A good mall story for laughs

[Small]

So yesterday I was at the mall and decided to go to JB Robinsons to have my ring cleaned. Normally I run into Kays...my husband has bought alot of his ''last minute'' gifts from them so they pretty much know me from me bringing my other jewelry for cleanings and inspections so they usually clean and I leave. Anyway, I walked in, pretended to look around a bit and then asked for them to clean and inspect my ring. The sales lady asked where I purchased it at...if I got it there. I said no I bought it online. She laughed. I told her that it was a H&A diamond and that since it''s not something that most mall stores sell I found a great online vendor that I loved and bought from them. She told me that indeed I should have checked with them because they do sell the ''ideal cut'' diamond (which she proceeded to explain to me that a H&A was called ideal cut LOL). I said, "oh really...mine is an AGS graded stone...do you sell those?" Knowing full well they don''t but wanting to see what she said...she said, "oh no. We sell even better stones that AGA (yes she said AGA). We sell IGI which is a step above. Where AGA is only graded with one grader our IGI diamonds are looked at by 3 graders by the time it gets the final ideal grade." I said "OMG I had no idea." Then I said, "oh and it''s AGS not AGA." She said..."oh that''s what I meant...all the same thing anyway. IGI should have been your preferred lab of choice. You do know that they are the number 1 grading lab right? They have surpassed even GIA which I know can be a preferred lab by some."
LOL...I kind of chuckled at her and said that I did plenty of research before making this purchase and think my stone is spectacular. She really didn''t say anything after that...handed me my ring and told me if I was in the market for another stone to check out the IGI because I wouldn''t be disappointed.

Had to share because I thought you all would get a kick out of it. She had obviously never heard of AGS...which is funny since their sister company Jareds carries the AGS ideals. Normally I don''t get any of this type of conversation at Kays...probably because they know me they don''t bother with the questions. They shouldn''t advertise free jewelry cleaning and inspections if they are bothered by someone coming in that didn''t buy the diamond from them. LOL...good entertainment though LOL!

 

[jaz464]

This is funny because I went into my local Kay's yesterday also. I was walking around the mall so I thought what the hell.
I was looking at some diamond stud earrings and noticed that they were all IGI. One of the salesmen came over to me so I asked him if they only had IGI diamonds. He said no, they have F to J diamonds. He had kind of an accent so I was not sure exactly what he was saying, though now it seems obvious. I looked at him a little funny and said, no do you have any GIA or AGS graded diamonds. He again responded the same way. Finally I said that I didn't understand what he meant so he went and got a diamond color chart to educate me on the diamond colors

. I told him I understood the color chart and that I was referring to the lab that graded the diamonds. He looked at me all confused and flustered. Then he reached into the jewelery case and pulled out one of those little IGI cards that lists the color, carat weight, etc of the diamond. He stared at it for a minute and then replied uncertainly that yes, I guess they are IGI. I could tell no one had ever asked him about the grading lab before and this was the first time he had ever even heard of IGI, though that is what he is supposed to be selling.

 

[Mara]

hehe you guys always have the best maul stories...i need to start going into more stores and asking them if they ''carry AGS stones''..tee hee.

 

[poptart]

So this thread just goes to show how much I DON''T know about diamonds! Why is AGS or GIA grading better than IGI? I have heard of all three, but still can''t understand which is best or why one is rated over the other.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 6/22/2006 8:51:23 PM
Author: poptart
So this thread just goes to show how much I DON''T know about diamonds! Why is AGS or GIA grading better than IGI? I have heard of all three, but still can''t understand which is best or why one is rated over the other.

Poptart, you really need to go to the part of this site (knowledge-advanced tutorial) and read itl. But to make a long story short, AGS and GIA are the most reliable labs for diamond grading. Other labs are known for inaccurate grading which is not helpful in choosing a diamond.

 

[poptart]

Thanks so much! I''ll go do that!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Poptart, you''re very welcome! And another great source of information with pictures is the 4 C''s section on the Good Old Gold site:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/

 

[jaz464]

Date: 6/22/2006 8:44:22 PM
Author: Mara
hehe you guys always have the best maul stories...i need to start going into more stores and asking them if they ''carry AGS stones''..tee hee.

Oh my goodness, you must. You will get so many interesting respones because so few mall stores carry them. The best is when they try to tell you that their IGI or EGL diamonds are better than AGS.

 

[Snooper]

WOW these 2 stories were HORROR stories!! YIKES! When I go in maul shops, all they carry are IGI.. Do you guys ever wonder if the sales associates don''t know better? Do they honestly believe IGI is better than GIA or AGS?

 

[orbaya]

I was browsing in a maul jewelry store a while back and I was checking out a cushion cut in the case and the salesman kept calling it a radiant.

I just played dumb and was like.... "ohhhh, okay I guess I learned something new today!"

I should go try the "lab quiz" on a maul store LOL! I don''t know a whole lot, but I know enough to test them!

 

[UCLABelle]

Small- I had a nice laugh after reading this post. I have "ENJOYED" similar situations...

 

[Gypsy]

Lord. You all have more patience and tact than I do. I have a very difficult time with willful ignorance... gets the b*tch in me going. I avoid maul stores and their diamonds. If I''m browsing and KNOW the salesperson is going to be bad walk away... or if I don''t know that it''s going to be bad and want to keep looking I make it clear that ''speak only when spoken to'' is the way to go.

 

[Small]

Date: 6/22/2006 6:38:59 PM
Author: jazmine
This is funny because I went into my local Kay''s yesterday also. I was walking around the mall so I thought what the hell.
I was looking at some diamond stud earrings and noticed that they were all IGI. One of the salesmen came over to me so I asked him if they only had IGI diamonds. He said no, they have F to J diamonds. He had kind of an accent so I was not sure exactly what he was saying, though now it seems obvious. I looked at him a little funny and said, no do you have any GIA or AGS graded diamonds. He again responded the same way. Finally I said that I didn''t understand what he meant so he went and got a diamond color chart to educate me on the diamond colors

. I told him I understood the color chart and that I was referring to the lab that graded the diamonds. He looked at me all confused and flustered. Then he reached into the jewelery case and pulled out one of those little IGI cards that lists the color, carat weight, etc of the diamond. He stared at it for a minute and then replied uncertainly that yes, I guess they are IGI. I could tell no one had ever asked him about the grading lab before and this was the first time he had ever even heard of IGI, though that is what he is supposed to be selling.

LOL...now that''s funny!
The Kays my dh goes to has associates that have been there forever. He''s very partial to them for some reason

He''s got me some nice pieces...nothing of great value or anything. It''s nice for him because he''s totally the ''last minute I got to run to the mall to get my gift or my wife will think I forgot'' type. He shops on Christmas Eve, my birthday, and on our anniversary. LOL...gotta love his effort but I keep preaching to him about the quality he gets for his money...

he prefers the convenience and could care less about what they have to say. He''d be the person that would buy their load of crap about IGI or whatever other lines they were feeding him

Gotta feel sorry for a guy like you had though...geez, the least they could do was educate him on the labs they sell. It does make for good times though LOL

 

[Small]

Date: 6/23/2006 12:04:20 AM
Author: Gypsy
Lord. You all have more patience and tact than I do. I have a very difficult time with willful ignorance... gets the b*tch in me going. I avoid maul stores and their diamonds. If I''m browsing and KNOW the salesperson is going to be bad walk away... or if I don''t know that it''s going to be bad and want to keep looking I make it clear that ''speak only when spoken to'' is the way to go.

LOL...well I wanted my ring cleaned so I was willing to listen. It actually amuses me...I love to find out how uneducated they really are. I don''t really have time to argue with them so I just let them have their say and think that they enlightened me on something when in reality I''m thinking, "what a tool...if they only knew what I know." LOL.

 

[londonblue]

i don't know much about diamonds so i've tried to learn here and check out some in person by stopping at jewelry stores when at the mall. I always wondered why they seem to have only IGI stones. What is IGI anyway and where does it rank? I mean, how am I supposed to learn anything about diamonds if I can't even look at EGL ones in person!

but i've had the same type of experience shopping at gem/jewelry shows for colored stones. some guy tried to show me all sorts of nasty emerald cuts saying they were cushions. another shows me a 2 ct unheated blue sapphire, yet it has no cert. do they consider lab created unheated? maybe that's what it was! colored diamonds that look like zircon, no cert.. then i figured out they were irradiated.. at first i was sure he was lying and they were actually zircons though!

but surely you ladies should enlighten these salespeople! is it willful ignorance as Gypsy says? or are they really that clueless?
shouldn't they be interested in broadening their education? you would think if they actually knew what they were selling they could sell the product better!

i did have one helpful lady last week at a mall store though, so i could see what some lab created rubies and emeralds look like in person.

yeah, what we need is a "pricescope diamond & jewelry fair" where we can see pricescope vendor diamonds and jewelry in person! I could learn so much if I just had a chance to see and compare top quality asschers and cushions and everything else

 

[puddy]

is the use of maul intentional?

 

[flopkins]

Date: 6/23/2006 2:06:48 AM
Author: puddy
is the use of maul intentional?

most definitely.