Business

Nothing Does More for a Small Business Than Being Attacked by a Harvard Business School Professor

Ben Edelman may have a problem with the Sichuan Garden in Brookline, but the release of emails in which he complained about what he perceived to be a pricing inaccuracy is only helping the restaurant.

On Tuesday, Boston.com wrote about Edelman’s lengthy email exchange with Ran Duan, who, in addition to managing a hugely successful bar inside one location of his parents’ restaurant Sichuan Garden, also handles customer relations for the operation. After first asking for a $4 refund, Edelman engaged Duan in an email argument on business practices and Massachusetts law. (Read more about Edelman’s battle with Sichuan Garden here.)

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Since the story ran, Sichuan Garden’s loyal customers have come out of the woodwork to defend the restaurant’s good name, and they’re doing it publicly on a forum that is important to small businesses: Yelp. The restaurant’s Yelp page has received more than 25 four- or five-star reviews, many of them supporting the establishment in the $4 fight.

Of course, even with all the positivity, Sichuan Garden only has an overall rating of 3.5 stars. But hey, when it’s you against a man who has been dubbed “The Sherriff of the Internet,’’ anything helps.

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