L. Leppe Appliances

Revdex.com, and whomever it might also concern.
In regards to the complaint filed with the Revdex.com by **
 
 
Complaint:
Leppe Appliances picked up a washer, dryer, and stove from myself. They were to pick up the appliances, then contact ourselves in regards to the ammount of price they would buy...

them from us for, 25 dollars being the minimum amount for each. After two weeks, no contact was made. We went to the business, they told us that they had no idea who we were and that what ever we brought in didn't work. When asked how they could tell us that they didn't work when they didn't know who we were. No response from them and refusal to pay anything back.
 
Desired Settlement:
Refund
I would like the fair retail price for the appliances, the stove was in the store for 135, the dryer and washer were not, estimate 300 for both of them.
 
 
Aside from some ambiguity from the poor sentence structure making some of this complaint unclear to me, I will respond to each part of it as best as I am able.
 
The complainant asked us to pick up some appliances. We do a free retrieval service for units in the surrounding areas. When my employee (Richard) arrived, and loaded the units the complainant was told that they now wanted money. Richard told them that we generally pay between $5 and $25 an appliance, that he didn't have any money on him, and that the complainant should come by the store tomorrow to pick up some money. This is our policy in this situation, it is what Richard habitually says. He specifically did not say that we would call them but that they would need to come to the store for payment. Also it should be noted that the complainant did not mention wanting money when they first made contact. Also It should be noted that I haven't paid more than $25/appliance in a couple of years. You can read my public policy on this on one of my craigslist ads:
http://oregoncoast.craigslist.org/ppd/5649958799.html
Ask about our trade-in policy.$5-$25 for most standard large appliancesNot working - no problem - standard rates apply.*For Standard rates Fridges must have all of their internal pieces in good condition
 
You may note that that policy is for trade-ins. We also use it for customer drop-offs. For pickups we generally decrease the price to offset the hassle. How we apply this policy is simple. If we suspect the unit is worthless (or in this situation know it is) then we pay the minimum of $5, which is more than the unit is worth in scrap metal, meaning I lose money on it, and they receive more than its market value. If it's a low end machine that we suspect that we can fix then (or in this case know we can) then we give $10, or $15 dollars. If it is a nice looking unit and seems fixable then we give $25.
 
At no time was the complainant told that he would be starting at $25 per appliance. The opposite is true. When the complainant came to the store several weeks later (I'm not sure exactly) he immediately started acting like a bully, and is fact the first customer I've had raise their voice in 3 ½ years of business. Richard recognized them and confirmed picking up 3 appliances (contrary to complainants claim that: “they told us that they had no idea who we were”) It was very difficult to talk to the complainant as he had a habit of aggressively demanding something and then talking over you when you responded. He actually said “[redacted] you” and flipped his middle finger before leaving. I did not know which machines they were talking about at first, but they claimed to recognize a low end stove that took several hours to clean and described the washer. I recognized the washer from the description given. I had only taken in one or two washers like that in the past 6 months and remembered it and the dryer that came in with it. The washer did not run properly. It made a scraping sound when spinning or agitating and spun only with difficulty. The unit was effectively worthless. I do not remember what was wrong with the dryer, only that to was in too bad of shape to be worth fixing. When they did not come by the store for a couple of weeks we treated the units as abandoned (as per policy) and sent the useless units off when the scrap guy came by. I offered to give them $10 for the stove and $5 each for the scrap appliances, for a total of $20. Complainant said that if I didn't give them $60 they would sue me and implied that they would try to hurt my reputation. Complainant also mentioned that he has the model and serial numbers of the washer and dryer. If that is true, and based on the number of flat out lies in this complaint I doubt it; but if it is, I have a record of every machine I sold that had still had its model and serial number plate attached. If he were to come into the store with them I could do a simple search and tell immediately if they had been fixed and sold. If my memory is incorrect in this matter, and those machines were in fact not scrap then I would be willing to give him $20 each for them (stove still only $10). I have over 1,500 model/serial numbers on file, If his machine wasn't scrapped I'll have it on file. And of course, despite his rude behavior, and aggression attitude he could come by at any time and pick up a check for $20. He is not welcome to conduct any future business with us however, neither sales nor service.
 
His desired settlement statement,
No used goods business can pay “fair retail price” for their goods or they will be out of business within a week. There are expenses to operating a business. Beyond that “Fair retail price” for scrap metal value of the washer and dryer is likely less than $5 at current prices ($20/ton). Finally, at the time of the pickup they were moving out and stated that they had to be out that day, implying that they would have to abandon them.
The offer of $20 still stands, otherwise he's welcome to pick up that stove (if its still here) and pay for it's pickup, testing and cleaning.
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Lewis L[redacted]
Leppe Appliances
[email protected]
541-961-8765