I would think twice before doing business with Mr. Gordon. I met him in his office for a…read moreconsultation about a diamond ring for his possible brokerage in a trade liquidation. He examined the piece and gave me an estimated range of what he thought the trade amount would be. He explained his commission and I agreed to the price range. Because the ring would be sold to a 3rd party buyer, I asked if Scott provided any type of accounting receipt for the final sale of the ring. He stated he never reveals the buyers information; he keeps that private. I suggested he could redact the buyers information and still provide an accounting of the final sales price, so that I would have peace of mind knowing I received my fair percentage of the sale (otherwise, how would I know what it was sold for? It could easily be sold for more than I was verbally told and I would never know). Scott agreed to the plan of redacting the buyers information and providing proof of sale. Oddly, during our consultation, Scott said that he typically does not like to do business with younger individuals as they "often do not know what they want" especially if they are going through a divorce. He guessed my age to be in the 40's, and paused with raised eyebrows, as if it were a question and me being a little taken back said, "yes, I am 43." He asked questions about my readiness to sell the ring, did I have "permission to sell the ring" (permission from who I don't know), and kept saying I would probably not be happy about the value information he was about to provide me about my ring, even though I agreed to pay $75 by the half hour for his "expert opinion" on the piece. I wondered to myself if he was stalling and creating more conversation to get paid for the full half hour, and his demeanor seemed surprised when I agreed to trade liquidate the ring at the price he came up with, almost as if he expected me to not like the amount and pay my $75 and leave...(I wonder how many times this happens with other clients?) I assured him that I had been married for 23 years and I am ready to sell my ring, that the ring was mine, that I had purchased it myself, and I explained that I had been to therapy for quite some time about my divorce, and I am not reacting out of emotion. He agreed that therapy was a good thing, and said he had gone many times, and had worked through trauma from being fired by his Mom after a fight with his brother from the family business (you may have heard of Samuel Gordon Jewelers). He drew up a receipt and took a picture of my ring to send to me by email as proof, and I left my ring in his possession for him to find a buyer.
The next day Scott called out of the blue asking for me to come pick up my ring, as he did not have a "good feeling" about being asked to provide a proof of sale. I apologized if I had offended him or made him uncomfortable with my question about his brokerage process, and that if he didn't want to provide any proof of sale, he could have just said so, and could have allowed me the opportunity to decide if I wanted to do business without the proof of sale or not. He cut me off, saying we both have the right to decide whether or not we want to do business, and that maybe he was "crazy" but he didn't like the feeling of being questioned about his business and he thought it best for me to come get the ring, never offering for me to continue with the trade liquidation without the sales receipt. When I returned to pick up my ring, I politely informed him how disappointed I was that he had cancelled the deal due to a "feeling," and that I was concerned that he mentioned not wanting to work with younger people and questioned my age. He became very defensive and pointed and very sternly said I was mistaken, and that he never asked my age and that he said in his experience younger people, especially in their twenties, often do not know yet what they want from life and as we get older we do, and then said, I simply guessed your age to be mid 40's. He kept called me by the wrong name as he explained this, and when I attempted to correct him on my name, he said he was sorry, but when he feels attacked or threatened, he gets confused. I have the entire conversation recorded. There was ZERO attack happening, he simply did not want to hear anything I had to say and I was asked to leave. I have a theory, that he does not want to provide proof of sale because he is trade selling at a higher rate and paying a lesser commission to the client, pocketing the rest. I wonder if he doesn't like dealing with younger people, because we ask for proof of sale? Whereas an elderly, more vulnerable person, may not consider to ask for sales or accounting proof. His lack of transparency in the basic sales/purchase price of the jewelry is a huge red flag! That is NOT good brokerage business practice. I would seek a more reputable/ethical broker.
