Mumsnet Talk

The other day I walked into the bakers near my house and the woman there said 'I just baked a batch of those cheese buns you like but they aren't out yet. Shall I pop out back and get you one?'. I was actually kind of embarrassed -- even though she was right, I do love those cheese buns--.

At another shop, a staff member came up and said she forgot to stamp my point card last time I was in and if I had it on me she would stamp it now.

I am a different looking through no fault of my own, so I don't think it is anything bad but I do feel a bit self-conscious about being remembered so well. It makes me feel a bit paranoid. My husband on the other hand has the opposite problem. He would love to walk into a bar and have the bartender ask 'Your usual, sir?' but it rarely happens to him.

At my previous hairdresser they used too write notes about things you said so the next time you went in, even if it was a different stylist they would ask you 'How's the house extension going?'. I just think it is a bit weird and creepy or I am just strange and paranoid.

I just wondered how other people feel about that kind of service?

Disclaimer: we have been discussing at work how to gather more information about our customers to make our service more personalised but personally as a customer I would find it really off-putting but I don't know if I am just a small minority.

I think it's nice to be remembered as long as is not here is that awful cow who hacked me off so I'm plotting a petty act of revenge, I also love a cheese bun.

I hate it! I've been in the two local coffee shops about 4/5 times. The women that run them always say hello to me in the street now! Makes me cringe and has stopped me going in there!

Just to add I'm a Southerner living in the North so people remember me because my accent is very different. I also live in a small town. When I ring my hairdressers they are very much hello TT, usual cut and colour and they haven't even seen me.

We had a trip to minor injuries last night with ds2 and she commented how much he'd grown! Last summer we were there loads as he went through a clumsy stage of banging his face but she remembered him.

It was nice the other day though when I took the other ds to the gp and she asked how my pregnancy was going (we see whatever random doctor has an appointment) but she got me in at the consultant and changed all my medication so must have remembered. (Also I had my big cost on so bump hidden).

I like it as it makes me aware that they're paying attention to me. To my order. To what I'm saying etc

Or maybe you're very attractive and easy to remember

I love it! It's not necessarily because you stand out in any particular way. In my younger days I worked on a food counter in a supermarket and a lot of out customers became familiar to me.

I like being remembered in our local shops etc, makes me feel like I'm part of the community in our corner of a big city - like Toastoppers I'm a southerner up north, and I love how much friendlier it is up here. It made it much easier moving to a part of the country where we initially knew no-one.

When I worked in a restaurant I would always try to remember regular's allergies, preferences etc, so if I spotted their name in the reservations book I could ask the chef in advance whether, say, the sauce had gluten, and if they could make one without.

I thought it was good customer service!
Kinda embarrassed to think it was creepy.

I love my local soft play/cafe for just this reason.

They know my name, and (rather embarrassingly) I usually get my food and drink really quickly and with slightly larger portions

Also local library will put books aside for me if they think I'd like it - and they let DS stamp his own books which he loves.

Love it!

I like it. I would find it strange if the staff in places I visited often pretended they didn't recognise me or remember anything I'd said to them. I sometimes chat with the people that usually use the same bus as me in spite of not knowing them. I hope they don't think I'm overfamiliar

I don't mind it, I think it is nice that people make an effort to remember people.

I have a pub and all of the staff are very good at remembering faces and drinks, we can earn good tips memorising a 20 drink round of a saturday night .

Just last week a customer came to see me to say it was over a year since he was last in, and as he walked to the bar the barmaid said "Hello X where have you been, pint of X". He was really pleased.

But seriously, at the last staff meeting one if the things I pushed was customer service. The high street is dying, the pub trade is on life support, we need to offer something that Amazon and Tesco don't. And that is making an effort with customer service.

Pay a bit of attention to what people tell you/order etc and you build a relationship. I has to be natural though. Don't go making notes, its a bit creepy.

I like it. I've lived in the same area in London for years now; as Jammy said, "it makes me feel like I'm part of the community in our corner of a big city'. It's nice being recognised in shops, pubs, restaurants etc and people remembering your preferences.

If I lost my voice, I could still go for a drink in my local pub as they don't need to ask what I'd like to drink

UterusUterusGhali that's really considerate!

I think it's lovely and not creepy at all (except the hairdressers, why would you want to continue a conversation with someone that you never had the conversation with to begin with? )

There are loads of threads on here with posters moaning about how hard it is to make friends or how they haven't settled where they live. This is one of the ways that friendships start. It's just friendliness as long as it's not over the top.

I dislike it - I would rather be anonymous.

I like it. I'd find it more odd if I had been going to the same place countless times and they couldn't be bothered to remember me.

When I worked in a pub many years ago the regular customers would come in and we would either know the time they would arrive and have their drink ready for them or see them walking past the window and start pouring.

I live in a small town and am known everywhere, and I quite like it, although the Librarian saying that she was always interested to see what books I have ordered made me feel a bit self conscious. However, I have a discount card for the local coffee shop, have been going there for over six years and the manager never shows a flicker of recognition, so I was really surprised when one day I forgot my discount card, and she said, it's ok, I know who you are, you've been coming in for years. why not acknowledge me then?!

I always feel awkward. Especially in shops. I get paranoid they're thinking. "She gets through a lot of chocolate, doesn't she?"

I'm Irish so I find when I ring the gym for example, they know who they are speaking to from my accent and I therefore get better service iykwim.. Has its downsides too, makes it more awkward to complain

I really like being remembered. I love my local cafe who remember mine and the dc names, I love my local butchers and F&V shop that might not know my name but always remember me and have a natter about the weather/parking/inane things. I am a social person though.

The doctors here (we're abroad) all recognise me because of my English accent and my interesting (ahem) medical history. It's quite nice actually: I don't even have to give my name when I call for an appointment.

However I remember someone in a bagel place once commenting that "I ate a lot of bagels" which I found really embarrassing: I was in there every day (on vacation) but I didn't think that was too weird. I didn't go back.

Guess I only dislike it when it's embarrassing/makes me feel like I'm odd, rather than just friendly.

I like it. I look different to many people around where I live and I tend to engage in polite chat with people so I guess people remember me.

It is all good. Better to be friendly I say.

I grew up in London and its very anonymous there I feel. I now live up north and its weird how friendly everyone is.

One of my friends is from a tiny northern Ireland town. He got a tattoo when he was 16 and his parents knew before he even got home!

I like to be remembered as a good customer. And I like to feel valued as a customer. Being remembered by staff ticks both those boxes.

I went back to one particular favourite bar after a 4 year absence (visited about every 6 months in the years leading up to the absence) and the bar man greeted us as warmly as if we'd been away for a week. (Probably why it's rated as one of the best bars in the world.)