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Bad Experience - Platinumsmith.com.au (Phillip Schmidt) Melb Australia

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cmelb

cmelb

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Apr 17, 2006
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For Australians or anyone thinking of getting a hand made ring by www.platinumsmith.com.au Phillip Schmidt Please READ BELOW & DONT MAKE THE MISTAKE THAT I DID.

I took everyone advise and went to http://www.platinumsmith.com.au Phillip Schmidt here in Melbourne Australia and everything went well and he told me he can make the ring.

Before he went ahead and made the ring which was a standard Vatche xprong ring with 4prongs for my Asscher he stated to me the ring would be more perfect and with no join lines to be seen anywhere on the ring.



I went and picked up the ring late at night and that following night under better lighting conditions I discovered the following.

1. Deep scratch marks the hole band that can be easily seen with the naked eye.

2. Discolorations spots on outside of the Platinum band.

3. Shoulders where it joins to the bezel is all crooked and looks ugly and cheap & not flush with the top of the bezel.

4. Prongs not all the same height.

5. Ring Size didn't make as requested, 1/2 size smaller.



When I called him the following day regarding my concern on Discolorations spots outside of the Platinum band and the Deep Scratch marks Phillip Schmidt just threw abuse and threatened me and told me to go and F@#K myself and what do I expect from a hand made ring and that he didn't want to no about the problems.

I knew something would go wrong as when I first met him with my partner he was acting very cocky bringing down and talking down all other business here in Melb, besides being focused on what my partner wanted.



What great customer service, I also want to point out he had LOST MY DIAMOND when I was there and I happen to find it on the floor next to the leg of the table.



For anyone considering getting a Hand made ring, keep away from http://www.platinumsmith.com.au Phillip Schmidt (He doesn't care about any concerns if you have after he has finished the ring)



Look what he wrote about Pricescope on his website http://www.platinumsmith.com.au/essays_1_custom_works.htm



I went to so many other jewelers that where nice and polite here in Melbourne and I showed them the ring Phillip Schmidt had done and there answer was that it looks very rushed worked and they got out there hand made rings and showed me all there work which was absolutely great compared to platinumsmith.com.au work.



.

 
that stinks
several other PS members have used him and were very happy with his products.
Im not sure what the consumer protection laws are like down there but you might want to look into it.
 
You poor thing. This is the second jeweler that has done this to you. If your not happy with the ring why don''t you ask for your money back?
BTW: Do you have any photos.
 

I will try and take some pictures, but I have a old camera so I don't know how they will turn out. I'm especially angry with the discoloration on the outside of the platinum band, and the crooked join which you can see from 3 feet away and in daylight you can see all the flaws very easy anyone could spot them "makes me sick"..




I will be taking action, I'm not letting this guy Phillip Schmidt get away with this. I've shown the ring two other jewelers who hand make platinum jewelery and they said no wonder he wanted you to pick the ring up late at night and his workplace is wasn't very well lit up so I couldn't spot the flaws until I got home as he was in a hurry to go home.

Update: tried to take some pics, my camera cant get the focus.

Also want to add, he told me out of 1000 rings that are hand made, there is 1 in every 1000 of having some discoloration. Thats why his office lights where not all on, is becauce he knew this and wanted to take my money and give me a excuse as he was in a hurry to go home, so i couldnt look at the ring properly.

If I noticed the flaws there at his office on the ring I wouldnt have paid for the ring.


 
You''re obviously very upset with this guy. Why don''t you ask for a refund and be done with it. If he won''t give you your money back and there is actually a tangeable fault he will have to reimburse you anyway, and he will have to pay your court fees as well.
 
He offered to refund me and then changed his mind, he also wanted me to leave my ring there and for me to come later on to collect it and to charge me $200 for him removing the diamond.

And If I could have got my money back I would have and got the ring re-made someone else.


I will be taking action against him. Im ringing other jewellers now to see what advise they can offer me regarding what to do with this guy.
 
Date: 7/1/2006 9:14:53 PM
Author: cmelb
I''m especially angry with the discoloration on the outside of the platinum band, and the crooked join which you can see from 3 feet away and in daylight you can see all the flaws very easy anyone could spot them ''makes me sick''..
Click to expand...

Why be "especially angry" about any of this. If you want Tiffany quality - buy from Tiffany, plain & simple. Handmade rings are never going to live up to that kind of perfection - it''s like comparing apples to kiwi.

His own email to you on his site says he''ll refund your money & charge $100 to remove the stone. That seems entirely reasonable IMHO. HE''S DONE ALL THIS WORK ALREADY -- just because it''s not "up to your (possibly impossible) standards" doesn''t mean he should walk away empty handed after DOING MORE WORK! And, by the way, assuming RISK if the stone breaks. That''s worth $100 easily!

Drama breeds more drama. Cool off & maybe everyone else will too.
 
He posted a response on his web site.
 
What a load of rubbish that he has written, he did more then that. And on his site accusing that I made threats to him and also accusing me of calling him at midnight.

What you call your cutomers all dickheads Phillip when they raise concerns why dont you speak the truth and tell the rest of the story the other foul langauge you used when I raised my concern regarding the discoloration in the platinum.

And what other jewller, I had only dealt with you.

Alls I will say he lies and lies and the 2 jewellers that I saw already told me that his work is rough.
 
cmelb, it might be a good idea for you to chill out a little. Phillip has offered you a refund after removing the stone for $100 which does not seem unreasonable (not $200 as you are claiming now). He does not say anything about PS on his site that I could see. Phillip does not appear to be being unreasonable at all, perhaps you should take him up on his offer and have the situation over and done with! Seeing as neither parties will offer a picture of the ring it is impossibe to determine that the concerns that you have about the ring are as excruciating as you feel they are. Try to take the emotion out of the situation (which is hard) and treat it as a business transaction, you are unhappy, so reverse it without turning it into a bigger headache for yourself and your partner. What I say might seem harsh but the whole ring experience has turned into a disaster and you DO NOT want your partner to always remember what is meant to be such a special time in her life as crap.

When this is over, I can recommend an excellent jeweller in Melbourne where I purchased my hand made ering, that you could approach.

Good luck and remember this isn''t just about your anger... it''s about the woman you love as well.
 
not seeing anything on the website he must have removed it.
 
It''s there......go to the link above re:Pricescope( custom links)
 
My partner and I went to him, I told him my situation what happened with the other jeweller how I was ripped off. I was upfront and honest with him.

I asked him if he can make the ring, his reply was yes. He does have pictures of the ring as myself and my nephew where there when he took the pictures.

When I called him, and yes I do have this all on tape him abusing me and threatning me for 2 minutes soon as I brought up the discoloration and the scratches he went off his head.

Is that nice way to treat someone, NO. I paid him fairly to do a job and he has pictures why dosent he post them on here for everyone to see without editing them.

WOULD YOU BE HAPPY WITH DISCOLORATION ON THE OUTSIDE OF YOUR BAND AND SCATCH MARKS ALL OVER THE RING AND THE CROOKED JOINS THAT ARE EYE VISIBLE, NO.

I am upset at the way I was treated and his langauge and the end result I recieved, two jewllers that I took the ring to see showed me all there work how they join the shoulders to the Bezel, no way can you see the join there work but on my ring that Phillip did you can see it from 3 feet away and its crooked.

And on his website you will seet hat he wrote he has no interest in the odd discolorations, what type of business is he and what after service care does he offer NONE.

He started this, he could have been nice and told me ok, bring it in and let me look at it.
 
cmelb,

I am sorry about your experience with Phillip Schmidt Platinumsmith. I debated about whether I should jump into this thread as I have had issues with platinumsmith before. I am appalled that he is still pulling this sh*t a year on from the bad taste he''s left in my mouth.

What you have described is exactly what I had to go through with him when I expressed my misgivings about some of the pieces he made for me. He certainly doesn''t provide aftersales service of any sort after receiving payment, especially if a customer DARE point out that what they got wasn''t good enough. For me, my problem was with a set of pave rings he made, and another ring which had very obviously uneven sides. He refused to fix it, and even slagged me off on Pricescope.

I think you will be better off selling the ring back to him if he has offered to buy it back for the price u paid. It is better than what I had to go through - losing tens of thousands of dollars because I had to scrap the rings he made for me.

Date: 7/1/2006 8:45:22 PM
Author: strmrdr
that stinks

several other PS members have used him and were very happy with his products.

Im not sure what the consumer protection laws are like down there but you might want to look into it.
Click to expand...

Strm,

I''m sure there has been ps members who has had pieces bought from him and were happy with the results. I was one of the first few pscoper who had work made by him and I was very vocal about endorsing his work, which also led to other ps members going to him. However, when I had issues with his work and revoked that hearty endorsement, not many ppl were aware of it because I didn''t make a big deal out of it (see page 2 of this thread)

For every PS member happy with ''his'' work, I can''t help but wonder - How many non PS ppl had exactly the same issues cnmelb and I had faced? If you look at some of the PS posts by ppl who has had pieces from his workshop, how many are one time posters who came on here just to rave about his work?

Having pride in one''s work is one thing, but to let that overcome basic customer service by calling customers ''dickhead'' and refusing to fix shoddy worksmanship is another thing.

There are no surprises here really. I''m sure if he hadn''t been banned from Pricescope, he will be on here slagging cmelb off like he did to me before.

cmelb, have you been to Precious Metals? I have had custom pieces made there before, and am very happy with the results. I can also vouch that if you have any issues with the finish of your ring, Precious Metals will be more than happy to work with you to refine or fix it. I had slight problems with an eternity ring made by Precious Metals, and Garry Holloway REMADE the entire ring for me at no extra cost. Their customer service is also excellent!
 
I''d pay the $100 bucks and be done with him. I haven''t heard many good things about him, sorry to say. Never dealt with him first hand but know people that have. Sorry you had to go through this, but keep a level head. That''s key in this sort of situation.
2.gif
 
What a liar, he has shrunk the pictures and made them small and edited them so you cant see the flaws. And 100 phone calls, please prove it. Called maybe 7 times and visited him over 1 week twice.
 
As he clearly wants to refund the ring, take your money and get on with your life. You have built a raport with other jewellers so take advantage of that let someone else make your ring. I am sure you have damaged his reputation enough. The other jewellers will never forget if he makes a bad ring.

and when you get your ring make sure you post the photos.
 

jadeleaves: Thankyou for your support and everything you wrote is so true about him.

I will be going to Precious Metals I heard they do great work. I cant beleive I got ripped off again and the way I was treated and abused. This guy Phillip thinks he can just do dodgy workmanship and take your money and dont ever question him.

I didnt know that Phillip was Banned from Pricescope he told me he just dosent post there, another lie I guess thats all he knows is to lie.





 
Hi CMelb,

I''m sorry you''re going through all of this.

How would you like to resolve the situation?

Would you like for him to remake the ring? (doesn''t sound like it)

Fix the existing ring? (again, doesn''t sound like it)

Unmount the stone and refund your money? (do you trust him to do this?)

I did have one thought.

If you (hopefully) paid for the transaction by credit card, in the US, you can dispute the charges through your credit card company. Is it the same in AU?

You could have another jewler (one you trust) unmount the stone. Then you could send the empty setting back to PlatinumSmith, and dispute the charges through the credit card company. You could print his email offer to buy the setting back from you as proof that you''re taking him up on his offer.

Also, if you have the equivalent of the Better Business Bureau, you could file a report with them.

Hope this works out for you. This should be a happy time in your life. Don''t let someone else take that away from you. Figure out how you can resolve this to your satisfaction and put all your energy into getting it done.

Good luck. Let us know what you decide to do.

Best,
LizzyD
 
Date: 7/1/2006 11:08:36 PM
Author: cmelb


jadeleaves: Thankyou for your support and everything you wrote is so true about him.



I will be going to Precious Metals I heard they do great work. I cant beleive I got ripped off again and the way I was treated and abused. This guy Phillip thinks he can just do dodgy workmanship and take your money and dont ever question him.

I didnt know that Phillip was Banned from Pricescope he told me he just dosent post there, another lie I guess thats all he knows is to lie.
Click to expand...

No probs - my only regret is that I wasn''t as vocal about my bad experience with him and that could have made u more aware of his bad business practice and lack of integrity and not go to him in the first place. I suppose I thought he would have learnt from his mistakes and improve on his customer service, but he obviously hadn''t.

His username was banned, but I''m sure he reads PS - he has always regarded PS as a powerful tool to get referrals for his business from what he said to me in the past.
 
Considering the ring was picked up YESTERDAY, I can't imagine how the drama quotient has blown up to such epic proportions ... carrying the ring around town, getting other jewelers opinions on it? Starting this thread seemingly only to rant - rather than seek help finding a resolution?

The entire page of full sized pix look pretty good to me ... and looking at a ring 10 inches x 10 inches wide is a lot different than how it appears in it's ACTUAL size.

Wonder why you won't post some yourself of the damage, especially if its so obvious ... and, why would you keep the ring?? Have someone else remove the stone & return the setting through a third party if you "don't want to see his face again".
3.gif
 
When he took those pictures, they where 3megapixel high resolution shots. He has done some editing from reducing the size of the image you also reduce the qualtity of the picture so the picture becomes less clear more blur.

You can just make out in those pictures where the shoulders meet the bezel and how its not straight, also the small dot on the side of the band is where the discoloration is occuring.

Why dosent he post the real size shots why did he reduce the size of the image to hide the flaws in the ring.

If anyone saw the ring in person you would say take it back.

Im not going to return the ring, or will I let him touch my diamond.

As actually he makes me sick, I dont want to even see his face.

I will be going to another jeweller here in Melbourne, Australia with the ring that he made and I will be getting them to do another similar design the right way.

I've had two jewllers here in Melbourne, that have told me that they had had his customers come in with there rings to either be re-made or repaired as he does rush work and to stay clear from him.

I would like everyone to know, please stay clear of this person Phillip from Platinumsmith.com.au or you will be regretting it like I did.

He will loose your diamond, scrap it against the floor like he did with mine when he droped it and instead of picking it up nicely he scraped it towards himself and there was metal material on the floor from his workbench.

jadeleaves: I feel for both of us and the others who are out there that have had to deal with him. People like him wont last long in the business. Thankyou for coming on here and supporting me also.


 
The Ring was picked up on late friday afternoon when it was dark. I went to two jewellers yesterday. We are a Day ahead here in Australia.
 
You can see in the picture just where the discoloration is occurring. Because he reduced the size of the image he also reduced the quality of the image making it more blur.

assr1.JPG
 
In this picture yet again, because the image has been reduced in size and created blur you can just make out where the shoulder is joined to the bezel and also notice how the top of the shoulder is not level but was filed or what ever he did its on a slant and if viewed properly from the side with a very good picture you would see this and its crooked.

shoulderjoin.JPG
 
Because he reduced the size of the image he also reduced the quality of the image making it more blur.

shoulderdiscol.JPG
 
Note: I used to work in Graphic Design. The pictures are Not good that he took and in real life all the areas makered can be easily seen from 3 feet away with the naked eye and look alot worse when viewing the ring in person.

The Reason Phillip from Platinumsmith.com.au has reduced the pictures is to hide his shonky workmanship.


decodelighted: The pictures might look good to you, but they are not what it seems. He has edited the pictures by rezing them which reduce the quality of the image and he has also touched up where the shoulders meet the bezel.

One thing to clear up, this has nothing to do with Money. This has to do with get what you paid for, to which I didnt and Im not going to waste my time with this guy anymore. And to make it easier on the next jeweller he will just copy that ring with a few slight changes and that will save him alot of work and time.

I just hope I have saved others from making the same mistake I did, from going there thats the reason I started this thread.

 
I CAN TYPE IN BIG BOLD LETTERS TOO
2.gif


BTW ...I don't see any problems that merit this slam-fest ... ESPECIALLY if he agreed to refund your $$??!! What more can any workman do but offer a refund?

Sniff sniff - I smell R-E-V-E-N-G-E.

Oh yeah ... shrinking down pictures from super huge to less huge wouldn't seem to be such an issue if, in fact, the problems are visible at a distance OF THREE FEET.
33.gif
 
Im not here for revenage, just to save someone from going through what I went through.
The Abuse, the swearing and threats what type of business is that.

jadeleaves has also pointed out what type of person he is and I know now also.

decodelighted: Those pictures havent just been reduced in size they have been touched up in certain areas where the flaws are. You would be amazed what you can do with Photoshop.

 
I dunno Deco...have you seen Jadeleaves link about her ring? The jeweler was a bit snarky...and it seems like he was banned due to the thread since he hasn''t posted since that day.

I have no idea what cmelb is like as a customer. But he IS a customer. Platinumsmith is being very harsh on his customer in public medium (although I don''t see how to get to the link that cmelb provided from the jewelers main page.

I am sure there is more to the story than meets the eye though.
 
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