Call Kurtis: Consignment Conflict

Consignment shops can be a great way to sell your things but let others do the work.  They take a percentage of the sale price and you get the rest, at least you're supposed to.

"This is where the furniture was," says Ida Ogden while showing us her new living room set.

She'd changed her decor and decided she'd sell the old stuff on consignment, a leather couch and two oak end tables that matched her dining room set.

She'd done business with Pruitt's Once and Again in Elk Grove before, and had good luck.

"But this time it's different."

She had the owner, Gary Pruitt, pick up the furniture last April. When a friend of hers stopped by the store in August, she noticed that Ida's pieces were gone; it appeared Gary sold them.

But by October Ida still didn't have a check for her share, 60% of the agreed-to price. She says she called Pruitt many times but never talked to him or got return calls.

So in November she paid the store a visit.

"I said I'm just here to pick up my check. And he looked at me and says have you seen the roads? I don't have your money."

She says he claimed road work kept patrons away from his store.

"But I said I got here. And he just sat there with a very smug look on his face and he says bad times I don't have your money."

That lack of business meant that he didn't have the money to pay her.

"I said you had my money when you sold my furniture. What did you do with it then?"

She said he said he could get her the money in one to four months. So she waited then made more calls.

But her patience ran out in January; she thought she'd given him enough opportunity to pay her the $570 he owed her.

"This is fraud. Not only are you taking the furniture, but you're getting the cash."

Our producer paid a visit to Pruitt's Once and Again. Before Gary Pruitt tired of our questions he admitted to us off camera he used Ida's money to pay his rent.

He refused to show us proof of the sale price but did call Ida while we waited; it was their first communication in two months.

Then in a bizarre move Gary and his brother set off the alarms to their trucks outside.

"I'm surprised he's still in business. I'm really surprised he's still in business I don't see how he gets any patrons in his shop at all."

Pruitt told Ida he'd have his lawyer draw up a payment plan but he hasn't called her. In a late twist to this story Ida says Pruitt has just served her papers to sue her claiming she left her furniture there after he asked her to pick it up; he wants storage fees totaling $1140.

Ida adamantly denies that and says she will be counter suing.

Remember that in California consignment shops have to be licensed with the Department of Consumer Affairs.

You can check their website to verify a license; you can also check the Better Business Bureau's website (as well as many other consumer oriented sites) for any complaints.

Pruitt's Once & Again has an "F" rating with the BBB, its worst rating.