you people dont understand extortion. heres extortion. you have X number of customers. unless you hire me as the rav hamachshir i will make sure you lose 1000 customers. extortion is not setting a price for a product or service.
is it reasonable to walk into a best buy and, when told tha tthe laptop you’ve had your eye on for the past three months costs $3000, run around the store hysterically yelling abou thow the store is extorting you? no. you can complain about the price until you turn blue in the face, but it is NOT extortion.
now i see some of you over there in the corner, raising your hands to call me on the loose interpretation of extortion, namely, charging an exorbitant fee disproportionate to the product offer or service rendered, bu tthat simply leads right back to my earlier questions: 1) how much did the vaad want from this restauranteur, and 2) what is the going rate for a hechsher. simply calling extortion because the requirement for a certain service costs money is petulant and juvenile.
i need electricity, does that mean that ConEd is extorting me? i need clothing, is Joseph A Bank extorting me? I need food and water, are the various corporations which collectively comprise the food industry categorically a bunch of extortionists?
Now it is true that in certain neighborhoods and communities an eatery stands no chance without a hechsher; but does that mean that they cannot open without one? John Doe is more than welcome to open Yosef’s Treifa Chazerai smack in the middle of boro park, and not a soul could stop him. would he get an ounce of business? perhaps, perhaps not. however he can still do as he pleases. the customer is under no obligation to the vendor, the vendor is constantly under obligation to the consumer.
i would equate the OP’s complaint to the proprietor of a Sak’s 5th Avenue franchise complaining about lack of business at his brand new Harlem location. well…wha tthe heck did you expect.
suppose one day a fine gentleman walks in and requests a sean john hoodie and some ripped jeans, and upon hearing that your store has no such items, walks out and tells his friends that your store is useless. the next day you get 10 phone calls, all from callers requesting ghetto wear-that they will patronize your establishment if and only if you sell such items, is that extortion? absolutely not. the consumer knows what he wants and if not satisfied, will move on. i rest my case.