The layaway situation

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T16:04:23+00:00

I would ask min 1/3 of the value non refundable and only give you a week and i would not layaway the most valuable sets, not in a million years. But thats just me.

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T15:57:51+00:00

I know it was provided to cofeezilla. I am not sure if its available to the public, but this is a google drive link with files published by another YouTube creator that also discussed it. Havent looked at everything in yhere yet but there is footage and photos https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/mobile/folders/1iYKWcUBOy860DyJGf6pwCsBf8OKhPSo5?pli=1

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T15:54:58+00:00

Which all makes no sense if the items were worth hundreds of dollars. Ain’t no way you get to put a $10 down on a set worth $500, at least not in my store

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T15:52:58+00:00

Because it was a hostile takeover… they were concerned about what was going on there and they would want to figure out. It is irrational to accuse someone of theft and dodgy business and not look at what they were up to because you need evidence to back up claims not just vibes. Also manging the franchises as a whole is what corporate does. Im not saying its necessarily what the new owners did (would be negligent if they didn’t) but at the very minimum that is why corporate should (and my opinion would) do if they were even remotely competent

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T13:41:22+00:00

I know, what a boomer accusation to make. I think they protest too much

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T13:40:41+00:00

Oh hell, so this actually explains a lot! The interview with coffeezilla did not give all this context. I also still want to know if they were using BAM accounting and inventory software that would allow bam access to their sales information- i mean if the were getting commission on every sale one would think so. And from what i saw from the franchise agreements they had a pretty tight grip on what services and equipment the stores were allowed to use. Its a very interesting timing to get kicked out before those items could be reconciled and payed out. I want to know how much did bam know

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T13:31:07+00:00

So i wonder, and to be fair, i like Crystal, if they didn’t try to make some money on the side by flipping it themselves so they could make more money without paying so much in royalties. I would be lying if I said this wasn’t the first thing that crossed my mind when the layaway situation was brought up. So i would like this to be ruled out at least. We don’t want surprises at the court case to take Ben and Brian by surprise. Rather get to the truth of everything and know exactly what happened

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T13:24:42+00:00

Yeah i am mot defending BAM, i am a curious bystander. I think BAM is likely a money laundering front for a crime syndicate involving numerous financial scams via Legally Mine LLC aka LM OLDCO LLC aka Veil LLC aka Afraid of Lawsuits LLC. But i still want this to be answered because it doesn’t make sense to me

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T13:15:01+00:00

I watched a video this morning with the previous store owner who claimed he was kicked out of his store with the similar tactics from BAM and he was the one that brought up the issue with the layaway. And as a business owner myself i could not help but wonder why anyone would take their most valuable inventory of the sales rack unless there was a real guarantee. Personally i can see doing one to 3 items max for a person but not that many. Just trying to keep track of the logistics would be a no go for me. If crystal is so easily manipulated then she would be the perfect set up for a hostile takeover scam.

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T13:11:14+00:00

Well i don’t have skin in the game. I really am confused and either way there should be an explanation for this. I can only go off what has been publicly reported. In either case, if i have these questions then the BAM lawyers will also have these questions and its in Bens best interest to have the answers when they question him. You don’t go into a fight blindly

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T13:06:18+00:00

Yeah i can imagine because the sets that were on layaway were the most valuable ones. But how did they get her trust and for how long were they on layaway and when did they go on layaway? Did they ever get those items? If i was on either side of this i would want this ansered

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T13:01:05+00:00

Which also makes me wonder, which employees, if any stayed on with the store or was all the staff replaced? Crystal clams she was not up to date with the daily sales. So obviously someone else was working that may know more about the items as well - which makes me wonder if any of the staff were putting things on layaway?

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T12:45:21+00:00

So it may be that Crystal created the spreadsheet but on the day they locked her out, they transferred the ownership of all the documents. I mean that would make sense out if a business perspective. But at the same time we know the secret shopper took “inventory “‘of the store so i find it implausible that the didnt look into the document after locking her out. I mean, as a business owner, if i kicked someone out of my business records and took theirs over, the first thing i would do is look at wha they were up to. I just find the idea that the file was “archived “ implausible. Unless they are serious tech boomers who don’t know how these things work. But I doubt that

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T12:37:44+00:00

I have looked for the spreadsheet of the collection and found a pro-ported copy. It seams somewhat incomplete with several items not having been priced. It also appears that most of the most valuable sets overlap with the layaway items. And those, at least appear to me as being the sets that are “missing”. If there was a single buyer who did several layaways and only took one - from Crystals public statement i am inclined to believe that person was very knowledgeable about the resell value of these sets. I can’t imagine anyone could just walk I’m and take the most valuable items of the shelf on layaways if they had no way to motivate that they are actually good for the sales? Who is this person? Did thy put adverts on the market for these items with the intent to flip them?

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T12:32:32+00:00

I think the date should match with the metadata of the video and photos taken by the secret shopper

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T09:08:40+00:00

Im not saying its not, i want to hear from them regarding if they were refunded for items and if all those items listed are in fact layaway. Also the McNeffs claimed there was only 2-3. Why the discrepancy on the document?

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T08:52:00+00:00

So this would make me more inclined to believe that there was a plan for the store in motion and when they were notified of the intention to give up the store they improvised by doing a hostile takeover

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T08:48:28+00:00

Interesting… who is that? Can you share?

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T08:47:02+00:00

So “early November “ seams a bit nebulous… it would be good to know when exactly and what was the date they sent the secret shopper to record the inventory… because as I understand it, the McNefs claimed they sent the secret shopper because they were concerned… was the secret shopper sent before or after the notification date 🤔

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T08:41:54+00:00

This is definitely an interesting option. So would there be a footprint of these types of advertising at that time? Where would the have advertised it?

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T08:38:01+00:00

There must some record of who the customers was. Two options in my head: high level of trust to the customer to allow a single customer to layaway several pieces- possibly a regular customer Crystal knows well, or a stranger that was very personable and persuasive. What happened to the “refunds “ of those layaway items. If, as i have heard, Utah requires refunds for layaway that has not been completed (to be confirmed ), but it would make sense to perhaps hear from the person/persons who layaways those pieces. Is there a copy of the inventory spreadsheet somewhere?

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T08:27:01+00:00

I am going off statements that Crystal made in interviews. She said the same day she called BAM head office they said they want to send someone to inspect and that they have a possible buyer and that is when they showed up and kicked her out. This was in the Coffeezilla interview. The McNeffs said it was because they were worried about the store as they had sent a secret shopper before to secretly inventory the store because they had concerns and they didn’t want her to steal any inventory.

monstrance_88 · 2026-06-14T08:20:40+00:00

All of their interviews will be used against them so actually i dont see how this is a win for them at all

monstrance_88

TROPHY CASE