greasy pawnbroker

Hey, so today my stolen property sniffing skills were not so honed. I pawned a dulcimer that a gentleman claimed he purchased the night before on Government Street from a busker. He said he got a good deal on it and he wanted to sell it for a profit. He wouldn't say how much he got it for but he wanted $400. It looked old and worn a bit but it was very interesting and it had a case with it. I have not seen or pawned many dulcimers in my day but I said it was worth a $100 gamble. He asked if I would pawn it for the $100 so he could research it some more and then get it out later. I wrote up the loan for it and put it aside behind the counter.

We got extremely busy and there was a line of 5 customers waiting for help. A couple of men came up to the counter and claimed that I had his stolen dulcimer. Now because he came in so close in time after the other guy came in to pawn it, I thought that something was up. Possibly they were working together to scam the $100 loan and then hope I would hand over the alleged stolen dulcimer. I asked if he had filed a police report and he said that he did the night before. He told me that the dulcimer was taken from him at the Bay Centre when he turned around to purchase a lottery ticket. I suggested he go and get a police officer and we could sort the whole thing out.

A while later, a police officer arrived with the owner who was in before. I told the officer what happened and I provided a copy of the pawn transaction, a photo of the person who pawned it, and a video file on a thumb drive of the whole transaction from our surveillance system. I asked if charges would be laid against the pawner and if a restitution order could be submitted so we could ask for our $100 back. He asked me how successful that has been for me in the past. Suggesting that it seemed pointless. So I asked the owner of the dulcimer if he was interested in reimbursing us for the $100 we paid for the item. He seemed interested until the officer said that that was a "greasy move." He said that the original owner should not have to pay, nor be asked to pay for his own item back. After hearing this, the owner said he was not interested in paying any money. The store was full of people and many customers were waiting for help so I decided to finish the paper work and hand over the dulcimer and finish the transaction so I could get back to work.

I am the greasy pawnbroker who asked to be reimbursed for my out of pocket cost of taking a stolen item. But the owner no longer had to search for his stolen item. It could have went out of town, it could have been destroyed, it could have been sold in a way that was not recorded, it could have been hiding in a closet to cool off for months and months. He could have never found his instrument again. But he did find it quite easily and quickly. And it didn't cost him anything.

information booth

I get asked for information all the time. People that live here ask me where to find this or that, where to shop for this or that, where to sell this or that, where to eat and drink, the list goes on and on. I also get asked directions from many out of towners. I always try to be as helpful as I can and I truly want to make it as easy as possible for people to find what they are looking for. Today a lady from one of the cruise ships and her four family members came in looking for a special kind of harmonica. The kind that is quite large with wood veneer on the sides and has the chromatic slide button. Unfortunately, we do not sell those unless we get a used one in stock and sadly we do not have one at the moment. I suggested she go to Long & McQuade, a large retail musical instrument store near Douglas and Hillside. It is too far to walk so I asked if she was up for an adventure, I would help her out with a map and bus fare. She was excited. I found out what bus to catch, where to catch it and how to get to the store. I exchanged a $US 10 for four toonies and eight quarters to appease the transit gods and wished her luck. I hope she and her family had fun and found what they were looking for. Later, a man asked me where to find a Bank of America. I said that he wouldn't find one here in Canada but any of the major banks nearby could probably help him with a withdrawal. He said he just wanted to check his balance and I suggested the internet. He said it would be easier to just go to a branch of Bank of America. I responded that once B.C. becomes the 51st state of America we will get a Bank of America branch up here in Victoria. He now got excited and asked if there was talk of that happening. Surprised that he took me seriously, I had to let him down and say no. But you never know, when their money is worth a buck fifty Canadian again, it could happen. Naaa

fistfull of dollars

So a couple of days ago, this young gentleman came into the store and marched up to the counter and said he had some old hundred dollar bills that he wanted me to take a look at. He raised his fist up and opened it up quickly, dropping the contents onto the counter. I looked down and saw two very crumpled up and very dirty 100 dollar bills. I don't mean dirty like they were in his hand for any length of time and soaked with sweat and grime. I don't mean dirty like they were acquired in an illegal manner. I mean dirty like they had been rolled around in the dirt and stepped on. They were bills from two series ago. Not the ones we used to have before the current design that no one will accept any more. I am talking the series before those. So if you are over 30 years old, you probably have seen them when you were very young. I said that we only accepted the new style hundreds and we wouldn't be able to take them. He said, "phhh, whatever," turned around and walked out. I am still puzzled as to whether he wanted to just trade them in for change like 20's, 50's or new 100's, or if he wanted to sell them for a higher amount because they were old. Man, they were beat up. Also, the reason why they keep changing the design is because the most commonly counterfeited bill is an old 100. Strange.

Try this!

Hey! Sorry for the delay. Today a gentleman client brought in a laptop to obtain a loan. It was very sweet. There are laptops, and then there are super sweet laptops. The thing was absolutely, obscenely huge with a whopping 18.4" screen. A good percentage of the laptops we see are netbooks with a 10" screen so when you see this widescreen come out of the bag, you know it is less common and more expensive. It was fully loaded with a current processor and plenty of RAM. It also still had the specs sticker on it which makes the job of determining what's under the hood very easy. This machine had full 1080p high definition video output. So in I start with the questions. The gentleman mentioned that we had done business in the past and I started to recognize him but I am not that familiar. I asked him where he got it and he said that it was a gift from family. OK, that is pretty believable. But usually when family gifts an expensive piece of equipment to a member, they usually give the receipt or at least the warranty info just in case there is an issue down the road. So I ask him for any paperwork and nada. I ask him where it was purchased and he responds with, "On the mainland." Ugh, two responses that don't sound too true. So my colleague turns it on and Windows 7 is taking its time to load. This gives me a bit of time to visually check out the condition. I can't help but notice the plastic new film is still on the mouse pad and that's kind of OK. I mean, my wife likes to leave that film on the screen of a new cell phone as long as possible and perhaps he uses an external mouse. But then I see it. The new film sticker next to the mouse pad that says, "Try me." Umm. Hey, wait a second. No one leaves that sticker on, that is just silly. Then we lift up the machine and have a good look and on the side there was a large exhaust/heat vent with some metal teeth like heat sink looking blinds. But these ones are mangled a bit and has some fuzz and hair attached to them. I point this out to the client and he claims that that happened from putting it in a case that was a bit snug for it. Yeah right. Quick thinking but to me it looks like where the security tag was somewhat permanently attached and subsequently ripped off. No thanks. I say that we are far too picky on the condition of delicate things like laptops and I send him on his way.

free wi-fi

So I sold a client a netbook computer today for his friend. Great little machine with all the current specs and very portable. They were happy and away they went. He comes back in an hour and says he has trouble connecting to the internet. I show him were the available signals are listed and how to double click on the one network he wants and then to enter the security key. However, he was under the impression that you just get internet everywhere with a netbook. Like in the park, in your car, on a mountain top, anywhere. Well, unfortunately, a one time purchase of a second hand computer does not get you lifetime unlimited internet connection. You need to go to McDonalds or Starbucks and buy a coffee and get on their wi-fi or purchase a plan for a mobile stick with an internet/cell phone service provider. Oh.

you guys trade?

This afternoon a young gentleman came into our store with a guitar case in hand. He asked if we trade. Of course we do! We love trades. He has this beautiful LTD guitar with a Floyd Rose bridge and locking system and super low action. A great guitar for shredding and playing heavy metal. His needs have changed and he is now more interested in a classic guitar like a Fender Stratocaster. We have a breautiful Ocean Spray Blue coloured one with a nicely aged looking neck that he is in love with. He is interested in trading his guitar for that one and they are both worth close to the same value used. Now if we were two dudes and I was interested in his guitar and he really liked mine, we could trade and both of us would be happy and that would be that. But because we have a store, we have overhead to worry about. We have to pay taxes, wages, utilities, rent, yada yada yada. And those things cost money. I can't trade a beautiful diamond ring to the Receiver General for my Current Source Deductions Payment, unfortunately. So I explained to him that if I could sell his guitar for about $500, I would be able to give him about $300 on a trade and ours costs $700 so he would have to come up with about $400 difference. Not really what he was hoping to do but I suggested that he sell it privately and then come in with cash for a discounted price on the Strat. Being a younger gentleman, he is most likely very savvy with today's social networking options along with digital pictures, email, Craigslist, and such. He thought that sounded like a good idea and thanked me for the info and took his guitar with him. Hopefully he'll find a good home for the guitar and then I can give him a great deal on a beautiful Fender Stratocaster.

sturdy as she goes

Today I had to run a couple of errands and I found myself walking south on Douglas Street in front of the Shoppers Drug Mart. I saw this fellow carrying a heavy speaker box which appeared to be a sub woofer. We were coming towards each other with about a foot of space to spare between us. Right at the passing moment he bumped into the edge of one of the window panes and it made an awful noise and it sent him off track towards me. I had to quickly jump out of the way to avoid being crashed into. I wondered if the man was heading to my shop to try to sell it and I thought I should call my employees to warn them because clearly he was quite inebriated and he had an item we do not accept. Not to mention that it took a good jolt already and I am sure that was not its first bump or bruise. I decided not to call since I was a couple of blocks away and perhaps he wasn't headed there. But when I returned, I heard about the excitement from my fellow workers. This gentleman client entered with a loud crash, bang, and a boom. He dropped the sub woofer twice on his way to the counter before he was intercepted by staff. He was informed that we did not take those items any more and that he shouldn't continue up to the counter with it. At that time, he was a bit injured and bleeding from the hand and wrist. Now I didn't notice any blood when I avoided a collision with him on the street so possibly he fell and hurt himself between there and the shop. Either way, my employee asked if he needed medical attention, i.e. an ambulance. He refused. So it was suggested that he leave and take care of his wounds. He did.

unhappy individual

So this undesirable customer came in today and claimed the Sony PSP we sold him a week ago no longer worked. He wanted another one. He had his receipt from coming in last week and purchasing two Sony PSPs with a friend of his. But here's the kicker, the serial number on the PSP he is trying to return is worn off pretty well on the bottom and illegible. So I take the battery cover off and pluck out the battery. Underneath the battery is an information label which has the serial number printed. The receipt he has lists two serial numbers taken from the two PSPs he purchased last week. Neither of them matched. Plus, the item had some signs of wear and bumps from being dropped. I explained that there was nothing I could do because this simply was not one of the items he purchased from me. It must have come from somewhere else, now it is broken, and he is looking to unload it for a working one: SCAM. He gets irate, he has to be kicked out, he threatens to charge us with the police, yadayadayada. A different customer comes in and says he spotted the upset individual outside trying to wave down a paddy wagon in order to get a police officer to charge us. He is very well known to police. He is unsuccessful. Some light afternoon entertainment.

switching stones

Today a couple of ladies came in to shop for something new and glittery. They had a good look at our display of rings and things and one of them fell in love with this diamond ring. Now they said they were looking for something different and eye-catching. This ring was yellow gold with a stunning centre third carat diamond, two 10 pointers and some more accenting on the sides. The stones were set in an unusual off centre recurve fashion and in yellow 14K gold. But the thing that made this ring unique and different is the little back story. When it came to me, it originally had a cubic zirconia in the center but natural diamonds on the sides. I thought it deserved much better than this so I hand picked a beautiful diamond with a very good cut and had my jeweler replace it with the cz. He also re-tipped the mount and put a high polish on it. The end result is stunning. Now it is on the finger of a lady who fell in love with it. Very unique rings can be found in our shop becuase each one came in individually and had a back story.

the lone disc

Hey, so today a young gentleman client came in to sell a copy of the game cube video game, "Super Smash Bros. Melee." He only had the disc. No box, no book, and scratched all to hell. He asked how much we would pay for it and an offer of $5 was thrown out. He said he didn't think so and that it is worth like $60 on eBay. So he didn't want to take the five bucks but he also didn't want to leave with the disc. He has no gamecube any more and he really just wants to sell the game for cash. For fun, I do a search on eBay real quick and find out that there is one available, "Buy it Now" for $12.95 with the box and the book and in very good condition. I show this to the client and explain that it just simply doesn't have the value that it once did. You see, the wii version of the Super Smash series is now over three years old and even it has dropped in price. We have to re-surface the disc so it can be played, which costs money, make a box and cover art for the game, which costs money, price it, inventory it, sell it, and guarantee it, which all costs money. When it is all said and done, we will most likely get $19.95 for it. He took the five bucks and left.

How about this, or this?

Today a young gentleman client came in to borrow money. He seemed a bit tense because he needed money but was reluctant to pawn his iPod. He just didn't want to give up his music even though he was flat broke. As it turns out, he didn't have the transfer cable on him so we informed him that it was required in order to obtain the loan. No problem as he lived close by, he would go and get it if he decided to bring it back for a loan.

So he leaves and not 1 minute later comes back into the shop with a guitar and case. Now where do you think he was storing that? Out on the street unattended? How come he didn't bring that in first? Red lights are starting to go off with me plus he was in a group of other young gentleman which leads me to believe that the guitar is not his. So as he starts to open the case, I notice that he is having troubles because he is not too acquainted with the locations of all the buckles. So lets find the proof in the pudding. I ask him to play if for us so we can hear how it sounds. Well, it was not the worst performance to date, that is another story, but a very close second. I mean, what self respecting young man doesn't even know one power chord on a guitar? So we decided that it appeared that the guitar did not belong to him and we did not accept it as collateral.

The good news is that he left and came back with the transfer cable for the iPod and it checked out as his own. He was able to borrow some money on that and he assured us that within the 30 days he would definitely be back to get his precious tunes back.

Here goes...

Every day I work I will try to post something interesting or memorable that happened during the day. For instance, today, a gentleman customer brought in a gun to trade for a gun. He was in the midst of purchasing a bb gun from us and he brought us in a paintball gun to trade towards it. The paintball marker had an Egrip which allowed the gun to shoot single shots as fast as you can pull the trigger, three shot bursts, or fully automatic! It had to be tested out and now our brick wall has a bit more paint on it! The customer walked away with the bb gun and some extra store credit.