Do companies just start ignoring you?

[Shijitake]

Before I ordered a pear pad at GemFix they answered my questions. Then I returned it and asked about another pad (through email), and they haven't answered. I asked again and still no answer. It's been about two weeks now.

Same with Roger Dery, they first answered my questions and then stopped and still haven't answered.

Has this happened to you? Do you still buy from them?

 

[2Neezers]

I think some sellers/people aren’t the best at replying to emails. Of the two you have mentioned, I have had great communication with Gemfix and spotty communication with Roger in the past. I was communicating with DK for example, and haven’t heard back in weeks, so moved on.
Would I still buy from a seller that ignored me? If there was something I had to have, that only they had, I would continue to pester them to complete the purchase, lol. If not, I would move on to another seller, but wouldn’t take the lack of response personally.

 

[digdeep]

Yes, vendors have relationships with each other so if you burn one, there's the chance that info will be shared with other vendors. Not saying that's the case here.............but it has happened. I thought you kept a Pad sapphire?

 

[Shijitake]

I just think it's bad business practice. I think responses should always be made and promptly. NSC may not be popular here but Michael Arnstein answered all my emails at least within 3 days.

I kept the pad but I am thinking of taking a look at GF's. Then I can determine if I want to return the other one and keep my fingers crossed that GF's will still be there when I have the money. Also I am looking for a blue one.

I don't think that's right for vendors to do that. Everyone's got specifics on what they want and their company may not have it. Just because I don't buy from one doesn't mean I won't buy from them ever :/ Or if I "burn" them in some way doesn't mean I'll burn the other *shrug*

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

We can buy from whoever we like, just like vendors can sell to whoever they like.

Everyone has their own way of doing business but if a vendor is popular it is understandable that they can pick and chose the types of clients they like to deal with.

My gardener regularly kicks clients off his list every year if he doesn't like them because whilst he needs business, he doesn't need THAT much business. He doesn't need every client. hehe fortunately I am a fav even though my lawn is atrocious and he nags at me every time we meet!

 

[digdeep]

I typed up a response and then saw mellowyellowgirl's answer............which is spot on!

 

[MollyMalone]

I kept the pad but I am thinking of taking a look at GF's. Then I can determine if I want to return the other one and keep my fingers crossed that GF's will still be there when I have the money. Also I am looking for a blue one.

Didn't you need to get the Pad back to NSC by the 20th?

by Shijitake » Sep 15, 2018 I really like the one I bought but ... Another part of me says the color is great and the off-center culet is not so bad, I just have to keep it at the right angle. I still have five days on the return window so I'm still shopping around.

I 'm also confused by you first saying you're thinking of taking a look at a GF Pad, but then add you hope it will still be available when you have the money. Unless you're planning a trip out to California to see GF stones in person, you'll need to pay the purchase price in order for it to be shipped to you for viewing.

 

[Jbows]

Never had an issue with either. I only purchased 1 from Gemfix and returned but they were prompt, pleasant, and understanding when I wanted to return. Roger worked with me 2 days before he left to Africa so I could view both gems I wanted. When the bank thought his charge was fraudulent and locked my card, I got it sorted and called him to apologize and he was legitimately the nicest person on the phone.
I would be surprised that vendors would not respond quickly this time of year with Christmas coming and all. It’s hard to tell you why when only you know what was in your emails... maybe you were unsure and they both didn’t think you were truly serious?

 

[cmd2014]

Could be a cost/benefit thing. How many questions are you asking/how much time are you eating up vs. how often are you buying and how much you are spending. If you’re eating up their time and it’s not ending in a sale (or much of a sale) for them, I could see deprioritizing getting back to you.

 

[Shijitake]

Molly, Yes but Michael extended the return window because I'm coming to meet him to look at more of his inventory. I can use my credit card to buy the pad and return it within the return period. That way even if I get charged I'd get a refund before I'd have to pay the bill. That pad has a high price, wouldn't they be glad someone's interested in it? If they were the ones who sent it to GIA, then it's been sitting in their inventory for at least 2 years (GIA date was in 2016 iirc).

Jbows, they were prompt when I had to return a pear pad. I told them it was too light for my skin. But my question was how saturated their 8k pad is, so maybe they think I'm not serious, but I didn't want to have to buy and return if the larger one is also too light for my skin.

cmd, it was one question to GF. I'm interested in one of their blues as well so I'm not trying to waste their time. As for RD, I was asking about two stones, but both were heated, and they showed me 3 that were unheated. I wasn't really interested in them though because I wasn't into their color and asked if they ever stock unheated ones in the same color as the heated. It's not really an over the top question imo. It's signed by Laura Dery, not Roger so I don't know if that has anything to do with it. It's only 1-3 emails. NSC has been back and forth with me for more than a week now.

 

[chrono]

You’re comparing a full sized corporation to a single (or at most two) person operation. The lapidary does the cutting, customer service, photography and everything by himself. I’d give them a bit more leeway.

 

[Shijitake]

It's not really a big deal, just wondering why they weren't answering. GF is a bit frustrating though because I wanted more info on the pad so I could decide whether to return the one from NSC or not and I don't have a lot of time to decide on that. They don't give extra pictures either :/

 

[2Neezers]

I know it can be frustrating to feel like you are being ignored, but there is always a chance your email went to spam or got lost somewhere out there in internet space. I would try sending another email to Gemfix and Roger if you are truly interested. In all fairness to Roger, I follow him on IG and it looks like he and his family do a lot of gem related traveling, and he also just launched a non-profit called Gem Legacy which could be taking them away from emails.

 

[Anne111]

I imagine that companies operating with very slim profit margins, will have to limit the time they spend on a sale.
Same goes for somebody who has a high return risk. With low margins, companies must minimize return cost. It is often recommended to 'see as many stones as you can' which is of course true but for online business a high return level can mean bankruptcy, so they might blacklist people.
If somebody wants to see dozens of gems in person he/she will have to go to a gem show or a big city (which will again cost).

 

[chatoyancy]

Is NSC the Natural Sapphire Company? I thought they were in huge legal trouble.

I personally would only return a stone if it has been misreprented, but I don’t typically buy expensive stones. I can see if a client habitually returns items that a vendor may not want to deal with them in the future. I have sent vendor questions in the past, but only a couple at a time. As long as you aren’t bombarding them, I think they should get back to you in a reasonable time frame.

 

[Shijitake]

Anne, how do they lose money on returns? Just curious. I only returned one item and only asked about their 8k pad's color saturation. I'm pretty serious about buying it if I can.

chatoyancy, yes I bought from NSC because they had a sapphire that fit my criteria. Putting that legal trouble aside since at least their sapphires are real. I was asking them about their pad's color to save us both the return. It was only my second question (first one was how was the color saturation on a different pad. I'm looking for one that doesn't disappear in my skin. I didn't think that sounded like I was wasting their time).

Also Gary from Finewater answered all my questions and we went back and forth at least 6 times.

 

[Jbows]

Anne, how do they lose money on returns? Just curious. I only returned one item and only asked about their 8k pad's color saturation. I'm pretty serious about buying it if I can.

chatoyancy, yes I bought from NSC because they had a sapphire that fit my criteria. Putting that legal trouble aside since at least their sapphires are real. I was asking them about their pad's color to save us both the return. It was only my second question (first one was how was the color saturation on a different pad. I'm looking for one that doesn't disappear in my skin. I didn't think that sounded like I was wasting their time).

Also Gary from Finewater answered all my questions and we went back and forth at least 6 times.

So the plot thickens. I received an email from Roger who knows I’m active on PS asking about the etiquette of PS and PS’er expectations on communication as, based on your thread here, someone had contacted him regarding this post via IG. You did hear back from Rachel, promptly, according to Roger. You should have updated this thread to include that info as vendors rely on their reputations.

Here are the exchanges, acc to Roger, copied from email from last Tuesday:
Email string between Shijitake and Roger Dery Gem Design

Shijitake wrote 1:35pm Friday/21st

Rachel Dery responded Friday/21st


Shijitake wrote 7:53pm Friday/21st

Rachel Dery responded, and included a short video Friday/21st

(at this time, we were also performing an in-store sales event in the Bay Area)


Shijitake wrote on Sunday evening 8:00pm 23rd

Rachel Dery responded Sunday evening 8:28pm 23rd

We were attending a dinner with other gemologist friends at the time.


Rachel Dery followed up with another email as we had not heard back yet from Shijitake, on Wednesday 23rd at 11:54am – to note: we were at this time performing a 14 hour sales event inside a retail store in Washington State.


Shijitake responded on Wednesday the 23rd at 8:28pm

There has not been any further communications.

I don’t know... you’ve posted a lot about a variety of stones and haven’t given posters here the full story, if we assume Roger has no reason to reach out just to lie. I don’t like it. To be clear, I’m not accusing you, just wanting to make sure posters have all the info because this doesn’t feel right, especially since a vendor is getting negative feedback on another platform based off the info you provided here.

 

[minousbijoux]

FWIW, the Derys have impeccable, utterly responsive, timely and courteous communication - and that was pre-Rachel. I can only imagine how efficient their team is now! Just to be clear, given the seemingly flip-flopping nature of the OP, it never crossed my mind that the Dery’s were at fault. Or saying it in a positive way, I had total faith in the Derys!

 

[marymm]

FWIW I think it is uncool that the Derys reached out to a third party and disclosed communications they had with OP. If the Derys wished to provide their own position in this matter, he/she should have authored his/her own post in this thread.

I think less of a vendor for disclosing communications with a potential customer to another unrelated party, and worse still for that third party to then post that info into a thread ...

I realize the content of the emails were not provided, only the date/time emails were received/sent - I still regard it as unprofessional and uncool of the Derys, and also rather presumptuous on the part of the 3rd party poster.

just my 2 cents.

 

[chrono]

I fully support any vendor to either publicly post here to explain their side or contact the customer privately to settle any conflicts. I am disturbed by any vendor involving a third party.

 

[lovedogs]

FWIW, the Derys have impeccable, utterly responsive, timely and courteous communication - and that was pre-Rachel. I can only imagine how efficient their team is now! Just to be clear, given the seemingly flip-flopping nature of the OP, it never crossed my mind that the Dery’s were at fault. Or saying it in a positive way, I had total faith in the Derys!

Agreed. I've reached out to them about prices a few times and they have always been responsive and prompt.

 

[digdeep]

If Shijitake publishes comments about a vendor on this forum (publicly) are you saying that the vendor has no rights to provide information (correspondence timelines) that contradict the accusation somewhere? I think the bigger issue here is that there is a lot of communication going on all the time........FB, IG, Twitter, and PS. In this case it appears Shijitake was not truthful about the situation she created and yes, I have no problem with the Dery's clarifying themselves in whatever format they choose. Public is public...........you put it out there, it's out there!

 

[voce]

@digdeep I think what people have been bothered by is that the vendor did not provide information to refute Shijitake's comments publicly on these forums, but discussed it privately with a 3rd party. Instead of taking the time to investigate and respond directly on PS forums, it sounds like the vendor reached out to the 3rd party and depended on the 3rd party to clear up the details on PS, through emails to the 3rd party. Some of us find the channel of communication/action off-putting.

 

[chrono]

@digdeep I think what people have been bothered by is that the vendor did not provide information to refute Shijitake's comments publicly on these forums, but discussed it privately with a 3rd party. Instead of taking the time to investigate and respond directly on PS forums, it sounds like the vendor reached out to the 3rd party and depended on the 3rd party to clear up the details on PS, through emails to the 3rd party. Some of us find the channel of communication/action off-putting.

That’s what I meant. Thank you for making it clearer than what I wrote. It doesn’t matter if it’s on FB, PS, IG, or whatever venue. It’s side discussion with the 3rd party.

 

[digdeep]

This is my opinion and I respect others however this is my position: Someone here posted on IG about this........so the issue was not limited to PS. The responsibility of the poster was lost in blaming the vendor. If you put something 'out there' on PS and do not update it with info that corrects the post (Shijitake).......then I'm not blaming the vendor for clearing the issue however they choose. I hold the OP on task for not being honest about this situation............

 

[Jbows]

This is the last thing I'll say here, mostly because this week is about to be INSANE and I need whatever brain cells I possess to be focused on my thesis. But I will feel terrible if I don't apologize and explain what the heck I was thinking. I think it was wrong of me to share the information I had... the spirit of the email was what I said, asking opinion on an etiquette question, and sharing the information of a timeline to ask whether I personally would find it acceptable. I was perturbed that the OP may have deliberately misrepresented the situation after realizing the discrepancy in the info provided in this thread. (I am obviously not absolutely certain that that is true, though!) And didn't feel as strongly as other PP's about sharing of information, which I still don't. I still feel like when you post something publicly, other people talk to outside parties and that's okay with me (but that's me as a millennial, not a comment on the validity of other views). But I do apologize for behaving presumptuously, which was not my intent. And there was no insinuation of my "handling" it for RD in his singular email. I shared the information, again, which was probably wrong, because I believed that OP had shared publicly and I thought that anything's fair game at that point. But I apologize for poorly considered posts, full stop.

 

[digdeep]

Jbows............to be clear, part of my issue was with Shijitake (OP) posting a complaint and not clarifying on this forum that it had been responded to by the vendor.

As far as your thesis is concerned.........hang in there.......that last 10% in the process is the hardest and your brain cells will rebound with full functionality! (making some assumptions, but based on my experience in those shoes!)

 

[Shijitake]

Ah geez, I try to spend a few days without logging into here to do some thinking and suddenly I'm some bad guy creating bad rep. Yes, I did receive a reply from Rachel, and I was going to follow up when I decided to log in again. I e-mailed them on Sunday, received no answer and made this post on Tuesday. Then got an answer wednesday. Wednesday is a long day for me and I checked my email twice (early in the morning and late in the evening). After I made my last post here and I decided to take a break since all the replies to my posts and indecisiveness was making me feel overwhelmed. I didn't think someone would actually contact him and announce it to everyone and make me look like I did this all on purpose. I check my email every day, but I don't log into all my accounts for other websites everyday. I did say before I have limited time spending online. According to my email I responded over 8 hours after she replied to me. So I didn't even get her email til much later in the day.

First off, this post was mainly about Gemfix. They seem like a good company and I've spoken to Andrew a couple times and he seemed like a nice guy. So it irked me that I got no reply about their high priced pad. Second, I didn't mean for this to blow up like this. Third, who the hell decided to confront Roger Dery about it anyway? I said it's not a big deal. I was just wondering if companies decide not to reply for whatever reason.

I do see both companies as good businesses and am interested in their sapphires.

I also have to agree that it's not cool that they posted contact information though.

Also shame on the third party for blowing this up.

digdeep, I already said it but I want to clarify. I didn't do this to ruin their reputation. I'm sorry if it offended you or anything.