h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm certain that this is the famous Neiman-Marcus cookie story, which has been doing the e-rounds for some time. Here is the very entertaining original story, as told by the woman in question....

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'My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in
Dallas and 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 but, you can buy the recipe."
Well, I asked how much, and she responded, "Only two fifty, it's a great
deal!" I agreed with approval, just add it to my tab I told her.

Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement and it was $285.00. I looked
again and I 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 was outrageous! I called Neiman's Accounting
Dept. and told them 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-Marcus 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 you money at
this point." I explained to her the criminal statues which govern fraud in
Texas. I threatened to refer them to the Better Business Bureau and the
State Attorney General Office for engaging in fraud. I was basically told,
"Do what you want, it doesn't matter, we're not refunding your money." I
waited, thinking of how I could get even, or even try and 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. So here it is!!!
Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I
paid $250 for this...I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER get another cent
for this recipe.
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Enjoy the cookies. They're worth every penny that this lady paid!