| rev:text
| - Well it seems that ever since the show Pawn Stars has aired, it seems like every pawn shop these days now think they're on reality television. But let's face it, most pawn shops will low-ball you on items you want to sell. They make you jump through incredible hoops for a short term loan where they not only low-ball you even more but also make you feel like some kind of loser because you need some fast cash. On the bright side, the shopping experience at most pawn shops allows the buyer to get some pretty good deals. Since the experiences is often very contrasting, I'll review my local pawn shop from three perspectives: the buying experience, the selling/loan experience, and customer service.
Shopping.
I've been shopping at this store for years. Even when I wasn't living in the area, it's been the place I can go to get some decent gifts, electronics, and even jewelry for a decent price. The selection on items is sporadic at times. You have to really get there on good days to maximize your shopping. But overall, there's something for everyone and if you go in there ready to spend money, you will get something you want.
There really wasn't much a need to haggle on prices because the ticket prices are more than affordable. That being said I've gone Christmas shopping her purchasing $5 DVDs and XBox games, low priced computers, and even my home surround sound was bought there.
Customer Service.
The service here is bi-polar at best. If you're buying something under the glass cases, a clerk will usually be right there to take your money. The same goes with any other big-ticket item. But try to get a clerk's attention to pull a video game from the the shelf or unplug a $20 DVD player and you might have a bit of a wait. Even though there is usually about 4 clerks behind the loan/sell counter, you can expect a wait. There's usually quite a few people there trying to pay off loans or get one.
Selling/Loan.
Okay, I'm going to put a personal note on this. I needed money to pay for gas for a trip to Southern California for a family emergency. I had an item that I had actually purchased two years ago from that same shop for a total of $300. I wanted to take a short term loan for $100. I didn't want to sell the item as it was something I could have easily got the same amount of money for if I wanted to sell it independently.
The clerk looks up the item and says that it is an outdated model. Thus causing the value to be less. I had a feeling that this was going bad and it did. Despite the store having older like models on the shelf with a $300 tag on them, the clerk offers me an insulting $50 for item. The item was in pristine condition and I knew that if they had to sell it, they'd mark it for $300 like the others. So I countered with an $80 offer (enough to fill my gas tank to and from for my trip).
The clerk then raises his offer a mere $10 making it $60. Not even enough to cover my gas expense, I plead to the clerk and tell him why I need the money. I was reasonable and polite and tried to get at least $70. The clerk wouldn't budge and began to portray a "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude. When I asked to see if a manager can approve the extra $10 dollars, the pompous twenty-something clerk says that he is the manager and that $60 was what he can offer.
Desperate for the money, I take the offer which after interest will cost me $100 to pay off the loan. But what makes it even worse was that while the item being tested, other shoppers were scoping it out and offered me $250 to buy it. Unfortunately, the Super Pawn already got me.
I would recommend this store if you want to buy something. But if you're looking to get a reasonable deal on a loan/sell... forget it.
It's the shopping experience that keeps this place from being 2 Stars.
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