ComplaintsforGarfield Refining Co.

• Initial Complaint

  03/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  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

  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

  12/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  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

  12/28/2022

  The case has been resolved. 

  Customer response

  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

  11/17/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  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

  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 response

  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

  05/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  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

  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. 

• Initial Complaint

  02/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This has been a disaster from the word go. We gave our gold to Garfield refinery and their Rep, Jerry,gave us a gram weight. I had spent hours pounding out the teeth and material from the gold. I had also weighed it. Garfield has been less than forthright about producing any thing but the assay report which is vague at best. I repeatedly asked for the gram weight and what their breakdown was. They would not answer. I asked for the gram weight and was told by Bob the Vice president, That it had been filed and he'd have to retrieve it. Filed? in this day and age? everything is computer aided and with the touch of a button all the info is there. Bob stated that snow was coming and he might not be at work. I also asked at what price it was paid at. I've never received any answer to that question. Bob never called me back. I had to e-mail him again and then he stated that the 10 day grace period was over. Very convenient i'd say. His email stated that they received 1213 grams of material. I have yet to see any report indicating that actual figure. I do not trust what he said. Anyone can type a number in an e-mail. That is almost 300 grams less than their Rep and what I had weighed out. Bob stated that their Rep did not have the correct weight. Really? Their Rep who has worked for them for 8 years cannot properly weigh the gold and does not have the appropriate scales to do so? This is a red flag after a red flag situation. According to Garfield Refinery, the metals i gave them, there is over half that is non-payable? I think they should be investigated, throughly. They have a perfect set up to say anything they want and it is very difficult to prove otherwise. Their own message touts a new 5,000 square foot state of the art building making it difficult to believe that their computer systems are antiquated. When any company or person fails to give the information requested, they are most likely hiding something. Please investigate this company.

  Customer response

  03/21/2022

  I was contacted by their CCO. He asked me what had transpired. I explained. I have yet to received the official gram weight. How much was paid per ounce ect.

  Business response

  05/17/2022

  We are sorry that *** ****’s expectations have not been met, but we’ve spoken to *** **** on several occasions about the issues raised in her complaint.  Moreover, we are a bit confused by her complaint, because our understanding is that the dental material at issue actually belonged to her former employer, a dentist.  We’ve had several conversations with the dentist, have provided him with relevant reports, and are under the impression that he does not share *** ****’s point of view.  To the extent *** **** continues to have questions, we’d be happy to schedule another call to discuss provided that both she and her former employer participate together.

• Initial Complaint

  10/12/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On the 22nd of September, 2021, Garfield Refining Company, located at *** **** ****** ****** in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received from me for purchase a mixed lot of precious metals consisting 372 grams of sterling silver, 7 grams of marked and tested ten karat gold in the form of an empty, "cleaned," watch case weighing 4 grams, and 4 children's rings which had been smelted together as a preemptive measure against being lost in transit, which weighed 3 grams, and a watch case marked "*** ****. Platinum" weighing just over 6 grams which had been tested using a ***** *** Precious Metal Analyzer as being 6.1% Ir, 92.9% Pt, 0.5% Ru, and 0 3% Rh. Garfield grossly undervalued both the weights and purity of all metals I sent them. They also claim that the platinum was not alloyed with any other metals, which is impossible. My "account executive," Bob, made no attempt to return any correspondence for 4 full days, then referred me to Taylor, who refused to show me their assay results.

  Business response

  10/25/2021

  The marking on a watch case, without a stamped indication of the percentage of metal content may indicate that it is plated. A plated piece of jewelry will give an incorrect reading on that instrument because it only takes a reading on the surface of the piece and not the underlying metal content which could be silver. The platinum coating would be put on it to prevent the silver from tarnishing from contact with skin.
  
  Garfield Refining made many attempts to get in touch with **** with very little success. **** was provided the full assay results of his materials. Garfield Refining made a good faith offer to return *** ************’s material. The response to that offer was filled with profanity and abusive language. There is nothing further we can do for him at this point.

  Customer response

  10/29/2021

  [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:
  
  Regards,
  
  I am rejecting their answer because it is absolutely false, and I'm sure that the current owners of the ******* & ******* brand would not appreciate Garfield Refining accusing the ******* & ******* watch company of defrauding their customers and breaking federal law. Mr. Bob being the Vice President of a precious metal refiner should be well-aware that in order for a piece of jewelry to be stamped with the full word, "PLATINUM," that piece of jewelry, according to federal law, must contain at least 75% pure platinum, with the alloy composition being made completely, 100%, of platinum group metals, and the item stamped as "PLATINUM" must be preceeded by a stamp indicating the predominant secondary metal in that allow. By the watch case that I sent them and included photographs of in my original complaint, being stamped "IRID. PLATINUM," by federal law that item is guaranteed to contain at least 75% platinum with the remaining 25% made up of other platinum group metals such as iridium, ruthenium, rhodium, osmium, and/or palladium, which with "IRID." stamped before the word "PLATINUM," showing that of those other PGM metals making up the alloy, iridium being the dominant one behind platinum. Again, Mr. Bob should be well-aware of this law given his profession, and his attempt of pretending that he doesn't further proves the dishonesty. Also, he made reference of the ***** *** precious metal analyzer that was used to test the watch case is actually the leading brand of analyzer that specialize in detecting "plated" metals, and hold numerous patents in this area. The ***** *** being the most advanced in this area. The test results also proved exactly what federal law required of the jewelry bearing the stamps that it did. There is NO denying that I was not paid for all of metals that he received. Also again, there was 6+ grams of PGMs sent to him. He has claimed that number was around half. He also did not even pay me at the correct percentages of those falsely quoted weights he claimed, but instead paid more than 25% less to me. I have merely asked that I be paid what I should've been paid. I've also asked to just see their assay results showing which metals they detected, yet was denied. This goes against the "transparency" in their payouts that they advertise. Also, Mr. Bob has not made even a fraction of the attempts to reach me as I have him. It was 4 days of emails, voice messages at his desks, and verbal messagss left with assistants at Garfield Refining instructing him to reach me as it was an urgent issue. Again, it was 4 days before he sent me a short email asking that I call and speak to one of his subordinates. While Mr. Bob has attempted to discredit me by referring to the way I talk in a way that would leave the BBB to assume I was irate and threatening when I spoke to his subordinate, I'd like to point out that this subordinate even made a comment himself to me along the lines of how restrained I was given the circumstances. Federal Law dictated what I sent Garfield Refining. For Mr. Bob or any other employee of that refinery to state otherwise would be akin to them accusing another company of purposely violating that law and defrauding their customers.

*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. ↩