Harvard Business Professor Ben Edelman Apologizes for Outburst After $4 Overcharge at Brookline Restaurant

Ben Edelman, the Harvard Business School professor who attracted the wrath of the Internet after he went to extreme lengths to rectify a $4 overcharge at a family-run Brookline restaurant, has apologized for his actions.

Edelman went ballistic after he discovered the $53.35 worth of Chinese food he ordered from Sichuan Garden was slightly higher than the prices advertised on the restaurant’s website.

One of the restaurant’s managers called it an honest mistake, though that didn’t satisfy Edelman. He demanded the restaurant refund him $12—triple the price difference.

“The tripling reflects the approach provided under the Massachusetts consumer protection statute, MGL 93a, wherein consumers broadly receive triple damages for certain intentional violations,” Edelman wrote, according to Boston.com.

After a half-dozen more emails spread over three days, the manager—Ran Duan—asked Edelman if this was all worth his time.

“You’re right that I have better things to do,” Edelman responded—before increasing his ransom to cutting his entire bill in half.

On Wednesday, Edelman apologized in a note on his personal website.

“It’s clear that I was very much out of line,” he wrote. “I aspire to act with great respect and humility in dealing with others, no matter what the situation. Clearly I failed to do so. I am sorry, and I intend to do better in the future. I have reached out to Ran and will apologize to him personally as well.”

Brookline Patch ran a poll asking readers if Edelman deserved a refund. Of about 550 votes, about half said yes and the other half said no.

Photo: Ben Edelman (Credit: hbs.edu)