B2Cjewels: "Holiday" or elaborate "bait-and-switch"?

[acrunkle]

As many of you, I took the purchase of the stone very seriously!

Now, before I continue, let me say this: B2C has been extremely helpful, and Samuel and Rio have done a great job working with/for me. They're responsive to my emails and patient with my questions, and I certainly don't want to say anything negative about them as they have been extremely helpful. I just wanted to let everyone know my experience as it was happening.

Anyways, after researching an emerald cut for six or eight weeks, I felt comfortable that I would be able to look at the specifications of a stone, it's dimensions as well as certification, and determine the "best" stone for the price/carat.

I began at the large retailers (Zales, Kay, etc.), and quickly realized they were literally twice the price for an inferior stone (if you don't believe me, take a look at the links below). Either way, I searched through hundreds of diamonds, and I finally came to B2Cjewels.com via PriceScope. Needless to say, I didn't jump at the idea of purchasing a stone online with only a picture as a reference. However, as I continued to look through diamonds/wholesalers, B2C had the best price for the most stone. So, I finally contacted them regarding a stone. When I emailed them, they told me the stone was overseas and wouldn't be available until Oct. 31st due to a regional festival/holiday. A bit strange, but, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt due to a vast majority of reviews of B2Cjewels are very positive.

Being a scientist and realizing the value in multiple data points/opinions, I decided to speak with a retailer regarding the stone of interest, and he was of the opinion the stone I wanted to purchase was a "lost leader". In other words, he believes the stone was simply "bait" in a "bait-and-switch" scam, and when Oct. 31st arrives, he believes B2C will tell me the stone is either #1) unavailable for an undisclosed reason, #2) cannot be sold for the price originally quoted, or #3) cannot be sold to me due to quality control determining the stone was "damaged during transit". He also anticipates, once they tell me the stone isn't available, they will then offer me inferior (or smaller) stones for the price of the original stone.

Being a gambling man (and since they have a 30-day return policy), I figured what's the worst that could happen? If it is a scam, I'll simply ask for a refund, and take my money elsewhere. But, if it's not and B2C is true to their word, I'll have the perfect stone for my bride to be. Hence, I bought the stone, and am eagerly awaiting it's arrival.

So, please, stay tuned for the saga "B2C: Holiday or Horror Story".

(Kay: Emerald Cut, 1.01ct, F color, VVS1 Very Good cut, IGI certified, lenght/width:1.30
$14,100
http://design.kay-diamonds.com/diamonds/diamond/diam40106/

B2C Jewels:
Emerald Cut, 1.24ct, F Color, VVS1 Very Good Cut, GIA certified, length/width:1.44 $6,478.60
http://www.b2cjewels.com/dd-6233725-1.24-carat-Emerald-diamond-F-color-VVS1-clarity.aspx

Enhanced Diamonds:
Emerald Cut, 1.03ct, F Color, IF clarity, Excellent Cut, GIA certified, length/width:1.46 $5,080
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/E103-1JDRB2)

 

[Diamondbug]

If the stone is located in India there's an annual festival going and you would be lucky if you are able to see the stone even on 31st Oct.

Oh and the jeweller who you talked to who said that someone's just going to Bait-and-switch just like that is just jealous the sale isn't through him.

All the possibilities that you have mentioned are indeed possible. Don't you think its obvious for a stone to be sold somewhere else? Is it just not obvious that a vendor will give you an alternative?

+1 Yep this ^^

 

[luvdajules]

HI OP, thanks for your post, but like others have said, I wouldn't be too worried. From what I've seen so far, the vendor seems to operate with best intentions/practices but things do happen in such a large operation and Diamond Hawk (a trade rep who posts here) seems very interested to fix any issues or at least provide options and assistance. Anyway, good luck with your purchase....I'm not an emerald cut expert by any means but I'm surprised at the ASET of the stone you selected. I would have thought more red and green throughout the stone would be better, more lively performance. I see a lot of white (leakage) and blue, which is contrast no? So, might look dark? I'm sorry, I'm learning too. If someone could explain why the OP stone is likely a good performer, I'd really like to know (one day, I'd like to do a 3 stone emerald cut in a pave split shank setting). Fancy cuts are a challenge and I salute your willingness to take on extra work.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Hello acrunckle,
I would not be worried about an intentional bait and switch, but there are inherent uncertainties in purchasing from virtual inventories which can lead to disappointments, including the unavailability of the diamond. But as you point out there can also be some significant advantages if all goes according to plan. Good luck in your quest.

Since you have been researching emerald cuts for many weeks now, you undoubtedly know that there are more variables to consider in this shape. There are some people here on this forum that know alot about emerald cuts and may be able to give you additional insight that would be useful to you. I would recommend that you start another thread with a subject line such as "advice on emerald cuts". They will help you analyze ASET images and other gemological data.

 

[Diamondbug]

I would have thought more red and green throughout the stone would be better, more lively performance. I see a lot of white (leakage) and blue, which is contrast no? So, might look dark?

Yes I agree with luvdajules. The aset is not very good. Mostly blue and not enough red and greens. In the photo the steps can be seen clearly but the stone looks dark, which could be just lighting but aset shows there is not much brightness.

You want aset more like this one

 

[denverappraiser]

Yes, there’s a holiday going on in India. B2C is a credible company but yes, there’s a certain amount of risk of things being sold to someone ahead of you or just screw ups in the supply chain but no, I don’t think it’s likely to be a part of an elaborate or even not so elaborate ‘bait and switch’.

 

[WinkHPD]

As a vendor, Internet type, 1 each, I was going to jump in and holler "Calf Rope!" about the moron Retailer who felt that bashing those evil Internet vendors was in any way a smart move.

Since I see so many already doing so, I will refrain.

What I will say, is that the independent retailers who have learned to compete with the Internet by offering diamonds at the same prices as the Internet vendors and making their profits from the sale of truly great quality custom made mountings are doing just fine, thank you. I know many of them from around the country and am proud to call them friends as well as competitors.

For those who have not figured it out yet; "YOUR CHEESE HAS BEEN MOVED! GET OVER IT!"

Wink

P.S. If I was allowed by board rules to compliment fellow board members who are competitors, I would add that to my post.

 

[Diamond_Hawk]

B2C had the best price for the most stone. So, I finally contacted them regarding a stone. When I emailed them, they told me the stone was overseas and wouldn't be available until Oct. 31st due to a regional festival/holiday.

acrunkle,

I just wanted to reach out to you since you have specifically asked about our policies. A quick clarification - the diamond you have inquired about at B2C is, indeed, coming from a supplier in India and they are in the midst of Diwali - a festival of religious significance, but it also indicates the change of the fiscal year. Our customer service office cannot promise contact with them until after October 31st - which falls on a Friday (please note - as indicated above by Denverappraiser - this is the first opportunity ANYONE will have to confirm the diamond is still available). While we might get confirmation that same day (time zone differences also come into play) I would expect the earliest you will hear back is November 3rd after the weekend. But, rest assured, we are committed to excellent customer service and want to maintain the reputation we have gained across the internet for doing right by our customers.

 

[JulieN]

Yes it is Diwali right now, a major holiday in India.

 

[2Neezers]

Acrunkle,
I remembered reading a post about this vendor recently from someone who was unable to get the stone they ordered.
Here's that post:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/helluva-deal-educate-me-please.206520/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/helluva-deal-educate-me-please.206520/[/URL]
I highly doubt that they would intentionally pull a bait and switch, and I have read many post from people here that were happy with their purchases. I think these things just happen sometimes when trying to manage a huge virtual inventory.
Good luck!

 

[tyty333]

Edit - I have realized that you were not asking about the stone and this post was mostly about bait-and-switch so ignore the
following.

Anyways, after researching an emerald cut for six or eight weeks, I felt comfortable that I would be able to look at the specifications of a stone, it's dimensions as well as certification, and determine the "best" stone for the price/carat.

A, your logic has some problems. I guess it all depends how you define "best" stone for price/carat. I think you would have been
better off if it were a bait and switch stone because that one you picked out has a really bad aset image and looks all black in
the real image. So if you consider "best" to be a darker stone when looking straight on and then all white when tilted (where
you don't see many steps, just on or off like a mirror) you may have found one. Most people consider a well cut stone to show
mostly white (red/green parts of aset) with a smaller amount of contrast (blue part of aset) to show the "steps" in the emerald.

Some research on Pricescope would have told you that you can not buy fancy cut stones by the numbers.
You need pictures and aset images and the ones that you've got would have told us it's not a great stone. You also would
have learned to read aset images for emeralds.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it comes out looking better than its picture and aset show.

One last question...did b2c recommend this stone to you?

 

[Gypsy]

UM. That is a TERRIBLE diamond. That ASET is horrendous.

I hope they don't have it in.

Seriously. Return it now. Or cancel hte purchase.


And learn to read an ASET. http://www.winkjones.com/index.php?page=education-performance

You want red not blue!!!

 

[drk14]

Acrunkle,
I remembered reading a post about this vendor recently from someone who was unable to get the stone they ordered.
Here's that post:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/helluva-deal-educate-me-please.206520/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/helluva-deal-educate-me-please.206520/[/URL]
I highly doubt that they would intentionally pull a bait and switch, and I have read many post from people here that were happy with their purchases. I think these things just happen sometimes when trying to manage a huge virtual inventory.
Good luck!

For anybody too busy to read the thread referenced above, the OP (Lizabeth) was waiting on shipment of a virtual diamond, and wrote this update about what happened when B2C did their in-house QC:

Well, didn't get the diamond. Got an email from B2C saying "after a second quality check" it was found that "this diamond has an abraded cutlet with heavy surface training that looks frizzy under magnification." They, of course, offered me an alternative stone that "matches my specifications" -- with a 5.6 HCA. So much for that.

(emphasis mine)

Although I have no personal experience with B2C, I can say from experience with another well-respected PS vendor (as well as from reading threads about other consumers' experiences with various PS vendors) that with few exceptions (e.g., GOG comes to mind), the vendor's sales associates are often not very skilled at selecting PS-quality diamonds from virtual inventory! Thus, if a PS-approved virtual diamond turns out to be unavailable from the source or does not pass vendor's QC (as in Lizabeth's case), it is probably more common than not that the sales associate's suggested replacement will be of inferior quality. This is not a sign of "bait-and switch" tactics. And the remedy, of course, is to go back to PS for additional assistance in selecting a new diamond (instead of relying on the sales associate to suggest something).

 

[MelisendeDiamonds]

UM. That is a TERRIBLE diamond. That ASET is horrendous.

I hope they don't have it in.

Seriously. Return it now. Or cancel hte purchase.


And learn to read an ASET. http://www.winkjones.com/index.php?page=education-performance

You want red not blue!!!

I have no idea what is going on with B2Cs ASET images perhaps they can clarify.

i) not photographed it looks like CG sampled or processed at very low resolution
ii) likely from a bad scan
iii) looks much worse than it should

I think this image tells me that whatever process they used to generate it is flawed much more than it represents the appearance of the diamond. Step cuts are hard to photograph and ASET images of step cuts can vary a lot more depending on the image setup.

 

[Gypsy]

I disagree. If you look at a large sample of ASETs from B2C, like I have, you'll see that the photographs match the ASETs quite closely.
Take a look at their ASET set up, over a number of steps cuts, and you'll see what I see.

That stone photograph matches the ASET. That stone is a dud. A big time dud.

 

[MelisendeDiamonds]

I disagree. If you look at a large sample of ASETs from B2C, like I have, you'll see that the photographs match the ASETs quite closely.
Take a look at their ASET set up, over a number of steps cuts, and you'll see what I see.

That stone photograph matches the ASET. That stone is a dud. A big time dud.

As you know trade are not supposed to comment subjectively on other vendor's stones so I'm not going to comment on that aspect.
It could very well be a dud but I do caution about drawing sweeping conclusions based on such poor quality CG ASET images.
I see a lot of bad scan ASET images on AGSL grading reports as well.

 

[Lizabeth]

The diamond I ordered/"purchased" seemed to be an incredible deal. Gypsy said there's usually a reason for a lower than average price. When I asked B2C about the diamond (which wasn't in house) and why it was priced as it was, the rep could identify no reason, saying it looked "pretty good." Several days later I was told they got the stone, it had "graining" issues, and they wouldn't be sending it to me or charging me for it. They suggested another stone that was roughly the same size, color, clarity and cost -- but the HCA was much higher. I declined.

So ... was it a bait and switch situationsituation? I'm guessing not. As Gypsy said, there was a reason the stone was priced as it was.

 

[denverappraiser]

That's a really bad looking ASET image. So much so that I agree there's a suspicion about whether the problem is with the scan, the image generation software or something else rather than the stone. In any case, that's the seller's problem, not the buyers. Pass. It's their ad, let them work out whatever issues they may have with it. Whether it's a dud or just looks like one on TV doesn't make a bit of difference. I agree, pick a different one.