Re: Ethical Query

On Sun, 26 Aug 2007 06:44:35 +0000 (UTC), spope33@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(Steve Pope) wrote:

Terry Pulliam Burd <ntpulliam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

While he perused the wine list, he found what he was certain was a
typo. Wine X, which is a favorite of his, was priced at $X7 and he was
sure it should have been priced $200 more than that (I checked - he
was right). He promptly ordered 4 bottles, 2 to take home. First of
all, I wasn't aware that you could order wine in a restaurant as if it
was a liquor store (this is southern California, so who knows). More
importantly, I can sort of see ordering 1 bottle while pointing out to
the staff that you think the price is a typo and you should at least
get the one bottle at that price, but I was offended that he ordered
several bottles and rather gleefully left thinking he had really put
one over on the restaurant.

My first reaction when my boss told me this story was that when we
finish the current lawsuit, we not take on any more work for him. If
he's willing to cheat a restaurant, he won't hesitate to cheat anyone
else. And a client like that we do not need or want. My boss
acknowledges my concerns, and says that he is more valuable to the
client than the client is to us, so if I want to cross him off our
client list, it's okay with him.

Am I overreacting?

Yes, you're over reacting - for the wrong reason. If the restaurant
was willing to part with those bottles of wine for his off-site,
private, consumption - you know they made a profit and he's the one
who lost money.

Some fraction of the wealthy got there by cheating, scrimping,
and pinching people. Not all, but a noticeable number. I would be
surprised if he is unique among your wealthier clients.

Regarding the wine list, sometimes a wine stays at a low price
on a winelist even as its market price has gone up with time.
They could have bought it pre-arrival at a bargain, and never
marked it up to market. Probably they are not losing any money.
And probably they would not have sold him four bottles if they
were close to running out.

And it's possible in California for a restaurant to have an offsale
license.

In California, some restaurants only charge modestly over retail (not
even double). So until I hear what wine it was (type,
vineyard/year)and the price, this is just another fish story for me.


--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for the chicken, a lifetime commitment for the pig.
.

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