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Whatever Harvard Business School professors are paid, it's clearly not enough
By adamg on Tue, 12/09/2014 - 4:47pm
A Harvard Business School professor goes nuclear - he's still considering whether to sue - when a Chinese restaurant in Brookline overcharges him by $4.
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Comments
Dear Lord.
I don't think any salary could be enough to keep this guy from being the world's biggest cheapskate douchenozzle. Seriously. This makes me cringe for humanity, though my hope is salvaged by the thoroughly polite, friendly and civilized response by the restaurant guy. But Edelman, wow...I can't wait for this to go viral on you. Really.
I love how the restaurant guy
I love how the restaurant guy just starts politely saying "I will wait for the authorities to contact me and notify me how to handle this."
For a smart guy
He exhibits a complete lack of understanding of the rights and remedies provided to consumers under ch. 93A
Too small for the law to care
Even if the statute covers this situation, Edelman seems unfamiliar with the legal principle of de minimis non curat lex (Latin for "you gotta be f***ing kidding me").
best revenge?
Eat at Sichuan Garden. Hope this results in an increase in business for this guy. I also hope the public shaming keeps this guy from continuing to consider whether to sue.
My immediate question reading the article - I wonder if this guy even tipped.
if it's a business practice to systematically overcharge
I can see taking legal action if he thinks it's a business practice to systematically overcharge but if it happened once he should talk the manager and find a new restaurant.
He was looking at an old
He was looking at an old (albeit online) menu.
I have paper menus in a drawer somewhere from 2000 (when I first moved to Boston). Should I bitch that the $5.95 combo platter in those menus is now $8.95?
The website even has a 2011 copyright notice on it.
The restaurant has an
The restaurant has an obligation to make sure the menu online is up-to-date. They control that; your menu drawer is beyond their responsibility.
Fair point..
..but this guy was far more concerned with:
A.) Being a self-righteous douchebag.
B.) $4. (or $12, depending on your view)
If he had started the conversation with "pardon me, but your menu is out-of-date," then maybe a constructive conversation could have taken place. Instead, it was "you cheated me you dirty liar, pay me punitive damages!!"
The restaurant's obligations to update the menu are not nearly as important to our future as this TEACHER's obligations not to be a horrible influence on tomorrow's leaders.
FTFY
Oh, my, what a charmer the good Dr. is...
One question for Dr. Endelman, attorney: And, pray, sir how exactly were you "intentionally violated" that you require the owner to recompense you triple damages? For a meal that you self-described as "delicious"?
But, I agree with Adam. Apparently Dr. Endelman is definitely not getting paid enough working at Harvard. Methinks he should consider raising his consulting practice's fees.
And Mr. Duan's responses to this "douchenozzle" were perfect and professional. Kudos to you, sir. You have gained a new customer.
He should watch himself
What, something like 36 bankers dead this year under shaky circumstances? What if the Illuminati frown on this?
This guy teaches negotiation?!
Perhaps he's working on an article, "How to go straight for the nuclear option in financial negotiations under $100." That should get him tenure.
On the rare occasion I'm overcharged, pointing it out usually gets me an apology and a refund. No MBA required.
To be fair...
The first act of negotiation is to open extreme.
That being said, Ben Edelman is an uppity twat who deserves an open hand bitch slap in the mouth.
Royal Cheap Fuck
Royal Cheap Fuck
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1/2 oz DeKuyper® Sour Apple Pucker schnapps
1 1/2 oz strawberry juice (can use blended)
1 splashfresh lime juice
Pour Whiskey, Puckers and Strawberry Juice in a shaker and get it good and mixed up. Pour into cocktail glass and squeeze a cold fresh lime over it. Garnish with smugness and enjoy with the knowledge you perpetuated a stereotype.
Who brought this to the Globe's attention?
I suspect it's Dr. Jerk. Not only is he being a total jerk to the restaurant, but he decided to do so publicly!
("I should be speaking only to your attorney, but I'm going to continue to contact you directly and will ratchet up my demands every time I do." Seriously?)
I'm not an attorney, nor do I
I'm not an attorney, nor do I play on on Television, but in a just world his bar association would sanction him for this.
On the other hand, I am impressed by the consistent civil tone used by the restaurant owner.
I only have one reaction to this, and it's "Christ, what a
gigantic asshole." Not a great reflection on the value of his time, either.
That's some fine PR work on behalf of the university there, smirky. You're going viral, and I don't think it's going to turn out quite the way you hoped it might.
I think anyone
who lives near Sichuan Garden (the Brookline one or Woburn one)and feels so moved should patronize this restaurant to show support for the owner. We're going to.
Hell
I live in Somerville, but I may make a field trip.
Sichuan is DELICIOUS and
Sichuan is DELICIOUS and everyone should go even if you're not making a point about the d-bag lawyer.
Yelp
New reviews on Yelp are pouring in and are scathing to Edelman.
LOL and adorable.
Styx or John Lennon ?
Regarding Styx, it would be "Too Much Time on My Hands"
But I think Lennon is more apropos :
"How Do You Sleep"
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LNjTPZW7GCU
Try the pu-pu platter.
Primitive animals know not to shit where they eat, but not Mr. Edelman.
There's got to be some kind of prize for the best-educated moron.
Good luck ordering from there again.
At the opposite end of the douchiness spectrum....
I remember back in the 1980s (remember pay phones, anyone?) the phone company (was it NE Tel? NYNEX? I forget) had to pay back literally millions of dollars, in the form of a credit of a buck or two off everybody's phone bill every month, all because some persistent SOB complained about a nickel overcharge and wouldn't let it go until it became a class action (either through litigation or through the regulatory process; I forget)
Man, I loved that guy. Power to the people, and all that.
But this case is entirely different; a miscellaneous independent Chinese restaurant is not, of course, the phone company.
I disagree with everyone
Edelman wasn't out to just fix the $4 overcharge - he wanted to stop this business from systematically overcharging everyone. Did he go a little too far? Absolutely. But how many of us haven't gone a little too far with a customer service representative at some point. What is worse is how this restaurant in tandem with boston.com would publicly shame a random customer for trying to correct its poor business practices. Private citizens deserve better than this from our "news" outlets.
The restaurant?
I'm betting Edelman was the one who slipped boston.com the e-mail exchanges.
Maybe it's just me, but if I felt an overcharge on a take-out bill from a local take-out place was symptomatic of a bigger problem, my first reaction wouldn't be to go nuclear and threaten a lawsuit. But then, I'm no lawyer, just some random Web guy who understands how easy it is to make a mistake like have the wrong prices up on a Web site. Also, and again because I'm no lawyer, but I thought the state law was to protect consumers from fraud, a crime that usually requires some form of intent, and nothing in those e-mails makes it sound like the restaurant guy was out to defraud people, just that he needs to pay more attention to his Web site.
The fine print
This is why places put "prices subject to change without notice" on take-out menus and websites, lest the information therein should become outdated.
Not sure that caveat holds
Not sure that caveat holds water for a restaurant website. You change your prices; you change your online menu because you have control of that.
How is it "public shaming"
to publish the emails in which Edelman threatens a small business owner with legal action over a $4 overcharge which the owner, in a friendly and polite way, offers to refund? Edelman's own pettiness and pedantic, bullying tone are what's shameful here. And no, most of us try to remember that customer service reps--and restaurant folk-- are hardworking people and we try not to bust their asses over a few bucks.
Please explain how the
Please explain how the restaurant's action, if you can call it that, amounts to "systematically overcharging everyone". For that to be true, you'd have to demonstrate that it was intentional (intention being a requirement for systematic anything), rather than (as appears to be the case) a simple oversight in the form of a website that isn't up to date.
Not sure it's intentional,
Not sure it's intentional, but it's more negligent. They admitted they hadn't updated the online menu in a while. I don't think that consumer law looks at intent in pricing errors.
But it would be difficult to know who might have relied on their online prices versus a paper menu or simply not worrying about it.
But how many of us haven't
This wasn't a "customer service representative". This was a member of the family that owns the restaurant, and he was being extremely helpful and apologetic.
Fixed that for you. If he had just said "You really need to change your website", or if he had reported the website to them and they still hadn't changed it a month or two later, you might have a point.
The restaurant was wrong for
The restaurant was wrong for not updating their menu (and they admitted it has been a while).
The professor was wrong for escalating this beyond all reason.
The restaurant should have offered to refund his $4 right away or asked what they could do to make it right.
Ultimately, the professor bears the bulk of this situation getting out of control.
piss off, ayn rand.
piss off, ayn rand.
I think he wanted an ongoing discount
This was a shakedown. If he really cared about price discrepancies, there were two things he could have done:
1) research the issue by testing various website menus versus charges, and writing an article for a magazine or newspaper about how widespread a problem this is
2) contacted a news station to do such research and have one of those special report things featuring Hank Phillipi Ryan or other consumer crusader
This was about a special discount for him, not solving a moderately prevalent issue.
BTW, I have never had an issue with menu versus charged prices with the services like GrubHub. In fact, most ordering services tell you what each item costs and the delivery cost straight up on your order screen.
EDELMAN
I'M SMARTER THAN YOU ARE SO YOU SHOULD DO WHAT I TELL YOU.
ANOTHER DUMB, HARVARD, F____K
How about....
How about we leave his race, his religion, his town of residence, his institutional affiliation, and any other tribal identity bullshit out of this?
How about...
You take another Midol, Bob.
Great material!
Aww.... you made a funny!!!
Cool! I get it! Midol is generally used by women, and on your planet women are ridiculous, so the joke is that, in calling out the bullshit of identity politics, I'm ridiculous.
Actually, Bob
It's a reference to you acting like crank anytime somebody says something that's not exactly PC. Lighten up, get off the internet and go make some friends.
And, LOL at your little "women are ridiculous" jab. That's the beauty of the internet for people like you, right Bob? Throw out some inaccurate information to confirm your belief that anyone who says something slightly off color is a sexist, racist, bigot, etc.
You sound pretty cranky for
a JP native, JPNative. Why don't ya chill with some chai? It is the holiday season for cripes sake. Let's get jolly.
Why the SN hate?
Sorry, I couldn't come up with a silly, cute, creative name like whyaduck, whyaduck. I guess I could be creative and call you whyusuck from now on. Why do you suck? Probably because you told me to chill with some chai.
Oh, my, we have another charmer here...
Aw, you are so cute. Trying to come up with clever retorts.
And you do sound pretty cranky.
So petulant...
Haha, you insult my SN in a condescending and smug manner without provocation and I'm the charmer?
And you still...
sound pretty cranky.
And I believe my response to your comment to changing my name to "whyusuck" was measured and polite.
Why did you use "midol" then?
If you weren't implying what everyone thinks you were?
Hint: if you don't like blowback over your sexism, implied sexism, or even inadvertent sexism, use a gender-neutral phrase like "ibuprofen for your butthurt" instead.
Which it sounds like you need if you don't get why people are annoyed with you and you are so infantile as to whine "NO IT ISN'T!!!!".
I know, I know...
EVERYTHING is sexist and racist. If you make a joke or snide comment, you're sexist and racist. We should all tip toe around others, hold hands with our neighbors and sing kumbaya around a nice, warm fire.
Honestly, if telling someone to take a midol gets you so worked up that you feel the need to comment and get angry over it, I really do not know what to tell you. I wonder how you get along in the real world if every little thing hurts your feelings or gets you upset?
I mean, Jesus Christ, I've heard women say worse things to guys (i.e. "take the tampon out", "do you have sand in your vagina", "don't get your twat in a knot", etc), but I must have grown up with and gone to college with a bunch of savages.
the whole point is not to paint with such a broad brush.
Try this instead: if you make a racist or sexist joke or a racist or sexist snide comment, then you're.... umm... making a racist or sexist joke or snide comment. nothing more. The point, after all, would be to focus on the comment itself and not make inferences about the moral character of the person making it,.
Well said, Bob.
n/t
No, not everything.
Not everything is sexist or racist. Some comments are though and if one can't understand that, well, I am at a lost for words.
Did you mean to say you have heard women say worse things to other women 'cause I have never heard a woman say to a guy "don't get your twat in a knot."
But maybe I am just hanging around with the wrong crowd.
..
..
Umm....
Are you seriously claiming that the comment
is not, in fact, bigoted tribal bullshit?
I don't know what they will say
But I'll claim it. Being a graduate and employee of Harvard is a lot different than being a woman, or African American, or handicapped, or gay, or Italian, or a lot of things. If it is a tribe, it is one by choice. This SOB made conscious decisions to attend and work at Harvard. It was his choice. The people who should be angry are Harvard folks, since this guy who is being an asshat and is both a graduate and employee of their institution. It is bad enough that we have stereotypes about them, but when someone comes around and acts like the personification of everything bad we think about the place, well, thankfully some HBS people are working on countering that.
True about "By Choice", but still....
It's true that unlike race, gender, etc., being associated with Harvard is still by choice, but there is still a world of difference between, on the one hand, someone who sees a car with New York plates parked in a crosswalk and thinks "New Yorkers sure are assholes," and, on the other, someone who sees the same car and thinks, "That guy sure is an asshole."
Now, now...
JPNative*. Your comment was uncalled for. Bob made a very good and important comment (and, as some Uhubers know, Bob and I don't always see eye to eye).
*Really?
Ben Edelman, Internet sheriff
According to one of his mentors.
"Edelman is the nephew of
"Edelman is the nephew of civil rights and education advocate Marian Wright Edelman"
Oh my god, how embarrassing for her.
He's not related to Julian, is he?
Big division game this week, Pats need no distractions!
Related
I think he's related to Ned Isakof.
I so hope not.
I am a big fan of Julian.
Not that it excuses Edelman's
Not that it excuses Edelman's behavior, but New York Magazine reports that Duan sent the emails to Boston.com, not Edelman.
To me it doesn't matter who
To me it doesn't matter who sent it to Boston.com Dr. Tight Wad is still a douche canoe.
Hilary Sargent
The author of the piece (and editor of boston.com) is also no paragon of journalistic virtue and the poster child for the page click mindset in today's internet "journalism" world
But putting that aside, the guy is still ridiculous
Redundant, no?
If you think that boston.com hires journalistic virtue paragons, you haven't been reading (or avoiding) it enough.
http://www.slate.com/blogs
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/12/10/harvard_professor_rages_a...
It's gone overseas.
I just saw the story on my newsfeed from The Independent in the UK.
News Flash..The Apology!
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/12/10/ben-edelman-so...\
He'll never be a politician
What kind of fake apology is that?
"I'm sorry"? "I expect more from myself"?
Come on, buddy! You've gotta say "I apologize if you misunderstood me" and "we all learned to come together from this lesson" and "I will pray on this" and "please understand I had the best intentions".
But this...this is just an honest and real apology. They'd eat you alive in DC...and charge you $4 for the honor.