Horrible experience!!!
I brought some of my elderly mother's antique jewelry to Peter Cooke in April to find out what the pieces might be worth. I was leaving in a few days to return home to Washington State, and Peter agreed to call me directly within a week with the pricing.
We never heard from him.
I got busy with life at home and, unfortunately, forgot about it. In early July, I called Peter to follow up. He said, "Oh yes, it will take a week to get you the pricing." Strange, considering he had already had the jewelry for months, but we weren't in a hurry, so I agreed. He finally called me on July 14 with the information. The jewelry was not worth nearly as much as we had hoped, so my mother decided to keep the pieces for the time being.
A couple of weeks later, when I was back in Bryn Mawr, I went to pick up the jewelry. That's when Peter presented me with a $138 bill. He explained that the pieces had to be cleaned before they could determine the prices.
Why was I never told there would be a charge for this? Had I known in advance, I could have decided whether I wanted to proceed.
Even more troubling was the fact that I was being charged after Peter had failed to call me as promised and had kept the jewelry for months without contacting me. When I pointed this out while signing the bill, rather than addressing my concerns professionally, he became very surly and raised his voice, saying, "Well, feel free to never come back here again then!"
I was completely taken aback. I told him he could count on it.
I have never experienced such poor customer service. The lack of communication, the unexpected $138 charge, and especially the way I was treated when I questioned the bill were completely unacceptable. Needless to say, I will never return to Peter Cooke, and I would not recommend this business to others. read more