Cheque and Pawn is hardly a subtle addition to this end of the Albany Road. It's a shame that the glaring yellow and black paint job is so blatant as it tends to overshadow the much more tastefully painted Rojo.
I thank my lucky stars that I have never been forced to use a pawn shop, but I have to say, I've come close to hocking my grannies wedding ring on a number of occasions. As far as I'm aware, they take full advantage of the fact that their customers are desperate, offering very little for the items that they retain, and applying high levels of interest on the repayments. This is harsh as they are providing a secured loan, and if their clients default they immediately face stiff penalties, and ultimately lose the item that they have used as collateral. Seeing as the money that they were offered for the item in the first place was significantly lower than the market value, these kinds of loans verge on being punitive. So, which ever way they look at it, they are set to lose out vastly when taking out these arrangements. They either get clobbered by megalithic interest rates, or stand to lose a treasured item for a fraction of what it would cost to replace it, and if it has sentimental attachments... well... tough!
I guess that people must be on their knees financially before they would ever consider using a pawn brokers for a loan, and on this basis, I would imagine, that many of these people find it nigh on impossible to meet the hefty repayments.
I don't like businesses that target the poor and make them poorer. Yes, I'm sure that they have their uses... but at what cost? read more