Unwanted Gold Pop Up shops - Warning! Did you know?

Duckylol

Did you know those sell your gold jewellry pop up shops will test your gold for free and tell you if its 9ct or even 18ct? Maybe you didnt know that they use Acid from a dropper like an eye dropper size and a metal file in order to test it? That if its white gold and they test it to see if its not silver that the gold will be damaged as a result? The silver is ruined. They file a small hole on your gold and drop Acid onto it, if its yellow gold you will have a small hole, an indent where the metal file sawed into it and the Acid doesnt tarnish but if its white gold or silver your jewellry can be ruined for good. My white gold sapphire and diamond ring is now damaged on a quarter of its entire surface from Acid being dropped on it today in one of these places. I brought it into a fine jewellers after to ask them could it be repaired/fixed and they were horrified at the butchery of sawing a hole and pouring Acid on fine jewellry and wrecking it, they had never heard of such a thing. There were no signs in the place that white gold can be damaged to such an extent, no signs of any kind on the walls to warn about the Acid, the lady didnt mention it was Acid she was dropping onto the ring and it dripped all down the side and all four sides of a quarter of the entire ring is now seriously damaged. I can get it dipped in gold to repair it at a cost of 40 euro I was quoted. Beware consumers.

Cabaal

paragraphs would be nice,
Other then general warnings how is this a consumer issue. Are you making a complaint?

Duckylol

Did you just respond to be a wise ass? What a pathetic way to gain satisfaction!
It is a consumer issue as these unwanted gold pop up shops are spread throughout the country and are being used en masse by the population. That same population are bringing in their gold to be valued and the method of valuation can and will damage their valuables permanently with no warning or comeback whatsoever. It happened to me today and so I speak from experience.

Jarren

Did you complain OP? if so with what result?

Duckylol

I dont know how to complain or where to go!

The girl in the place said sorry, she didnt warn me that it was Acid or that the Acid would turn white gold a brownish colour permanently. She knew it would/could do that but not a word from her and no signs up to warn.

I can contact the company and ask them to pay the 40 euro it will take to get the Sapphire and diamond white gold ring dipped to repair the damage which I have done by email and will follow up by post, I can report the incident to the consumer affairs people. What else can I do? I will contact the small claims people tomorrow and failing that a solicitor through the citizens advice.

Other than the above options I am at a loss.If you can advise please do so, I cant be the only one this has and will happen to, these shops are everywhere, Limerick has 3 I believe.

Jarren

Those folks are very helpful http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Working_With_You/Submit_a_Consumer_Complaint/
Good Luck

Duckylol

Thanks a million, thats very kind of you! I will look into that

the groutch

more significant is that they rip people off by offering about 20% of spot price

dudara

Let's stick to the topic here. The fact that these gold buyers are bad value has been dealt with here in the past.

dudara

ThisRegard

You keep saying they're unwanted but yet you went in and used one ? Makes no sense.

Cabaal

ThisRegard wrote: »

You keep saying they're unwanted but yet you went in and used one ? Makes no sense.

I'm also confused by this also, if you didn't like the stores and believed they were a scourge of Ireland then why use them?

I'm also curious if the OP agreed to any specific T&C's in respect of the gold they got tested by the gold shops. Also if the OP has actually lodged a complaint against them or are they just warning people on the internet instead of doing so.

jor el

Before you got them test your gold, did you ask them what this test involved? If I was selling anything, and the prospective buyer asked if they could test it, then I'd be damn sure to ask exactly what kind of test they would run.

If you agreed to let them test your gold, and this is the method that's normally used to test it, then I'm not sure that you'd have a lot of ground to go on. Your first point of contact would be the shop management. If you haven't done that, then going to the small claims court is premature and a waste of your time and money. Even contacting the NCA would be a bit premature, as it's still possible the that shop will correct their mistake by repairing your item, but it appears that you haven't asked yet.

Fey!

jor el wrote: »

Before you got them test your gold, did you ask them what this test involved?

The general public shouldn't be expected to know that an assay test would leave a mark on the metal. They should be told by the person administering the test.

Unfortunately I've seen situations where people have brought in jewellery to sell, the person in the booth has tested it and offered them very low money, the seller then decides that the money is too low, but they now have to go and pay to get the metal repolished or replated, which they then find costs them more than they were offered for the piece in the first place. This was on a piece that was properly hallmarked and had an assay office mark (gaurantee of metal quality).

I had a customer who brought a Victorian sovereign (7.9 grams of 22kt gold) to one of these stalls, who then did a scratch test across the face of the coin. They offered the guy €90; at the time I would have paid him twice that for it as a sovereign (which would have been the realistic value for the coin), but they had completely destoyed the coin and therefore the devalued it.

What makes it worse is that the acid test are no longer necessary; there are electronic kits available which very rarely leave any kind of mark.


@the grouch; is that 20% of spot price, or 20% off spot price? There's a huge difference (60%!)

The guys work as agents; they sell the gold on to the refineries. What they pay below spot is their margin out of which they pay their costs and make their profits; how else do they pay for full page ads in the paper every week, which is what makes them so popular to sell to!

keithclancy

jor el wrote: »

Before you got them test your gold, did you ask them what this test involved? If I was selling anything, and the prospective buyer asked if they could test it, then I'd be damn sure to ask exactly what kind of test they would run.

If you agreed to let them test your gold, and this is the method that's normally used to test it, then I'm not sure that you'd have a lot of ground to go on. Your first point of contact would be the shop management. If you haven't done that, then going to the small claims court is premature and a waste of your time and money. Even contacting the NCA would be a bit premature, as it's still possible the that shop will correct their mistake by repairing your item, but it appears that you haven't asked yet.

I would agree with your statement IF and only if the person offering this service had the customer sign a disclaimer.

I.E. you bring your car in for an NCT they get you to sign a form saying the Timing Belt should be in adequate condition for the test.

If the test is destructive the customer should be informed in advance.

drunkmonkey

Are these stores PawnBrokers in the traditional sense or just pop up shops looking for cheap gold.
I'm presuming there's only a handful of legal shops in the country who are pretty heavily regulated.

bown 1

Thet should have given the price based on what they assumed it was made of, Then if you agreeded, do the test.... They just chopp it up later anyway.

Fey!

bown 1 wrote: »

Thet should have given the price based on what they assumed it was made of, Then if you agreeded, do the test.... They just chopp it up later anyway.

It can't work like that, either. By just looking at a piece, how would you know whether it's 22kt, 18kt, 14kt, 9kt, or plated? Similarly platinum, white gold, silver or plate.

Hallmarks and convention marks are there to help, but a lot of older pieces don't have marks.

Also, the acids won't stain all pieces, just some.

Personally I think that a warning to the customer that the piece may end up marked should suffice. Let them give the customer an idea of what they would expect to realise if it comes out at either 18kt or 9kt, and let the customer make the decision based on that. At least they'd then know what the least amount of money they would get would be.

patnor1011

Fey! wrote: »

What makes it worse is that the acid test are no longer necessary; there are electronic kits available which very rarely leave any kind of mark.

Electronic testers are not good and never replace trained eye and acid test. Not to mention that electronic testers can test only surface (item may be plated only).