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"Virus Hoax:
Urband Legend Example"
Virus Hoax Warnings: Page 51
of 57
Neiman-Marcus Cookie Hoax
May 2003
This particular hoax has been going around for years and years though
for some reason I never included it here. It is pretty obviously a hoax
as it has lots of errors. Consider, the writer would have to sign her
VISA credit receipt. Don't you think whe would have noticed the $250?
Also, her VISA statement would only list Nieman-Marcus and a total. It
does not list the items.
Something I missed when I read it (and was informed of by a reader) is
that the total on the statement does not add up. It says,
$250.00 - Cookie
$20.00 - Scarf
$9.95 - 2 salads
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$279.95 - Total
While the hoax says $285??? The difference is too small to be sales tax
so I guess the writer cannot add. You can actually go to the
Neiman-Marcus website and download the cookie recipe. The recipe on the
website is a little different from the recipe in the hoax. The hoax
recipe contains oats, a hershey bar, and nuts while the official recipe
contains espresso powder. I have been told that both recipes are very
good.
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
statues 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 in! to balls , and place two inches apart on a
cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.
PLEASE READ THE RECIPE AND SEND IT TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW WHO HAS AN
E-MAIL ADDRESS! THIS IS REALLY TERRIFIC!!
Copyright 2004 by Jay Jennings
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