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No win, no fee food and music
Watching Gordon Ramsay in the F Word the other night got me thinking about ways the "no win, no fee" pay paradigm has been extended into other aspects of life.
Whatever one thinks of the expletive-spitting Ramsay and his no-nonsense machismo, it is hard to deny that he is one of the busiest and most successful men in show business. Going from an injury-curtailed top level football career to becoming one of the nation's best cooks, and one of its most marketable and most recognisable faces is no mean feat. I mean, unlike Robbie Williams or Jamie Oliver, he has even been able to crack America - like The Beatles.
Having two friends among the diners for last week's episode proved enough for me to overcome my aversion to Ramsay and tune in. Aside from confounding myself by finding him to be in likeable form, it was the payment method Ramsay had devised for guests to his restaurant than caught my interest.
Rather than just charging them a set price menu, he let each eater choose whether the meals were worth paying for.
Such an approach may at first, outside the world of glitzy television and celebrity chefs, seem like business suicide, but I could not help thinking that if that kind of thing were more common, the consumer experience would be infinitely better.
Unfortunately, as a "pay if they deserve it" system would be likely to send the whole edifice of Western free market capitalism toppling, it is unlikely our economy is likely to adopt it wholesale too.
I set myself to thinking if there were examples of similar economic systems operating in the United Kingdom right now. The revelation of a first example was much closer to home than I had expected.
No win, no fee solicitors were the only professionals I could think of who actually don't charge for their services if they don't do what they say on the tin. Sure, they'll spend the time and energy necessary to fighting your claim, but in the event they don't see it through a successful conclusion, they won't charge you a thing.
I guess the fundamental difference between the two very different services – serving up meals and fighting personal injury claims – is that one provides a categorically negative or positive outcome (a judge's decision) while the other serves up something to be subjectively processed (food). So, while it is very difficult for claimants to exploit solicitors, eaters would find it quite easy to lie their way to a free meal.
Over the weekend, catching up with my two mates who'd been to eat at the F Word restaurant I asked them if they could think of any examples of "pay if they deserve it". One quickly pointed out that Radiohead had, with their latest album In Rainbows demonstrated that it was workable as a new music download distribution system. So successful has it been that bands like Metallica, Coldplay and Nine Inch Nails have followed suit with their own versions of the model.
Incidentally, I asked, "How was your meal?" Both replied that it was great but they hadn't paid anything as "Ramsay is hardly in need of a penny, is he?". An answer, I think, that tells us all we need to know about why extending a version of "no win, no fee" to other aspects of our economic system would fail.
