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Valley man says items unaccounted for in consignment shop

Posted at 7:29 PM, Mar 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-14 22:49:17-04
Putting your stuff in consignment doesn't mean you get to leave it and go.
 
Keeping track of what is sold and what you are owed could fall on you.
 
Michael Dolezal let me know that he's been trying to get a resolution after he put hundreds of collectible train cars in consignment.
 
"You can't go over everything in one day so he was going to accept the items, look over everything and if there was a discrepancy on the list hat I gave him, he would let me know," Michael said.
 
He says the items were worth more than $7000.  And within about two years he received two checks totaling $3750. 
 
But since that time Michael says he's received nothing and says he can't get a straight answer about why.
 
"I've gone in several other times and I've asked him where my money is and he's given me the run around," Michael said.
 
Last summer, he says he wrote a letter asking for payment for the remainder of his items but says he received no response.
 
Recently, he stopped by the store again for answers.
 
"We had a verbal altercation and there were some words said and he told me--not a kind way--to get out of his store. It wasn't a very pleasant ending to this situation," Michael said.
 
He was getting nowhere. so he let me know.
 
In an email An Affair with Trains owner Bob Kocher tells me the situation has been "an ongoing battle."  And that he "will not endure any more name calling, threats and screaming obscenities." from Michael.
 
He didn't address where the items are but agreed to "prepare a current statement based on actual sales and the consignment fees stated in the contract" by mid-April.
 
There is a lot Michael says he would do differently next time.
 
" I probably should have taken pictures.  I probably shouldn't have given him as much as I did," he said.
 
Both are good ideas. Along with writing out make, models and serial numbers of any items you are selling.
 
Also, make sure the contract spells out exactly what will happen once a sale occurs and how much each items will sell for so there can be no confusion.
 
Need my help?
 
Call volunteers with the Assistance League of Phoenix at 855-323-1515, email me at Joe@abc15.com or contact me on Facebook or Twitter.