What to do about false adverting.

March 4, 2006 3:03 PM

What recourse is available against a restaurant for false advertising?

There's a bar/restaraunt right near campus that my friends and I frequent. There's a separate lunch menu with smaller portions of the items on the regular menu and much lower prices. On the bottom it says, in fairly large letters, "lunch menu available during dinner hours for college students with valid I.D."-but they won't actually let you do it, and if asked the servers just say "The owner changed his mind." That's been the case since they opened a year ago but the menu hasn't been changed. The menu says "free refills on coffee, tea, or soda", but the policy is to charge again after three refills. The menu also lists a special of "any large pizza and any pitcher of beer, 15$", but you can only actually get Busch (the cheapest beer they have on draft) and any of the pizzas with expensive-ish ingredients (chicken, prosciutto, etc.) are off limits.
This isn't a huge deal, but it irritates me and everyone else. We'd go somewhere else but this is a really small town and there aren't many options. What recourse do we have? Hire a lawyer? Report them to someone? I probably won't do anything, but I'm definitely curious about what the procedure would be if I did.

posted by cilantro to grab bag (25 comments total)

The Better Business Bureau?
posted by Atreides at 3:09 PM on March 4, 2006

Stop eating there.
posted by tiamat at 3:11 PM on March 4, 2006

Maybe the local TV news would be interested in it as a local-interest story on a slow news day. Give 'em a ring.
posted by Gator at 3:13 PM on March 4, 2006

What tiamat said.

And talk to someone on the school paper to see if a columnist might be interested in making light of the situation. I can't imagine that something like this would get a mention anywhere except in features, but maybe the paper's desperate for news.

But mostly what tiamat said.
posted by Mayor Curley at 3:17 PM on March 4, 2006

The BBB is likely your best bet. Looking further afield, there are likely state laws covering false advertising, and even further out, there's the FTC. Violations that actually get prosecuted can bring all kinds of punishments, but that's unlikely to happen at a single independent bar/restaraunt. At best, they'll get a formal letter telling them to change their printed menus to match current policies. Continued offenses may mean orders to run corrective advertising.
posted by frogan at 3:20 PM on March 4, 2006

Call your state's Attorney General's Office.
posted by rxrfrx at 3:26 PM on March 4, 2006

This is not recommended and fairly unethical but when something like this happened (a local business was doing something shady) by our campus, a friend of mine (seriously, it wasn't me) called up the establishment and posed as a reporter for one of the main news stations in the city. He called and went something like "Hi, this is John Smith with channel 6 action news, and I would like to get a few statements from you regarding your business practices for an upcoming story we are doing about scams. There have been some complaints that you blah blah blah, do you have a response?" etc. Now, the right way to do it would be to get a legit news person to cover the story (although to get their interest you'd have to probably find some other establishments that are screwing people and pitch it as a "disturbing trend"), but I must say that at least in his case, it was surprisingly effective. I also agree with all the good ideas the others have, of course.
posted by apple scruff at 3:40 PM on March 4, 2006

Prank them. Depending on how you do it, you could end up in legal trouble, instead of the restaurant owner - but it could be fun.

Ideas, in ascending order of likelihood of getting you in trouble:

Stage a protest

Have somebody dress in a suit, pretend to be a lawyer from the "Menu Verification Institute" and hassle the owner

Hang out in front wearing sandwich boards displaying a fake, humorous version of the menu

Replace all the menus with your own versions
posted by lbergstr at 3:41 PM on March 4, 2006

Aww man, apple scruff's idea is better.
posted by lbergstr at 3:41 PM on March 4, 2006

Once a Subway near my high school was handing out two-for-one sandwich coupons. The coupons had the Subway logo, the address of the specific outlet by my school, the words "buy any 12" or 6" sandwich and recieve a 2nd sandwich of equal or lesser value FREE".

This shop did killer business every day during the school's lunch hour and right after the final bell, as hungry teens filled up on sandwiches. It would be very fair to say that this particular Subway wouldn't have stayed open if not for the high school nearby.

The franchise owner of that outlet wouldn't let teenagers use the coupons during lunch hour! I stood in line one day, around 11:45, and listened as the three students ahead of me tried to use the coupons and were denied - the owner told them the coupons weren't good during lunch. He then gave me the same explaination. I argued, but to no avail. less than 45 minutes later, I was skipping class and still in the pool hall adjacent to the Subway and watched an adult from the neighborhood successfully use the same coupon! I asked him as he left the restaurant if he'd been given any trouble about the coupon, and of course he hadn't.

So the next day, I made a sandwich board and a protest-style sign on a wooden pole, marked them with "Subway Discriminates Against Students" and "Sandwich Arists? Con Artists!" and various other inflamatory statements, called the tip-lines of the local newspapers and TV Stations and started my one-man demonstration at 11:30. My friends showed up to watch, but didn't get involved.

A very junior newspaper reporter showed up right at 11:30, and a TV News van pulled up around 11:50, just in time for the owner's screaming fit! Hilariously, he was the only one working in the restaurant that day, so he had to shut the place down to come outside and scream.

It wasn't the revolutionary event my teenaged imagination had conjured, but it was a fun day. I stopped at least 10 of my fellow students from eating there that day, and at least that many more had to go elsewhere while the owner had the place closed. He accepted those coupons from anyone from that point onward, though. Of course, his business was back to normal the very next day. The only press coverage was a 45-second spot on the 6:30 news wherein I explained my beef to the camera. The screaming fit wasn't featured.

The story isn't quite over, though:

3 years later, I was eating in the food-court of a local mall, when I saw the same Subway owner working behind the counter of the mall's Subway. He saw me too, and started screaming at me again! He came around the counter to my table, and began to scream that I should get out of his mall, because I was a criminal and a thief! A mother with a young baby started yelling at him for swearing in front of her kid, and he pushed her. A security guard who had come over as soon as the screaming started had to seperate the two when the mother started shoving back and yelling. While the Subway owner was being held against a wall by the guard, I got close and whispered to him that he should probably stay away from me, as he was always embarrassing himself when we got together. He took a swing at me, hit the security guard in the ear instead, and was DRAGGED down an escalator and pushed through the mall doors. screaming "PUNK CRIMINAL!" and "I HAVE STORE! I HAVE STORE!" as my friends and I followed.

A year after that, I met a co-worker who told me his uncle used to own a few Subway franchises in town. You can guess which ones. My co-worker told me that one night his uncle got drunk, injured a pedestrian with his car and then fled back home to to Lebanon before his trial.

I love this story, and it seems slightly relevant here.

Call the press. Embarass the bar's management. They can't lie to their customers.
posted by chudmonkey at 4:19 PM on March 4, 2006

chudmonkey - best. story. ever. cilantro - try something like that, it obviously may result in some fun, gain some results, and possibly a great story to tell years from now.
posted by meerkatty at 4:39 PM on March 4, 2006

In my county, the district attorneys office has a consumer fraud unit. I visited them when a store said my gift certificate was "too old". Ten days later, an apology and redemption.
If the OP happened to me, I would totally call them. They like it, something to do, reason to live and all (shoot a video for proof).
Then call the newspapers...
posted by blink_left at 5:38 PM on March 4, 2006

All you'll do is get them to reprint the menus.

Clearly this is a college hang-out / college bar, and is frequented by students. 3 refills is a policy to get you to leave so that you don't stay there all day drinking free (it's free to them, too) soda. As such, they have a fine line to walk with their customer base. They need students to eat there, but then again, students are notoriously cheap and always trying to weasel more food than they pay for. Because they're ostensibly close to campus and you mention that "there aren't a lot of other options," I can only assume that this guy is making a lot of money, but that his profits are certainly not as cushy as he'd like. So he turned off the deals, changed the freebies, and is trying to keep profits up by squeezing you.

It is definitely illegal to falsly advertise prices, or to use "bait and switch" tactics. This is why if you see a sign for a . 99&cent sandwhich / whatever at a store (note the decimal before the 99), the manager will legally have to sell the item to you at that price. So what you'll wind up doing is forcing him to reprint the menus. But hey, have a ball doing it!!! What's college for, after all!
posted by zpousman at 5:50 PM on March 4, 2006

Not what tiamat said. Bloody hell. It was pretty well explained.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 6:55 PM on March 4, 2006

Deal with it. Also, if an item is accidentally mis-priced a store is not obligated to sell you the item at the lower price.
posted by JamesMessick at 6:59 PM on March 4, 2006

Also, if an item is accidentally mis-priced a store is not obligated to sell you the item at the lower price.

It is in the province of Quebec. They take consumer protection quite seriously:

should the price at the cash register be higher than the advertised price, the lowest price will prevail

should the error pertain to an article costing exactly $10 or less, the article in question will be given to the customer free of charge

if the error pertains to an article costing more than $10, the merchant will correct the error and give $10 to the consumer
posted by furtive at 7:34 PM on March 4, 2006

Have you tried asking them nicely to change their menus?
It is surprising how many people will go on the attack before just, y'know, asking.

Then, I would go for the BBB, a funny prank ala apple scruff and the press.
posted by Count Ziggurat at 7:39 PM on March 4, 2006

You've talked to the servers and haven't gotten any satisfaction, move up the chain of command. Politely talk to the owner, and make all the valid points you've made here.

Also mention the fact that you and your friends spend a lot of money there, and he's going to have specials listed on his menus that he won't make good on, you and your friends won't eat there, and you'll all tell everybody you know not to eat there. The manager may call you bluff and say "Go eat somewhere else.", he's knows you're in a small town with limited food options just like you do, but that's the risk you take.

That's my serious suggestion. My other suggestion is post the name of the place here, and people can call this guy and break his balls. "Hello? This Mr. Fat Guy calling from the Board of Health. We received a complaint about unsafe food handling pratices at your establishment, and we're going to inspect you. You should only need to be closed for 3...4 days tops."
posted by Fat Guy at 11:32 PM on March 4, 2006

The objetive is to get them to offer the chearper prices, not change the menus. Make a copy of the menu, get a recording of them denying you the deals, and go to the BBB/News then.
posted by sophist at 11:40 PM on March 4, 2006

This is why if you see a sign for a . 99&cent sandwhich / whatever at a store (note the decimal before the 99), the manager will legally have to sell the item to you at that price.

This isn't true—no one would reasonably believe that you could get a sandwich for less than a cent, so they're not fooling anyone. Reasonable-person test says it's obvious what a ".99¢" item is, so no one would think it's $0.0099.
posted by oaf at 1:08 AM on March 5, 2006

Also, if an item is accidentally mis-priced a store is not obligated to sell you the item at the lower price.

It is in the province of Quebec.

Massachusetts, too. If an item is marked with a price, a store or restaurant cannot charge more. This has proved to be very expensive for some of the large chains, as fines are substantial. The AG's office actually runs undercover surveys (usually around election time). This has also bitten car dealers who advertise cars as priced at "$3000 bananas" and the like.

If I knew where James Messick lived, I would make it a point to not buy anything there.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:19 AM on March 5, 2006

Do you think it's possible that it's the servers who are making up the policy? They make money on tips, after all. If you are there sucking up a bottomless cup of coffee for 5 hours, they aren't generating any new revenue off of you, and you are taking up space that might go to a more affluent customer. I also think 3 refills is enough. You are really getting 4 drinks for the price of one. A pitcher of cheapo beer and a cheese pizza is still a bargain at $15. The longer people sit, the more expensive it is for the restaurant. It isn't just the cost of the food, it's how often that table turns over with new customers.
posted by 45moore45 at 2:26 PM on March 5, 2006

The servers are definitely not making up the policies, all of them (as well as the bartenders and most of the guys in the kichen) are friends or friendly acquaintances. They're just as miffed by the behavior of the owner as the customers are. When he's not around, which isn't very often, they're more than happy to bend the rules regarding refills and would certainly bend the others if they could. They are there for the tips, and they know the best way to do that is not to have to piss off a customer by charging her an extra 1.25 for that fourth coffee warm-up.
Having worked in a similar bar near campus (now closed), I know that the newly-21 frat rats and woo girls with their shiny new clothes and shiny new S.U.V.'s. are horrible tippers. It's the scruffy grad students and non-traditional students who tip, and they're the ones that come in to study and drink coffee. They're the ones who fill seats that would otherwise be empty (it's a quiet little place, table turnover would only ever be an issue on friday nights) and while they might not spend a lot at once, they're in there day after day and what they spend adds up. The owner is blatantly disrespectful of that. He thinks he can do whatever he wants and get away with it and it's really irritating. I could, as some of you have suggested, just stop going there, but I don't drive, it's the only place within walking distance, all my friends go there, and they have High Life bottles for 99 cents.

Anyway, as I said earlier, there's very little chance that I would go anywhere with this (though I love the prank ideas!). I was just wondering what might happen if I did. I've really enjoyed reading all these responses, I've learned alot.
posted by cilantro at 7:17 PM on March 5, 2006

"Free refills" != "*Unlimited* Free Refills". As long as you get even 2 refills, the advertised deal has been adequately provided. Three is a pretty reasonable amount, provided they aren't giving you a wee tiny glass. As for the other part of your question, I think you have to find out who does the "bait and switch" prosecution in your locale. AG office? I dunno how it works in the states. In Canada, it's the RCMP that handles bait & switch cases (my friend's uncle used to do that sort of investigation... he LOVES going to Future Shop and Best Buy when they have big sales!)
posted by antifuse at 4:13 AM on March 6, 2006

He thinks he can do whatever he wants and get away with it and it's really irritating. I could, as some of you have suggested, just stop going there, but I don't drive, it's the only place within walking distance, all my friends go there, and they have High Life bottles for 99 cents.

I'd say he's right - he can get away with it. When you and your friends' level of irritation exceeds the convenience and attraction of 99-cent Millers, then you'll stop letting him get away with it.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:14 AM on March 6, 2006