A lengthy email exchange between a Harvard professor and the owner of a mom-and-pop Chinese restaurant in Brookline was published online and showing people that you just do not mess with a guy with a law degree, and you certainly do not overcharge him by four dollars for a delicious Chinese take-out meal.
Ben Edelman teaches Negotiation, Organizations & Markets at Harvard Business school. It seems he ordered food from the website of Sichuan Garden in Brookline, Massachusetts but was overcharged on the final bill. According to the restaurant's owner, Ran Duan, the discrepancy in price was due to outdated prices online and he apologized for the confusion.
However, Edelman began to take things further, citing violation after violation and demanding a twelve dollar refund for the oversite - three times more than what he was actually overcharged. Saying that it was a small fine to pay considering the possible countless other customers who were deceived by the lower prices published on the website.
In the succeeding emails, Duan tries to appease Edelman by offering instead to honor the website price and refund three dollars. Edelman refused and threatened legal action.
