The $3 offer was obviously a typo or simple error, I really don’t think he was trying to weasel out an extra dollar.
But besides that do you really think this was about $3, $4, or $12 to this Harvard educated lawyer with a PhD in economics? He felt personally angry at what he felt was a misrepresentation of the price and decided to wield his legal prowess and position to make a small business owner cower in fear. And he was succeeding until the small business owner got some legal advice that he was in the clear, even as Edelman upped the ante by hinting at class actions and punitive damages.
you do realize that the owner of a chain of restaurants with at least three locations may be several times more rich and powerful than a College professor, do you? That, instead of a case of hubris, Edelman may just be putting into practice what he teaches in his course about combating internet fraud?
But again, that would make the recreational outrage less fun, wouldn’t it?
He could easily make more than most(side note, my dad was kinda pissed when he saw how the local dry cleaner lived) but probably not more than this professor.
And remember he is not just a professor, he is an associate professor and probably makes far more money as a lawyer and consultant.
Horseshit. The Hungry Douche was looking for a fight and he wasn’t about to let it go. He wanted to whip his legal dick out and pick a fight. He went straight to the law after receiving the first reply email, and he has done this kind of crap before. In that same email, he demanded the treble damages. Edelman wasn’t going to settle for $4, he wanted to feed his ego and be a bully.
This conclusion is so completely different from my experience. Every single time I’ve complained (granted I don’t do it much) about a difference between a marked price, or about food at a restaurant, every single time they are more than willing to try and make amends. I haven’t tried being a complete douche to them over a minor mistake, though, so I can’t speak to that. I don’t know what kind of companies you complain about and how they handle your problems, but I’ve always found polite is more than successful. Maybe you should shop at better stores.
Are you under the impression that there is a law that prevents a restaurant from changing their prices whenever they want, for whatever reason they want? Could you please quote ANY law or regulation that says that?
No. Should there be a law preventing restaurants from advertising menus in a website not reflecting the real prices? If there isn’t any law for that, that’s a terrible oversight.
Read the first email again. no threat, no demand. He pointed out the discrepancy and gave them the opportunity to correct it on their own. They chose not to.
That matches most of my experience too. Most restaurants would have immediately corrected the bill or given a refund if it was already paid. This one didn’t.
As I’ve pointed out numerous times now, there is no such law.
But let’s return to your assertion about “changing prices on a whim”. Why shouldn’t a business be able to change their prices on a whim?
If I sell widgets for $10 each today, why can’t I raise the price to $20 tomorrow? DO you think you should get the $10 price just because that’s what you expect?
If I run an ad stating that I’ll sell widgets for $10 and I sell out after two days, why do you think I shouldn’t be able to raise the price when the next shipment, which I recieve on the third day, costs me twice as much as my previous shipment did?
There isn’t any law for it because it would be unenforceable and because, in the long run, it’s terrible socio-economic policy.
Sure. Luckily it’s not at all what I’m talking about. Like, at all. And I mean that I’m very clearly and obviously talking about something so incredibly far away from what you seem to be reading, it’s unbelievable.
I’m talking, like I’ve been from the start about false advertising. For which there’s plenty of laws, rules and regulations and whatever you need.
Then start showing some links to them, or shut the hell up about them. I say that laws that would apply to this situation don’t exist. Prove to me that they do by showing some cites. I have no problem saying I was wrong; I’ve done it before plenty of times and will no doubt do it again. It’s put up or shut up time, in other words.
Well, yeah, you should read the rest of the post? When I talk about them honoring the prices in a website instead of changing them in a whim? This is getting kinda ridiculous.
Yes. Do it. Prove that any law on the books in Massachusetts or at the federal level makes what happened here illegal.
You won’t. You won’t because there aren’t any. But you won’t admit you were wrong either., is my guess. You’ll whine and post some more and then say it’s not worth your time to argue with me and you’ll slink away, like the cowardly, ignorant asshole that you really are.
I’m not. I was talking about the website. You picked a phrase out of context. False advertising exists. False Advertising regulations exist. Do you want me to link you to the FTC website. Fine with me.
It is absolutely worth my time arguing. I’m not a lawyer. I’m not going to spend hours looking through regulations about web laws. You say that you know for certain somehow that there aren’t regulations about truth in webpages, I absolutely believe you. I really don’t feel there’s any need for that kind of anger.
Not that this thread needs anything more, but heck, I’ll join the minority agreeing the restaurant owner is shady.
Completely agree
Could have been, if the restaurant owner felt like it.
It’s a few bucks per order for however long they’ve had their website up. I’ve worked for small companies, and I would have quit the instant any of the owners tried to pull any #$&*% like that. Websites take seconds to update, and if it was driving any traffic at all (which it clearly was), they should have made sure it matched. They for damn sure should have refunded anyone bringing it up, and changed it right away. 3 emails in is 2 emails too far.