The $25000 Neiman-marcus Cookie Recipe

Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanila: mix together with
flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips,
Hershey Bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a
cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

The following is a TRUE STORY:

My daughter and I had just finished a salad at Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas
& decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie
lovers, we decided to try the “Neiman-Marcus Cookie”. It was so excellent
that I asked if they would give me the recipe and the waitress said with a
small frown “I’m afraid not.” “Well” I said, “would you let me buy the
recipe?” With a cute smile, she said “YES”. I asked how much and she
responded, ” Only two fifty, it’s a great deal!” I said with approval,
“just add it to my tab”.

Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Neiman-Marcus and
it was $285.00. I looked again and remembered I had only spent $9.95 for
two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the
statement, it said, “Cookie Recipe – $250.00”. That’s outrageous!! I
called Neiman’s Accounting Dept. and told them that the waitress said it
was “two – fifty,” which clearly does not mean “two hundred and fifty
dollars” by any POSSIBLE interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marus
refused to budge. They would not refund my money, because according to
them, ” What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already
seen the recipe – we absolutely will not refund your money at this point.”
I explained to her the criminal statutes which govern fraud in Texas, I
threatened to refer them to the Better Business Bureau and the State’s
Attorney General for engaging in fraud. I was basically told, ” Do what you
want, we don’t give a crap, and we’re not refunding your money.” I waited a
moment, thinking of how I could get even, or even try to get any of my
money back. I just said “Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I’m going to
have $250.00 worth of fun.” I told her that I was going to see to it that
every cookie lover in the United States with an e-mail account has a
$250.00 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus… for free. She replied, ” I wish
you wouldn’t do this” I said, ” Well you should have thought of that
before you ripped me off, and slammed down the phone on her.