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We're Not a Charity

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  • We're Not a Charity

    A customer pawned a phone for 30 days a few months ago. She came in badmouthing a rival pawn shop which makes my boss more inclined to give her what she wants. A few days after the transaction, she decides to sell it to the store. Because she is now selling it, I can give her an additional $45 for it. She wants $100.00; however, if I did that I would have very little profit if any. She claims she needs to money to pay a bill. Regardless of her excuse, I can't just go into the hole because she is short on cash this month. She becomes belligerent and my boss offers to step in. He gives her what she asks for.

    A week later, when the phone comes off the mandatory 7 day hold, she calls back wanting the phone put into pawn. Of course I say no because she got a very fair deal on the phone and it has been priced, tagged, and is on the shelf. She gets angry, yells something incoherent and hangs up on me. She calls back later and talks to my boss. He truly feels sorry for her and, at this point, thinks he is helping her out. She needs money for food/gas this time. So he takes the phone off the sales floor and gives her $50 more on the loan.

    Because her loan is a 30 day loan, she has to pay her interest or forfeit the item to us. She comes in, but is about $10 short. I let her slide this time.

    Last week she comes in wanting money for medicine and, again, my boss feels sorry for her and gives her the money. I talk to him about this and he believes he is doing the right thing by helping her. I tell him that she's only going to come back for more money, wanting no interest on the loan, and wanting freebies. He'll have to learn this the hard way.

    So guess what? She calls today wanting $40 for flowers for a deceased family member whose funeral is today. I tell her I'm sorry for her loss but I cannot give her any more money. She asks if she can have the money she paid on the loan back. I tell her, in the nicest possible tone, that we cannot help her any more on this loan. The item pawned is not worth any more (we're actually upside down on this loan). She gets angry, yells, and says something about God punishing me, and then hangs up. Since I'm in charge today, I'm telling the employees that if she comes in, she is either going to pay interest, pawn something, or sell something or else she can gtfo.

    She never came in.

    I really hope my boss finally gets it. You can't go around over paying because someone gives you a sob story. We're not a charity. We're already helping her out by giving her a fair price to start with. She probably does not even consider all the exceptions made for her, but she's the kind of customer who has gotten her way by yelling or lying.

  • #2
    I have to be blunt here: if your boss is not banging this chick, he needs to grow a spine and a sack and start acting like a business owner, not her personal Make a Wish foundation.

    And if he's banging her, well, at least he's getting something back in return. Still doesn't justify the headaches the other employees have to deal with with her, though.

    "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is
    Still A Customer."

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    • #3
      Quoth Jester View Post
      I have to be blunt here: if your boss is not banging this chick, he needs to grow a spine and a sack and start acting like a business owner, not her personal Make a Wish foundation.

      And if he's banging her, well, at least he's getting something back in return. Still doesn't justify the headaches the other employees have to deal with with her, though.
      The thought of him banging her is... well gross. She's much older and gross. He really believed that if he didn't do what she needed, she'd be without. Granted that I was a social worker for 3 years, I'm like Dr. House on this one: everyone lies. He had to learn the hard way, no way that I could have seen the future here or anything.

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      • #4
        I don't usually watch much reality TV, but I have to admit, I've gotten hooked on the pawn shop ones. I watch the history channel one cause they show all sorts of interesting antiques and things. But the other one (not sure what channel it's on), the one set in Detroit - it's like watching a train wreck, you know you shouldn't look, but you can't help yourself. If even a fraction of that thing are real customers, wow.

        Anyway, to the point (finally), you see people like that on the show in a steady stream. SCs constantly yelling "I don't care if my ring is worth only $100, I need $200 to pay my rent, give it to me". Whether it's pawns or sells, they just don't get it that the value of the item is what matters, not what they need the money for. Gotta admit though, the owner not only has a spine, but big security guards to escort the worst ones out as well, LOL.

        Madness takes it's toll....
        Please have exact change ready.

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        • #5
          Pawn Stars is on The History Channel, and Hardcore Pawn ("MY KID COULDDA GOT KILLED!") is on TruTV. It was actually some postings on this site that got me into those shows.

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          • #6
            Quoth emax4 View Post
            Pawn Stars is on The History Channel, and Hardcore Pawn ("MY KID COULDDA GOT KILLED!") is on TruTV. It was actually some postings on this site that got me into those shows.
            You have to admit, some of the SC's shown on Hardcore Pawn make a lot of the SC's the average retail person endures look like positive angels
            Scary.

            Madness takes it's toll....
            Please have exact change ready.

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            • #7
              Quoth Merriweather View Post
              I don't usually watch much reality TV, but I have to admit, I've gotten hooked on the pawn shop ones. I watch the history channel one cause they show all sorts of interesting antiques and things. But the other one (not sure what channel it's on), the one set in Detroit - it's like watching a train wreck, you know you shouldn't look, but you can't help yourself. If even a fraction of that thing are real customers, wow.

              Anyway, to the point (finally), you see people like that on the show in a steady stream. SCs constantly yelling "I don't care if my ring is worth only $100, I need $200 to pay my rent, give it to me". Whether it's pawns or sells, they just don't get it that the value of the item is what matters, not what they need the money for. Gotta admit though, the owner not only has a spine, but big security guards to escort the worst ones out as well, LOL.
              I was thinking about the same show.

              Maybe it's time the OP's boss started watching it

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              • #8
                I love Hardcore Pawn. But from what I see those guys are condescending jerks half the time.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Quoth HermitIX View Post
                  I love Hardcore Pawn. But from what I see those guys are condescending jerks half the time.
                  I feel like I am taking this a bit off topic so I will make it quick, I live in the Detroit area and have actually been in that shop. The SCs there are epic, personally saw two meltdowns in the half hour I was there.

                  I think the OP had the right attitude here. A pawn shop is not in the business of "helping people" no business is, their business is to make money. SCs get it in their heads that just because they have a problem you are under some obligation to give them what they need, not what their item is worth.

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                  • #10
                    Yes, there is "having a spine" and "being more of a jerk than the SC".

                    When dealing with collections/loans, there is a great policy that some places use. Whatever the first request for more time (or whatever), take it. If they reneg on it or try to renegotiate again, no way. No need to go through all the trouble for an SC to have your staff remind her that she needs to pay her interest. She's a big girl, she can remember to pay, or her phone gets put out for sale with no need for further discussion (until she tries to pick it up).

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                    • #11
                      I always love seeing those customers -- at least a couple on each episode -- who don't seem to comprehend that pawn shops SELL stuff at or about its retail value (read: what the assessors and invited experts call the Value)...They don't BUY stuff for that amount. >_>

                      I wanna say History is getting ready to premiere Cajun Pawn Stars now (set in Shreveport -- far, far northwest Louisiana, near the TX border and about the same latitude as Dallas -- more coonass turf than Cajun, I suppose, but it could be cool.)
                      "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                      "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                      "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                      "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                      "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                      "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                      Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                      "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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