B2C dishonest and untrustworthy

[4Cees121]

Long story short, I really regret engaging in a purchase with B2C Jewels, it has been an absolute nightmare.

I have spent countless hours reading, researching, and meticulously picking out a diamond.

I found one on B2C that looked promising, and started working with "Anthony"
They placed the diamond on hold with their vendor, and told me to complete the purchase within 24 hours, which I did.

They took my credit card information over the phone, and everything was going smoothly. I inquired when the diamond would ship, and I was told that they would try to ship it out the same day, but if not, for sure the next day (which was yesterday). Not hearing anything at all from them yesterday, I became worried and then called them.

This is where it started to go down hill. I was told that they need to get in contact with the vendor and confirm the availability of the diamond--what??? They already charged my credit card at this point and told me they would be shipping the diamond immediately, so what happened?

They told me that they couldn't contact their vendor, because they were now closed. When asked why they didnt contact them when they were open that day, I was given the run around and a web of lies and excuses. They then told me that they would be calling me the next day (today) as soon as they open at 10AM eastern and confirm the shipment to me.

Well, today rolls around and at 11AM with still no phone call I decided to call again (infuriating that they didnt call me back as promised). And you can probably guess what they told me, my worst fears now coming true, they told me that their vendor shipped the diamond to someone else.

When I inquired about what they would do, I was told that they are going to try to get the diamond back, and that they would follow up on Monday (Monday, a good 4 days from now). Why in the world do they have to attempt to get the diamond back??? My credit card was charged and I was promised immediate shipping information.

They have now wasted countless hours of my time, maxed out my credit card, told me one lie after another, and now I have to wait 4 more days????? Totally inexcusable, unacceptable, dishonest, and despicable behavior for a vendor to handle such a large and important purchase.

I can't even begin to explain how frustrating this entire experience has been, and I feel it necessary to warn anyone even remotely considering B2C Jewels to immediately run the other way or risk yourself being placed in a terrible and awful situation.

It's ridiculous to me that a company can operate this way, and it's honestly borderline criminal based on the fact they have now charged my credit card for a $12,000+ stone THEY DONT EVEN HAVE AND DIDNT HAVE SECURED AS PROMISED, making it impossible for me to use my card to purchase from another vendor. Not to mention how uncaring they are with their solution of "oh we will try to get you what we promised, but give us 4 more days." B2C, you should be absolutely ashamed.

 

[HappyNewLife]

Oh wow. I'm so sorry this is happening to you. I hope you get your $ back ASAP. Let us know when you're ready to try another vendor- lots of people here have positive experiences with other PS vendors. (I personally can't get over how amazing Whiteflash is with customer service)

Good luck. That really sucks. I'd be so pissed.

 

[whitewave]

I had a great experience with B2C.

Many vendors do NOT have the stone in person. They have to get it through a diamond vendor. Sometimes the stone is unavailable and the company doesn't know this until they try to pull the diamond.

This happens often with many vendors here who have virtual inventory.

Get them to credit your card (if it was indeed charged, because your card usually isn't charged until things ship).

Unfortunately, diamond shopping can be exhausting and time consuming if you go with a company who deals with virtual inventory. When you go with whiteflash, high performance diamonds, much of Blue Nile, etc, those diamonds are in house.

As I said, this happens fairly often here on PS and is not a problem with or limited to B2C.

 

[whitewave]

In re-reading your story, let me further explain.

You want that diamond. Let's call it diamond A.

Someone else bought diamond A, or a store called in diamond A to evaluate it. Now, perhaps that person won't keep it or the store that called diamond A might not keep it either.

Knowing you want diamond A, B2C is going to try and get it for you.

This is neither dishonest nor untrustworthy, but simply you not understanding how virtual inventory works. (it isn't "borderline criminal" and you are being a bit dramatic)

Also, your time frame is immediate and short. To be honest, you don't have much to complain about at this point.

Either wait for diamond A to possibly become available again or choose a new diamond.

Can we help you pick out a diamond? If we can help, post on Rocky Talky what you want and what your budget is and we can help you find one.

 

[whitewave]

@Diamond_Hawk

 

[HappyNewLife]

In re-reading your story, let me further explain.

You want that diamond. Let's call it diamond A.

Someone else bought diamond A, or a store called in diamond A to evaluate it. Now, perhaps that person won't keep it or the store that called diamond A might not keep it either.

Knowing you want diamond A, B2C is going to try and get it for you.

This is neither dishonest nor untrustworthy, but simply you not understanding how virtual inventory works. (it isn't "borderline criminal" and you are being a bit dramatic)

Also, your time frame is immediate and short. To be honest, you don't have much to complain about at this point.

Either wait for diamond A to possibly become available again or choose a new diamond.

Can we help you pick out a diamond? If we can help, post on Rocky Talky what you want and what your budget is and we can help you find one.

He shouldn't have been charged $12,000 though unless the diamond was 100% in their possession. That's just my opinion.

 

[bludiva]

He shouldn't have been charged $12,000 though unless the diamond was 100% in their possession. That's just my opinion.

I agree with this. I had a good experience with B2C...we did have to order the stone before they would send us video which was annoying but it went like this: we ordered it, they confirmed availability and sent more info (photos/video/evaluation) for approval, THEN they got paid and mailed it out. We did not have to pay until they either confirmed it was available or we had in in possession (can't remember which) and we approved the stone. If B2C can't sort this out for you, OP, I'd dispute the charge via your CC provider. Hope it turns out ok.

 

[HappyNewLife]

I feel like B2C will make this right for you. But having to wait over the weekend with $12K on my CC for something I'm not even going to get would annoy the heck out of me.

 

[4Cees121]

In re-reading your story, let me further explain.

You want that diamond. Let's call it diamond A.

Someone else bought diamond A, or a store called in diamond A to evaluate it. Now, perhaps that person won't keep it or the store that called diamond A might not keep it either.

Knowing you want diamond A, B2C is going to try and get it for you.

This is neither dishonest nor untrustworthy, but simply you not understanding how virtual inventory works. (it isn't "borderline criminal" and you are being a bit dramatic)

Also, your time frame is immediate and short. To be honest, you don't have much to complain about at this point.

Either wait for diamond A to possibly become available again or choose a new diamond.

Can we help you pick out a diamond? If we can help, post on Rocky Talky what you want and what your budget is and we can help you find one.

Thanks for your reply, I do understand how virtual inventory works, I run a business myself that occasionally has to sell product we do not currently have. But when we do sell things we don't have, we are 110% sure that we will have the things we sell. And we would certainly never take someone's payment if we are not more than confident we will have those items to sell.

I am more bothered by the fact that I have been lied to repeatedly by them, to the point where it's obvious that I am just being strung along at this point.

-They shouldn't have told me that they would for sure be shipping the stone the same day they charged my card or the next day at the latest (it didn't happen)
-When I called to inquire about why the item hasn't shipped 24 hours after my card was charged, they shouldn't have told me it's because they couldn't get in contact with their vendor (that was a lie, it was sold to someone else at that point and they knew it, but just didn't want to tell me that)
They shouldn't have told me they would call me back as soon as they opened the following day (it didn't happen)
When I talked to them this morning they shouldn't have told me they will be calling me back in the next 3-4 hours with an update (it didn't happen)

Additionally, their proposed resolution of waiting four more days to untangle this and sort this out is poor. My credit card is now maxed out, and I'm unable to source a diamond anywhere else because of this. I'm basically at the mercy of whatever joke of a resolution they have planned out for me, which so far has been nothing but a string of lies and waiting games for promises that are consistently broken. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if Monday rolls around to be told that they are going to need another week for a resolution.

In response to another review posted about a similar situation, B2C claimed "Unfortunately this was the case with your selection, and this is why all diamonds are clearly labeled "subject to availability" on our website and credit cards are never charged until we know the diamond is available for purchase."

So what happened with my transaction? Why was my credit card charged without knowing that the diamond was available for purchase, something you claim to "never" do.

 

[bludiva]

Thanks for your reply, I do understand how virtual inventory works, I run a business myself that occasionally has to sell product we do not currently have. But when we do sell things we don't have, we are 110% sure that we will have the things we sell. And we would certainly never take someone's payment if we are not more than confident we will have those items to sell.

I am more bothered by the fact that I have been lied to repeatedly by them, to the point where it's obvious that I am just being strung along at this point.

-They shouldn't have told me that they would for sure be shipping the stone the same day they charged my card or the next day at the latest (it didn't happen)
-When I called to inquire about why the item hasn't shipped 24 hours after my card was charged, they shouldn't have told me it's because they couldn't get in contact with their vendor (that was a lie, it was sold to someone else at that point and they knew it, but just didn't want to tell me that)
They shouldn't have told me they would call me back as soon as they opened the following day (it didn't happen)
When I talked to them this morning they shouldn't have told me they will be calling me back in the next 3-4 hours with an update (it didn't happen)

Additionally, their proposed resolution of waiting four more days to untangle this and sort this out is poor. My credit card is now maxed out, and I'm unable to source a diamond anywhere else because of this. I'm basically at the mercy of whatever joke of a resolution they have planned out for me, which so far has been nothing but a string of lies and waiting games for promises that are consistently broken. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if Monday rolls around to be told that they are going to need another week for a resolution.

In response to another review posted about a similar situation, B2C claimed "Unfortunately this was the case with your selection, and this is why all diamonds are clearly labeled "subject to availability" on our website and credit cards are never charged until we know the diamond is available for purchase."

So what happened with my transaction? Why was my credit card charged without knowing that the diamond was available for purchase, something you claim to "never" do.

I believe they have 24 hour customer service, can you get on the phone with a manager and have the transaction reversed immediately?

It sucks that their mistake is costing you time and stress. I did notice in email communication with them that we got different answers from different people sometimes. Maybe there was a bad handoff internally, but there's no reason they shouldn't be able to rectify it more quickly than Monday if you don't want to wait for them to try and can get that specific stone for you.

 

[whitewave]

He shouldn't have been charged $12,000 though unless the diamond was 100% in their possession. That's just my opinion.

I agree, if he/she was indeed charged, which is also why I tagged diamond hawk-- to give him a heads up.

I understand 12k is a lot of money.

 

[whitewave]

Thanks for your reply, I do understand how virtual inventory works, I run a business myself that occasionally has to sell product we do not currently have. But when we do sell things we don't have, we are 110% sure that we will have the things we sell. And we would certainly never take someone's payment if we are not more than confident we will have those items to sell.

I am more bothered by the fact that I have been lied to repeatedly by them, to the point where it's obvious that I am just being strung along at this point.

-They shouldn't have told me that they would for sure be shipping the stone the same day they charged my card or the next day at the latest (it didn't happen)
-When I called to inquire about why the item hasn't shipped 24 hours after my card was charged, they shouldn't have told me it's because they couldn't get in contact with their vendor (that was a lie, it was sold to someone else at that point and they knew it, but just didn't want to tell me that)
They shouldn't have told me they would call me back as soon as they opened the following day (it didn't happen)
When I talked to them this morning they shouldn't have told me they will be calling me back in the next 3-4 hours with an update (it didn't happen)

Additionally, their proposed resolution of waiting four more days to untangle this and sort this out is poor. My credit card is now maxed out, and I'm unable to source a diamond anywhere else because of this. I'm basically at the mercy of whatever joke of a resolution they have planned out for me, which so far has been nothing but a string of lies and waiting games for promises that are consistently broken. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if Monday rolls around to be told that they are going to need another week for a resolution.

In response to another review posted about a similar situation, B2C claimed "Unfortunately this was the case with your selection, and this is why all diamonds are clearly labeled "subject to availability" on our website and credit cards are never charged until we know the diamond is available for purchase."

So what happened with my transaction? Why was my credit card charged without knowing that the diamond was available for purchase, something you claim to "never" do.

But I don't understand how waiting to see if the stone you want is back in inventory on Monday is poor customer service! That is good customer service. They are trying to get you the stone you want. They can't go over to whoever has it with guns and steal it.

 

[whitewave]

Thanks for your reply, I do understand how virtual inventory works, I run a business myself that occasionally has to sell product we do not currently have. But when we do sell things we don't have, we are 110% sure that we will have the things we sell. And we would certainly never take someone's payment if we are not more than confident we will have those items to sell.

I am more bothered by the fact that I have been lied to repeatedly by them, to the point where it's obvious that I am just being strung along at this point.

-They shouldn't have told me that they would for sure be shipping the stone the same day they charged my card or the next day at the latest (it didn't happen)
-When I called to inquire about why the item hasn't shipped 24 hours after my card was charged, they shouldn't have told me it's because they couldn't get in contact with their vendor (that was a lie, it was sold to someone else at that point and they knew it, but just didn't want to tell me that)
They shouldn't have told me they would call me back as soon as they opened the following day (it didn't happen)
When I talked to them this morning they shouldn't have told me they will be calling me back in the next 3-4 hours with an update (it didn't happen)

Additionally, their proposed resolution of waiting four more days to untangle this and sort this out is poor. My credit card is now maxed out, and I'm unable to source a diamond anywhere else because of this. I'm basically at the mercy of whatever joke of a resolution they have planned out for me, which so far has been nothing but a string of lies and waiting games for promises that are consistently broken. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if Monday rolls around to be told that they are going to need another week for a resolution.

In response to another review posted about a similar situation, B2C claimed "Unfortunately this was the case with your selection, and this is why all diamonds are clearly labeled "subject to availability" on our website and credit cards are never charged until we know the diamond is available for purchase."

So what happened with my transaction? Why was my credit card charged without knowing that the diamond was available for purchase, something you claim to "never" do.

I think you are also jumping through fantastic loops to fill in the blanks with what you think they did. It sounds like it was late in the day when they said they had to call the supplier. What makes you think that is a lie and the supplier was open? Some of these stones are overseas.

 

[HappyNewLife]

Thanks for your reply, I do understand how virtual inventory works, I run a business myself that occasionally has to sell product we do not currently have. But when we do sell things we don't have, we are 110% sure that we will have the things we sell. And we would certainly never take someone's payment if we are not more than confident we will have those items to sell.

I am more bothered by the fact that I have been lied to repeatedly by them, to the point where it's obvious that I am just being strung along at this point.

-They shouldn't have told me that they would for sure be shipping the stone the same day they charged my card or the next day at the latest (it didn't happen)
-When I called to inquire about why the item hasn't shipped 24 hours after my card was charged, they shouldn't have told me it's because they couldn't get in contact with their vendor (that was a lie, it was sold to someone else at that point and they knew it, but just didn't want to tell me that)
They shouldn't have told me they would call me back as soon as they opened the following day (it didn't happen)
When I talked to them this morning they shouldn't have told me they will be calling me back in the next 3-4 hours with an update (it didn't happen)

Additionally, their proposed resolution of waiting four more days to untangle this and sort this out is poor. My credit card is now maxed out, and I'm unable to source a diamond anywhere else because of this. I'm basically at the mercy of whatever joke of a resolution they have planned out for me, which so far has been nothing but a string of lies and waiting games for promises that are consistently broken. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if Monday rolls around to be told that they are going to need another week for a resolution.

In response to another review posted about a similar situation, B2C claimed "Unfortunately this was the case with your selection, and this is why all diamonds are clearly labeled "subject to availability" on our website and credit cards are never charged until we know the diamond is available for purchase."

So what happened with my transaction? Why was my credit card charged without knowing that the diamond was available for purchase, something you claim to "never" do.

I'd file a claim with your CC company. That will put pressure on B2C to credit your card.

 

[whitewave]

I'd file a claim with your CC company. That will put pressure on B2C to credit your card.

The only issue I think is here is: was his/her CC charged and if so, has he/she asked for a refund? It might take a day to get the refund.

Many places do overnight... my personal best is Blue Nile with my studs. I picked out a diamond pair, added them to a setting and had them in my hand about 24 hours later.

Both High Performance Diamonds and B2C overnighted me the stone for me to approve before setting it. HPD had to order a stuller head for a shank I had and was using. That took about a week. b2C made my setting from CAD and that took about 2-3 weeks.

My asscher from Blue Nile took about 4-7 days to be set and shipped.

OP gave his/her CC info on Tuesday and found out yesterday the stone was unavailable. If they did credit him/her, the CC should be freed up today/tomorrow, if the charge actually happened/went through.

 

[4Cees121]

But I don't understand how waiting to see if the stone you want is back in inventory on Monday is poor customer service! That is good customer service. They are trying to get you the stone you want. They can't go over to whoever has it with guns and steal it.

It's poor service because they informed me the diamond was held for me and promised it would ship immediately after payment. Obviously that was not the case, which means 1 of 2 scenarios occurred:

1. Either B2C lied to me about actually having a hold on the diamond or messed up the hold by not communicating to their vendor partner they received payment on the stone.
2. The vendor with the diamond handled the transaction poorly, by not respecting the hold and sending it to another company.

If it was scenario number 1, that's obviously unacceptable.

If it was scenario number 2, I understand that that is out of B2C's control, but the poor handling of their vendor partner negatively reflects on B2C's reputation and image. And B2C simply saying to me "oh sorry, we have to wait to see if its sold to the other person or not now and won't know until Monday" is totally unacceptable. If I were B2C I would be contacting that vendor partner that messed up the hold on the stone and saying something like "listen, you messed up the hold on that transaction, so either you are going to get us that diamond back to the person we sold it to, or we are not going to be listing your stones on B2C any longer." B2C is basically rolling over at this point and not standing their ground and flexing their muscles to their vendor partner, which indicates to me that it's entirely possible that scenario 1 is what actually happened here.

 

[4Cees121]

I think you are also jumping through fantastic loops to fill in the blanks with what you think they did. It sounds like it was late in the day when they said they had to call the supplier. What makes you think that is a lie and the supplier was open? Some of these stones are overseas.

Fantastic loops? I don't think so. I am pretty internet savvy, and I know how to do my due diligence by googling GIA numbers to figure out what other vendor's have the stone listed. In this case, it was easy: there was only ONE other website that had the stone listed, and guess what, they are located in the SAME state, New York. B2C could have literally walked over to their office and knocked on the door. Letting a full 24 hours go by after charging my credit card and then telling me they cant get in contact with the vendor because they are now closed doesn't even make sense. They had a full day to get in contact with them. It's obvious they realized a serious mistake was made during business hours and then decided to not be upfront about it instead of owning up to the situation that I am in now.

 

[whitewave]

I think you need to make sure you have a credit and move on.

You need to be dealing with whiteflash or high performance diamonds or brian gavin diamonds or victor canera.

Fantastic loops? I don't think so. I am pretty internet savvy, and I know how to do my due diligence by googling GIA numbers to figure out what other vendor's have the stone listed. In this case, it was easy: there was only ONE other website that had the stone listed, and guess what, they are located in the SAME state, New York. B2C could have literally walked over to their office and knocked on the door. Letting a full 24 hours go by after charging my credit card and then telling me they cant get in contact with the vendor because they are now closed doesn't even make sense. They had a full day to get in contact with them. It's obvious they realized a serious mistake was made during business hours and then decided to not be upfront about it instead of owning up to the situation that I am in now.

You made that up. You have no way to know if it was down the street. The other vendor is not the diamond supplier. They are both pulling from virtual inventory, as are other places around the world.

 

[whitewave]

Whiteflash explains it very well: https://www.whiteflash.com/about-diamonds/whiteflash-policies/other-diamonds.htm
"Upon receipt of your payment we will have the manufacturer ship the diamond to Whiteflash where it will undergo careful review by Whiteflash gemologists...

If for any reason you decide not to proceed with the purchase, 100% of your payment will be refunded within five business days....

Virtual diamonds that we list or that we source for you are typically available, but they are always subject to prior sale up to the point that your funds are received. Should the stone be unavailable, at your option we will either refund your payment or attempt to find a comparable diamond."

--------------

I can tell you it happens all the time with vendors like James Allen where someone goes to buy the diamond and it is then found to be unavailable.

You clearly can't deal with virtual inventory/world market diamonds. You want to deal with a company that has "in house" diamonds. In house diamonds tend to be more expensive, because they are in house, ready to ship and have been vetted by gemologists meaning they have passed quality control.


You forgot #3 which is likely what happened: the diamond manufacturer gave the stone to someone else, but the database was not updated and was showing available to B2C. Then it took a day for B2C to get in touch with the supplier (very possibly overseas) who was then able to verify the diamond had already been sent elsewhere, which brings us to yesterday evening.

 

[whitewave]

So to put it bluntly, what you experienced is a standard scenario in dealing with virtual inventory, including charging you in order to secure the diamond, then finding out the diamond is unavailable from the supplier, to then either waiting to see if it becomes available, refunding your charge, or appliying it to a new diamond you found.

Welcome to the world of virtual inventory. Nothing out of the ordinary happened to you, other than you were one of the unfortunate many whose stone tuned out to be not available.

 

[whitewave]

Here is another post explaining virtual inventory (I believe this is important for future users who search the term):

https://www.pricescope.com/communit...r-vendors-who-offer-virtual-inventory.175026/

Notice how rockdiamond (Diamonds by Lauren) explains what is not provided with virtual inventory: service and that it sometimes takes 24 hours for the database to remove stones, and that the stones in the inventory are selected by consumers AND vendors both:

"But another value may not be as evident- the dealer that purchases diamonds may be selecting stones from the same pool consumers see online in a "virtual" state- except, dealers buy in person.
This affects the overall quality of the inventory. GIA graded SI2's, for example, may possess a far higher percentage of eye clean stones in a "physical" dealer's inventory, compared to the percentage of eye clean stones on the list.

There's many cases where the stones get removed from the list quickly- but it may take to 24 hours. (emphasis mine)

"Memo" is when one dealer "lends" the diamond to another.
In such cases the stone might still show as available- and could lead to a situation where a consumer purchases a diamond from a list that's not available. When the dealer who owns sees that it sold on the web, he'll call whoever has it on memo
if the guy he memo'd it to tells him- "Bill me"- the stone may not be available to the consumer who bought it off the list.
That's one reason 100% compliance with the list will never happen.

I think that there's room for both.
A lot of people love the idea of the least expensive method, and are willing to give up the additional service. Others find that the relationship with the seller is important- and worth the money in this type of purchase."


------------
You want to blame B2C about an INDUSTRY issue.

 

[whitewave]

Continuing from the thread linked above:
Rhino (August Vintage, formerly/still also with Good old Gold) says in answer to the question of "are stones removed instantly?"

"Should be but can't. It depends on how quickly the supplier removes it from the virtual list. There are many companies that do not update their lists as quickly as we'd like. There are some manufacturers that have their inventories listed and the greater majority of it not be available either. It is very frustrating sometimes."

Also
"Yes it could be instant but it would require each manufacturers inventory being listed and linked on a real time database. Currently their inventories must be uploaded manually and any changes must be done in house, then uploaded."

Rhino notes that Good old Gold does not link virtual inventories because they want the customer to know on the front end that his/her stone is available. This is service, which GOG excels in, but you also pay slightly more for their time, effort and customer service.

 

[MollyMalone]

I'd file a claim with your CC company. That will put pressure on B2C to credit your card.

Don't think a credit card company will initiate the charge-back procedure unless the consumer sought a refund & the merchant/vendor has refused or has not issued the refund within a reasonable amount of time (and no, 24-48 hours is not the outer limit of reasonable amount of time). So far as I can tell, 4Cees has not yet actually requested a refund.

It's entirely possible that 4Cee's credit card account has not actually been charged; altho' there may be a hold for the purchase price. There are more players, and steps, in a credit card transaction than just us consumers and the merchant/vendor; the final steps, clearing and settlement, don't happen instantaneously after we provide our credit card info:
https://wallethub.com/edu/credit-card-transaction/25511/

 

[whitewave]

Don't think a credit card company will initiate the charge-back procedure unless the consumer sought a refund & the merchant/vendor has refused or has not issued the refund within a reasonable amount of time (and no, 24-48 hours is not the outer limit of reasonable amount of time). So far as I can tell, 4Cees has not yet actually requested a refund.

It's entirely possible that 4Cee's credit card account has not actually been charged; altho' there may be a hold for the purchase price. There are more players, and steps, in a credit card transaction than just us consumers and the merchant/vendor; the final steps, clearing and settlement, don't happen instantaneously after we provide our credit card info:
https://wallethub.com/edu/credit-card-transaction/25511/

I was also thinking there may be a "hold" on the CC.

I agree it is unclear/not specified if OP actually requested a refund. I also think it appears that OP has not.

 

[bludiva]

I agree it's unclear - if a refund hasn't been requested then B2C seems to be doing what they can to get the item for the OP. If a refund WAS requested and refused, that would be SERIOUSLY not ok.

People buy from B2C because it's cheaper....one of the things you give up as a trade-off is the full service you would get with some of the other vendors WhiteWave mentioned. In my case some of the communication handoffs were not smooth, but we were willing to deal with it in order to save ~20% compared to other vendors.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

whitewave has done a thorough job exlaining why these things happen with buying virtual stones. But I wante to clarify one thing the OP said. A diamond you found at one other online vendor doesn't mean that only one other company has access. There could be hundreds of jewelry stores that have access to that list. Online sources are certainly not the only places that buy stones from supplier's inventories.

I don't think there was anything dishonest. The phone sales person can only say what they see on their computer screen about the status of the order. It's extremely unlikely they are the ones making the contact with the supplier to order the diamond and following up if the stone is not sent.

It does sound like you'd be happier buying from a vendor whose stones are in-house.

 

[MollyMalone]

I think you need to make sure you have a credit and move on.
You need to be dealing with whiteflash or high performance diamonds or brian gavin diamonds or victor canera. * * *

If I may clarify: although Victor Canera assures the reader that the diamonds listed on his web site (currently there are 208 ) are all owned by VC & in his possession -- 2nd FAQ here
https://www.victorcanera.com/service/faqs
-- Whiteflash, High Performance Diamonds, and Brian Gavin too have virtual inventory, e.g., HPD does not have 600+ diamonds totaling mega dollar$ in house (those are all the Crafted by Infinity diamonds known to be, hopefully, available). If you want to consider in-house diamonds only, it's easy peasy to have the PS Diamonds Search function retrieve only in-house diamonds from all those in the database. But FYI, there's no iron-clad guarantee that any particular in-house diamond will be yours for the asking; for example, I've noticed that sometimes when you go to a Good Old Gold page from the PS Diamond Search results, there may be a notation that that specific diamond is "out on memo" or words to that effect.

 

[whitewave]

@diamondseeker2006 yes, we have no idea in the world where that stone is. It is even possible a woman has been wearing it for months now...

@bludiva yes, I'm glad OP started this thread because virtual inventory is something we don't talk about much here. We have been talking about "lurkers snatching stones" and then the consumer comes back to the post and asks us to help find a new one. What is likely really happening is those stones were unavailable for a while and it wasn't until the merchant (say James Allen) went to call for it that they discovered it was unavailable because of these virtual selection issues.

@MollyMalone good point to always ask about in house stones to be sure...

 

[igs]

Hi, It's Martin Sheffield. When a diamond is sold to a customer, a credit card should only be taken if the diamond is 100% secured for the customer. Before taking the credit card the vendor must make a last minute call to the wholesaler and confirm that yes, the diamond is available for my customer. The vendor must tell the wholesaler that the diamond is sold and 'under no circumstance' does it go to any other party. Only, and only at that point should the vendor do up an invoice for the customer and put the credit card through. What happened here puts a lot of stress and anxiety on what should be a very happy and smooth purchase for the customer.

 

[whitewave]

@4Cees121 martin's website is USAcertified diamonds if you want to check it out