True Tales: Not-So-Hot Property

Published

16 years ago

July 2, 2008

Strange stories from the front lines

?We buy jewelry and scrap gold off the street. Recently, two women came into the store with a couple of gold chains and a tennis bracelet (with the retail tag still attached!) to sell me. I could tell immediately that the chains were counterfeit even though they were stamped 14K. And a quick look through a loupe told me that the tennis bracelet was no good as well. I overheard a short discussion between the two women which indicated that they had purchased the items from a man on the street, and they thought they had gotten a good deal because it it was stolen merchandise. Never occurred to them that a man who told them he was a thief might also be a liar. Talk about instant karma!?

LEN O.,
IRWIN, PA

?In the summer of 2004, we raised our prices for watch batteries from $5 to $6. One customer got upset when I insisted that he pay the extra dollar. He claimed that as a ?good customer?, he shouldn’t have to ? even though all he had ever purchased from me was batteries for watches he had bought elsewhere. Finally, he stormed out of the store, blasting the door open with enough force to crack a $900 window. He hasn’t been back since.?

ALADAR S.,
CLEVELAND, OH

Looking for a Seamless Sale? Call Wilkerson

After almost 60 years in business, Breakiron Jewelers in Erie, Pennsylvania, was closing its doors. And the store’s owner, Linda Breakiron, was ready for it. She had run the store as its sole owner since the beginning of the millennium and was looking forward to a change. Of course, she called Wilkerson. Breakiron talked to other jewelers who had used Wilkerson and was satisfied with their response. “They always had positive feedback,” she recalls. With the sales, marketing and even additional inventory that Wilkerson provided, Breakiron insists she could never have accomplished her going-out-of-business sale without Wilkerson’s help. She’s now ready for the journey ahead, but looking back, she’d be sure to recommend Wilkerson. “They just made the whole process very seamless.”