Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby
Around 15 years ago we attended a free gourmet dinner seminar at the local "great food, but not exotic gourmet stuff" place.
The food was good, not great, and they wouldn't let us eat until after the seminar, which they prolonged til almost 9pm. By the time the food came out, the hot stuff had been kept under heating lamps for almost 45 minutes, and the salads had started to wilt in the bowls.
My suggestion, if you really WANT that free lunch:
Have a snack before you go, enough to tide you over for at least 2 hours. Also bring a package of crackers "just in case."
Bring a book, or load up a crossword app on your cell phone so you have something to do while you're waiting for them to finish pushing whatever product they're trying to push on you.
When it's time to fill in the post card (they come around and pick it up from you personally, so you have to do SOMETHING with it)...fill it in with obviously fake information. Like for your social security number it'd be 987-65-4321 or try for some variation of the fibonacci sequence in the phone number section. Give a false name, like Mick E. Mauz or Mr. E. Mole or Juan-Carlo Roberto Miguel de Silva Ruiz, Junior, Bitsy Heffernenstinbergersmith, or similar.
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Not our experience at all. We have been to two of them here.
One started at 5 the other at 4. Both talks lasted about an hour and food served immediately thereafter.
On one we told them that we did not agree with how they would recommend investing our money and had no interest in further discussion and filled out their card accordingly. No pressure at all. Dinner was steak Diane and was very good.
The one earlier this week was at the Arnold Palmer CC and dinner was excellent. A very good presentation and will probably arrange a follow up meeting with them in a couple of weeks.
So in my experience it can be worth our time.