Terry Pulliam Burd > 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?

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.

Steve