed and act will also affect the blogging community as a whole. You too do not know the entire story...

    To wazzup pilipinas who is merely new in the blogging community, I hope you stop this deflamatory remarks against a struggling new establishment and settle it amicably. Perhaps, you should start by not sending a terrible threat of destroying the establishment...

    ReplyDelete
  11. This blog post only ruined one's reputation,and that is, of this blog's owner.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Matatapang ang mga "Anonymous" commenters here. I dare you all comment with your real names...Ipakita ang tunay na katapangan!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nakakatawa at nakaka awa lang. To the writers of this website, please be sure that you know the history of this website as well as the owner. Kamusta naman ang pang gagaya ng pangalan na to sa isa pang website. At kamusta naman ang garapalang pang hihingi ng mga GC, celphone, loads, bayad sa posts. Hindi naman technical na tao kung makahingi ng bayad sa paid posting eh wagas na wagas. ahaha...

    to the owner, isip isip ka na dre, masyado ka ng KILALA... AHAHA

    ReplyDelete
  14. Just a word of advice:

    It's contradicting to say that you are looking after the honor of the blogging community when you make posts that include namecalling and derogatory remarks like "Bar-B-Screw-U" , "Cheap-O", bitchy brat", or "backstabbing bitch"

    Best to write with a cool head, distill your thoughts, and refrain from name-calling, even if someone called you out first.

    True class comes out when you can be graceful even under such circumstances.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wala yatang pambili ng ulam kaya uhaw na uhaw sa mga GC. Website Owner, why dont you try blogging without attending the event. You're a food blogger, right? How many resto or food did you try to buy and blog about it before you get noticed. Or perhaps, nakiride ka lang talaga sa fame ng site where you formerly write and got kicked out.

    To all companies, restaurants, and PR:
    Before you invite this person, please know his history. Event organizers will just be surprised or rather shocked seeing him in an event without inviting him. Plus, he brings his minions, not just 1 or 2, but 10 or more. Masama pa ang loob pag hindi nabigyan ng give away.

    An unsolicited advise, stay grounded. Wag masyado ilagay sa utak mo ang mga invites mo dahil nag papainvite ka lang naman din. You are destroying the reputation of the blogging industry. Also, do not by pass the PR by talking directly to the owners. Always remember na nakilala mo ang company dahil sa PR. Wag masyado excited, you were just invited to attend the event and cover it, not to flaunt that you are a media partner. Magkaiba yun sa coverage and being a partner. Tatak mo yan a kukote mo. One last thing, tumingin ka sa pinanggalingan mo. Wag masyado mataas ang ere. Nag sisimula ka pa lang baka mawalalahat ng sinimulan mo eh wala ka maipakain sa mga minions mo.

    ReplyDelete
  16. "After lunch, we discussed on the idea of a bloggers event when they told us another blogger was inviting fellow bloggers for a bloggers event at their resto scheduled on the 30th of October."

    "Last week we invited Ross and his partner to visit our resto in good faith, he enjoyed his meal and during our discussion he made the suggestion of organising a bloggers meet up with some big name food bloggers and started naming some celebrity bloggers to entice us."

    "Don't believe their excuse guys. I have all the email and text messages intact so I have proof that there was no mention of inviting celebrity bloggers..."

    All the proof you have came from emails and text messages which is rubbish because anyone with half a brain can deduce that the "big name bloggers name drop" came from a verbal discussion so..

    1. Did you Ross name dropped big name bloogers? Y/N?

    2. How many bloggers showed up to your "bloggers event"?

    3. How much GCs have they given your bloggers total?

    Knowing that they are a new business trying to survive, each and every GC they give out is a lot to them.
    So selling them the idea that big name bloggers will come to their store in exchange for GCs is a great deal which unfortunately they believe you did not deliver.

    ~~~~

    "I was outraged when they said you were not big name bloggers and will decrease the amount of your GCs based on what you are worth."

    "Admittedly, the bloggers I invited may not have reached the status of "big name bloggers" yet."

    You are contradicting yourself here. You are outraged that Bar-B-Skew did not think of your bloggers as big name bloggers yet you admitted it yourself that they were not in fact to that status yet.

    ~~~

    "I emphasize...I did not negotiate for a value for the bloggers' tokens. I just gave the Bar-B-Screw-U owners the minimum amount of token that I normally get after attending events because they asked for it...."

    You did set a bar and it was 1k. They agreed. Done deal.


    "and never made it look like bloggers always require a payment or ex-deal."
    "So to the owners of the Bar-B-Screw-U restaurant, I pity all of you! But instead of cursing you and wishing for your downfall."

    This post just nullified these statements and you just made it look like your bloggers are required to get paid. Sorry bloggers of Ross.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The restaurant owners were the ones who accused that the Wazzup Pilipinas blogger promised "big name bloggers" , I guess the burden of proof lies on the accuser. It's up to the restaurant owner to show evidence of that accusation.

    Who can say who really are the "big name bloggers" out there. Is it based on their site stats and rankings, or is it depending on who is more popular, or who is the most controversial?

    Well , he did say his wife was there during the discussion with the owners. Are you going to say as well that his wife would resort to lying for her husband.

    ReplyDelete
  18. We support Wazzup Pilipinas!!! We will side with Ross for standing up against the "cheap-O" restaurant owners.

    To those who believe that bloggers should just settle for a free meal. Then you are bringing blogging to an all-time low. Bloggers are more influential and has the widest coverage and reach than all the traditional media combined.

    What we are saying is that bloggers deserve better than just a free meal!!!

    You may say we are materialistic, or loot bag bloggers, or GC bloggers, ...in the very end we will all want something to better reward us for all our efforts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for this reply.

      At least you were honest with what your true intentions are for blogging, as evidenced by your statement, "We all want something better to reward our efforts". Your "Leader", Ross, was trying to make us believe that "It's not about the GC, but about the honor of the blogging community". Of course, no one believed him, so thank you for coming clean about it.

      It's true, bloggers are influential, and have a wide reach. But does your blog reach that standard? Is that why you feel you "DESERVE Better than a free meal"? You make being given a "free meal" sound like such an insult.

      I'd love to see your blog.. your writing, and photographs, so perhaps I could aspire to reach the great heights your blog has, wherein whatever event you go to, you feel you deserve more than what your host offers you.

      Your loyalty to Wazzup Pilipinas is commendable. But trust me, it is not bloggers that "settle for a free meal" that are bringing blogging to an all time low. These are the people who know how to appreciate what is given to them. But truthfully, any self respecting blogger would be thankful for the exposure, the additional content for the blog, and the recognition.

      The ones bringing blogging to an all-time low are the bloggers that believe that they deserve MORE than what they were given, simply because they feel like that he/she is a blogger that is "More influential, and has the widest coverage and reach than all the traditional media combined", when in truth, they don't even have 3,000 likes of their facebook page yet, or worse, even 500 followers on twitter. Sound familiar?

      Once again, thank you for bringing to light, what you and Wazzup Pilipinas are all about. Your honesty is very much appreciated.

      By the way, the owners didn't make anyone pay a single cent for the meals. How did THEY become the "Cheap-O"?

      Oh yeah.. because you didn't get a GC..Right. My bad.. I forgot... you deserve more than a free meal.

      Delete
    2. Thank you for this reply.

      At least you were honest with what your true intentions are for blogging, as evidenced by your statement, "We all want something better to reward our efforts". Your "Leader", Ross, was trying to make us believe that "It's not about the GC, but about the honor of the blogging community". Of course, no one believed him, so thank you for coming clean about it.

      It's true, bloggers are influential, and have a wide reach. But does your blog reach that standard? Is that why you feel you "DESERVE Better than a free meal"? You make being given a "free meal" sound like such an insult.

      I'd love to see your blog.. your writing, and photographs, so perhaps I could aspire to reach the great heights your blog has, wherein whatever event you go to, you feel you deserve more than what your host offers you.

      Your loyalty to Wazzup Pilipinas is commendable. But trust me, it is not bloggers that "settle for a free meal" that are bringing blogging to an all time low. These are the people who know how to appreciate what is given to them. But truthfully, any self respecting blogger would be thankful for the exposure, the additional content for the blog, and the recognition.

      The ones bringing blogging to an all-time low are the bloggers that believe that they deserve MORE than what they were given, simply because they feel like that he/she is a blogger that is "More influential, and has the widest coverage and reach than all the traditional media combined", when in truth, they don't even have 3,000 likes of their facebook page yet, or worse, even 500 followers on twitter. Sound familiar?

      Once again, thank you for bringing to light, what you and Wazzup Pilipinas are all about. Your honesty is very much appreciated.

      By the way, the owners didn't make anyone pay a single cent for the meals. How did THEY become the "Cheap-O"?

      Oh yeah.. because you didn't get a GC..Right. My bad.. I forgot... you deserve more than a free meal.

      Delete

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