Question

You go to a restaurant and order a Caesar Salad listed on the menu at $5.69. When the check arrives, the check indicates a charge of $30. What are your legal and/or equitable remedies?

Your answer should include a recitation of the facts, the legal and/or equitable remedies you consider and your legal conclusion based on those remedies.

Answer 1

Since the overcharging by the restaurant is a malpractice and it is a breach of the standing contract between the two parties, which is formed by an offer ( through the menu prices as shown to the customer) and acceptance ( decision of the consumer to eat at the facility, after seeing the charges nd the services / products on offer. The legal remedies to this breach is aimed to put the two parties at a position where they would be if the contract has been performed as expected and agreed upon by the two parties. Here, the legal remedy is to correct the bill to the agreed upon value or refund the balance money to the customer if the bill has been paid. while the legal remedies put the parties to the positions mentioned under contract by granting monetary compensation, the equitable remedy works on the principle of fairness. Now, since he contract has been perfomed as agreed upon, and the point is only related to monetary value of items, there is only legal remedy in the case.

Since the restaurant posted misleading information, relying on which the customer placed the order, the restaurant is liable for the breach of contract and needs to charge the money as mentioned in the menu, as presumably no more charges were mentioned anywhere in the menu. The restaurant is liable to return the money excessively charged from the customer.