Garfield Refinery screwed me BAD! Now what??????

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I was told by a friend who used to own a local Pawn Shop that Garfield Refinery was a dependable place to send your scrap gold to for converting to cash. I had already taken my gold to a local pawn shop and was told they would pay $11.00 a gram for 14 Karat gold. I called Garfield Refining Company, and they said they would pay me $16.21 per gram to individuals for 14 Karat gold AFTER their small refining fee. I was pleased to see they would pay this much. I tested my gold, weighed it, and calculated I had AT LEAST $856.00 worth of gold according to their quote, and I also sent in over 2 pounds of sterling silver (with an approximate value of $400.00). When the check arrived, it was for $302.00!!!

I immediately called, and was told it would be TWO DAYS before they could pull my information to see if there was a mistake. I was also told 'Perhaps the items you thought were gold were actually gold plated.' Again, all of this gold was tested twice by myself and the local pawn shop before sending it in! When this didn't work, they told me perhaps they could try to give me a better OFFER two days from now! I was also told 'perhaps you should have included a detailed list of what you sent us and what you had already been offered for the items...this way, we could see if our company could match or beat that quote.' **I told them I was quoted $16.21 per gram by THEIR company BEFORE sending it in!** Their 'detailed report' accompanying the check stated 'Gold--$165.00; Silver--$137.00.' No details such as weights, any non-precious metals found, etc. I asked them on the phone 'How much did my metals weigh?' They would NOT tell me! I just told them I was sending the check back to them. They still tried to get me to wait until two days later (this would have made me pass the 10 day guarantee date, and by default, I would have had no choice but to take the $302.00!)

I returned the check, and received melted blobs of what 'looks' like gold and silver. Now I have no clue what percentage of gold vs alloy I have, or what percentage of silver vs alloy! What in the world can I do with this now! Send it off to another refinery??? I DON'T THINK SO!! I would have been better off to have kept my gold and sold it locally. I am glad of one thing....that I do not belong to a company who reaps their rewards by preying on the elderly and those who desperately need any money offered to them. If that's what it takes for this company to get ahead in life, I don't see how they can sleep at night knowing that it all comes back to them in the end.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what my next move should be? I have a block of gold weighing 63 grams (mixed with alloy I'm sure) and a block of silver weighing 2 lbs 4 oz (again, maybe or maybe not pure). Who / where should I go next??
 
Oh, these guys did ask me if I was a jeweler, dentist, pawnbroker, or an individual. I guess since I answered "individual", the "screw this guy" light immediately went off in their little brains. Maybe my friend was right by referring this company to me........only because he was a pawnbroker and didn't realize they would shaft an individual so badly.
 
Sorry to hear mate if you were here in Australia i could help you. That thing is very common with refiners and people get ripped off all the time.
 
First, go file a suit in your local small claims court. Also, send them a bill for melt & assay charges (identical to the ones they charge) for what they sent you. Go online to ripoff report and put them online there also.

When they fail to pay your fees, go and get a judgement against them locally also. Just keep being a thorn is all I can suggest.

Sorry,
John
 
jamthe3 said:
First, go file a suit in your local small claims court. Also, send them a bill for melt & assay charges (identical to the ones they charge) for what they sent you. Go online to ripoff report and put them online there also.

When they fail to pay your fees, go and get a judgement against them locally also. Just keep being a thorn is all I can suggest.

Sorry,
John

Yep, you may even get more $ because they will rather pay what you deserve plus extra to avoid having to fly out and appear in court.
 
This company advertises like crazy to the trade- not enough money to do so if you are running on legit small percentages as they advertise-

No one and I mean no one who has been in the trade will send stuff to them.

Since the refining biz is non regulated its pretty much "caveat et emptor" - buyer beware.

You can try to sue them but in my opinion you will be spinning your wheels and spending more money down the drain.

The only way I see it to maybe have a case in the future would be to do a homogeneous melt and pull several pin samples and then have 2 of these samples assayed by legit companies and keeping one or two in tack for reference. All through each of these steps you need to have a reliable witness sign off along each step of what you did and how you did it so if it does go to a legal thing you have credibility. Without this it comes down to he said she said.

Been there done that dept.
 
Yeah, It's a dam shame these companies are out there. But like you said it's almost impossible to stop them. Even if you were to prove your claim, then that is just one person that they didn't get. Even if you cost them the total cost of the gold and say if you got $ 10,000 judgment against them and they paid you. Your just one they lost money on. Imagine the 1,000's that they got away with. Their making a killing. Like you said they can't be doing that kind of direct marketing on such small margins. In direct marketing you have ROI ( return on investment ) Which means for each dollar i spend on advertising i will generate X amounts of dollars in return. You start plugging big numbers into them equations and add to that mass exposure, then you glitter up a company and put a nice little marketing spin or hook as we call it on the marketing program and it works. Then sit back and hire you a good lawyer. Remember cash for gold running the ad we want something like 50 Million dollars in gold before July 4 or some crazy number like that. They probably wasn't lying. They got X amount of dollars to spend and they know that will generate x amount of profit. It say's on there web site they produce about 6,000 oz a week. http://www.cash4gold.com/newspr/television/ If that's a lie who knows. But if you take that number and at today’s price of $ 950 that's $ 5.7 Million a week @ 52 weeks that's $ 296,400,000 then take into consideration that's total overall volume cost of materials and all included. If they are clearing ( Stealing ) only 10 % ( more like 25 % + ) then they are making around $ 29,000,000 a year.

Lot of volume, Lot of money. If it was me, Sue me I don't care is what i would say. I'll just take it out the next guy, and they do. Other industries attract crooks and shysters look at politics ( power ) or finance ( our current crisis ) and you'll see greed in it's finest in one form or another. Gold multiplies these personas times ten . Like buzzards circling over prey waiting for it to die. People are in need of money right now that's where the marketing comes into play. Let us help, were your friends, Don't trust the other guy he's a crook. we have a website, were on TV. a member of the Better Bullshit Bureau ( BBB ) You can trust us, We'll use grease and be gentle. :shock: :shock: :shock:
Reminds me of someone else, but i won't call names Megan.

Blah, Blah, Blah. Dam crook every where you turn. Honest man he's struggling while the crooks dance a jig to the bank. No, wait they own that to. Makes me sick.

So what's everyone think about the Global warming. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
HERE, HERE.......that was very well put !!

Global warming sucks, I live in the desert and its 100 degrees on a regular basis.....now, Humidity's starting to show up for some unexplained reason......probably Global warming.......you left out the chemical & oil conglomerates above. Bet if it were researched we'd see lots of profits in raising the temp on the planet

Cheers,
John
 
I used Garfield back in 2002/03 for some dental scrap I had. I sent in 2 lots the first was small, I just wanted to see what my return would be like and I was happy with it. I sent in my main lot and got an excellent return. At this time the value was around $350 USD per oz. I used them again in 2008 and with the value of gold almost 3x (if I recall) what it was and I sent in a medium sized lot. My return was less then my first small sample lot. What a joke these guys are. Please don't send any material to these guys under any circumstances. I lost around est. $3000 CAD in one shipment.

Thank Jeebus I found these forums... First post :!:
 
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