Please help me possible scam

[Bianca07]

Hi to everyone and I could sure use your help. Yesterday I went to Whitehall to upgrade because that is where the diamond I inherited came from. I was extremely stupid, but didn''t realize it till today.

They were took my diamond and gave me the trade in value. They told me they were just having this one day "sale" and had a diamond i was interested in located in one of their other stores that I could look at, but in order to get the "sale" price I had to pay for it today and then if I didn''t like it they could either bring in more or I could get a complete refund. SO like an idiot I did it-believe me I know how beyond ignornant that was. So they said I could see the diamond the next day which was today. So here I am paying for merchandise I do not even have and without my ring. IS that even legal?

Today I went to see the ring and was horrified. It had what looked to be a pit on the side. and visible black spots on the bottom. They said they would bring in more for me Monday to look at and I agreed. They also said I could get a full refund within the 30 days if I changed my mind.

By the time I got to my car I turned around and went back to them to cancel-I didn''t want any part of a business that would try to sell me a damaged diamond. I demanded my diamond back and a credit to my card. They Still tried to pressure me... then when I said I was firm they went in the back, came back and said my diamond was sent out already and I could pick it up Monday and get a full refund...BUT the other rings would be there as well and I could look at those...

I am convinced my diamond is there they just want me to come back to try to pressure me... They were pressuring me terribly. I did this on my own without my husband-(I did have his blessing) but now he is furious and says they should have never charged us and taken my diamond without giving me merchandise in return-that first they should have waited till I agreed on a diamond and then did it...

What can I do I am scared and feel very horrible about myself.. my self-esteem is so low, I have none.

Is there anyway I could go there tomorrow with my husband and demand my diamond and the transaction to be canceled. They said my diamond is in a safe 30minutes away, but I believe nothing they say...

Please help me-I''m scared they are not going to give it back to me-legally do they have to since they never gave me merchandise? I never made up my mind they just said they had to ring it up to give me the sale price which i know now was BS...
Thank you and please any advice would be appreciated-you can scold me to I deserve it.

Everyone is right about these mall stores....

 

[Jelly]

Bianca, I''m so sorry to hear about your horrible experience! I''m not sure about the legalities of your transaction. Hopefully this mess will be cleared up tomorrow and you get your ring back safe and sound!

 

[strmrdr]

Dont go inviting trouble odds are they will hand it back and try to sell you one of the diamonds they brought in.
Just say no thanks, make sure they do the credit and walk out with your ring.
Until that time there is no sence worrying yourself sick about it.

 

[Kaleigh]

On Monday, go and get your ring back and firmly state that you have changed your mind and no longer want to upgrade. Period end of story. Yeah I''m sure they will try a song and dance on you, but be FIRM. Have them credit your credit card and run.... You have learned a good lesson and will never make this mistake again. I am appauled at their tactics, that is the bottom of the barrel as far as I am concerned.

Since you are so upset, maybe going there tomorrow with your husband will put your mind at ease just to let them know your intentions of NOT upgrading with them. Good luck, it will work out.

 

[Bianca07]

Thanks you all for your support! I feel so lucky to have all of you here

I guess the main thing that is worrying me sick is I keep thinking that they will tell me I can''t get my ring back that I have to upgrade through them now.... but they never did give me a diamond in exchange..it was all contingent on what (if anything)they could find that I would approve of..

They did tell me on Monday I should bring back my receipt and they will credit my account and give me my ring back...I sure hope this is the case. I don''t know maybe I should just wait till then-I really don''t want to start trouble with them before I know what will happen Monday... Sometimes when you do that they really want to screw you over-I haven''t really argued with them yet because I feel at this point it may do more harm than good since they have what I want -my ring! If MOnday comes and they don''t have it then I will sik my husband on him or better yet him and his mother! I knew her meaness would come in handy someday!

I definately learned a lesson for sure and I also hope my baby girl doesn''t inherit my lack of common sense...I can''t believe I let them charge my credit card and take my diamond for nothing in return

.... i really need to get some sleep and relax....

 

[ladykemma]

wow

wow, call your credit card company immediately and tell them to cancel the charge. they TOOK your diamond? don't wait til monday to get your ring back. it's there in the store in a locked drawer. you do have a receipt for your ring? they are holding your diamond hostage...

holy sh&t!

i have had good expereinces in b&m stores. i am so angry/sad you ran into desperate sleazy sales practices.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Yes, calm down and wait until Monday. They will give you your ring back but pressure you to look at the new ones they have brought in. Tell them you have changed your mind about upgrading because this ring is inherited and you have decided to keep it for sentimental reasons (at least for today) . I can guarantee you, you can keep this diamond and buy yourself a whole new ring from one of these online vendors for less than the trade-in at WH and the quality will be far superior.

These people are high pressure sales for sure, but it is really unlikely they''d try to steal your current ring. They just wanted to force you to come back to look at more rings!

 

[RockDoc]

Considerations...

1. You shouldn''t stop your charge with the credit card company until you''ve attempted to try working things out with them. In many cases, in order to dispute a credit card charge, you have to have made a good faith effort in attmepting to settle things amicably with the seller.

2. I hope when you inherited the stone, you had it appraised, or you have some documentation to make sure that it is the same diamond that you left with them. If not, I am not sure how to advise you, but probably would make sense to seek out your local gemologist and appraiser and pay them to accompany you to the store. There should be some evidence describing the stone when it was sold by them, or an appraisal when you inherited it. If the previous stone was gemprinted, have it checked to make you are getting the same stone returned to you.

3. I would suggest you not purchase any stone from them without a gemological report.

4. If they''ve promised you they would have your stone returned to you on Monday, if they make any excuses, don''t argue with them. Just calmly walk out and call your local police department. It is best not to be confrontational in a mall. If you need "serious" help, they police can do that legally, and they will make a report of it.

5. To help other consumers, file a report with the BBB.

6. Get the names of the people at the store, and find out who is the District Manager for your area.

If you still have "problems" come back and ask for advice.

Hope this helps


Rockdoc

 

[XChick03]

I agree with everyone else has said. Try to be patient and not worry too much until Monday. And as far as the legal issues are concerned, I''m a law student, so I''ll try to take a stab at the legalities of it. Forgive me if I''m wrong though, but this should put your mind at ease. If I knew what you''re in, it would be easier, since all states have different laws.

"So here I am paying for merchandise I do not even have and without my ring. IS that even legal?"

Yes, that''s legal because you agreed to do it.

"They also said I could get a full refund within the 30 days if I changed my mind."

Then they are legally bound to this. If you want a refund, they have to give it to you.

Also, did you know anything about the diamond before you purchased it, like the color or clarity it was supposed to be? If they told you one thing and it turned out to be another, then they would definitely have to refund you because a sale is kind of like a contract in itself. When you agree to buy something, you have to be given exactly what you paid for. If they lied about any part of it, they have to take it back because its not what you agreed to.

 

[RockDoc]

Date: 2/5/2006 10:09:28 AM
Author: XChick03
I agree with everyone else has said. Try to be patient and not worry too much until Monday. And as far as the legal issues are concerned, I''m a law student, so I''ll try to take a stab at the legalities of it. Forgive me if I''m wrong though, but this should put your mind at ease. If I knew what you''re in, it would be easier, since all states have different laws.

''So here I am paying for merchandise I do not even have and without my ring. IS that even legal?''

Yes, that''s legal because you agreed to do it.

''They also said I could get a full refund within the 30 days if I changed my mind.''

Then they are legally bound to this. If you want a refund, they have to give it to you.

Also, did you know anything about the diamond before you purchased it, like the color or clarity it was supposed to be? If they told you one thing and it turned out to be another, then they would definitely have to refund you because a sale is kind of like a contract in itself. When you agree to buy something, you have to be given exactly what you paid for. If they lied about any part of it, they have to take it back because its not what you agreed to.

I agree that a contract was formed by virtue of the agreement, however consideration I think is a major part of any agreement in order to be binding.

So far it is sort of one sided. This of course is conditional about the specifics of what they represented. What they promised we don''t know as far as specific carat size, quality etc. I also agree that the representation of the seller has to be complied with. Hopefully the second diamond will be acceptable, and that is is checked by an expert who is independent.

But if the diamond isn''t accepted, and they have the money and the previously owned stone, even without the promise of a refund, I think the contract would be voided for there being a lack of consideration, i.e. the delivery of an acceptable diamond in exhchange for the amount paid and the value of the trade in. At the moment, it is totally one-sided.

Whitehall is also in flux, as just last week an offer to sell the stock to another company was approved. Previously, there was some "question" as to proper accounting methods.

Rockdoc

 

[Jelly]

Great suggestions, RockDoc!

 

[Bianca07]

Thanks again to all for your suggestions!

I do have 2 independent appraisals of my diamond. The diamond was my mom''s and the setting was mine-

they took the whole thing diamond and setting.

They were supposed to bring in a 2 carat si1 h quality stone for me to look at and on my receipt it shows I paid for this stone. I was very unsure about how a 2 carat in the si would look along with the cut, etc... so they said they would just charge my card now and do the transaction so Icould get the sale price and then they would bring in the diamond and if I didn''t like it they could either bring in more or the whole thing could get cancelled. Once I saw the diamond they brought in has this knick on it I didn''t want to deal with them any longer, but still wanted to be polite so I left, came back told them I couldn''t part with my diamond and wanted to cancel. This is when they said don''t worry your stone is in a safe at the appraisers and we will have it back Monday and will cancel then..but of course they were also pressuring me to think about it till Monday. Telling me I could just give my diamond back to my mom and just buy a larger loose stone from them... I started to tell them no and they said, "Don''t even answer the question now just think about it..."

I do think the best way to handle it like you guys said is calmly and if they don''t have it Monday I will take an officer with me.

I just want this nightmare to be over....

 

[Bianca07]

I should clarify on my receipt it just says I paid for a 2 carat stone it doesn''t say any specifics as to quality, etc... but the one they were bringing in was si1 H. So I paid for the 2 carat stone, but it was contingent on finding the stone that met my standards.. so now thinking about it I paid for something that I had no idea what I was going to get-I know not all Si''s are created equal so how could the price be the same for all of them? I also did tell them I needed to see the stone because I was leary about a 2 carat with a low clarity and also wanted to examine it as well for the cut, etc... they said I wasn''t bound to anything I have 30 days for full refund, but had to do the transaction so I could get the sale price- which now i see is thousands more then it should be regularly....ugghh

just wanted to clarify I know the only one to blame is myself not even them...

 

[Kaleigh]

The advice you have been given is excellent. Follow it and stay calm. Good luck tomorrow and please let us know how it goes.

 

[MiniMouse]

Date: 2/5/2006 3:52:21 PM
Author: kaleigh
The advice you have been given is excellent. Follow it and stay calm. Good luck tomorrow and please let us know how it goes.

I agree with Kaleigh. You have been given very good advice. Give the vendor a chance to return your ring to you on Monday. If they don''t, then that''s when you should take the next step. Hopefully the vendor will accept your change of heart, return your ring, refund your payment and all with a smile

 

[Bianca07]

I will update all of you tomorrow night when I get back-hopefully it will all work out, I can only pray-I am such a worry wart...

Thank you all for your help and guidance.

Rock Doc thank you soooo much for your wisdom it''s greatly appreciated.

Thanks again to all of you for your support and advice.

Will keep you posted.....

 

[blodthecat]

Hi Bianca,

Looking forward to hearing how this ends. Hopefully in your favour.

But don''t beat yourself up over this...we ALL make mistakes!

Best wishes Blod

 

[Lorelei]

I agree with Blod, we DO all make mistakes, but I am sure there is a happy ending in store for you

 

[Kaleigh]

Bianca,
I hope all went well today, and am looking forward to hearing how everything went tonight.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 2/6/2006 2:29:25 PM
Author: kaleigh
Bianca,

I hope all went well today, and am looking forward to hearing how everything went tonight.

ditto

 

[mepearl53]

Whitehall is also in flux, as just last week an offer to sell the stock to another company was approved. Previously, there was some ''question'' as to proper accounting methods.

Rockdoc

They are in very bad financial shape per the trade magazines and are closing lots of stores.

 

[Jelly]

Any news yet, Bianca? i''m anxious to hear how your visit to the jeweler went today.