Harvard faculty member in $4 dispute with Chinese restaurant
When upset over a take-out order, most customers express their displeasure with a negative review on Yelp or Urbanspoon.
Ben Edelman, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, took a different approach, threatening legal action against a local Chinese restaurant after learning he had been overcharged by $4.
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In a series of e-mails obtained by Boston.com, Edelman takes local restaurant Sichuan Garden to task after learning he ordered from an incorrectly priced menu.
During the exchange, Edelman first demands a refund of three times the amount he overpaid ($12), and later suggests he be given half the overall cost of his meal. Beyond asking for his own reparations, Edelman says he has contacted authorities to 'compel' the restaurant to refund all other customers who ordered from the incorrect menu.
'The more you try to claim your restaurant is not at fault, the more determined I am to seek a greater sanction against you,' he writes.
The recipient of Edelman's e-mails, Ran Duan, is the son of the founders of Sichuan Garden. In the exchanges, Duan apologizes to Edelman, acknowledging the menu online is out of date and offering to pay Edelman back for the overcharge.
Duan runs The Baldwin Bar in the restaurant's Woburn location and was the subject of a June Boston Magazine article for his unique cocktails.
Sichuan Garden operates locations in Woburn and Brookline Village.
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