S. Silverberg & Sons Jewelers

This jewelry store has the absolute worst service I've ever experienced. My mother passed away ten years ago, and I finally go the courage to take some of her jewelry to Silverberg today, to ask for a written appraisal on a few items, both for insurance and for sale. I explained that I hadn't done this before and was hoping for a bit of hand holding and explanation of the process.
The man who helped me, Mark, took the jewelry (a 1.5 ct diamond ring, sapphire and diamond band, emerald and diamond earrings) and walked into the back room. He then came out and told me he could offer me $75 for the jewelry I brought in and asked me if I "even had an address" to put down for the jewelry. I came back in and asked for my jewelry back as I wasn't comfortable with them doing the appraisal. I would not recommend this place to anyone in a similar situation. I am absolutely disgusted. This was complete customer mistreatment. I want to make sure anyone in a situation with sensitive/sentimental pieces isn't subject to the terrible treatment I went through this morning.
Thankfully I found another jeweler in town that was very kind and helpful. Two (or ten) giant thumbs down (and a decent amount of tears shed in your parking lot) to you, Silverberg.

I went in to S. Silverberg & Sons to have some estate jewelry appraised and to see about their purchasing a wedding ring bought from them more than 10 years ago by my folks.



I spoke with Ed Silverberg. He looked at my mom's diamond ring (.77 carat in a 14c yellow gold setting with six small diamonds) and said that he'd only offer $4000 dollars for it. This shocked me since I had an appraisal from S. Silverberg & Sons from 2006, valuing it at $7000. I told him this and he countered with, "I could go no more than six then." I left the store and returned a couple of weeks later with my family's estate manager. He remembered me and our talk from the first visit. However, this time he was dismissive and rude. I showed him the S. Silverberg & Sons' appraisal document with the $7000 amount. He said that he didn't think it was worth that now (What does this say about their appraisals?) When I reminded him of our previous conversation, he remarked that I must have misunderstood. He didn't mean $4000-$6000. He meant $400!!



That's right. He was offering me $400 for a .77 carat diamond ring that he had sold my mother, and that his company had appraised for $7000. His $400 offer was .057% of the appraised value.



He also said that he might have the receipt on file. I asked him to check his file and he told me to go home and get the receipt myself. He wasn't going to look it up. His assessment of the ring was insulting. Insurance appraisals can be for twice the value, I've learned, but this doesn't explain his pennies-on-the-dollar offer!



There are only two conclusions to draw from this experience:



1) S. Silverberg & Sons ripped off my mom and overcharged her years ago, or



2) S. Silverberg & Sons was attempting to rip me off this week, April 2014.



I left thinking, what an unsavory character. The estate manager who accompanied me kept saying, "What a crook! What a fraud."

I had positive experience so I recommend them. I sold gold dental bridge for $113. I phoned and got an estimate earlier. They paid the full amount without any problem. Other jewelers offered less money; pawn shops wanted to assay with acid; my bridge was only five grams so that would have wasted a substantial amount. All they wanted to do was weigh it and promptly paid up. Did not waste my time or keep me waiting. I would gladly do business with them again.

I have not written a negative review of a business before today, but my experience was so unpleasant that I wanted to warn others. While shopping over the Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to go into Silverberg & Sons. I had never been to the store before and had no expectations. The doorman was polite and friendly, but it ended there. No one else was in the store and yet I had to wait some time before I was asked if I needed assistance. I asked several questions, but the gentleman who served me (if you can call it that) was very condescending both in what he said and in his attitude in general. He literally looked down his nose at me. I was well-dressed, too. I have travelled all over the world and have been in many fine jewelry salons, and I regret to say this is the worst experience I have had with a salesperson. Needless to say, I am shopping elsewhere. Today I went to Jared's on Oracle and received exemplary service, respect, kindness, and my repair was done expertly. I have a new jeweler, but it isn't Silverberg & Sons.