that's what you think...
Posted on 05/22/2015 2:50:41 PM PDT by dennisw
On Wednesday, Mohammed was slapped with three food-vending citations — after WNBC caught him on camera overcharging customers with accents, police sources said.
A downtown Manhattan food cart vendor is ripping off tourists, charging as much as $30 for a hot dog and a drink, according to a report.
Ahmed Mohammed, who peddles dogs at Greenwich and Albany streets, was caught on camera charging the exorbitant price.
“I asked for a hot dog and a Dr Pepper. ‘$30.’ I said, ‘You’re joking, right?’ ” a New Jersey customer named Ben told WNBC. “He was like ‘$15, maybe $10.’”
The high-priced hot dog man appeared to target customers with accents, who might be tourists, according to a Channel 4 report on Tuesday.
Another customer, David, who has a thick French accent, said he lives in New York and knew he was being ripped off when Mohammed demanded $15 for a hot dog and pretzel.
“I am not a tourist, so I know the price,” David said after storming away from Mohammed’s cart.
Street vendors are free to charge whatever they want, but prices have to be clearly posted, according to the business advocacy group Alliance for Downtown New York.
“It gives New York a bad name,” said group president Jessica Lappin. “To rip off someone, to charge them $35 for a hot dog and pretzel, that leaves a terrible impression.”
When WNBC reporter Melissa Russo approached Mohammed and asked why he was charging so much, the hot dog man had no answers.
“Me?” Mohammed said.
“Yeah, you,” Russo said.
“Maybe they [complaining customers] don’t speak English,” Mohammed said.
“We have videotape of you talking to people in English,” Russo responded.
The Department of Consumer Affairs said it will investigate the matter.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I my city, the privately owned downtown surface lots near the ballpark have begun charging $50-90 for concerts.
Is that overcharging, I wonder?
Foodcarts are expensive. Is a $20 lobster roll sandwich overcharging? $12-15 hamburger?
“.... overcharging customers with accents...” Like highlights in your hair? How about a translation fee? When will the weiner jokes start?
The vendor is a jerk, don’t patronize his business, problem solved. When he says, “That dog will cost you $20”, you hand it back to him and leave.
This isn’t a whole lot different form a high-end restaurant charging you $50 for a steak dinner when another restaurant can charge you $25 for the same dinner that is as good or better. You make your choices.
Not at all. This guy charges some people $3 and some people $30. It’s not two different carts. He doesn’t have posted prices, which he is required to have.
From Guinness World Records...
“The most expensive hot dog is $169 and was sold by Tokyo Dog (USA) in Seattle, Washington, USA, on 23 February 2014.”
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-expensive-hot-dog
I could set up a cart there tomorrow and pay no rent or any other fees, but that would mean I’d have to set foot in that cesspool, so no thanks.
Which really makes me wonder just HOW the guy was fired and if a 2x4 was involved. Cart owner is stuck with a pile of summons and citations, some of which are for over charging, some are for failure to clearly post prices.
Maybe he is paying himself 15 an hour?
He has to charge that much so he can give half to his mosque, so the imam can send it to ISIS. When the two ISIS wannabes were caught in CA today, it was stunning to hear there are 40,000 Muslims in Orange Co. and 18 mosques.
When the history of this era is written, historians will marvel at our PC death wish....unless the historians are Muslims. Then they will give credit to Allah for giving them victory over the Great Satan.
that's what you think...
Well, he was a fool and an asshole, but his basic free-market approach strikes me as okay in this respect:
Have you ever read Adam Smith?
Disabled veteran street vendors in New York are legally exempt from municipal regulations on street vendors, under a 19th-century New York state law.[1][2] As of 2004, there were 374 permitted disabled veteran street vendors, 60 of whom were permitted to operate inside Midtown Manhattan.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disabled_veteran_street_vendors
It was in a New York newspaper, of interest to New Yorkers. No national hot dog laws. If they were going to make national hot dog laws, how about not being allowed to add vermin in them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.