AJDiamonds Cheated My two Diamond Rings

[ROGER_DR]

Date: 4/16/2009 4:53:34 PM
Author: Rockdiamond
HI Roger- I just got off the phone with the NYC Police Department.
According to the officer I spoke with you''ll need to report the crime at your local police station- then ask them to contact the Midtown North Police Precinct.
Their number is 001-212-767-8400
I believe they will contact the thieving bastard......I mean the nice man who stole your rings.


I wish I could be of more help......

David,
I called the number you provided and was told that they would only accept the report by mail not by phone or by e-mail, therefore I will send them all doc. by mail today.

 

[aayushk]

Hey Guys,
I just want to set the record straight, when i gave David''s (King Diamonds LLC) information my intent was to help you find AJ Diamonds, not to put both companies in the same boat. With different owners it is pretty OBVIOUS that they are not related but my assumption that being in the same location David would be able to help you find AJ Diamonds. However AJ Diamonds is no longer at that location and King Diamonds does not know Robert (AJ Diamonds) nor is David the guy you are looking for.

Although i have never done business with King Diamonds, i have heard many good things about his company. On the diamond trading site the following reviews have been posted and he has 100% positive feedback. So be smart and direct you fury to the right people, and David as mentioned is good people.

( Seller ) 2009-02-10 2009-02-24
Comments: Super-fsat payment. Would gladly deal with again. Thanks for the oppurtunity to help and business!

( Buyer ) 2008-08-08 2008-08-08
Comments: Amazing the prices I get from David. I have bought overseas and his prices are the same if not less and offers great terms with no hassel.

( Buyer ) 2008-08-01 2008-08-01
Comments: service was quick and at the agreed upon price

( Seller ) 2007-12-27 2008-01-08
Comments: David is good people. Very Prompt - recieved stones and reported sold same day and we had check in hand 4 day later!

( Buyer ) 2007-12-06 2008-01-03
Comments: Great Stone at a Great Price

( Buyer ) 2007-12-26 2007-12-26
Comments: the best diamond company in New York.. Great people, fast service... and the BEST ..VERY BEST PRICE on poly..

( Buyer ) 2007-12-03 2007-12-03
Comments: Great to deal with the goods were actually better than described.

( Buyer ) 2007-11-06 2007-11-06
Comments: The stones were truly understated in thier description. Stones averaged .20 pt the cut and sym. is outstanding. Seller stated that stones were SI, I found stones to be full of life and just gorgeous. This is the first time dealing with color and clarity enhanced stones, this seller sold me on the guarantee and knowledge of his process as well as the quality of his merchandise. I was a sceptic until dealing with David. I highly recommend him, you''ll be glad you did. I am.

( Seller ) 2007-10-15 2007-10-15
Comments: Great guys to deal with and more importantly, super fast payment! Looking forward to working with David at King again.

( Buyer ) 2007-08-23 2007-08-23
Comments: David, was great to deal with. Fast shipping and hassle free international transaction. Goods were as described adn communication is excellent. I highly recommend King Diamonds LLC.

( Seller ) 2007-08-14 2007-08-18
Comments: David is a pleasure to do business with. Fast response and fast pay. I look forward to many more transactions with him. Thankyou David.


Although I havent done business with him, i hope one day i would get the opportunity to do so. Whether it be buying from him or selling to him. BUT AJ DIAMONDS, that is a whole other story...i hope he gets what he deserves.

 

[Albertshunn]

ABE BUTEL cheated me out too. I bought 2.0 carat diamond back in July. There was a chip in it and I returned it. I should have stop payment on the credit card but I didn''t. It took him another 4 months before he sent it again. He kept saying it was stuck at customs, being naive I believed him. He sent a "new" one back in december 2008 and right away i could see a crack in it. I sent it back and this is when I called the credit card company. They said they could not refund it because 3 months has passed. Hoping this situation could be resolved, I asked politely to get another ring. It is now April 2009 and he has completely stop responding to my emails. My finacee and I have been engaged for almost 10 months but she has had a ring for less than 2 weeks. He kept getting my hopes up that he would send it. I asked him to just admit that he was not sending it so I could move on but he would respond with "next week." I am now forced to sell my car and figure out a way to get more money for another ring before the big day in June. If I did not accept the fact i was getting ripped off I think I would have slipped into depression. This has been the worst experience of my life and I have never been ripped off on the internet till now.

I have contacted the BBB but since im in Canada, I did not think they would care. Having 10000 positive ebay feedbacks does not mean anything I realized and I will not trust ebay again.

Thanks for hearing my story.
Moving on.

 

[Albertshunn]

Nick and Roger, are you 2 planning to contact JVC? I was looking at the stats of diamonds refund on the BBB and its only about 65% successful in getting resolved. I am thinking of going through JVC from the recommendation of this forum. I have lost $9000, so $100 is really nothing to ensure that this person does not screw anyone else over.

 

[ROGER_DR]

Date: 4/20/2009 4:50:13 PM
Author: Albertshunn
Nick and Roger, are you 2 planning to contact JVC? I was looking at the stats of diamonds refund on the BBB and its only about 65% successful in getting resolved. I am thinking of going through JVC from the recommendation of this forum. I have lost $9000, so $100 is really nothing to ensure that this person does not screw anyone else over.

Yes,he kept on saying "I will, I will,......" but never did it!!!!!!!!!! He is a liar who has no sense of shame!!!!

He told me that he has never hurt anybody in his life and he has never cheated anybody in the world, while he is cheating so many buyers!!!

I have sent the report to police (crime unit, 306 West 54 Street, New York 10019). I had also reported to BBB, but have not got any response from them yet.

Report to JVC is a bit too costly for me as I have lost US$1431++, and not sure if $100 help or not.

 

[Albertshunn]

I want to add that back in January, Abe tried to charge me again on my credit card for the original ring. The credit card company contacted me right away to let me know. Abe Butel told me that one of his "employees" accidentally charged me. I am really doubting he has any employees because I have tried to call this company with no answer at all. I am now forced to block my card and maybe cancel it for good because he has my card number. I will also be reporting to the New York Police. I am still in shock that I got scammed.

 

[Albertshunn]

If the owner is Robert, who is Abe ? OHHH man, he even has a fake name ?

 

[ROGER_DR]

Date: 4/20/2009 11:11:36 PM
Author: Albertshunn
If the owner is Robert, who is Abe ? OHHH man, he even has a fake name ?

According to BBB''s record, Abe is the precident of AJdiamonds.

http://search.newyork.bbb.org/reports.aspx?pid=44&page=1&id=102764

If all victims file the report and mail it to NewYork Police Crime Unit, I believe that there will be higher chance for police to take actions.

 

[nickt]

Hey Roger and Albertshunn,

I have reported AJDiamonds and Abe to the FBI''s Internet Crime Complaint Centre. I have also advised them of Roger''s complaint to the NYPD Crime Unit. Hopefully something comes of it.

I have also been in touch with David from KingDiamonds. He has indicated that Abe is no longer at the address, but comes in from time to time to collect mail etc. He has told me he will give Abe my emails and advise him of the reports to the Police and FBI...maybe that will prompt him into action!

I am also following up with Paypal regarding my payment to AJDiamonds...I heard that if you persist for long enough, paypal will eventually agree to cover the loss.

I''ll keep you posted.

 

[ROGER_DR]

Date: 4/21/2009 10:44:42 AM
Author: nickt
Hey Roger and Albertshunn,

I have reported AJDiamonds and Abe to the FBI''s Internet Crime Complaint Centre. I have also advised them of Roger''s complaint to the NYPD Crime Unit. Hopefully something comes of it.

I have also been in touch with David from KingDiamonds. He has indicated that Abe is no longer at the address, but comes in from time to time to collect mail etc. He has told me he will give Abe my emails and advise him of the reports to the Police and FBI...maybe that will prompt him into action!

I am also following up with Paypal regarding my payment to AJDiamonds...I heard that if you persist for long enough, paypal will eventually agree to cover the loss.

I''ll keep you posted.

Nickt, Thanks!!! Hope your efforts would help to resolve the problem. I appreciate it.

 

[raidergrad2000]

I, too, was ripped off and lied to by Abe. I won an auction off ebay for slightly over 3K. First off, he charged my credit card twice....2 weeks later, I still hadn''t received a ring. Abe kept lying and telling me he would issue a refund time and time again. He would spew that he was going through some tough times and that ebay and paypal have ruined his life. I actually have a screenshot of his paypal account in which over 50K is in dispute. I finally decided to stop putting up with his crap and had my credit card company issue a refund. Abe is a grade A piece of crap. It was like a roller coaster, he got my hopes up so high and was in control the entire time. He is a scammer.

 

[rickster123]

Note to self.......do not do business with AJDiamonds........

 

[ROGER_DR]

While I continued to pursue my case with ABE through E-mail, he suddenly changed his attitude on Apr.21. It seemed to me that he had realized his mistake and had an intention to fix the problem ASAP. But it ended up to be a cheat again ........

Here are his bullshit:

Apr 21 :

"once again...never stole or cheated anyone in my life.
I made a mistake with you and want to fix it.
The other 3 or 4 people are all recent repairs/exchange, which only have come to this as a result of my business going bankrupt.
I am trying one by one to fix it.
I know my words mean crap,and i need to prove it to you
I no longer have paypal, how do you suggest I refund your money?"

Apr 22 :

"ok, let me figure out if i can do this bank option
again..i am sorry for this...
ALL OF THE OTHER COMPLAINS are people who returned stuff this past month when my business was destroyed

yours somehow has dragged on for months, and it was never my intention

i know u have no faith in me, but i will make this right
i will email you soon
aside from bank, are there any other options?
you still have your paypal account? maybe borrow a friends paypal to send you the money?"


"one of these will be done SHORTLY...no more bullshit from me.
Time to fix everything, close this chapter and move on.
Talk to you VERY soon,"


Apr 23 :

"the money will be in your account tomorrow, i am going to his office to get it sent
THEN WE CAN BOTH MOVE ON "

Apr 24 :

"he wont do it...says it way too risky and i dont blame him one bit
ok, back to the wire scenario...
"how about western union?"

"how about a $1500 diamond sent on Monday?"


Apr 26 :

"TOMORROW I AM BACK AT WORK, AND I WILL HONOR MY WORD SO YOU CAN LEAVE ME ALONE."


Apr 27 :

"I contacted you to tell you i would be fixing this, so just wait until it is done THIS WEEK."

Apr 29 :

"thanks for your update about your holiday
it is currently 830 PM here.
tomorrow is thursday and then friday, and paypal wont be on a holiday
i will make sure its done before my weekend, in 2 days, so you dont have to ever email me again."

May 1 :

"nobody wants to let me use their paypal, ever since they heard about what paypal did to me
i dont blame them
i can only do western union or bank wire....i will have one done as soon as i can
like u said, u waited 7 months, so a few more days wont kill u"

I gave him my account number and asked him to send the money to me by bank wire transfer which just takes him 1-2 hrs to close this issue, but he didn''t do it. I accepted all his proposals as long as he could do it with real action, but it ended up to be a cheat again.......

He just wanted to prove that he is not a crook but a SUPER crook, he is not a cheater but a SUPER cheater!

 

[raidergrad2000]

thanks for the update... not sure why i''m following the situation, but i feel your pain. This guy is just leading you on, but hey, you have reason to stop playing hte game....maybe it will indeed end soon and you get a refund.

 

[makemepretty]

If he can't use paypal to send you funds he could get a Google checkout account and refund you that way. Or he could send you a cashiers check or money order with signature confirmation. It honestly does not sound like he intends to really ever refund your money and it's hard to get it back from someone in another state.

 

[Regular Guy]

Date: 5/4/2009 6:55:52 AM
Author: makemepretty
If he can''t use paypal to send you funds he could get a Google checkout account and refund you that way. Or he could send you a cashiers check or money order with signature confirmation. It honestly does not sound like he intends to really ever refund your money and it''s hard to get it back from someone in another state.

Sorry, I''ve read parts of this...maybe not all.

How about a standard check, mailed to a street address, using a stamp?

I think our professionals spoke up early here.

Otherwise, I think you''ve begun to engage the police, and this seems appropriate.

Regards,

 

[Dreamer_D]

Something else that consumers should take from this is that if you have paid good money to someone for a product, and return it for whatever reason, or are unhappy, do not let them string you along for months without refunding you! That amazes me about all of these stories... this person's scam only worked because the buyers were willing to let him put off paying them or sending a replacement. If I had given someone money AND returned the product to them, I would give them about 2 days to refund my money or two weeks to send a new product before I made a stink!

 

[ROGER_DR]

If he really has intention to fix the problem,it should be very easy for him to do it. For example, bank transfer, he could get it done within 2 Hrs or even 1 Hr was enough. Or he could send by western union, or check, or a replacement ring ...... whatever.... as long as he did it.

He never said he would not do it,but just kept on giving me a lot of excuses with no real action at all.

He has promised many many times and he can always give you a excuse and let you wait for few days more and more......

 

[Albertshunn]

I am on the exact same boat as you roger but out even more.

 

[ROGER_DR]

Date: 5/5/2009 12:02:50 PM
Author: Albertshunn
I am on the exact same boat as you roger but out even more.

Albert, how about your case now? I received reply from BBB, they are doing something for me.......

 

[Albertshunn]

Abe gave me a tracking number today so hopefully itll be good in 2 days.

 

[Albertshunn]

So I recieved it and Abe gave me a much smaller carat size and there is still a flaw in the diamond. What a guy.

 

[Monnyjay]

I am so sorry for you guys, hopefully this loser will soon have his day, KARMA!!!!!!!!!

 

[arjunajane]

sheesh, this just keeps getting worse - I am sorry to hear of the new complainants
to this thread and their dramas - I sincerely hope this guy gets his come-uppance asap!

But Roger - giving a known crook your bank account numbers? - not a door I would open personally,
no matter how small the perceived risk, yanno?

 

[ROGER_DR]

Date: 5/8/2009 5:12:50 AM
Author: arjunajane
sheesh, this just keeps getting worse - I am sorry to hear of the new complainants
to this thread and their dramas - I sincerely hope this guy gets his come-uppance asap!

But Roger - giving a known crook your bank account numbers? - not a door I would open personally,
no matter how small the perceived risk, yanno?

I thought he had really realized his mistake and therefore I trusted him one more time........

 

[Lenamama]

ugh.... Ebay!

 

[Albertshunn]

Every ring I got from Abe got worse and worse. I am stuck now with a shitty ring with no place to return it. Should I still report him to the police and jvc? Hey Roger how long did the BBB take to contact you. They have not contacted me yet.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 5/8/2009 8:49:54 PM
Author: ROGER_DR

Date: 5/8/2009 5:12:50 AM

Author: arjunajane

sheesh, this just keeps getting worse - I am sorry to hear of the new complainants

to this thread and their dramas - I sincerely hope this guy gets his come-uppance asap!


But Roger - giving a known crook your bank account numbers? - not a door I would open personally,

no matter how small the perceived risk, yanno?

I thought he had really realized his mistake and therefore I trusted him one more time........

I''m sorry to be blunt Roger, but I thought we covered this on page one, no?

I know that your situation sucks a big one, and that hope springs eternal - and I really do sympathize -
however, I feel the more you interact with Abe and let him string you along - not only are you setting
yourself up for more stress/heartache, but you are also likely muddying the waters for the authorities, kwim?

I suggest at this stage, that nominal fee to the Jeweller''s Vigilance Committee as was suggested to you,
will be money well spent.
again, good luck and keep us posted

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 5/9/2009 1:10:48 AM
Author: Albertshunn
Every ring I got from Abe got worse and worse. I am stuck now with a shitty ring with no place to return it. Should I still report him to the police and jvc? Hey Roger how long did the BBB take to contact you. They have not contacted me yet.

Albert, I am also sorry to hear of your situation - this guy sounds like a sheister of the highest degree,
and is exactly the kind of piece of dirt** that gives this profession/industry its (sometimes) bad name
and scares consumers away..makes me mad, and I'm not even involved !
So I can understand how frustrated you may be..

**(restraining myself here, lol!)..

If you go back to some earlier pages of this thread, a number of the most respected industry members on this board made some suggestions to Roger on what course of action to take - honestly, I would follow their advice for sure (see above re. Jewellers Vigilance Committee - apparently they have "sharper teeth" than the BBB, to quote the pro's ).

I would definately report him to the police, the BBB, the J.V. committee - and also your local "current affairs" type TV program!

I don't live in the US so don't know what they're called there, but I'm sure one of those programs that specialize in tracking down and confronting crooks etc would love to hear of Abe and his antics - and they may
even be able to help you get a refund...again, I'm not sure how it works there, but where I live (Australia), you often see when a consumer has reached the end of their tether with a dodgy business or person, they contact these programs, who track the bad guys down and publicly "out" them - most times it ends with the desired resolution for the complainant and - if applicable - a police investigation for the bad guy(s).

Has to be worth a shot, imho!. Especially since you have multiple victims just in this thread - by reasoning, there must be many more out there who have not found their way to PS, correct?

At any rate, I wish you luck.

 

[ROGER_DR]

Date: 5/9/2009 1:10:48 AM
Author: Albertshunn
Every ring I got from Abe got worse and worse. I am stuck now with a shitty ring with no place to return it. Should I still report him to the police and jvc? Hey Roger how long did the BBB take to contact you. They have not contacted me yet.

I filed complain to BBB on Apr. 10. They didn''t reply me until May 3 I sent an e-mail to them and asked them for the updates.

They replied me on May 3 : "We have today sent word of your complaint to AJ Diamonds. You will be kept informed of the progress of this case."

So maybe you have to check back with them also?

Have you sent your report to local police? I sent ny report to local police on Apr. 20. :

Attn: Crime Unit
306 West 54 Street
NewYork 10019

Tel : 212-7678431

I will call them on Monday to check with them if they have received my report.

Pls also report it to police. I think that more people report to the local police the higher chance for them to take actions.