Chef Koji Moideki of “Taimeiken”, Facing Financial Trouble Over the Cost of Repairing His Car

Chef Hiroshi Modegi, 54, is the third generation owner of Taimeiken, a long-established Western-style restaurant in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, established in 1931, and is in high demand on TV for his dark looks and high-spirited character. In his private life, he is known as a big car enthusiast, owning a number of luxury foreign cars including a Maserati.

However, it has now come to light that he is in trouble with a customizer over his beloved car.

He said, “No matter how famous Mr. Moideki is, this kind of behavior is unacceptable. What he’s doing is the same as eating and drinking without paying!

Mr. A (in his 40s), who runs a car customization business in Tokyo, was indignant.

In ’19, Mr. Modeki asked me to customize the headlights of his beloved Mercedes Benz G-Class. About a month after the work was done, Mr. Moedeki informed me that the lights were fogging up, but from the pictures I saw, the fogging was to the extent that it could happen even with genuine products, so I replied, ‘This much is not a problem.

It was two years later, in November of last year, that Chef Modesugi contacted us again.

Two years later, in November of last year, Chef Moedegui contacted me again and said, “My blinker is not working anymore,” and when I inspected it, I found that it was leaking. We had to order parts, and the repair cost was about 500,000 yen, but Mr. Modeki said it was too much for a car that hadn’t been driven at all. So we presented him with a quote that was discounted to 320,000 yen.

In addition to the discount, he also asked me to pay for the car later and deliver it first because he was planning to use it for an interview, or to pay in installments.

Mr. A told Chef Moideki that he would like him to pay for the repairs by the end of December. Mr. A told Chef Moideki that he wanted the repair fee paid by the end of December, but when he did not hear anything, he contacted Chef Moideki’s manager, who was the contact person.

The chef’s manager called me and said, ‘Can you change the fee to 100,000 yen? There was no explanation as to why. We had already discounted the price significantly, so I told him that was not right.

The next day, Chef Modesugi transferred only about 160,000 yen, half of the 320,000 yen estimate.

The next day, Chef Moideki paid only 160,000 yen, half of the 320,000 yen estimate. I wonder if Mr. Mogi would be satisfied if a customer said, ‘I don’t want to pay because it’s bad.

The chef must not be at peace when people say, “It’s like eating without paying. The chef would not be at ease if he were accused of “eating and drinking without money.” When I directly hit Chef Moideki after work, he responded vehemently.

When I asked him to customize the headlights, he told me that they would not fog up. After about a year, the lights themselves stopped working. So the installation itself was wrong. The car had hardly been driven. I really didn’t want to pay a penny; 100,000 yen was the amount I was going to pay as a favor.

So why did he transfer 160,000 yen? The chef’s manager continues.

When I said, ‘How about 100,000 yen,’ Mr. A said, ‘I don’t care if it’s half, just pay me. After that, I didn’t hear back from Mr. A, so I thought the matter was over.

What does Mr. A think about Chef Modeki’s objection? I interviewed him again.

I couldn’t stand the one-sided amount of 100,000 yen, so I just said, ‘If it was half the price, I could still understand. It was like words for words. It’s strange that he really took it to heart and only paid half. It’s not a matter of money, but the fact that they think this way of doing things is acceptable is unacceptable.

Incidentally, Chef Moideki transferred the remaining 160,000 yen after FRIDAY’s direct hit. Will this be enough to solve the problem?

From “FRIDAY” February 18, 2022 issue