Loosegrowndiamond.com!!! What should I do? Help me!!!

[Winnyring]

I live in Thailand. I ordered a lab diamond from loosegrowndiamond.com last month. I didn’t like the diamond so I returned it(3days after receiving). I paid for shipping and insurance as Susan of LGD said.
The shipping has problem custom delay. The US custom wants the recipient sign the Self Certification Statement and fill the 5106 form, so I notify lgd by email. No any updates received from lgd. I begged them to manage it for me many times because deadline is May/13/2024

And then Susan of lgd answered me that they couldn’t do because the recipient was me!! It’s me who must sign the 5106 form.
I was shocked because FedEx notified clearly that I was the shipper and the recipient was”GROWN DIAM LLC”. I felt disappointed. Did they intentionally push the responsibility to me?

When I pointed out that, Susan answered me their team would submit the form and inform me. I wait and ask for updates until now but nothing happens
FedEx told me that lgd didn’t fill the 5106form that was sent and lgd didn’t answer their email at all.
All I had paid
-The diamond costs $4673.62
-I paid for tax/clearance/FedEX fee(when I received the diamond) $257
-Payments for FedEx shipping and insurance $216(when I returned the diamond, Susan told me that the insurance must cover $3000.)

I am very anxious because I feel lgd(loosegrowndiamond.com) doesn’t solve the problem properly. Lgd ignored me and didn’t do anything that should do.

If no instructions from recipient by deadline. Shipment will return to Thailand under my expenses. That means I must pay for shipping including tax/clearance/fee again and receive the diamond I don’t want. It’s very cruel for them to do this to me.

Please advice me what should I do. Who can help me? Lgd destroys my trust completely

 

[TheUnconsciousBeauty]

What’s the 5106form?

 

[LTCT814]

I'm sorry you're having difficulty with LGD's customer service. Can you ask to speak with a manager about the situation?

 

[Winnyring]

I'm sorry you're having difficulty with LGD's customer service. Can you ask to speak with a manager about the situation?

I contacted lgd by email only. Susan was the person I talked with . I don’t know how to speak with the manager. Susan made me angry so much because she ignored my email.

 

[Ken Naw]

I don't know what the US paperwork requirements are, but it sounds like they have made the purchase a personal import for you, as opposed to an online ecommerce putchase were the seller declares what they are shipping into the US, rather than you declaring what you're importing?

Either way the duties or necessary tax needs to be paid, but the burden of the paperwork has been offloaded to yourself.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Have you called FedEx to explain and sort this out?

Usually the seller is not responsible in any way for return shipping issues. This is my experience.

 

[Winnyring]

Susan told me that FedEx didn’t share the form with them, so I emailed the form to lgd myself.
As I thought, Susan didn’t answer my email. Seems like lgd really ignored their customer .

 

[lovedogs]

Call them and speak with a manager

 

[0515vision]

Did you fill out a 5106 when you initially received the diamond? I think I had to fill one out when I received my JannPaul stone. Other JannPaul recipients might know.

I ask bc if you didn’t have one upon receipt, it might be tangling things up for your return.

Anyone remember other JP customers?

 

[Winnyring]

I don't know what the US paperwork requirements are, but it sounds like they have made the purchase a personal import for you, as opposed to an online ecommerce putchase were the seller declares what they are shipping into the US, rather than you declaring what you're importing?

Either way the duties or necessary tax needs to be paid, but the burden of the paperwork has been offloaded to yourself.

I don’t understand either, I just bought the diamond from lgd and returned it. All I did was everything that lgd’s customer service told me.

 

[Winnyring]

Did you fill out a 5106 when you initially received the diamond? I think I had to fill one out when I received my JannPaul stone. Other JannPaul recipients might know.

I ask bc if you didn’t have one upon receipt, it might be tangling things up for your return.

Anyone remember other JP customers?

Yes, when I received the diamond from lgd , I filled the form of my country’s custom , It’s not called 5106form (but the form’s question was similar)
When I returned the diamond back, lgd told me shouldn’t send the receipt, so I didn’t send it.
All I sent to lgd were diamond and GIA report.

 

[Winnyring]

Have you called FedEx to explain and sort this out?

Usually the seller is not responsible in any way for return shipping issues. This is my experience.

I think so, I had calls FedEx . I explained everything, that I just returned the thing I had bought but they insisted the recipient needed to fill 5106form and sign the SFS.

 

[Winnyring]

I think one of the problems is …there’re many Susan in lgd’s customer service. Each Susan didn’t look into my problem. One of Susan even asked me “what’s the document?” when I asked for the update .

 

[0515vision]

So the diamond was sent from the US to Thailand? And now you're returning it to the US?

 

[dylanandtyler]

So the diamond was sent from the US to Thailand? And now you're returning it to the US?

Hi 0515vision, not to be answering for Winnyring, but my friend ordered from LGD and stone shipped from India. We live in US so it went to their NYC store, from there was shipped to her in South Carolina. I could be wrong but I think most of these online stones, unless are "in house" ship from India or China.
Experts please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[0515vision]

@dylanandtyler, I, too, first assumed the stone came from India ...
but if the stone shipped from India to Thailand and back again, why would a US Customs form be necessary? This is all very confusing, and I don't even have $5k on the line!

I have read other posts where PSers have had no trouble returning stones from the US back to LGD. But I think most people returned stones to the NYC location.

Hopefully someone on here will be able to help @Winnyring.

 

[Winnyring]

@dylanandtyler, I, too, first assumed the stone came from India ...
but if the stone shipped from India to Thailand and back again, why would a US Customs form be necessary? This is all very confusing, and I don't even have $5k on the line!

I have read other posts where PSers have had no trouble returning stones from the US back to LGD. But I think most people returned stones to the NYC location.

Hopefully someone on here will be able to help @Winnyring.

Thank you 0515vision.
I received diamond from lgd NYC, it didn’t come from India.
I don’t understand too why did US custom act like this, and with inactive of lgd’s customer service team, this becomes a mess

 

[yssie]

FedEx is acting as your customs broker for your export from Thailand to the US.

Your export from Thailand to the US is LGD’s import from Thailand to the US.

US customs is the one requiring 5106. Not FedEx. FedEx is just doing you and LGD the favour of figuring out what customs wants and letting you know.

5106 must be filed on behalf of the importer - that’s LGD. I’ve filled that thing out myself personally many times - it doesn’t matter whether something is a return, a new sale, you sending a trinket to your Aunt Jane - if value is over a couple thousand US customs wants to know who the US based recipient is.

Note that customs doesn’t care who fills the form out - you or LGD. Just that it gets filled out. It sounds like LGD isn’t receptive to working with you to get customs/Fedex the form, but perhaps they’d be quicker to share the info needed to fill it out - EIN, etc. Probably not but it’s worth asking. I’ve filled the form out and sent it to FedEx on a vendor’s behalf a couple of times… But I had a long and close relationship with that vendor. Worth asking.

Not including the receipt was a big mistake. LGD shouldn’t have requested that and you shouldn’t have complied. Unfortunately it’s often up to the customer to do their own diligence when it comes to customs and import requirements. The vendor isn’t incentivized to help you and FedEx certainly doesn’t care.

Keep calling FedEx and having them call LGD. Have FedEx email LGD and copy you on their correspondence. And get in touch with your bank (hopefully you paid by credit card?) and alert them to the situation, and let LGD know you’ve spoken with your bank… No company wants to deal with a potential chargeback. Regardless of whose fault it was - you’re going to have to do the legwork to get your money back.

This can be resolved quickly once that form goes out. CBP/DHS works closely with FedEx (obviously!) and once they have all the info they need I’ve never had processing take more than a few extra days to single-digit weeks.

 

[Winnyring]

FedEx is acting as your customs broker for your export from Thailand to the US.

Your export from Thailand to the US is LGD’s import from Thailand to the US.

US customs is the one requiring 5106. Not FedEx. FedEx is just doing you and LGD the favour of figuring out what customs wants and letting you know.

5106 must be filed on behalf of the importer - that’s LGD. I’ve filled that thing out myself personally many times - it doesn’t matter whether something is a return, a new sale, you sending a trinket to your Aunt Jane - if value is over a couple thousand US customs wants to know who the US based recipient is.

Note that customs doesn’t care who fills the form out - you or LGD. Just that it gets filled out. It sounds like LGD isn’t receptive to working with you to get customs/Fedex the form, but perhaps they’d be quicker to share the info needed to fill it out - EIN, etc. Probably not but it’s worth asking. I’ve filled the form out and sent it to FedEx on a vendor’s behalf a couple of times… But I had a long and close relationship with that vendor. Worth asking.

Not including the receipt was a big mistake. LGD shouldn’t have requested that and you shouldn’t have complied. Unfortunately it’s often up to the customer to do their own diligence when it comes to customs and import requirements. The vendor isn’t incentivized to help you and FedEx certainly doesn’t care.

Keep calling FedEx and having them call LGD. Have FedEx email LGD and copy you on their correspondence. And get in touch with your bank (hopefully you paid by credit card?) and alert them to the situation, and let LGD know you’ve spoken with your bank… No company wants to deal with a potential chargeback. Regardless of whose fault it was - you’re going to have to do the legwork to get your money back.

This can be resolved quickly once that form goes out. CBP/DHS works closely with FedEx (obviously!) and once they have all the info they need I’ve never had processing take more than a few extra days to single-digit weeks.

Thank you yssie. You’re so kind.
I want to do everything you told me but unfortunately FedEx was closed on Sunday and lgd didn’t answer anything( although I emailed to update all day).
I paid by bank transferring, not credit card. Is it even more difficult to get my money back?
FedEx will open 2 hours later. I’ll try to talk to them .

 

[yssie]

Unfortunately wire transfer doesn’t have the consumer protections that credit cards do - in future I recommend paying by credit card and forgoing the small wire transfer discount: With a wire transfer you give up your leverage to forcibly retrieve your money through a chargeback. That said, I would still alert your bank to the situation and tell LGD you’ve done so.

The upside here is that no company is going to risk tanking their reputation over $5k.

 

[Winnyring]

Unfortunately wire transfer doesn’t have the consumer protections that credit cards do - in future I recommend paying by credit card and forgoing the small wire transfer discount: With a wire transfer you give up your leverage to forcibly retrieve your money through a chargeback. That said, I would still alert your bank to the situation and tell LGD you’ve done so.

The upside here is that no company is going to risk tanking their reputation over $5k.

Thank you yssie.
Yes, as you said “The upside here is that no company is going to risk tanking their reputation over $5k”, and this is my hope as well.
I don’t want to discredit anyone. If lgd’s customer service team solves the problem properly, I shouldn’t ask for help here

 

[Winnyring]

I’m here to update.
Lgd had finished 5106form and signed the documents. Now, the shipping can go on.
I feel relieved.

 

[togal]

I’m here to update.
Lgd had finished 5106form and signed the documents. Now, the shipping can go on.
I feel relieved.

Wondering if you ended-up getting your refund. I ask because I've placed two orders with them, which I haven't received yet. I'm worried, in case I need to return something.

 

[Inked]

Wondering if you ended-up getting your refund. I ask because I've placed two orders with them, which I haven't received yet. I'm worried, in case I need to return something.

When I ordered from Loosegrown it took 4 weeks to get my one and 6 weeks to get another... they did eventually come, but they took forever compared to other labs I ordered. They did refund me for the one I didnt keep but that took a while, too. I returned it overnight on Jan 23 and they didnt refund me until Feb 7 (but they did refund me! LOL) I guess thats how they keep the prices low

 

[togal]

When I ordered from Loosegrown it took 4 weeks to get my one and 6 weeks to get another... they did eventually come, but they took forever compared to other labs I ordered. They did refund me for the one I didnt keep but that took a while, too. I returned it overnight on Jan 23 and they didnt refund me until Feb 7 (but they did refund me! LOL) I guess thats how they keep the prices low

Yep....it's their low prices, compared to the other sites, that keeps me motivated...lol...otherwise, I'd deal with a different company. Too many 'Susans' at Loosegrown...