A pawn shop can be a quick way to get some extra dollars, but a Bristol woman found out firsthand the risk that can come along with it hocking your valuables.
In a crunch for cash, Susan Peters pawned a diamond ring last August, along with an extra diamond band she had added to the center of it, and two pair of gold earrings. She said CT Pawn in Bristol gave her $90 bucks for the bling that she said originally cost about $2,000.
“I really wanted that extra amount for my kids when we went on vacation,” said Peters.
Peters said all was well while she was making the payments on the loan from CT Pawn, but things took a surprising turn for the worse, when she went to get her ring back in December.
“He said it’s gone just like that. It’s not in the store,” said Peters.
Not only was the ring gone, Peters said CT Pawn also lost the receipt they had given her a copy of. However, they did have one important thing.
“They had a picture on their computer of the items,” said Peters.
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Not sure what to do next, she said she called police, but they wouldn’t take a report.
While there is regulation that specifically addresses a pawn shop stealing your item, we couldn’t find anything that specifically addresses loss.
Local and state police regulate pawn shops, and both told us losing an item isn’t a crime. Police also said a person would have to take the pawn shop to court if they don’t make it right.
Lora Rae Anderson with the Department of Consumer Protection suggests you read the paperwork from the pawn shop carefully. It’s a contract. If you have something valuable, make sure the contract addresses items lost by the pawn shop.
“If something is lost or stolen you know is it going to get paid for?” said Anderson. “Is it going to get replaced?”
Peters’ contract with CT Pawn didn’t state what they would do if they lose her ring.
“If something is very valuable to you don’t pawn it for a low amount of money, don’t hand it over,” said Anderson.
“It was something I probably shouldn’t have pawned,” Peters explained.
She said CT Pawn offered to replace her ring with one from their jewelry selection, but she didn’t like that idea.
“I was not comfortable picking out a ring from the case,” said Peters. “There is no sentimental value, I didn’t know a monetary value.”
Peters still has the original jewelry box the ring came, she used it to look up the ring online. It’s currently selling for about $1100. She will have to replace the extra diamond center piece that she had gotten for it separately, which she said cost $500.
That’s a lot of cash, but Peters said she kept up her end of the deal, now she just hopes CT Pawn will keep up theirs.
We contacted a manager at CT Pawn, he told Troubleshooters they are going to try to replace the ring with an exact match.
