Buyer Beware - Chinese Manufacturing Company

[Tate25]

This is my first time posting but I wanted to share my experience with dealing with a Chinese company called Changxing Jewelry also trading as sister ebay stores ID: jewelryhoo2, jewelryhoo, changxingjewelry, leejewelry, jewelryhoo-custom-design, nicolejewelry2012.

I received a quote for $640 from Changxing Jewelry to manufacture a ring (from a photo I sent them and attached many times during the emails that went back and forth) using my gems (a tanzanite and two diamonds). It was a very simple design. A tanzanite with a diamond each side which I provided and a large shank width 12-15mm wide. I was told it would be 10grams of gold to make the ring but when I had agreed and posted my gems, they close to doubled the amount of gold and increased the labour to $940 USD. I was told that there was no way of knowing from a photo of a ring how much gold was involved. I spoke to a reputable Jeweller I'd worked with a few times in Australia and he said a good Jeweller should know the amount of gold within 20% (plus or minus). This was close to double the grams of gold and an increase of 32% in overall cost.

When asked to reduce the amount of gold by decreasing the width of the shank and revert to previous labour cost (no change had occurred in overall design so labour shouldn't have increased), they didn't want to do the job and said they'd return my gems. This was my Christmas present from my family and its too late now (4 Dec 2014) to get another jeweller to create the ring. I'm so disappointed!

I also found communication to be very poor with lengthy delays to emails even after following up many times to get a response. I asked them to provide a quote on 20 September 2014, to allow plenty of time before to have the ring returned prior to Christmas and received a response from them and quote on 18 October 2014, despite numerous emails (4) requesting they respond. I confirmed the price of $640 (I thought it was AUD as no currency was mentioned but found out later it was actually USD which means an increase in cost) and the amount of gold 10grams (18k), before sending the gems on 20 October 2014. To be told on 29 November 2014, when they have my gems and so close to Christmas that they don't want to do the ring is unprofessional and the sign of a poor company. Reading between the lines, I think they are too busy and have too much work but they should have recognised this and not agreed to do the ring in the first place if this is the case.

I asked for them to pay my original postage cost from Australia to China given the circumstances and they have cheekily suggested I should pay $35 for a CAD drawing and for the cost of their postage of my gems back to me!! At no stage did I say I didn't want the ring done, they decided they didn't want to do the ring any more!

By the way the Changxing Jewelry website says the CAD drawing should take 2 days and instead it took 13 business days and only after much pressure from me.

All up very unimpressed and wouldn't deal with the company again. I asked them to post my gems and provide a tracking number 1/12/14 and still waiting for a response (4/12/14). Not sure now if I'll even get my gems back. If I don't will be writing another review!!

 

[dawnxcui]

what a terrible experience.
if i were you i wouldn't have done that in the first place...
have you even dealt with them before? i would never trust sending anything to vendors that have no PS reviews or i've never had personal experiences with.
i hope you get ur gems back.
sometimes the cheapest option isnt the best option.
im glad you're informing the rest of the PS world about the terrible vendor tho.

 

[T L]

what a terrible experience.
if i were you i wouldn't have done that in the first place...
have you even dealt with them before? i would never trust sending anything to vendors that have no PS reviews or i've never had personal experiences with.
i hope you get ur gems back.
sometimes the cheapest option isnt the best option.
im glad you're informing the rest of the PS world about the terrible vendor tho.

They actually have PS reviews, and I have bought from them before, and some of these store names are in the recommended vendor list. I never sent stones or requested a CAD though. I'm very ambivalent sending stones to be sent anywhere, let alone overseas to a foreign country, so perhaps that's why I never had issues. I do admit that communication with many of these overseas manufacturing firms can be a challenge due to language barriers.

I also agree that once given a quote, it should remain solid, unless the customer requests more modifications, or they provided very inaccurate measurements for their gem.

To the OP,
Did you buy the rings through ebay? If so, you may have some recourse.

 

[chrono]

I have purchased settings from them but never did a true full custom setting nor will I ever send a stone out for them to set. I feel that it is too risky for me (stone lost in-transit or their facility, or stone damaged during the setting process with no recourse). I hope that you'll get your stones back. Generally, I find that language issues tend to slow communication but I thought this shop's SA is quite fluent in English?

 

[Tate25]

Hi TL No money had changed hands, as you don't pay until they've made the ring. I had dealt with them before about a year ago for and got them to set a stone I had into a semi mount ring. It was only a topaz so I was prepared to risk it. I was pleased with the result so thought I'd try them again. Second time around has not been a good experience. I hope I get my stones back too!

 

[Tate25]

Hi Chrono, I don't think the communication delays had anything to do with language fluency, just inefficiency or being too busy to respond. If I don't hear from them soon on returning my gems (I've sent two follow up emails in the last few days), I will see how I can have them removed from the recommended list on Pricescope. Does anyone know how this is done or who I should contact?

Thanks for everyones supportive comments and yes learnt my lesson, I won't send gems overseas again!

 

[minousbijoux]

I would be extremely reluctant to have them removed based on one member's testimony, albeit bad testimony and a terrible experience. After all, the recommended vendor list is a consensus of the PS user's experiences, and not necessarily, unfortunately, a guarantee that all transactions will be smooth and problem-free.

My recommendation would be to wait and see - your testimony is here for all to see (in fact you put it in three distinct threads in various PS forums), so others can use this vendor at their own risk. If other complaints and troubles continue to occur with that vendor from other PS members, then it will be time to take action, imo.

I am truly sorry this happened to you.

 

[GoldfishPie]

Sorry to post on two separate threads of yours - but I'm just curious how this could happen. I have ordered quite a few fun custom rings from them via ebay. What did you use to contact them? Normally what I do is email them (through the ebay message system) with the specs of what I want and a picture or drawing, then they quote me, I pay, and the CAD is made. The piece arrives in 2 weeks. I have never interacted with them where they make a CAD before I pay anything. Also through ebay, they usually answer my emails in 24-48 hours. I just had a custom setting made with jewelryhoo2 on ebay, and it showed up a full week earlier than expected (arrived yesterday actually, the initial payment was made on Nov. 14th).

Not arguing or anything, but just the logistics of the transaction are really different from what I have done with them in the past. I've ordered probably about ~10 custom pieces with them, and honestly it's always exceeded my expectations, come in under budget, and faster than whatI expected.

 

[Tate25]

Hi Goldfishpie, I went through Alibaba>Changxing Jewelry not ebay. As per the link below:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/405105 and have been communicating with Nicole (Kingtix email account). Can I ask if you have been dealing with the same person?

 

[liao]

I am sorry to hear that you can try some goldsmith in thailand or indonesia. Some of them can finish a ring in a week as long as the design is not exotic

 

[Tate25]

Thanks Liao, the design was as simple as you can get, a wide shank, a tanzanite cushion gem with two .25 diamonds either side. No fancy engraving, just a solid ring. If I ever get my gems back, could I ask who you deal with (please only ones you've had considerable dealings with and good experiences with), although must admit after this situation, I'm not sure I'd risk going overseas again. The reason I look overseas is that I've bought a number of pieces from standard jewellery stores in Australia and they are significantly higher than going to a gem festival buying a gem and getting a design made oversea. The designs I like are also not available in your standard stores. But on the flipside, its high risk (only just realising this).

 

[T L]

I would be extremely reluctant to have them removed based on one member's testimony, albeit bad testimony and a terrible experience. After all, the recommended vendor list is a consensus of the PS user's experiences, and not necessarily, unfortunately, a guarantee that all transactions will be smooth and problem-free.

My recommendation would be to wait and see - your testimony is here for all to see (in fact you put it in three distinct threads in various PS forums), so others can use this vendor at their own risk. If other complaints and troubles continue to occur with that vendor from other PS members, then it will be time to take action, imo.

I am truly sorry this happened to you.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I would like more specifications for vendors to remain on the list, other than someone was happy with them. Examples of those specifications would be:

Good communication
No hassle refunds
Accurate photographic representation
Fair retail pricing

I often think it's too easy to put vendors on the list, and while they may have made one client happy, they fail in other specific areas of customer service.

 

[Tate25]

Hi Minousbijous, yes I accidentally posted in FAQ (this is my first post) and then corrected it in Coloured Gems. I hear what you're saying its one testimonial at this stage but interesting that someone posted a response in FAQ and had the same experience that I did ie a good first impression and really bad the second time around.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/forum/faq1/buyer-beware-chinese-jewellery-manufacturer-t208597.html']https://www.pricescope.com/forum/faq1/buyer-beware-chinese-jewellery-manufacturer-t208597.html[/URL]

So I'm not alone. I won't pursue removing Changxing Jewelry or sister companies from the recommended list unless they don't return my gems and in the same state they were in when I sent them. I've still yet to have a response to say they have posted them back with a tracking number. If they don't, that's stealing and yes then I feel that's enough to pursue removing them from the list.

 

[minousbijoux]

Hi Minousbijous, yes I accidentally posted in FAQ (this is my first post) and then corrected it in Coloured Gems. I hear what you're saying its one testimonial at this stage but interesting that someone posted a response in FAQ and had the same experience that I did ie a good first impression and really bad the second time around.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/forum/faq1/buyer-beware-chinese-jewellery-manufacturer-t208597.html']https://www.pricescope.com/forum/faq1/buyer-beware-chinese-jewellery-manufacturer-t208597.html[/URL]

So I'm not alone. I won't pursue removing Changxing Jewelry or sister companies from the recommended list unless they don't return my gems and in the same state they were in when I sent them. I've still yet to have a response to say they have posted them back with a tracking number. If they don't, that's stealing and yes then I feel that's enough to pursue removing them from the list.

Tate25: Again, I believe it will take more than your one experience to have them removed from the list, regardless of how bad your experience has been. It will take other PSers to agree to remove them. There are many PS members of longstanding that have been satisfied with this company's service, as goldfishpie has just attested. I have no horse in this race as I have not done any business with them. But I can tell you in the past, it has taken multiple complaints, typically from veteran members, before someone is removed from the list (sorry to make that distinction, but there have been not infrequent cases of individuals joining specifically for the purpose of shilling or revenge posting under the guise of new "members" with bad experiences).

I certainly hope they become a lot more responsive and return your stones immediately. I'm also wondering if there is another way to get their attention - maybe via ebay instead of alibaba? Perhaps there are additional company reps you can contact? I would be frustrated and angry in your shoes.

 

[minousbijoux]

I would be extremely reluctant to have them removed based on one member's testimony, albeit bad testimony and a terrible experience. After all, the recommended vendor list is a consensus of the PS user's experiences, and not necessarily, unfortunately, a guarantee that all transactions will be smooth and problem-free.

My recommendation would be to wait and see - your testimony is here for all to see (in fact you put it in three distinct threads in various PS forums), so others can use this vendor at their own risk. If other complaints and troubles continue to occur with that vendor from other PS members, then it will be time to take action, imo.

I am truly sorry this happened to you.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I would like more specifications for vendors to remain on the list, other than someone was happy with them. Examples of those specifications would be:

Good communication
No hassle refunds
Accurate photographic representation
Fair retail pricing

I often think it's too easy to put vendors on the list, and while they may have made one client happy, they fail in other specific areas of customer service.

TL: I don't disagree with you, but perhaps its time to start a thread on this subject?

 

[Tate25]

I hear what you're saying Minousbijoux and appreciate your advice. Thanks also for empathising, it is appreciated Actually I sent an email to Nicole this morning (the third one) and this time I said I'd put my experience on the Pricescope forum. Guess what.. I've just received an email that apparently, she's shipped my gems back to me. Thank goodness I found the Pricescope forum!

I'll update the forum if I get them returned (and as they were sent). All up I still think the whole experience was disappointing, you're right it was a very frustrating situation that dragged out for months. I won't have my ring in time for Christmas and I certainly wouldn't deal with them again.

 

[Tate25]

ps. I just sent an email to Nicole asking which courier company she used to return the gems to, and my email was returned to me saying 'The user rejects the recipient'. This just keeps getting better!

 

[minousbijoux]

Wow, that just makes no sense at all! Why add insult to injury by refusing your emails, at least until this is all settled? I did not even know that it was possible to reject recipients - actually, if you sending an email, doesn't that make them the recipient and you the user? Just confused here...

 

[Tate25]

I just used a Chinese to English translator and that's what it said...and yes does add insult to injury but the other person on the FAQ forum said she had been blocked too
eg.

抱歉，您的邮件被退回来了……
原邮件信息： 　
时　间： 2014-12-05 15:58:29
主　题： Re: Pricescope Recommended List
收件人： **edited by moderator to remove email**
退信原因：
糟糕，这封邮件被收件人拒绝了，可能是对方设置了黑名单或者过滤器等相关设置。
英文说明:用户拒绝收信.(User reject)
建议解决方案：
邮差小易温馨提示：建议您尝试用其他方式联系收件人或联系对方管理员帮你想想办法吧。
如果您有其他退信问题，欢迎向网易邮件中心发送退信报告

----------------
This message is generated by Coremail.
您收到的是来自 Coremail 专业邮件系统的信件.

Final-Recipient: rfc822; **edited by moderator to remove email**
Action: failed
Status: 5.0.0
Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 用户拒绝收信

 

[mochiko42]

I just used a Chinese to English translator and that's what it said...and yes does add insult to injury but the other person on the FAQ forum said she had been blocked too
eg.

抱歉，您的邮件被退回来了……
原邮件信息： 　
时　间： 2014-12-05 15:58:29
主　题： Re: Pricescope Recommended List
收件人：
退信原因：
糟糕，这封邮件被收件人拒绝了，可能是对方设置了黑名单或者过滤器等相关设置。
英文说明:用户拒绝收信.(User reject)
建议解决方案：
邮差小易温馨提示：建议您尝试用其他方式联系收件人或联系对方管理员帮你想想办法吧。
如果您有其他退信问题，欢迎向网易邮件中心发送退信报告

----------------
This message is generated by Coremail.
您收到的是来自 Coremail 专业邮件系统的信件.

Final-Recipient: rfc822;
Action: failed
Status: 5.0.0
Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 用户拒绝收信

A rough translation for you of the main text, hope it helps. I feel sorry for you for the bad experience... Alibaba and its sister company Taobao is really like the Wild west.. I don't dare to buy anything valuable on there even though I know many people who do.

"apologies, your message was rejected by the recipient, it could be that the recipient has blacklisted or added you to a blocked list/mail management tools.
English explanation : rejected by recipient
Suggested actions: please try to contact the recipient through other channels for assistance. If you encounter other problems with rejected messages please contact the Netease email customer service. "

 

[chrono]

Very sorry for your experience. EBay gives some measure of protection but does Alibaba do the same?

TL and Minous,
Let's start a new thread to lay down the requirements to boot a vendor from the Vendor's List. I hope other CSers will also participate because this is a serious matter that should not be taken lightly.

 

[dawnxcui]

I just used a Chinese to English translator and that's what it said...and yes does add insult to injury but the other person on the FAQ forum said she had been blocked too
eg.

抱歉，您的邮件被退回来了……
原邮件信息： 　
时　间： 2014-12-05 15:58:29
主　题： Re: Pricescope Recommended List
收件人： **edited by moderator to remove email**
退信原因：
糟糕，这封邮件被收件人拒绝了，可能是对方设置了黑名单或者过滤器等相关设置。
英文说明:用户拒绝收信.(User reject)
建议解决方案：
邮差小易温馨提示：建议您尝试用其他方式联系收件人或联系对方管理员帮你想想办法吧。
如果您有其他退信问题，欢迎向网易邮件中心发送退信报告

----------------
This message is generated by Coremail.
您收到的是来自 Coremail 专业邮件系统的信件.

Final-Recipient: rfc822; **edited by moderator to remove email**
Action: failed
Status: 5.0.0
Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 用户拒绝收信

that bolded sentence says you can report the email rejection to the email provider (not sure what that accomplishes though)
have you tried sending an email to them with a different email address? this way you can at least confirm that it is your email that they have blocked and not a technical glitch.

and try to find out what alibaba's policies are when it comes to this maybe they can assist u

 

[minousbijoux]

Hi Minousbijous, yes I accidentally posted in FAQ (this is my first post) and then corrected it in Coloured Gems. I hear what you're saying its one testimonial at this stage but interesting that someone posted a response in FAQ and had the same experience that I did ie a good first impression and really bad the second time around.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/forum/faq1/buyer-beware-chinese-jewellery-manufacturer-t208597.html']https://www.pricescope.com/forum/faq1/buyer-beware-chinese-jewellery-manufacturer-t208597.html[/URL]

So I'm not alone. I won't pursue removing Changxing Jewelry or sister companies from the recommended list unless they don't return my gems and in the same state they were in when I sent them. I've still yet to have a response to say they have posted them back with a tracking number. If they don't, that's stealing and yes then I feel that's enough to pursue removing them from the list.

Good morning Tate25: I tried to follow up on your other thread on this subject to see who else had a bad experience with them, and what exactly that PSer had to say about them, but unfortunately your thread has been removed, it seems.

Has anyone else had any difficulties with this vendor?

 

[Tate25]

Good morning Minousbijoux (very interesting pseudonym by the way ) Yes I just checked with the site moderator and she's removed the other post due to site policy of not having more than one posting on the same topic. As mentioned this is my first time here and didn't realise I'd put it on FAQ, which in hindsight didn't seem a good spot to put it so put another one in Coloured Stones. I think the ladies name who had the a similar situation to me was something like Chammiepoo but couldn't find her when I did a search. I've asked the moderator whether she still has access to the posting content and can advise the name.

 

[Tate25]

Thanks for the translation Mochiko42. Yes I've been blocked from sending her any further emails. I've been sending emails on a consistent basis on that account for a couple of months and prior to that a year ago on an initial transaction and have not previously had any problems. I received a very angry email back from her when I said I'd raised my experience on the PriceScope Forum. The next email I sent asking which courier company she'd used to return my gems was blocked.

 

[MollyMalone]

I have purchased settings from them but never did a true full custom setting nor will I ever send a stone out for them to set. I feel that it is too risky for me (stone lost in-transit or their facility, or stone damaged during the setting process with no recourse). * * *

It never occurred to me -- based on their eBay listings -- that the Changxing "family" was offering to do anything other than a riff on one of their stock semi-mounts. I thought their idea of custom work was limited to like what I asked jewelryhoo to do some years ago: create a semi-mount for a 8mm x 10mm oval stone like the one shown, for a 7mm x 9mm oval, in an eBay listing. (I was happy with the semi-mount I received, pleasantly surprised that the diamonds were better in clarity and color than I was frankly expecting for the price; maybe that's the kind of thing they did for Tate and her topaz, with which she was pleased?)

What Tate was seeking this fall is so very different from any of Changxing's eBay offerings that, although not complex, I imagine it's outside their mass-manufacturing sandbox. But they should have informed her early on (before she sent off the stones) that they did not wish to go through with it, though it meant losing the sale.

There may be even more to consider re risk. In addition to prohibiting, e.g., printed material and other media that "could do political, economical, cultural, or moral harm to the People’s Republic of China," China apparently has a general ban on gemstones coming into the country. Consequently, the US Postal Service -- and Australia Post -- advise their customers that gems should not be mailed to China; see list of Prohibitions that appears (a) at bottom of page after you select China from drop-down menu here:
http://auspost.com.au/apps/international-post-guide.html
and (b) at top of page here:
http://pe.usps.com/text/Imm/ce_009.htm
So it seems a fundamentally risky business, from the get-go, to mail stones there. If you were to roll the dice & were Chinese postal authorities to investigate the contents of your unauthorized package before it was delivered to the factory-office, doesn't it seem likely they would confiscate the stones? Perhaps Tate can shed some light on this aspect of her (failed) transaction.

Here's hoping your diamonds and tanzanite soon find their way back, safe and sound, to you, Tate!

 

[CharmyPoo]

I had a fantastic custom experience with this company - they were fast with changes to CAD and the finished product was beautiful at a great price. I loved the design so much that I tried another custom job with them - this time the communication was really slow, the CADs were off, non-responsive .... I finally filed a credit card charged back after months because it was past paypal timelines. After that, they blocked me

The custom ring they made for me is pretty fantastic. SB had them replicate it ... communication was good but the diamonds were crappy.

They made this ring for me ..

 

[T L]

I had a fantastic custom experience with this company - they were fast with changes to CAD and the finished product was beautiful at a great price. I loved the design so much that I tried another custom job with them - this time the communication was really slow, the CADs were off, non-responsive .... I finally filed a credit card charged back after months because it was past paypal timelines. After that, they blocked me

The custom ring they made for me is pretty fantastic. SB had them replicate it ... communication was good but the diamonds were crappy.

They made this ring for me ..

So this is TWO very poor experiences now with this company?

 

[CharmyPoo]

Well one good and one bad. However, I would still buy from them for their stock settings and ... if they unblock me ... I would still do more custom projects with them. I am pretty happy with my first ring and the price just can't be beat.

 

[mochiko42]

I think that it is worrying that they would block a customer who raised concerns. It doesn't seem that professional...