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Don' t mess with a professor when it comes to a takeaway bill error
Evan BartlettDec 10, 2014 Ran Duan manages the bar at the Sichuan Garden restaurant in Boston which was founded in the 1990s by his parents. One of his recent customers was Ben Edelman, an associate professor at the nearby Harvard Business School, who is also a trained attorney whose practice represents clients like AOL, Microsoft, the NFL, the New York Times and the Washington Post. Upon ordering what sounded like a sumptuous takeaway of shredded chicken with spicy garlic sauce, sauteed prawns with roasted chilli and peanut, stir fried chicken with spicy capsicum and braised fish filets, Edelman was affronted to discover he had been over charged on his $53.35 bill by an astonishing, staggering, eye-watering $4 (£2.54). Edelman emailed the restaurant to enquire what had happened and to ask for a refund - their whole subsequent exchange has since been published by Boston.com. Duan explained that the prices had risen quite some time ago but the menu on the website had not been updated. In fact Edelman had been charged the same price as everyone else, and he promised to update the website and send Edelman the new menu. Edelman was displeased with this response however and, citing Massachusetts law and calling it a "serious violation", demanded that Duan offer him a refund of three times the value that he was over charged - i.e. $12. I urge you to cease this practice immediately. If you don't know how to update your web site, you could remove the web site altogether.Ben Edelman Duan then explained that it was a small "mom and pop restaurant" that prides itself on "hard work" and "authentic Sichuan cuisine". He offered to honour the website price which he calculated as a $3 refund. Edelman hit back: "It strikes me that merely providing a refund to a single customer would be an exceptionally light sanction for the violation that has occurred." I have already referred this matter to applicable authorities in order to attempt to compel your restaurant to identify all consumers affected... or in any event to assure that an appropriate sanction is applied as provided by law. I'm most familiar with the Boston authorities... I will accept whatever refund you elect to provide, be it $4 or $12, but I accept that refund without prejudice to my rights as provided by law.Ben Edelman Keep reading...Show less How to listen to Taylor Swift' s ' Midnights' right now
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