On Feb. 22, I went to Michael & Co. Jewelers because they buy gold and silver. I had several sterling silver necklaces, bracelets and rings to sell. Having recently sold Michael, the owner, some scrap gold, I felt at the time that he would be reputable for further transactions. Boy, was I wrong! The gold purchase was to set the hook, so to speak, so that I would come back.
Michael appraised the sterling silver pieces with the aid of his jeweler and used the Internet to look up current silver pricing. Both he and the jeweler were in agreement and Michael wrote me a check for $500.00. My bank called me today, March 3rd and informed me that the check that Michael had written had been returned due to a stop payment order made by Michael apprx. 10 minutes after I had left his store!
I telephoned Michael to find out what the problem was, and he would only tell me that he had made a mistake in his appraisal calculation and my sterling silver jewelry was only worth $30.00 and that was all that he was willing to pay me for it!!! I explained to him that I had written checks against that amount deposited, and my bank was charging me with NSF fees, and that his actions had cost me a great deal of hardship and money. I have never bounced a check in my life! He could not have cared less. He told me to just come and pick up my jewelry.
So, I had to take more time from my day to travel out to Siesta Key to pick it up. When I checked my jewelry, I discovered that I had included two gold rings. Now, he's interested in the gold again! I sold the rings to him for $90.00 (not much choice here-one of the checks that I wrote and bounced was to my landlord for rent!).
This guy expressed no remorse for his abhorrant actions, or for the awful bind that he put me in. I probably shouldn't have mentioned to him when I sold him the gold that I am unemployed and really didn't want to sell my jewelry just to survive.
BTW-I took the silver to another jeweler today for appraisal and sold it for close to what Michael and I agreed upon originally. Obviously, he was just trying to push me into a corner and scam me out of my jewelry. $30.00 for $500.00 worth of sterling silver? Come on!
Here is the bottom line-this "reputable" business owner with his little Siesta Key, Fl storefront (complete with pictures of him with has-been celebrities) is nothing more than a common scam artist who doesn't have a problem with ripping people off. I feel that his actions (stopping payment on the check immediately) was a premeditated ploy to further his devious, and quite possibly criminal, business practices.
Buyers and sellers of jewelry beware! Do not do business with Michael & Co. Jewelers in the Siesta Key village of Sarasota, Fl. You are likely to be very sorry that you ever entered this store!
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