Harvard Professor Getting Schooled

[wmenorr67]

http://www.boston.com/food-dining/restaurants/2014/12/09/harvard-business-school-professor-goes-war-over-worth-chinese-food/KfMaEhab6uUY1COCnTbrXP/story.html

Harvard professor gets panties in a wad over $4 and wants $12 back.

Hope the owner continues to hold out and wins this issue.

[mtnbkr]

I hope the prof wins.  I'm tired of bait and switch tactics with retailers.

Chris

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Different location management and website . I hope the proff orders lots more Chinese food. I would not eat anything he ordered however


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[K Frame]

Not really bait and switch in this situation, is it?

More like pricing fraud.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Not even that. There is a disclaimer on prices changing and he ordered from a web site for a different location


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[SADShooter]

Not even that. There is a disclaimer on prices changing and he ordered from a web site for a different location


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Doesn't a merchant who offers an online ordering option have an obligation to provide accurate pricing to customers? How is this materially different from a walk-in ordering from the print menu and then being told the price was higher only on receiving the check? "Sorry, we haven't had time or money to re-print the menu" doesn't seem an adequate response.

That said, I think Herr Professor is a Grade A .

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

If he had ordered from the website for the place he went to he might have a case. He ordered from a website for another location .



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[mtnbkr]

If he had ordered from the website for the place he went to he might have a case. He ordered from a website for another location .

How did the order get to the right location?  When I skimmed the article yesterday, I didn't see that it was two different locations.

Chris

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

I didn't skim the article. That makes a difference. Read their email exchange it's not that long. It also illustrates why I have a 3 or 4tier price structure for work


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[SADShooter]

Evidently, they are "currently updating the menu".

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Yea most places don't have a " web guy" and it shows


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[wmenorr67]

Hell I work for a company based in Italy with several outlets worldwide, their own IT department and they can't even keep their web page up to date.

[cordex]

How did the order get to the right location?  When I skimmed the article yesterday, I didn't see that it was two different locations.

I believe the order was placed by phone, the menu (and price list) were accessed via a website.  The site had phone numbers listed for both locations.

[mtnbkr]

I didn't skim the article. That makes a difference. Read their email exchange it's not that long. It also illustrates why I have a 3 or 4tier price structure for work


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I went back and read it.  Seems they have multiple sites, one for each location, but post the contact info for all sites on each website.  The viewer is supposed to surmise that the menu is only for the site named in the URL, but not valid for the sites who's contact info is listed on those same pages.

Seems disingenuous and intentionally misleading to me. 

Lawyer is a jerk, but dishonest retailers gall me more.  Hell, I'd be tempted to make a sport of it too.  I also hate dishonest retailers who hide behind "woe is us, we don't understand this tech stuff" excuses. This isn't 1999 where a website is a novelty.  Websites advertising your services are damn near requirements and it is important to get it right.

Chris

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Disclaimer is legal too


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[RevDisk]

If the disclaimer was visible, probably no case.
If the disclaimer was not visible, yes, it was pricing fraud.
Regardless of whether the disclaimer was visible or not visible, disingenuous and intentionally misleading.


I used to do web sites for folks, but pretty much shut that down. Folks didn't want to pay more than trivial money, didn't want to pay for continued support, did want continued support (without paying for it) and didn't want to provide timely content. Menu would be an example of timely content. Unless the client is willing to pay the web developer to visit in person and get the menu for themselves, there's zero way a web designer can pull that kind of info out of their fourth point of contact and put that information on the site.

Yes, businesses do use the excuse "Oh, we're not good with technology", but it's rarely an actual technology issue and moreso no one wants actually assemble the information.

[Hawkmoon]

Not even that. There is a disclaimer on prices changing and he ordered from a web site for a different location

The bartender says there were separate menus for the two locations. The professor says otherwise, and claims to have screen shots to prove it.

I'll abstain for now, other than to comment that I hate businesses that charge higher prices than advertised and then try to hide behind a fine print box that says "Prices subject to change without notice." That's fine (well, sort of) for a company like Grainger's, that puts out a catalog once a year. It's not okay on a web site. Everything on the Internet is instant. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect prices on a take-out menu to be correct.

[grampster]

The Harvard guy is just a Dick Head.  An overeducated Dick Head.  A Dick Head of monumental proportions.  A Dick Head that has never worked a day in his life except to harass a small businessman.

A non Dick Head would have brought the situation to the attention of the restaurant owner, got his 4 bucks in a credit the next time he came in.  Dick Head.

[Scout26]

A non Dick Head would have brought the situation to the attention of the restaurant owner, got his 4 bucks in a credit the next time he came in.  Dick Head.

This.

[MechAg94]

First, it sounds like the restaurant needs to just take the prices off the online menu. 

Am I understanding this right?  He sees prices on a website then calls in the order and doesn't get a total over the phone.  Then he picks up his food, pays for it without asking the price, and doesn't check the receipt.  Then he calls or emails to whine about it later?  It seems to me the time to object to the price was when he picked up the food. 

Every time I can remember phoning in an order and picking it up, I got a total over the phone, and saw the price when I paid.  We have ordered food for work a lot over the years.  We are usually ordering from old menus the guys have in a file.

[MechAg94]

What is the libertarian ideal for something like this?  Buyer beware and go public if you think you got cheated?

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Proff is a *expletive deleted*che
http://www.boston.com/food-dining/restaurants/2014/12/10/there-more-edelman-did-this-before-and-worse/00mTW39jcyXb3VNHZoXEYN/story.html


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[Regolith]

What is the libertarian ideal for something like this?  Buyer beware and go public if you think you got cheated?

Depends. If this was intentional, it's technically fraud, and as fraud is against the Non-Aggression Principle, most minarchists will state that it's an appropriate use of government force (via civil suit) to rectify, provided you can't settle your dispute privately (and by privately, I mean without using government force - shaming the business using public condemnation would also fall into this category).

Anarchists would go the "buyer beware and go public" route. If the business has a history of this type of behavior, word will get out and their sales will suffer, eventually causing them to either change their behavior or go out of business.

[Scout26]

Proff is a *expletive deleted*che
http://www.boston.com/food-dining/restaurants/2014/12/10/there-more-edelman-did-this-before-and-worse/00mTW39jcyXb3VNHZoXEYN/story.html

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Hahahahaha and they trespassed him also !!!

[Firethorn]

What is the libertarian ideal for something like this?  Buyer beware and go public if you think you got cheated?

Well, the courts are a valid option if a contract is being violated, and prices on a website are a contract offer. 

I think the libertarian ideal would be to give some sort of BB organization some teeth - check for BB accred for any business, they go after any that falsely show the symbol like rabid dogs, and work to ensure that any business they give the rating to are on the up-and-up.

In this case, make a report to the rating company, and they monitor that his website(s) are fixed expediently to show the correct prices and perhaps be adjusted somewhat in design to make it obvious which location the prices are good for.

But while websites are generally easier to update than print media, I'd offer them some of the same allowance I'd give with printed menus and such - something like the restaurant isn't allowed to show a history of immediately raising prices after releasing a menu, but it's assumed that prices may and probably will change.  Confirm with the order taker to be sure of the most accurate price.  If you're actually ordering and paying on line, the price at checkout needs to be accurate.