New Id
Ok, I'll grant you that doing it with forethought is not the man's finest hour. I'm sure if it had been done as a reaction (minus the digital tape recorder bit) rather than pro-actively to get a point across, you would agree more. But I wouldn't say it's evil. And no, two wrongs don't make a right, but there has to be a way of showing them they are greedy. I think he got his point across. Maybe you wouldn't have done it that way, that's fine. But I don't think you need to be calling him an asshole. Mind you, I'm sure he can speak for himself.
Where I lose you, however is when you talk about honest people and good service. Who was getting good service? No one at that place as far as I can read. When MPs pull out a list, I stick to straight massage. It used to be fun when stuff happened spontaneously. After all, the massage is what I'm always after. The rest is like unexpected dessert. And when they do things without asking for money I'm more prone to giving a nice tip.
But that's neither here nor there. Live and let live, I say.