Oops I hit submit before I hit "paste". Note: one clue that this story is folklore is that the writer claims to look at her "VISA statement from Nieman Marcus" and notices the charge for the cookie recipe. Since when do retail businesses send out VISA statements? VISA statements come from the bank that issues the card! And they are not itemized, they just have the total of each purchase. And if it was the charge account statement from Nieman Marcus, as seems more likely, why did the "informant" call it a VISA statement? Obviously this is from oral tradition.

Date: 5/23/97 5:17pm Subject: Re: [S S] Cookies

Thought some of you might be interested in this, I know I hate it when a company tries to stomp on the little guy! The Power of the Internet My daughter and I had just finished a salad at 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 receipe and the waitress said with a small frown, "I'm afraid not". Well, I said, "Would you let me buy the receipe?" 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 receive my VISA statement from Neiman Marcus 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's outrageous!! I called Neiman's Accounting Department and told them the waitress said that 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 had 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 are 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 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 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 penny off of this recipe... $250 Cookie Recipe 1 cup Butter 2 cups Flour 1 tsp Baking Soda 1 cup Sugar 2 1/2 cups Blended Oatmeal * 12 oz Chocolate Chips 1 cup Brown Sugar 1/2 tsp. Salt 4 oz Hershey Bar (Grated) 2 Eggs 1 tsp Baking Powder 1 1/2 cups Chopped Nuts (optional) 1 tsp Vanilla * Blend oatmeal in a blender to a fine powder Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda in another mixing bowl. Add dry mixture to butter mixture. Add chocolate chips, grated Hershey bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 50 cookies. This is a recipe worth $250.00??!?!?!