Value Pawn & Jewelry Value Pawn TP1 Sold used broken merchandise, described it as "excellent", fabricated serial # & charged same price as NIB at Lowes Tampa Florida

 My lawn edger had broken the day before... this is what was on my mind that morning in August after dropping my teenaged daughter off for her volunteering service at the children's summer science camp at MOSI. As a weird coincidence, out of the corner of my eye, I saw yard equipment sitting on the sidewalk outside a pawn shop as I drove by. I thought to myself that maybe they might have an edger. I'd never been in a pawn shop before so I thought I'd give it a try once & see if they really did have great deals.

I've watched the TV show "pawn stars" a few times & it didn't seem like the unsafe stories one hears. There was a middle aged man who helped me. He seemed very confident & came across as if he knew a great deal about the yard equipment. He helped me pick out an edger. I also saw there were many pressure washers. I've always wanted a pressure washer so I asked him about the ones he had. Most of the ones on display on the sidewalk were the same model (Briggs & Straton/Troybuilt #020486 2700psi).

The only difference s were condition & missing parts. Some were missing spray guns, while others were missing hoses. All were missing the nozzle ends. They were all $299.90. He told me that nobody brings in the nozzles for some reason but replacements were easy to find. He told me that this was the top Troy Built model that Lowes sells & new it was easily 2x's the price. He assured me that all items put up for sale were tested thoroughly & worked. He also told me that there was a protection plan I could purchase.

I picked out a pressure washer machine that had everything intact (hose, spray gun, accessory tray mounted to handle) except for nozzles. We went inside to start the process & he went outside once again to take down the #'s. I bought the edger with cash & put the pressure washer on layaway so that I could ease my husband into the idea I had bought something expensive from a pawn shop. I told him to put the protection plan on all items. I was so excited to buy a pressure washer. I made plans about what I would clean first. I told friends.

I told neighbors. Each month I made my payment & November 4th I picked it up with my husband. The minute the young boy brought it out from the back room I exclaimed "that isn't the one I picked out!" It was missing the accessory tray that attatches to the handle & holds the hose, spray gun & has slots for nozzles. It was also covered in oil gunk, dust & cobwebs. My husband shrugged & gave me that look (please don't make a scene) while the young boy compared the serial #s printed on the Value Pawn sticker that was placed on the handle to the serial #s printed on my receipt.

"They match" he said & walked away. Was I confused? The shop was busy & nobody seemed concerned about me. My husband had to pick up his relatives from the airport & wanted to go, so we put it in the car & left. We had a hard time rolling it out to the car though because the handle was extremely loose didn't seem to be designed to roll the cart well. Remember this as I tell my story. Nov 16th my inlaws left & the next day (yesterday) I finally had time to go to Lowes & get some nozzles. I was excited to try my new pressure washer!

The first thing I saw was my same exact pressure washer, brand new, in the box & complete for $299. That is 90 cents cheaper than what I paid for the used, dirty & incomplete one I was handed at Value Pawn. Second, I studied how the accessory tray was supposed to attach to the handle with plastic thumb rivets & wondered how it could have fallen off of mine while it was in layaway storage. It was very secure on the model at Lowes & couldn't be removed w/out pliers. Third, I found that replacement nozzles were $60.

Lastly, I found that this 2700psi pressure washer was low middle range - not the "top of the range" item in Lowes the man at Value Pawn claimed & it certainly was not in "excellent" condition as noted on my receipt. As my husband told me that this should be a lesson for me against buying things at pawn shops, I couldn't believe I had been such a stupid chump. My heart sank. I almost ran out of the store & drove home as fast as I could. When I got home, I pulled out my receipt & checked it. NO PROTECTION PLAN.

My receipt for the edger had the protection plan, but he didn't add it to the pressure washer. My heart sunk lower. I'd probably been had. This was just too much of a coincidence. I double checked the serial # listed on my receipt to the serial # on the sticker value pawn created & placed onto the handle. That's when I realized the handle was put on upside down. Remember what I said about the handle nearly falling off? I unscrewed the knobs & saw that they were barely attached, & put on crooked to the screw threads as well.

I turned the handle around to the right orientation & reattached it properly. It was as if someone did a quick & crude handle exchange. The condition of the Value Pawn identification sticker was a bit suspicious for something that should have been untouched in a layaway holding room. It was torn & worn. The only other identifier from value pawn was a hang tag that was attached to the spray gun with a zip tie. It was torn up & falling apart inside it's plasic sleeve like it had been submerged in water.

So, the only places identifying stickers were placed on this pressure washer, were also parts that could be easily removed. Could it be? I started looking on the pressure washer chassis for the manufacturer's original seal showing model # & serial #. I found it under the device. The serial # did not match the serial # Value Pawn used. Do they make up their own # scheme for internal tracking? No. The #s match on my edger purchase. There are only 2 explanations for this.

1) they did a switcheroo on me because something happened to the real one I had picked out -or- 2) they make up fake serial #s so they can sell stolen goods. Now I was really starting to panick. Does it at least work!!!???? So far, every single thing I'd been told or promised was a lie. Even the pressure washer they handed me was a different on than I picked out. Why would it's functioning be any different? I immediately went online & downloaded the operators manual. I checked the gas & filled it.

I checked the oil & topped it off with new oil. I attached a water hose per the instructions. I pressed the nozzle to clear the air as instructed. I flipped the switch to "on" & pulled the cord. Nothing. I asked my husband to try pulling the cord. nothing. Not even a sputter. I went to the auto parts store & bought a new spark plug & socket wrench to install it. Nothing. It doesn't work. Broken. Dead. A dead pressure washer, that isn't the one I picked out, with torn up pawn shop stickers stuck on it that contain false serial #'s which don't match the ones on the device.

On top of that, I was charged 90cents more than a brand new one at Lowes although it was used, missing parts, dirty & missing nozzles. To add insult to injury, I paid a layaway fee of $9.35 for this priviledge.   If this is how Value Pawn treats people who spend hundreds of dollars in their stores, then that is plainly dirty, dirty business. I'm not someone hawking stolen goods to buy drugs or parting with my valuables because I fell on hard times.

If I'm not mistaken, Pawn Shops make their money from people who have money to spend and buy items. Obviously my husband was right. I should have never walked into a pawn shop. This was a harsh lesson for me to learn and I will NEVER shop in a pawn shop again. Every time I pass that building I will have bad feelings for it. I will share this with everyone I know too.