Highland Park Music and Pawn

Worst of the worst. I went in to look for a used camera lens. Agreed on a price with a friendly staff member who said the owner ONLY accepts cash so went across the street to the ATM. Came back and when I got my change back the money was obviously counterfeit. 100% obvious. I compared it to other money I had and it felt different, sounded different when snapped and was larger than originals by quite a bit. I told him and he started yelling saying people don’t counterfeit these bills, only hundreds. I told him I wanted new bills, he ANGRILY pulled out a counterfeit pen and it wrote different on his counterfeit bills than it did on my originals. The FBI should be notified of this place that is obviously completely fraudulent. The Eastern European owner then started throwing money my direction saying here take another so I said fine I’ll take that too then when I compared them again there were more fakes in that pile. When he realized this he got more upset and steeped much closer to me. He said get the fuck out before I kick your ass and never fucking come back here again. He flipped me off on the way out. What a joke of a person. That attitude because YOU give me counterfeit money??? Im sure he will find himself behind bars sooner than later. You’ve been warned to never venture into this excuse of a business.

This place is no good, worst of the worst people that work here!

This place is under new management! And these people are rude! Went there with a friend he had several items he wanted to pawn the guy got angry have us attitude and said he wasn’t interested in the items anymore even though my friend agreed on the amount he wanted to pay us. the previous owners were more professional and kind. It’s a shame.

I got a perfectly good laptop computer here. They have a lot of power tools also.

I can understand how pawn shops get bad reviews, no one wants to be in there, but these guys have really helped me out and quickly when i have really needed it. I feel like my jewelry is safe and the guy and lady are in there have never been rude to me in fact i think the guy is very friendly.

Has a ton of guitars. All seem rather overpriced. Service is what you expect from a Russian mob backed store front. I never understood Pawn Shops that deal in used Fossils, Timex, and Invictas. I like my Pawn Shops to carry Rolex and Omegas. I’m Pawn Shop snooty.

Yea, stay away from this place. The man, I think Ukrainian, is very unpleasant, mean and rude. He is also a crook.
I don’t mean to be mean to Ukainian’s, but really they are into big time illegal activities. As I look at his shop, a little empty of product and nobody there kinda makes me unsure if this is not a money laundering business. Not a good idea to do business with a guy like that.
Anyway, my impression only.

***BEWARE*** Bait & Switch Techniques Employed
I called by phone to find out what their terms were for giving me a loan for some 14K gold jewelry. I had already weighed it with my digital scale so I knew its value if it was sold for scrap which was at $ 21.50 per gram. The lady who answered the phone said she could loan me $ 1500 for 4 months with a repayment of $ 110 of interest. This would come out to an interest rate of 22% if you figure it out by the year. I had 82 grams in total weight for two pieces so they were loaning $ 18.29 per gram. I thought that was fair since many pawn shops seem to be charging around 34% interest give or take.
I decided to bring my jewelry to «Highland Park Music and PAWN» AKA Casas De Empeno (which is their original name).
When I arrived I was helped by a Russian/​Armenian man who appeared to be in his early 30’s. He tested my gold to make sure it was 14k and then weighed it. He said he could loan me $ 1400. I thought ok no big deal a $ 100 less than I was quoted by phone would be ok. I told him that was fine as long as the interest was $ 110 or less. He asked were I got that figure from. I told him I just called and was quoted $ 110 for a $ 1500 loan by the lady. She was the only other employee there and was able to hear everything that was said between he and I.
He looks up the fee on his chart and tells me it will cost me $ 186 in interest for a $ 1400 loan. That comes to a whopping 53% yearly interest rate. I was very mad that the lady would lie to me over the phone to get me in their so that they could try and get me to agree to the higher interest rate.
I told the man I was not going to pay that much interest. I asked why the lady told me the interest would only be $ 110 for borrowing $ 1500 and now he was changing it. He and the lady both played dumb about it. He had a very bad attitude and claimed if I didn’t like the offer I could forget the loan. When I told him to give me my jewelry back he did. As I was getting ready to leave I told him I would be making a public comment of my experience on the Internet so other potential customers would be forewarned how he operates his business. As soon as he heard that he looked like he wanted to kill me and he started yelling at me.
I feel sorry for anyone who ends up getting conned by these people.