DiamondsfromNY or H. Chandra Diamonds fraud!

[20thanniversaryfraud]

My husband purchased diamond earrings for our 20th Anniversary (because he is sweet like that!). Unfortunately he bought them from H. Chandra Diamonds or the47thdiamond on Ebay. He bought them in advance, and therefore wasn't able to return them within the 5 days that the listing required. He was admittedly too trusting, and didn't do enough research on this scammer. The earrings were delivered with certificates stating that they were each 2 ct F in color and VS1. They also came with an appraisal saying that they were worth $80,000.

When I took them to get them appraised independently to put them on our Homeowners insurance, I was advised that they did not match the certificates, and were in fact H in color and SI3-I1 in Clarity, and were appraised at $14,000 (and I know he was just being kind). I looked at them with the loop, and they are severely included.

It is clear that the47thdiamond / H. Chandra Diamonds is practicing fraud. We are exploring our recourse against this scammer, but I want to post anywhere and everywhere in the meantime. If I can stop one other person from being taken, then I will consider that a good thing!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Oh no!!! I am so very sorry!!!! We appreciate the warning and hope you can recover your money! It is so sad when this happens. I wish everyone would find PS before buying jewelry, because we can usually help people avoid scam sellers.

 

[Lookinagain]

Is it too late to file some kind of claim with Ebay? I don't know their policies but just because a scammer says it is a 5 day return policy, I thought Ebay had their own policies about items not as described. Have you checked into that?

 

[Queenie60]

Did you pay with paypal? Paypal also has buyer protection as well as your credit card company. I hope you can recover your funds. Good luck to you.

 

[LLJsmom]

Horrible!! I hope that eBay can help you return something! That is straight up fraud! If I may ask, how much did he pay for them?

 

[missy]

Ebay gives you longer to open up a case than the seller's stated return policy if the item was not as described. Which in this case it was obviously not as described. I am sorry this happened to you and your dh but please open a case right now with ebay and if you paid with Am Ex even better. Good luck and I hope you get your money back!

 

[MarionC]

It is a clear case of fraud. I hope it is resolved easily, but if not you still have legal recourse.
I'm glad that you found PS - good that you warned everyone here and go0d that you will have support as you figure this out.
All the best!

 

[Tekate]

I guess this person is still in business, ebay should kick him off.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-harish-chandra-defrauds-customers.181245/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-harish-chandra-defrauds-customers.181245/[/URL]

 

[Arcadian]

wow....

So how did you guys pay for this? Paypal? Do a dispute for sure. Make sure you document the stones being sent back (receipts, tracking numbers, pictures, etc)

My paypal is backed up by a cc. If you don't get any satisfaction from PP or ebay, you may from your CC and that would be the next step. Disputes with PP is 45 days. With your CC its even longer. Ebay may be 45 days but I can't remember anymore, but don't go by what the seller is telling you, they can say pretty much anything.

Do make sure you're the squeaky wheel in this to get your money back.

Hoping it all works in your favor.

 

[Andelain]

Didn't paypal just extend the dispute time to 6 months?

 

[WinkHPD]

Thank you for bringing this to the attention of the forum.

As an Internet vendor it is very important to me that scamsters not be allowed to prosper.

In fact, many bricks and mortar vendors try to say that this is what always happens to Internet buyers as a scare tactic to prevent people from buying on the internet.

As you can see from the instant outpouring of helpful ideas this community is dedicated to helping people to find the best possible values in their diamonds, and also helping find solutions when things go wrong.

We will all be watching with interest to see how things go, so please know that we would love to get your continued progress reports and perhaps you will consider joining us on a longer term basis once you have this crisis resolved.

Of one thing I have no doubts, that to sell the diamond you pictured as a VS1 is an egregious misrepresentation and should not be allowed to be successful.

Wink

 

[Arcadian]

Didn't paypal just extend the dispute time to 6 months?

I had to go and check paypal. Here's what they have now.

13.5 Dispute Resolution. If you are unable to resolve a problem directly with a Seller, you can go to the Resolution Center and follow this process:

Open a Dispute. Open a Dispute within 180 Days of the date you made the payment (or the date of the transaction if using Pay After Delivery) for the item you would like to dispute to negotiate with the Seller for resolution of the Dispute. We will place a hold on all funds related to the transaction in the Seller's Account until the Dispute is resolved or closed.

Escalate the Dispute to a Claim. If you and the Seller are unable to come to an agreement, you can escalate the Dispute to a Claim within 20 Days after opening the Dispute.

You must wait at least 7 Days from the date of payment to escalate a Dispute for an Item Not Received (INR), unless the Dispute is for the equivalent of $2,500 U.S. Dollars or more (or currency equivalent). If you do not escalate the Dispute to a Claim within 20 Days, PayPal will close the Dispute.

Respond to PayPal’s requests for information in a timely manner. During the Claim process, PayPal may require you to provide documentation to support your position. You may be asked to provide receipts, third party evaluations, police reports, or anything else that PayPal specifies.

Comply with PayPal’s shipping requests in a timely manner. For Significantly Not as Described (SNAD) Claims, PayPal may require you, at your expense, to ship the item back to the Seller, PayPal, or a third party and to provide proof of delivery.

For transactions that total less than $750, proof of delivery is confirmation that can be viewed online and includes the delivery address showing at least city/state or zip, delivery date, and the URL to the shipping company’s website if you've selected “Other” in the shipping drop down menu. For transactions that total $750 or more, you must get signature confirmation of delivery.

Claim Resolution Process. Once a Dispute has been escalated to a Claim, PayPal will make a final decision in favor of the buyer or the Seller. You may be asked to provide receipts, third party evaluations, police reports, or anything else that PayPal specifies. PayPal retains full discretion to make a final decision in favor of the buyer or the Seller based on any criteria PayPal deems appropriate. In the event that PayPal makes a final decision in favor of the buyer or Seller, each party must comply with PayPal’s decision. PayPal will generally require the buyer to ship an item that the buyer claims is SNAD back to the Seller (at the buyer’s expense), and PayPal will generally require a Seller to accept the item back and refund the buyer the full purchase price plus original shipping costs. In the event a Seller loses a Claim, the Seller will not receive a refund on his or her PayPal fees associated with the transaction. If you lose a SNAD Claim because the item you sold is counterfeit, you will be required to provide a full refund to the buyer and you may not receive the item back (it will be destroyed).

source: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full#13

180 days = roughly 6 months.

 

[SCARLETTE]

As a long time buyer on eBay (15+ years), I am pretty informed about eBay's buyer protection program. eBay tends to favor the buyer in disputes such as these types, which are called SNAD (significantly not as described). Don't be fooled by the seller's arbitrary return policy of 5 days or whatever number of days they choose. For SNADs, you have almost 6 months to file your complaint. If you purchased the item through eBay, you can file a dispute with them and provide your independent appraiser's opinion, written on his official stationary stating clearly that what was advertised was not what you received. If you paid for it through PayPal with a credit card, this provides you with an extra layer of protection. You can also dispute with PayPal (however, eBay tends to move faster to a decision and usually does not require a lot of documentation). But you can only choose to dispute with eBay (recommended) or PayPal - but not both. As a last resort, if eBay/PayPal does not live up to their buyer protection, you can always dispute with your credit card company. I am assuming you/your husband spent a chunk of change on this diamond - don't let H. Chandra just take your money and do this to someone else. You have a lot of protection as a buyer on eBay. Don't delay filing your dispute.

 

[cluelessupgrade]

Wow! This is really outrageous. It looks like you're not the first person to tell a story like this on PS regarding this individual:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-harish-chandra-defrauds-customers.181245/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-harish-chandra-defrauds-customers.181245/[/URL]

It just surprises me that they are still doing business, and under the same name!

I'm so very sorry. I hope you don't delay in filing your claims. I would notify E-bay, Paypal AND my credit card, but it sounds like there are posters here more familiar with E-bay who say you should first file with E-bay. I hope this is resolved in your favor.

 

[Confection10]

OP, make Paypal dispute right NOW. It's faster than Ebay. You can't open dispute in both. If paypal won't solve Your issue, go Your credit company. There is possibility that Paypal closes Your account after that, but that's another story.

 

[Andelain]

It doesn't look like the OP is coming back.

 

[AdaBeta27]

If they are taking legal action, they would have been advised to write nothing more on public forums.

 

[makeable]

Read the feedback on the47thdiamond on ebay (11 negative and 21 neutral in 12 months). The feedback alone should have been sufficient reason not to purchase from them. I'm very sorry this happened to you but as always it's buyer beware. I hope the seller refunded your money.

 

[yssie]

I'm sorry to read this

I completely, utterly fail to understand how anyone can possibly purchase something for thousands of dollars without doing even a bare minimum of research beforehand. Even a cursory check of this vendor would have thrown up enough flags to make anyone run.

I hope OP is successful in bringing legal action against this seller - he's an insult to the industry and shouldn't be permitted to remain in business. And I hope other newbies see this thread and take the warning to do their homework before buying diamonds!

 

[FancyIntense]

Definitely a PAYPAL misrepresented item claim!

 

[cinnamonstick]

Oh my! Sorry to read.

I sell on Ebay. A 5 day return means nada squat. You can have a 0 return policy and still people are legally allowed to return the items to you on eBay. It is almost silly to say no return or 5 day return because ultimately that's not the truth because eBay will let you return items regardless as long as there is a problem with the item.

Open a "case" on Ebay and choose one of the reasons why you want to return the diamond. There will be several choices while you were starting the return process. Simply say the item is not as listed or fraud it's fake or whateveR. You will be able to return it.


As a seller on ebay I know that eBay always protect the person who purchases the item. IThey will "make" them refund your money. Just be sure you buy insurance and tracking when you ship it back. Definitely signature confirmation also! All of this. You will need to prove that the item has been received on the sellers end. I not sure what happens if he refuses to sign for the item but I think that's going to be a problem as a seller on his end with eBay. If my memory serves me right, I also believe he will have to pay for the return shipping of the diamond.

PayPal will also protect you. Once I bought some jeweley items on the Internet and they never arrived. Turned out it was a fake web page and PAYPAL reimburse my money.

I think you going to be just fine other than some inconvenience and anger. Please update us

 

[cinnamonstick]

As a long time buyer on eBay (15+ years), I am pretty informed about eBay's buyer protection program. eBay tends to favor the buyer in disputes such as these types, which are called SNAD (significantly not as described). Don't be fooled by the seller's arbitrary return policy of 5 days or whatever number of days they choose. For SNADs, you have almost 6 months to file your complaint. If you purchased the item through eBay, you can file a dispute with them and provide your independent appraiser's opinion, written on his official stationary stating clearly that what was advertised was not what you received. If you paid for it through PayPal with a credit card, this provides you with an extra layer of protection. You can also dispute with PayPal (however, eBay tends to move faster to a decision and usually does not require a lot of documentation). But you can only choose to dispute with eBay (recommended) or PayPal - but not both. As a last resort, if eBay/PayPal does not live up to their buyer protection, you can always dispute with your credit card company. I am assuming you/your husband spent a chunk of change on this diamond - don't let H. Chandra just take your money and do this to someone else. You have a lot of protection as a buyer on eBay. Don't delay filing your dispute.

Ditto all. eBay always protects the buyer.

 

[jordyonbass]

I not sure what happens if he refuses to sign for the item but I think that's going to be a problem as a seller on his end with eBay. us

If the seller refuses to sign for the item then he doesn't get it back and the tracking data is then updated as returned to sender due to refusal to sign by receiver. Ebay should still be ruling on the side of the customer in that scenario, if the vendor refuses to take the return of the item then that's his loss. It would then be regarded as a non-inventory return and the buyer will still be refunded.