Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/14/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Send a bright yellow 0.2 Oz troy gold crown for sale. After "refining" Garfield told me that the contents were .026 Oz t of gold; .003 Oz t of silver; .006 Oz t of palladium. So 17% precious metal and 83% JUNK. Less than 8 karat. Then they offered to send back the 17% metal.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/28/2023

  Dental crowns are made up of an alloy of metals which consist of gold, silver, palladium, platinum, and other non-precious metals. In order to determine their precious metal composition, they must be melted and tested. Our team reviewed the contents of the crown with the customer in detail. Our team even offered our 24kt guarantee which allows customers to request the return of their materials in a processed form which the customer declined and agreed to receive a check for the valued amount. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/28/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: See attachment.
  

  I spoke with a jeweler who saw the crown before I sent it. Her opinion is that the crown was at least 16kt. It was bright gold in color and very heavy for its size.  It weighted 0.2 oz troy.  16 kt is approx. 66.7% gold therefore the gold content should have been approximately 0.1334 oz. troy of pure gold. (The business claimed that there was 0.028 oz. troy)
  They basically said that the crown was junk (less than 8kt.)
  They cheated me and left me with no recourse.
  

  Regards,
  
  *******************

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/29/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I sent this refiner over 2,000 grams of sterling silver and 5grams of 10kt gold. They gave me nothing for the gold, said there wasn't any in the box. That's a lie. Got just over half what I should have got for the silver. My total spot price value at time of shipping was just over $1,400.00. They stated they pay 80% of spot, at 80% my payout should have been approximately $1,200.00. I got or am getting $740. Their excuse was, the silver content didn't assay out to expectations. A convenient lie. The bulk of the sterling I sent was from a ****** Sterling silver flatware set. It was not a plated set, it was stamped ****** Sterling, and I know ****** to be reputable. I wish I had come here first to read the experience of others. I would not have considered doing with them.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/31/2023

  Garfield received 68.33 troy ounces of material from ****. 19.82 ounces of base metal was recovered from the silver plated serving knives and waste in the handles. **** was paid exactly what was quoted when he originally contacted Garfield on March 21st. We assayed 48.43 ounces of silver at 90% pure. The material that was stated as karat, was stamped 10kt but was in fact silver and it was melted with the silver flatware set.
  
  Garfield offers a 24kt guarantee which assures our customer’s satisfaction and if for any reason, other than market conditions, the customer chooses not to accept our offer, we will return the material in its processed form within 10 days of receiving the assay report. **** has declined our offer.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/01/2022

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On Tuesday 11/22/22 I sent an order to Garfield Refining. This was at least the third time I had sent orders to them for refining, always including gold jewelry, and never had an issue before. As stated on the order form, my 11/22/22 order contained gold and silver jewelry, marked and unmarked silver rounds and bars, and silver and brass gaming tokens. It was received by Garfield, processed, and they emailed me a valuation report on 11/30/22. The report did NOT note the gold jewelry I had included, which was at least 4 18k bracelets weighing in excess of 35 grams, and all hallmarked. I contacted Garfield about this on the same day (11/30/22) and was repeatedly told that this was gold plating or vermeil on base metal, not solid gold, and therefore of no value. Even though I noted on the order that it was gold jewelry, and therefore was expecting it to be treated as gold, nobody from Garfield contacted me to tell me it was only plated or vermeil, before melting it down and scrapping it. They call it yellow jewelry when referring to it. It was in fact 18k solid gold, purchased from multiple reputable sources, and I believe it has been mishandled by Garfield.I am seeking the scrap value of the gold jewelry I sent to Garfield:Scrap value of the gold (at least):35 g * .75 (18k) * $57.95 (12/1/22 gold, g) = $1521.19

  Business Response

  Date: 12/28/2022

  The case has been resolved. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/03/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:

  Garfield Refining and I came to a mutually acceptable solution several weeks ago regarding my complaint ID ********. I tried to withdraw the BBB complaint but was unable to do so from the website. This correspondence serves as an acknowledgement to Garfield Refining and BBB that I have accepted Garfield's solution and no longer have a complaint against them. I also withdraw my review of Garfield Refining on the BBB website.
  
  
  Regards,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/17/2022

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I had a gold cap removed by my dentist 11/7/2022 and they recommended that I mail it to Garfield Refining. To get a new gold cap was going to cost me an extra $200 so I figured my old gold cap, put on in 2002, should be worth about a $100 since I understand there was probably a mark-up over cost. But to my amazement, I only received $13.29 from them. This was after they told me that Gold was selling at $1,744.75 per fine oz. I would have liked some more information regarding my gold cap from them to understand why I only received $13.29, such as what was the medal breakdown. How much did the gold cap weight and what percentage was gold vs. other medals? I find it hard to believe that my gold cap, that I had to pay extra for back in 2002, was only worth $13.29. My recommendation is to take your gold caps to other vendors first to get an estimate prior to deciding if you wish to mail it to Garfield Refining. I felt I got taken.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/21/2022

  Dental crowns are made up of an alloy of metals which consist of gold, silver, palladium, and other non-precious metals. In order to determine their precious metal composition, they must be melted and tested. Your crown weighed 1.5 grams before processing. After processing, we were able to recover 0.0077 fine ounces of gold, 0.0043 fine ounces of silver, and 0.0003 fine ounces of palladium. All of these metals were valued on the days spot prices and charged Garfield’s 5% refining charge to give you a total valuation of $13.29.
  
  Furthermore, Garfield offers a 24kt guarantee which allows customers to request the return of their materials in its processed form within a 10 day period.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/03/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  Although, I wish they would have provided this explanation with my check. Now finding out the weight and metals included in my crown I have a better understanding of the breakdown and the reason behind why the check was so small. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/05/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I sent in 10 ounces of gold jewelry and 3 crowns. Result was only one ounce of gold. Im sure some of the chains, etc maybe were not 14 carat gold. The earrings were 14 carat gold. I had wedding rings in there that were more than one ounce and other fine jewelry. I was wanting my 2 half carat diamonds back but mysteriously they disappeared. They tried to tell me they were fake diamonds. No they were REAL! I had a jeweler verify the diamonds 5 years ago. They were from my Grandmothera wedding set. I feel ripped off. Just the rings alone were more than 1 ounce. Maybe people just dont speak up. I was assured that this was a reputable business from my dentist. I lost a lot of money here. This company needs to be investigated.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/14/2022

  Garfield's Associate Director of Account Management has already addressed ******* concerns about her valuation and diamonds. ***** elected to not move forward with our 24kt guarantee which allows customers to request the return of their materials within a 10 day period.