Neiman-Marcus cookies...interesting e-mail

This is kind of long and might be viewed as a 'v' by some people, but it's not really. I just got this e-mail from a friend. It's a pretty interesting story. I kind of knew where it was leading before the point was actually made. I have no idea if there's any truth behind it...that's why I'm posting it in it's entirety here!

Have you seen this before? Do you think it's true? Would you pay that kind of money for a recipe? If it is true, should Neiman_marcus refund the woman's money? Could a lawsuit be brought by either side?....see this really is a discussion!

When decent people get screwed over, this is the result!

A little background: Neiman-Marcus, if you don't
know already, is a very expensive store; I.e., they sell
your typical $8.00 T-shirt for $50.00.

Let's let them have it! THIS IS A TRUE STORY!

My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a
Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas, and we 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 to that, and told her to just add
it to my Tab.
Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement,
and the Neiman-Marcus Charge 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 Department and told them
the waitress said it was " two fifty ",
which clearly does not mean 'two hundred and fifty
dollars' by any reasonable 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 your
money at this point.' I explained to the Accounting
Department lady the criminal statutes which govern fraud
in the State of Texas I threatened to report them to the
Better Business Bureau and the Texas Attorney
General's office for engaging in fraud. I was
basically told, " Do what you want. Don't
bother thinking of how you can get even, and don't
bother trying to get any of your 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, perhaps you should have thought of that
before you ripped me off!' and slammed down the
phone.

So here it is!

Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you
can possibly think of. I paid $250 for this, and I
don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make another penny off
of this recipe!

NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved)
2 cups butter
24 oz. Chocolate chips
4 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. Soda
1 tsp. Salt
2 cups sugar
1 - 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
5 cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs
2 tsp.. Baking powder
2 tsp. Vanilla
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)

Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine
powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and
vanilla, 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.

Makes 112 cookies
So there it is, what do you think?