[djmarcelca]

Was just at a Pawn Shop in Town.
They had a Fender Stratocaster set @ $2999.99. Naturally I looked it over.

Sign claimed it was a 1960 Custom Shop reproduction , Modded at Factory with a Humbucker and Floyd Rose trem in it.

No Custom shop logo engraved into the Neck plate
No Made in USA markings on brand label
Small custom shop logo stamped into the BACK of the headstock that was unclear other than the V

Serial number came back as 1985-87 MIJ fender strat.

For that type of guitar it looked Correct.
Correct trem, humbucker, neck dimensions, body, etc.

When talking to the manager He Said " It's authentic, we have the original paperwork"

I told him I do not believe this is a Custom shop model.
I think it's a MIJ Fender production model only worth about 600.00 not 3K and he should get it authenticated directly from Fender, not "The guy we have come in for these things"

Wouldn't let me check the back of the neck heel, or the wiring under the pickguard to look for serial numbers and mini asian electronics

He wasn't pleased with me, asked me to leave the shop.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Good on ya for calling him out. That's the height of shady dealing.

 

[greco]

Same pawn shop that kicked you out before?

My congrats on calling them out also.

 

[Steadfastly]

Was just at a Pawn Shop in Town.
They had a Fender Stratocaster set @ $2999.99. Naturally I looked it over.

Sign claimed it was a 1960 Custom Shop reproduction , Modded at Factory with a Humbucker and Floyd Rose trem in it.

No Custom shop logo engraved into the Neck plate
No Made in USA markings on brand label
Small custom shop logo stamped into the BACK of the headstock that was unclear other than the V

Serial number came back as 1985-87 MIJ fender strat.

For that type of guitar it looked Correct.
Correct trem, humbucker, neck dimensions, body, etc.

When talking to the manager He Said " It's authentic, we have the original paperwork"

I told him I do not believe this is a Custom shop model.
I think it's a MIJ Fender production model only worth about 600.00 not 3K and he should get it authenticated directly from Fender, not "The guy we have come in for these things"

Wouldn't let me check the back of the neck heel, or the wiring under the pickguard to look for serial numbers and mini asian electronics

He wasn't pleased with me, asked me to leave the shop.

Did you tell him you were calling the BBB or the fraud police?

 

[marcos]

Good on you. I wish i had the balls to do that.

 

[Guest]

Call the cops! It is a fraud.

 

[NorlinNorm]

Was just at a Pawn Shop in Town.
They had a Fender Stratocaster set @ $2999.99. Naturally I looked it
I hate that crap...far too much of it going on...

Sign claimed it was a 1960 Custom Shop reproduction , Modded at Factory with a Humbucker and Floyd Rose trem in it.

No Custom shop logo engraved into the Neck plate
No Made in USA markings on brand label
Small custom shop logo stamped into the BACK of the headstock that was unclear other than the V

Serial number came back as 1985-87 MIJ fender strat.

For that type of guitar it looked Correct.
Correct trem, humbucker, neck dimensions, body, etc.

When talking to the manager He Said " It's authentic, we have the original paperwork"

I told him I do not believe this is a Custom shop model.
I think it's a MIJ Fender production model only worth about 600.00 not 3K and he should get it authenticated directly from Fender, not "The guy we have come in for these things"

Wouldn't let me check the back of the neck heel, or the wiring under the pickguard to look for serial numbers and mini asian electronics

He wasn't pleased with me, asked me to leave the shop.

 

[sulphur]

You should'a pulled a Pete Townsend and calmly walked out.

Or a Jimi, for a more dramatic effect...

 

[djmarcelca]

Same pawn shop that kicked you out before?

My congrats on calling them out also.

no different one.

I did not say it was a fake, just a production model dressed as a custom shop

 

[hedzup]

I was in one here last week, I stop in a couple times a year, everything's way over priced and mostly junk. But there was a decent looking old NJ series Mockingbird for $229. When I picked it up one of the employees comes up and asks if he can help. I asked, what happens if I take it home and there is an hidden issue , like a maxed out truss rod?
He says - well that's why the owner has me here. I have been selling guitars for 30 years and there aren't many people in town that know as much about guitars as I do. I will be able to tell if you did something to damage the guitar at home so you won't get away with any funny stuff. But I will teach you how to adjust a truss rod properly if you buy something , at no charge.

I didn't buy anything.

 

[greco]

I have been selling guitars for 30 years and there aren't many people in town that know as much about guitars as I do.

Tell him you have some property right on the side of the harbor to sell.

 

[Diablo]

Did you tell him you were calling the BBB or the fraud police?

PROMISE ME you will let you me know the next time you threaten an ethically questionable business owner with a call to the BBB.
I need more humour in my life.

 

[Steadfastly]

I have been selling guitars for 30 years and there aren't many people in town that know as much about guitars as I do.

And that's the reason he is working in a pawn shop for minimum wage instead at a music store where he could be making at least a bit more and wouldn't feel like he needs to wash his hands every ten minutes.

 

[Guest]

And that's the reason he is working in a pawn shop for minimum wage instead at a music store where he could be making at least a bit more and would feel like he needs to wash his hands every ten minutes.

What? Miss out on giving people 1/10th the value of their last possessions? To feel the hope drain from their miserable lives?

 

[Dorian2]

Yeah, I'd call the fraud cops on that guy. I've had a couple of run ins with some of the Pawn Shops in Edmonton over the past 30 years as well......but they seem really bad at this point in time. Ther's even one that sells brand new guitars at a hiked up price compared to the other reputable music shops in Edmonton. I actually called one (they always have a listing in Kijiji (hint hint haha)) and asked the lady who answered why they were selling the exact model of new guitar at more than a L&M was. She told me it's like comparing an apple from Safeway to an apple at Superstore or something.

I laughed my ass off and hung up. Yes, I just wanted to raise a ruckus...I can get bratty at times!

 

[djmarcelca]

There's a shop near the courthouse that has lots of gear, but high prices. good thing about that place is they will haggle and not hold it against you.
One in the west end will only haggle if you beat them down over like 10 mins and grinding them.

Any of the Cash Canada locations are fantastic, always had good experiences there.

I don't sell much at Pawn shops, but I do frequent them.

I can almost see their shoulders shrug when I walk in.

 

[mhammer]

1) Whether it's a pawn shop guy, an auto mechanic, your teacher, your manager/supervisor or anyone else, you will NEVER get any degree of cooperation from them if they believe they are doing an honest job at their job and you begin the conversation by essentially tell them they do not know how to do their job. Even IF one begins with the phrase "I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job, but...". Even IF they really don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. People crave their dignity and sense of competence, and challenging that right off the bat will get one nowhere fast. Indeed, I'll bet some of you reading this who applauded DJMarcelCa's actions are probably thinking right at this very moment "Who the f*** does he think he is criticizing me like that?". See what I mean?

The better strategy is to present the information that straddles the gap between what you know to be true and what the salesperson thinks is true as a source of risk to the vendor. In other words, the differences you noted are subtle enough that the vendor might be at risk of being duped by an unscrupulous client in future - someone blustering on about something and trying to squeeze a higher price for the item than is warranted.

2) Pawn shops sell a lot of different stuff, a great deal of it unrelated other than by the fact that someone inclined to find themselves in desperate situations was the original purchaser, whether it be a flashy watch, a crossbow, an overpriced Strat knockoff, power tool, or home entertainment system. Expecting the salesperson at the counter to have Gruhn/Fjelstad-like knowledge of every little niggling production detail is a bit much. They should obviously know something in order to price things reasonably appropriately, but unless they advertise otherwise, they aren't specialists. Hell, even the folks on the various pawn-shop TV shows bring in experts. A pawn shop is not a vintage music gear store.

3) Having said all of that merchants should know how to keep their cool, even IF the customer is dead wrong or embarrassingly right. I am pretty confident Marcel is not busy drumming up business for this place at the moment.

4) I've gotten some amazing things from pawn shops over the years, but my sense is that the glory days of fantastic pawn-shop finds are generally behind us now. Particularly with the availability of Kijiji/Craigslist, e-bay, and vintage shops. The odds of finding a sensibly-priced piece of music gear in a pawn shop are about as good as the odds of finding the resistor value you need in The Source.

 

[Brett Pearson]

I have a pretty good pawn shop beside where I work (very dangerous...I know) and I have bought several guitars from them over the years. They like to sell so I have never paid full asking price for anything in the store and I have gotten good deals and some great deals over the years. They are always happy to check what they have paid for an instrument and haggle with you accordingly. We don't always agree but the exchange is always cordial. I just wanted to post a positive experience that I have had.

 

[GuitarsCanada]

The glory days....... it's all over now. But I used to live in the pawn shops from Niagara to Mid Michigan and all in between. All through the 90's. Picked up some ridiculous deals and made a lot of money on resale's. It's too bad really. Was a ton of fun dropping in to check out the new gear. I don't even bother now. Most of it is way over market value

 

[Dorian2]

There's a shop near the courthouse that has lots of gear, but high prices. good thing about that place is they will haggle and not hold it against you.
One in the west end will only haggle if you beat them down over like 10 mins and grinding them.

Any of the Cash Canada locations are fantastic, always had good experiences there.

I don't sell much at Pawn shops, but I do frequent them.

I can almost see their shoulders shrug when I walk in.

I was going to mention Cash Canada....I've had very good results with them.....and they seem to be very fairly priced. Down by the Court House I know what shop you're talking about. They're one of the old ones from the old days that get in some pretty nice stuff....haven't been to Uncle Eds in a while though.