Penelope's

I bought over $200 worth of jewellery. After consulting a gemologist and a jeweler, I discovered that a few of the pieces were fakes. When I confronted the owner and asked for a refund on just those pieces, he dismissed me immediately and would not even listen. He asked me for the phone numbers of the jeweler and gemologist in question, as well as certification. Obviously I did not have this. He acted like the burden of proof was on me and ignored a customer complaint. Rather than trust a customer, he completely dismissed me. The stones I was sold are definitely fakes. The gemologist looked at them under his scope and everything. THEY ARE NOT "LOW GRADE SAPPHIRE", THEY ARE IOLITE, WHICH IS NOT WHAT I PAID FOR. The owner's daughter claimed that they have a jeweler certify their pieces, and then the owner said they get their stones in bulk. Oh really, certified bulk jewelry? Sounds hard to believe. When I asked them to show me the so-called certification, they didn't. Yet I was expected to produce this to prove what I bought was fake? The daughter accused me of not understanding that these weren't gem quality sapphire. I knew that already, I was told they were low grade sapphire, but it turns out that they are not even sapphire! I WAS LIED TO. I have gone to this store for years and I will never go again. They are closing their physical location and switching to online, but I will never buy from them again, and I will make sure everyone knows not to buy from them. They are not accountable to customers and they are SCAMMERS. Once they have your money, good luck ever getting it back!

Cheeky Shopkeeper, watch out! I've been a regular customer for a few years. Unfortunately had a less than stellar experience when I bought some jewelry and upfront costs for resizing weren't disclosed. I would have appreciated transparency in matters pertinent, at $12 a ring for resizing of 2x $19 ring it was a surprise given I would have gladly paid the full balance upon initial purchase. In the future I'd suggest briefing people on this to reinforce your shop policy hidden and scrawled in minute orange highlighter in effort to offer a positive experience over all and better retain local customers.

Such unique and authentic products! And a huge variety: ponchos, blankets, scarves, candles, jewelery, and more... All very high quality. The gentleman running the store is also a pleasant and helpful person. Will definitely be coming back here in the future. A great place for gifts as well!

The store owner is friendly and is a great person! Majority of the materials are hand made from 18 countries and are affordable! However the main reason why I shop at Penelope's is because of the fine hand crafted jewelry.

Sold me fake jewelry. It was not "sterling silver" and it was not a real raw sapphire. Also bought a fake peridot, it was GLASS. Also bought fake obsidian. The owner is a shyster.

Penelope's always has an amazing assortment of hand-made authentic blankets, pillow covers, Cowichan sweaters, rugs and more. The prices are reasonable and the shop keeper is one of the friendliest guys on Commercial Drive.

Owner is very pleasant. Helped me pick out some rings and it was quite a nice experience. He even put cream on my hands Haha. Nice shop.

Lots of neat handmade stuff in this shop. Jean-Pierre is super smart, friendly and helpful. Prices are the best I've seen on Commercial for clothing.

Love this shop! Such a wonderful variety of things and the owner is super friendly and helpful. The alpaca socks are particularly lovely!

beautiful shop filled with beautiful interesting products!! One of my favourites stores in Vancouver.