Exactly. Scrap price is fixed on a daily basis on the day Cash Converters offered me £25 it was about 12 quid a gram for 9ct gold. They would have sold it for probably 11 quid a gram which is over a 100% profit margin.
As for the shops declining to quote a price over the phone you have to wonder what they are trying to hide? They could easily quote a minimum price they would pay based on the current scrap price (allowing a profit for themselves).
As I said it pays to do a bit of research and, based on my experience, think carefully about selking gold to Cash Converters!