Gazza-d

We've had limited success with sponsoring the neices and nethews. Two nieces were sent the college and both pulled out after two years because they wanted to work. Both started at a local factory, owned by Mitsubishi I believe where they make the electrical looms for lorries etc. One of the nieces, a stunner, left because she was being pressured, then moved to a company in Subic and left for the same reason. She then followed an aunt to Macau but couldn't find work as a maid/carer as the ladies of the house wouldn't take her on, don't trust the husbands, last I heard she was working in a casino in Angeles whilst try to go abroad again. The other niece who managed to get to a supervisor level is still as the cable factory but keeps thinking of trying Macau because she thinks she can earn more as a cleaner. A nethew we put through TESTA as a welder and is again doing manual work in Macau. The big problem is the aunt trying to persuade them to come with her. They seem to have no concept of sticking with a job to see where it goes. The grass is always greener.

Stokkevn

Talking about wildlife in/around the house. I have had about 5 or 6 huge ( 6-7" across ) Huntsman type spiders in the house in the last week. I have never noticed such a concentration before, normally I see one and then another a few weeks later. Is there a season for these or am I just being singled out.

Philosophical 11

Greetings,

A convoluted story....for what its worth.

This will be long story cut short for brevity. My comments follow at the end.

Lovely lady goes to a pawn shop to have gold jewelry evaluated for a customer but was damaged during evaluation by the gold being scraped. Hardly noticeable to me. It was spotted by another pawn shop whilst having a second evaluation. Complains to the original pawnshop who accepted responsibility and apologized but cannot offer compensation. Customer no longer wants the damaged jewelry and wants a refund of the cost which is 15,750 peso. I now have one very upset girl friend and cannot pay the 15,750 peso. I came to her rescue and sorted that problem out but now I am out of pocket and we have the damaged jewelry in our possession.

Went to the City Hall lawyer who stated we have a claim but we have to follow procedure which is report the issue to the PNP and then the Brgy Capt. Done all that and we have a meeting on Monday morning with him and the woman who damaged the jewelry.

I have made representations to the pawn shops head office but had no response. Contacted the manager who simply put the phone down on me.

To complicate matters, my lovely lady posted her experience on fb which has got into the hands of the pawnshop concerned. She posted only what happened as a warning to others. The pawnshop assistant has stated that the post has affected the business and will make a counterclaim in damages if we pursue our claim. The lawyer we initially saw has seen the fb post and states that there is no basis in her claim for damages. What was posted was factual.

My bottom line on all this is that I believe any civil action will take a long time to process and would be just happy to take the jewelry to a pawnshop and receive the 11k valuation. I doubt if the girl involved can be in any position to pay compensation for the balance of the 15,750 peso.

Comments: The Brgy Capt and my lovely ladies family dislike each other. They know he is involved in illegal land sales.

The pawnshop in question does not have a business permit. So therefore illegal.

I am told that the necklass is solid 6.5 gram 21 carat gold. But the barely discernible scratch has revealed some sort of metal underneath. I have doubts that it is solid gold ....maybe I am wrong. My lovely lady thinks I am.

When I suggested to her that we just pawn the item for 11k, her face fell. I had the impression she wants to keep the damaged jewelry. But for what purpose? But she wont...I want some of my money back. But I may be wrong on her reaction.

So that's how it hangs....will update after the hearing.

Regards

mikek1

Why not just get the scratch polished out? Putting comments on facebook can be misleading and pointless, who does she hope to impress? It seems the bottom line to this saga is that you are again being treated as a willing ATM. You need to put your foot down as I do not think for one minute that the all the 'pouts' will end.


It is worth remembering, you are a guest in a foreign land, and your L/L should be the one to sort things out, after all its her 'business'


Sorry to be so abrupt, but having read all the previous posts I can see a very familiar pattern developing.

Philosophical 11

Thanks mikek1,

The scratch cannot be polished out because its too deep. And as I have already said, its down to the silver metal or whatever it is below that. I guess it will need re-plating or whatever the repair will need to be. But the customer has seen it and rejected it. She has paid money for new jewelry not damaged repaired.

I agree about the fb comments. I see no point to it although I do sometimes have a rant about certain things.

I am sure you are right about the pouts although she has promised to curb her moods.

I have not had a request for money now for a long time. My position has been made clear on that. I volunteered to help her. She never asked for help.

Agree about its her business. However she has more confidence in me sorting out problems. I am better at that than her.

Regards

Philosophical 11

Following on...

She has suggested that the woman who damaged the jewelry pay 2 - 3k per month but I do not know what powers the brgy capt has. Even if he had the powers, if the lady has not got the money then you cannot get blood out of a stone. How enforceable is his powers?

I should mention that the woman in question went and saw the brgy capt before we did and he is sympathetic to her case re the fb issue. However, when he was told that an attorney has already stated that she has no case against my lovely lady he seemed to accept that. However, there is bad blood between him and her family. Should be interesting...

Millhouse

Stay well out of it

Pawn for 11k. 4.5k loss. That's the risk if business. Lady has to accept that if she doesn't have the money to fund the loss, bank of Pete lends but has first claim on all future profits until its repaid.

No water melon for you in the meantime.

Stokkevn

Back on line again after 4 day Brownout. If the scratch shows a base metal or even silver then the plated necklace will only be worth about 10% of it's pure gold value. By doing a quick weight/volume calc you will soon see if it is pure gold or plated.

quiltman

Welcome back . At least for the last 4 days your GF knew you were not chatting up other women on Facebook!

Stokkevn

I think you have got me mixed up with someone else. I am the good looking guy living in Capiz with no facebook account

Philosophical 11

Greetings once again,

She had the meeting with the brgy capt and the woman from the pawn shop on Monday. I was there only for moral support. My lovely lady found a lot of horror stories regarding this company on-line.

2 things emerged from this meeting and agreement was reached on both points. The company demanded a public apology from my lovely lady for her post on fb. Although her post was factual I could see no reason to apologise but the brgy capt modified the demand to a fb apology instead. She has now done this stating that she meant no harm to the reputation of the company and apologized if their reputation had been damaged. The second point that emerged was that the shop assistant agreed to pay for the damage caused. I told my lovely lady to add a thankyou to her fb post for agreeing to pay for the damage caused.

During the hearing, she was told that the pawnshop did background checks against her and I and presumably found nothing except that they thought she is working in Hong Kong which is patently wrong. I assume they checked on my visa status. They regarded the fb episode as cyber crime.



I also mentioned that the pawnshop was operating illegally because it has no business permit. Their office is for residential use only. We have checked this at the City Hall and it is unlikely that a business permit will be issued. So for good measure, my lovely lady has reported the City Hall to 8888 for allowing the pawnshop to operate without a licence.

Now for something I found strange/interesting. I mentioned that the damage to the gold necklace was hardly noticeable unless you searched for it. She has found a friend who knows someone who could repair the jewelry. Cost? About 50 peso! She wants it repaired so she can sell it for a further profit. I am not sure it will be easy to sell. But I will give her time...say two months and then come after my money.

It was valued at two difference pawn shops. One for 11k and one for 8k. So I am told. They seem to evaluate the value by weight, and hall mark. Plus the use of a magnet. But I am surprised that she reckons it will only cost 50 peso to repair the damage to an expensive piece of jewelry. Something does not seem to add up to me. But that's my mind working conspiracy theories again. Also, she has not yet made moves to have it repaired yet. Knowing her, it would have been in the hands of the repairer by now. But we shall see how this whole episode unfolds.

quiltman

I'm just old and stupid! Yes, mixed you up with springsteen. My apologies and I cannot even blame the Red Horse!

Stokkevn

If it is a good jeweler it should not take more than 10 mins to burnish the scratch edges and then polish the scratch out.

Philosophical 11

Stokkev,

As I previously mentioned, I am sure the damage went down to a silver metal so no matter what burnishing or polishing will do, it will leave the silver metal exposed. Which leaves me with suspicions on what this jewelry is made from. I could be mistaken though and will have to have a another look.

Gazza-d

What I find strange is that the pawn shop valued a 15k so highly, I wouldn't have expected more than 3-4k. Some time ago we were looking at a necklace in a jewelery shop in Manila and as you said the price is dependant on weight. Looking in the back of this lecklace were lodged several what looked like ball barings to increace the weight.