Community Gold & Jewelry Buyers of Western PA (CGB) — Local services in New Kensington

I was in the market to sell some gold/ jewelry and started doing research on places in my local area. This was the only place that had an all 5-star rating from every customer; everywhere else was either mixed reviews or disappointed. I started looking more into Community Gold Buyers on their website and was impressed by their certifications and policies, so I decided to make the trip to their store.

LOCATION Okay first off, their location is open and transparent. It's located in a nice shopping mall, which says a lot about them already (because some gold selling shops can be in shady places and look even shadier). The store was very well kept, bright, and clean, and I was greeted immediately by the store owner himself. I felt safe doing business here, which is important to me, especially as a girl. I can walk in the mall by myself and leave just the way I came without ever looking over my shoulder. It's a nice environment.

STAFF So this is a family own business and Jeremy, the store owner, was very professional, friendly, and made me feel comfortable right away. No bad vibes at all; just your down to earth kind of guy. He also saw to my transaction, and it took about 15- 20 minutes. He took his time and carefully gave every item its full attention and respect.

TECHNOLOGY Forgive me for not knowing the proper names of the technology used, but I'll do my best to describe them: All of the tools he used for weighing/ evaluating my jewelry was up- to- date and accurate (they have certifications to ensure they are), which made me feel confident in his honesty too. Obviously there was a scale for weighing, a huge, circular light up magnifying glass to read stamp numbers and what- not on jewelry (i.e. 925 stamps, etc), and what I think was a thermal reader to access how pure metals are. There was also the old school scratching block used to determine if metals are real too.

EVALUATION I felt Jeremy's evaluation was fair and honest, and I actually got more for my jewelry than I originally anticipated. Especially for the junk/ broken pieces that were worthless otherwise. I also sold two jewelry sets that he offered to resell rather than have it melted down, and he gave me a generous prices for them. Was not expecting that--it was a nice surprise!

CONCLUSION Five out of Five stars! I was very impressed with the customer service, evaluation, and overall business. Definitely recommend coming here over anywhere else in...

I took some jewelry here months ago a few of the items I had were marked PT900, Jeremy priced them out as white gold. Well he tried to do the same thing to my mother the other day, only difference is she knew what her ring was and what it was worth. I didn't know some of what I inherited was platinum! Not only did Jeremy not disclose that but he only gave me the $$ for what a little more that 4 grams would have been in white gold. Or 18k. I literally went from trusting them with all of my inherited jewelry to pure anger!!!! How do you even justify that?! If he doesn't know what platinum is then he shouldn't be working here! I love the conversation both son and father seem pretty knowledgeable in many aspects but you specialize in jewelry and can't even tell difference in white gold and platinum?

UPDATE: After just speaking with Jeremy I decided if I was wrong I would have been willing to take down this review! Instead Jeremy argued with me telling me he doesn't care if I was defending my mother! My whole thing is if you don't know what platinum is to begin with you shouldn't be in the jewelry line of work. If I was his father I would've been embarrassed as well. Not only about the ignorance in fine metals but the way he just handled our phone call made me look at him in a different manner. Jeremy is definitely not as professional as I...

This place never questions anything. My jewelry was stolen...I have receipts for my ex going about 15-20 seperate times. One week in particular he went 3 times to get cash for my stuff. They only care about money...never questioning the amount turned in whatsoever, nor taking note that it doesn't seem like the person is turning in items of their own. They could have alerted the cops that something seems off.

And NO I don't want to hear "we run a business" what do you expect etc" if it was you, a relative, your mother you would feel exactly how I feel. This was a total of 5 months of him coming to you guys. You could've shown you are a "family run business" and care. You did not.

I will never forget coming in...seeing items on your screen like my high school class ring, things my parents got me as a teenager...literally balling my eyes out. While you sat there whistling/humming Jeremy. If I could've sued your store I would have...cause that is what you deserve.

I also love your statement of "oh we started turning him away" Really. I checked...he went to no other store than the new ken location. I'm not sure you ever...