Cash Converters

gavinchappell

I'm not entirely sure where this should go, but pay day loans seems fairly appropriate-ish.

I was in Cash Converters with a friend yesterday, she pawned some jewellery last year when she lost her job and now she has another one is paying the interest until she can get the whole lot back. Long story short, as we walked in she saw a ring in the window which looked like one of hers so after paying for one of the four agreements she has with them, she asked to see everything they were holding. They came back with three packages, and it turns out that while the ring in the window wasn't hers, one package has been incorrectly marked as expired, and subsequently sold.

She has the receipt for paying the interest on the missing agreement the day before it was due (so it wasn't late), but apparently there was a problem with the store's printer that day which meant they couldn't print off a new agreement form. She didn't realise at the time and says the person who served her (who turned out yesterday to be the store manager as one of the other staff recognised his signature on her receipt) never mentioned the fault but just handed her the receipt and the original paperwork with the original expiry date back. She admits to not checking the date on this paperwork, but as she had a receipt for the correct amount signed by both her and the manager, it's a reasonable assumption that the payment had been properly recorded on the computer anyway.

We complained to the assistant manager who was present yesterday (the manager wasn't in the store but the asst. spoke to him on the phone which is where the info about the missing printer came from) and they've admitted that they're in the wrong as she has the receipt saying that she had paid the payment due on that particular agreement, but that they can't do anything to trace where the missing two items of jewellery might have gone. All the asst. manager could offer is that if there are any pictures of the items then they could look out for the missing items or something of the same design in their other stores. We don't know of any pictures of the items, they weren't valuable enough to have a specific insurance policy and pictures had never been required for standard home and contents, and even if items of a similar design were found they wouldn't hold the same sentimental value.

So this leads us onto what the next step should be? I've suggested that she should think of a fair amount of money which would be enough to cover all the remaining agreements and get her items back (as not surprisingly it's hard for her to trust the store to keep the other items safe after what's happened) and also leave a small sum left over for the inconvenience and towards the monetary value of the lost items. But as I've never used a pawnbroker before, and we were told by the assistant manager that this had never happened in that store before, I'm not at all sure what she may be entitled to in this situations. I've suggested that she tries to deal with it directly with the store or only using free advice such as the CAB, as involving solicitors and such like is really just big talk in this situation, and if solicitors are involved it only really comes down to the same conversation we've already had with the asst manager but with someone paying for solicitors time. I'm guessing that this isn't common (given that it's a pawnbrokers' full-time line of business to store items like this) but I'm sure it also can't be the first time it's ever happened anywhere so if anyone else has had something like this happen to them, I'd appreciate a few pointers so I can tell her where to start. Cheers!

LovelyLeeds

gavinchappell wrote: »

So this leads us onto what the next step should be?

Compo compo compo, compo compo compo - da da da daaa OOH...

There ya go - let us know how much you get.

RichGold

gavinchappell wrote: »

I've suggested that she should think of a fair amount of money which would be enough to cover all the remaining agreements and get her items back (as not surprisingly it's hard for her to trust the store to keep the other items safe after what's happened) and also leave a small sum left over for the inconvenience and towards the monetary value of the lost items.

I'd forget that idea and find Cash Converters T+C's, which probably cover the store for mistakes on their part.

bris

The store have lost her items so they should offer a suitable replacement, or value which is acceptable to her. She still owes the store for the loan that was made to her plus any interest, this may take up most of the value, but they are still liable to her for her items.

gavinchappell

Surely on something as simple as a pawnbroker transaction, they can't get out of liability for the items which have actually been lost/mistakenly sold? It's a transaction where they hold your goods in exchange for a loan against them, so it's pretty much the whole point of the business? Pretty sure they wouldn't get away with their T&Cs saying "we'll give you cash in exchange for holding your goods, except we might not actually give you any cash once we've got them"...

Thanks for the advice though, she's writing a letter to send to Head Office I believe, explaining what's happened and who we've actually spoken to in person about it. I'm sure that whatever she gets offered in compensation won't be a lot, but will hopefully be enough to buy back everything they currently hold which will save a load of interest charges (which is obviously beneficial in its own way) and leave a bit left over.

rini

gavinchappell wrote: »

Surely on something as simple as a pawnbroker transaction, they can't get out of liability for the items which have actually been lost/mistakenly sold? It's a transaction where they hold your goods in exchange for a loan against them, so it's pretty much the whole point of the business? Pretty sure they wouldn't get away with their T&Cs saying "we'll give you cash in exchange for holding your goods, except we might not actually give you any cash once we've got them"...

Thanks for the advice though, she's writing a letter to send to Head Office I believe, explaining what's happened and who we've actually spoken to in person about it. I'm sure that whatever she gets offered in compensation won't be a lot, but will hopefully be enough to buy back everything they currently hold which will save a load of interest charges (which is obviously beneficial in its own way) and leave a bit left over.

I too have a little problem (2 actually) with a high street pawnbroker - at first they got a junior person to speak to me until they realised that i wasn't messing about and that the situation was pretty serious (I am presuming) so now it has reached their chief operating officer (and a marketing manager). So far they have only phoned me - asking what I want to see as a resolution. I have told them that I will put everything in writing, which I am doing. Also I am looking into the situation in more depth - I guess they wanted to solve the problem(s) quickly but I would rather do my research first. I suggest you write to the company secretary or the CEO at the company so you don't get fobbed off with juniors. These guys don;'t have a great reputation as it is, and can't afford for it to get worse in the press.

I would be really interested in what transpires with your issue (I think they are totally responsible) - interesting to see if you actually get any compensation. Could you PM me so we can discuss this offline too? (private message?) I just want to compare notes.

thanks and good luck

rini

telboyo

SENTIMENTAL value? Surely if something has a sentimental value you would not pawn it. If your response is "She had to feed the kids", Please do not bother unless she now values this ring over the kids for sentimentality.
!!!!!! it is just some metal and a stone that could be bought for cash- go to the shop and get another if you really think it is important!

UKGuy

Threaten then with the police that might be enough to make them do something. :rotfl: