Originally Posted by The_Bonobo:
“I agree with some of what you are saying such as that you don't have to throw money about to make a party a success. But in this case the penny pinching led to much of the dissatisfaction. The food seemed a bit shonky and not that well received (although this was only hinted at, I admit). It certainly took a long time and this was mentioned as something that annoyed the parents. The cake was a joke and would certainly have been seen as a poor effort. Also, Richard's refusal to get the sparkly stuff for the gift bags showed penny pinching, arrogance, and dishonesty. While it may not have made a difference getting those things may have led to the woman being happier to at least take the bags, if not necessarily buy them.
All these things (and there were some others) directly would have led to the parents being less happy with the service. In the task this would mean affecting the refund, but more importantly in the real world would have led to no positive review / word of mouth. I am not saying all the negative feedback would be down to him but a good deal of it would be. But hey he squeezed a slightly better margin from some burgers and cake so Sugar is fine and dandy with that. That's how you build your reputation it would seem. Short term gains with a whiff of conman.
I am not sure I would go along with your description of Richard but it's all subjective anyway so fair enough. You like him and rate him and to be fair you are not alone in that, whatever I may be saying. The smugness and arrogance though is, in my opinion, always a negative trait. It doesn't matter if you did a good job, people who act like that make enemies and lose perspective. A bit of grace in victory is priceless in business or any other field.”
“I agree with some of what you are saying such as that you don't have to throw money about to make a party a success. But in this case the penny pinching led to much of the dissatisfaction. The food seemed a bit shonky and not that well received (although this was only hinted at, I admit). It certainly took a long time and this was mentioned as something that annoyed the parents. The cake was a joke and would certainly have been seen as a poor effort. Also, Richard's refusal to get the sparkly stuff for the gift bags showed penny pinching, arrogance, and dishonesty. While it may not have made a difference getting those things may have led to the woman being happier to at least take the bags, if not necessarily buy them.
All these things (and there were some others) directly would have led to the parents being less happy with the service. In the task this would mean affecting the refund, but more importantly in the real world would have led to no positive review / word of mouth. I am not saying all the negative feedback would be down to him but a good deal of it would be. But hey he squeezed a slightly better margin from some burgers and cake so Sugar is fine and dandy with that. That's how you build your reputation it would seem. Short term gains with a whiff of conman.
I am not sure I would go along with your description of Richard but it's all subjective anyway so fair enough. You like him and rate him and to be fair you are not alone in that, whatever I may be saying. The smugness and arrogance though is, in my opinion, always a negative trait. It doesn't matter if you did a good job, people who act like that make enemies and lose perspective. A bit of grace in victory is priceless in business or any other field.”
Hi there, I agree that the burgers didn't look great, but the cake looked really fine and the kids wouldn't have complained about that. Richard said he didn't add glitter to the party bag because of a lack of time.
He's not perfect, but I don't agree that he's horribly arrogant or smug. Having worked with many people who were far less likeable and less able to work as a team than Richard, with none of his dynamism or sense of humour and fun, I'd be happy enough to work with him based on what I have seen.
If I'd have been Vana, I'd have been pissed off too, but really it's her own fault that she was side-lined in the task. If she thought that cooling the cake in the freezer was a good idea, then she should just have done it, rather than asking Richard. Likewise, if she had a great cake decorating idea, and nothing better to do, then she should have set it up anyway, and sold it to him when he had time to listen, or even created extra decorations to put around the cake, or to serve with it, to give it a personal touch. I like Vana, but she needs to show a bit more resolve and stop seeking approval, or whatever she was doing.
I was thinking about the situation with Richard and think there are a few things to consider. One is that even if I, or others, find him arrogant he is certainly far less so than many others in past series'. Also I was thinking you have to remember the people he is not getting along with (at least sometimes). They are his rivals and we have seen that many of them are very focused on that. Also he has been praised quite often while also enjoying a lot of success in tasks. These factors could easily make others jealous or threatened. In that context it is possible they are critical and antagonistic due to reasons other than how bad he actually is. I wonder if he gets on better with colleagues in regular work scenarios. Outside of the show maybe he works fine in teams and is popular, and it is feasible that the editing also skews how he comes over.
) him until the past week or two.
