Double standards

17:32 Today (28 September 2012)
Report by: Shireen Lata

The Consumer Council of Fiji is accusing a foreign company for practicing double standards when buying jewelry from locals.

Council CEO – Premila Kumar says the survey was conducted by the consumer watchdog this week.

She says Secured Gold Buyers who have been getting locals to sell their gold, silver and platinum for cash are giving different prices at different locations.

We have done a very quick survey by using a 18K gold jewelry which was of 3.4 grams. We went to Secured Gold Buyers in Suva as well as in Nadi and we used the same jewelry to get the price from our local gold stores.

What we found out that the Secured Gold Buyers offered $95 for the same jewelry in Nadi whereas they offered $130 in Suva.

The Council is now baffled with the prices offered by the company and adviced consumers not to be lured away by the company.

So what I am saying to the consumers that you must shop around and just do not get carried away just because that there is a foreign company in the country who is trying to buy foreign jewelry, at the end of the day what should matter to the consumers is the best price.

The council has received 41 complaints against goldsmiths in the last five years.