Buying from CeylonSapphireGems: An expensive mistake

[Mreader]

What’s interesting is that if you look back through her threads, she seems to have been the first to mention this seller, linking to his Instagram, saying how trustworthy he is, that she’s met him, etc etc. I wonder how much business she generated for him, and how much suffering for members here, and what she got in return?

Perhaps time to lock the thread while the administrators and their lawyers look it over.

This is unnecessary. A main function of PS is to recommend vendors that we have had positive experiences with. Another PSer started a thread on CSG when she had a great experience. Should we report that thread too??? I don't think anyone expected a transaction to go so awry; we are all acting in good faith here.

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

Hey everyone. I'm sorry to see where this thread ended up going. I posted with the intention of sharing a factual account of my experience with a vendor. I expected to be criticized for not having reasonable expectations from the vendor, making a mountain out of a molehill, etc. etc. What I didn't expect was for it to veer into talk of lawyers and such.

Regardless of whether this thread gets locked or not, I don't regret posting this thread. I hope other PSers who read this aren't scared off from posting their own negative experiences on this forum.

 

[lovedogs]

Oh boy this has gotten so much worse since I checked last night. I definitely argued with @Ionysis about what I perceived to be some victim blaming in her posts. But I dont think it's fair to assume she has some nefarious intentions given what we know. I think she was honestly trying to be helpful and trusts this vendor. I dont necessarily agree with everything she did or how she said things, but we shouldn't jump to horrible conclusions too quickly.

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

P.S. Thank you so much to everyone who've shown me such care and support. I'll share updates of my journey for those who would like to know.

As of now, still no word from the vendor

 

[lovedogs]

Hey everyone. I'm sorry to see where this thread ended up going. I posted with the intention of sharing a factual account of my experience with a vendor. I expected to be criticized for not having reasonable expectations from the vendor, making a mountain out of a molehill, etc. etc. What I didn't expect was for it to veer into talk of lawyers and such.

Regardless of whether this thread gets locked or not, I don't regret posting this thread. I hope other PSers who read this aren't scared off from posting their own negative experiences on this forum.

I'm very happy you posted. Others need to be warned to STAY AWAY from this vendor. He is dishonest, period.

 

[LemonMoonLex]

Oh boy this has gotten so much worse since I checked last night. I definitely argued with @Ionysis about what I perceived to be some victim blaming in her posts. But I dont think it's fair to assume she has some nefarious intentions given what we know. I think she was honestly trying to be helpful and trusts this vendor. I dont necessarily agree with everything she did or how she said things, but we shouldn't jump to horrible conclusions too quickly.

I agree.
I do think it was a bit too much of her to keep backing up this vendor and trying to give us excuses for him when everyone including the OP told her that's not what she needed right now but just sympathy, but I don't think she committed a crime or had ill intentions whatsoever. Asking her to leave PS entirely looks a lot like bullying to me.

I know tensions are high but I think we should all back away on L & just focus on Ceylon as he's the one that's actually causing this whole fiasco & withholding her return of thousands. L, I might refrain from posting in this specific thread if I were you until things calmed down, as it'll just add fuel to the fire.

OP, please let us know what happens next. I'm so sorry you're going through this. This seller really drags some of his customers through the mud & it is just awful. Again, I'm not sure I've seen worse business practices in this field.

 

[elizat]

I'm sorry you had that experience and hope you will get your refund @AnastasiaBeaverhausen. I think sharing what happened is important, so others can be aware. The vendor made a lot of mistakes and did things I wouldn't find acceptable or appropriate in the slightest either. I really hope it works out.

As to the rest of it, the accusations and/or implied "facts" that Lonysis is somehow a criminal, has done something illegal or is an involved broker for theft, sale of personal information or other illegal/unsavory things by westofhere cross a line. Suggestions that the forum and their attorneys (if they even have them) need to get involved as to Lonysis cross an even bigger line.

Again, I'm really sorry for your experience and hope you are refunded in full very soon.

 

[fussykiki]

I agree.
I do think it was a bit too much of her to keep backing up this vendor and trying to give us excuses for him when everyone including the OP told her that's not what she needed right now but just sympathy, but I don't think she committed a crime or had ill intentions whatsoever. Asking her to leave PS entirely looks a lot like bullying to me.

I know tensions are high but I think we should all back away on L & just focus on Ceylon as he's the one that's actually causing this whole fiasco & withholding her return of thousands. L, I might refrain from posting in this specific thread if I were you until things calmed down, as it'll just add fuel to the fire.

OP, please let us know what happens next. I'm so sorry you're going through this. This seller really drags some of his customers through the mud & it is just awful. Again, I'm not sure I've seen worse business practices in this field.

Totally agree with you. I feel that Lonysis is somewhat bias to the seller. But I don’t believe she has any personal gain or ill intention too.

 

[mjea]

I’m really sorry @cheegg @Spring Day @AnastasiaBeaverhausen — I can only imagine how stressful and overwhelming this experience has been. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I hope there’s a good resolution for everyone soon.

 

[Cerulean]

I understand defending a seller who you’ve had only good experiences with. It happens all the time on PS, especially regarding designers over the in the diamond SMTB/Rocky Talky. I’ve seen PSers defend appalling behavior and I’ve also seen PSers hold grudges against other PSers who work with vendors they had bad experiences with. I think it’s human and our tolerance for things varies. I’m sure I’d get defensive to, especially if I had a friendship with a vendor which definitely happens after years of doing business.

I don’t think anyone has had nefarious intentions but nuanced, delicate conversations like this can get out of control when we are all just clattering away behind screens and keyboards.

I do think what happened to all parties involved (@cheegg @AnastasiaBeaverhausen and I won’t tag Spring Day as to not disturb her) was very, very stressful. I’d be losing it if I had thousands go M.I.A. with no sense of control over the situation. It’s traumatic. Even if it’s money that isn’t NEEDED to put a roof over ones head…that doesn’t negate how upsetting it is to feel hoodwinked.

I hope @Ionysis is correct and that all money will be returned. I believe that she is being honest about her experiences and I think the intent was to reassure but I think things got lost in translation.

Let’s not add more fuel to the fire and get nasty with each other. The only person at fault here is CSG and if he ever expects to scale his direct-to-consumer business, boy he’s gonna have to get his s*** together whether it’s PSers or not. But I am very grateful that @AnastasiaBeaverhausen and @cheegg create threads sharing their horrible experiences so anyone else can go into an interaction with CSG with eyes wide open.

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

...I won’t tag Spring Day as to not disturb her)...

Ooo...I didn't even consider that. Crud. Now she's going to sign on and see like, 46 new notifications.

 

[Cerulean]

Ooo...I didn't even consider that. Crud. Now she's going to sign on and see like, 46 new notifications.

Eh, I think you’ve had enough to be occupied with so I’m sure she will understand!

 

[Cinders]

Would you consider posting the pictures in the vendor picture thread? I know that thread has been enormously helpful for me & the pictures really do show the disparity between expectation vs. reality. (I think you had pix, Anastasia, but I'm not sure.)

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

Would you consider posting the pictures in the vendor picture thread? I know that thread has been enormously helpful for me & the pictures really do show the disparity between expectation vs. reality. (I think you had pix, Anastasia, but I'm not sure.)

For sure! I'll try to do some kind of a picstitch/collage so it's easier to compare. Hold plz

 

[Cinders]

For sure! I'll try to do some kind of a picstitch/collage so it's easier to compare. Hold plz

Thank you!

 

[Ella]

Folks, please do not armchair diagnose people, spread rumors, speculate about the intentions of forum members with no facts, threaten people, and most importantly please do not email us and threaten us that if we don't act how you'd like about a particular thread you will "expose" it/us. While there are many disturbing business practices being discussed here, this is not a vendor associated with Pricescope and thus there are no actions to be taken on our side apart from flagging them in case they ever approach us to advertise.

Rude attitudes are uncalled for here and they do not help the OP solve their problem. It's important for users to be able to share experiences with vendors (positive and negative) without insults being hurled every time.

We appreciate AnastasiaBeaverhausen and Spring Day in being vulnerable and sharing their experiences with this vendor so that other Pricescope members can benefit. Please let them have this space to continue to update on their experiences.

 

[Arcadian]

Oh my

To those who lost money on this vendor, I sincerely hope you get it back. There are reasons why I am leery about Instagram because quite frankly, you have very little recourse if things go south. I miss out on potentially nice stuff but I get to keep my sanity.

I will always say this; this is a consumer board where we can (and should) share all the good and bad experiences with a vendor so that others can make the most informed decisions.

Thank you for speaking up on this.

 

[Bron357]

I do so hope this situation resolves satisfactorily.
I buy online and have been doing so for decades now.
Personally I would never buy from an Instagram seller nor would I be comfortable sending a wire transfer to an unknown person.
Different countries have different rules regarding money transfers and even shipping. I’m sure that many people have had very happy and successful buying experiences with Instagram sellers BUT if it goes pear shaped, it really goes pear shaped.
Because I buy internationally all the time, I make sure that there’s a 99% chance I’ll be loving and keeping the item. This is because I’ll be responsible for two lots of expensive signed for insured shipping (receipt and return) if I change my mind and I’ll already have paid import taxes and fees, some of which I can claim back, but it’s a long, painful experience - ugh. So it’s not financially sensible for me to buy things I’m not going to keep. I ask for more photos, more videos and if in doubt, decide no.
That said, I have sent money via PayPal Friends and Family (no recourse) to Pricescope members. Some Pricescope members have helped me out when a seller won’t ship internationally, for which I’m eternally grateful btw. But it comes down to knowing who to trust and by how much.
I still believe most people are honest, most people are trustworthy but once the amount goes over $100 my need for reassurance goes up.
Anyone who talks about their buying experience is talking about THEIR buying experience. That unfortunately may not repeat, for a myriad of reasons, for another buyer.
In this case the problem is twofold.
Buying from an Instagram seller, unlike eBay, means you don’t have a way of you checking the number, type and buyer experiences for past sales. You can’t see if they’ve sold 3 things or 3,000. You can’t see if their online presence is 14 days or 14 years.
That’s an unquantifiable risk to me which is why I wouldn’t buy off Instagram unless I knew the vendor from other platforms. I can see why vendors use Instagram or Facebook, eBay fees are now around 13% and Etsy is similar. If you are running a small business online you are hoping to make cost effective sales. Those fees really eat into your profit, selling on Instagram or Facebook is fee free.
The vendor is from a country where there are money transfer restrictions. This is a buyer beware situation. Make it your responsibility to check independently for any possible money return limitations AND also mailing restrictions. For some Countries you simply can’t obtain signed for and insured return shipping.
At the end of the day, on line shopping is wonderful, It allows us to buy (and sell) pretty much world wide at great prices due to extra competition and if you are cautious with your payment method, usually very secure.
In any regard, if you are a buyer you must do your homework / research. You must know what risks or problems are possible and then decide for yourself if those risks are worth it.
Certainly be assisted by others experiences (good or bad) but don’t just blithely assume that every vendor is trustworthy, that every return policy will be trouble free and every payment method is safe and secure.

 

[icy_jade]

Because I buy internationally all the time, I make sure that there’s a 99% chance I’ll be loving and keeping the item. This is because I’ll be responsible for two lots of expensive signed for insured shipping (receipt and return) if I change my mind and I’ll already have paid import taxes and fees, some of which I can claim back, but it’s a long, painful experience - ugh. So it’s not financially sensible for me to buy things I’m not going to keep. I ask for more photos, more videos and if in doubt, decide no.

Yes that’s my take too. Want to mention that the thought process applies to vendors in the US for me too since returns from Asia to US can be quite troublesome. Plus same concerns re import tax etc. It equally applies to vendors in China, Sri Lanka, Japan or other parts of Asia so every purchase is a considered decision and quite often a nerve wrecking decision/wait. That said, I think I can be considered quite a risk taker given how often I buy…

It definitely also makes me think twice re recommending any vendor! I mean, I actually have trusted vendors that I’ve not recommended here and I’m glad I didn’t cos I would feel terrible for PS-ers who acted on my recommendation and the vendor if transactions go awry.


Re: the early brouhaha…


Hope that all the affected persons get their money back. Won’t tag names since they probably have a dozen alerts but it is surely an awful feeling to not be refunded for weeks/months and not know if the refund will ever happen. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

It definitely also makes me think twice re recommending any vendor! I mean, I actually have trusted vendors that I’ve not recommended here and I’m glad I didn’t cos I would feel terrible for PS-ers who acted on my recommendation and the vendor if transactions go awry.

@icy_jade I'm so sorry if this thread made you hesitant to recommend a vendor! I totally get feeling bad when someone didn't have the same great experience as you did. But at the end of the day, if things go awry, it is not on you.

That would be like you telling me about how good the food is at a restaurant and that I should try it sometime. Then when I go, they steal my credit card info and I in turn blame you for giving them 5-stars.

 

[icy_jade]

@icy_jade I'm so sorry if this thread made you hesitant to recommend a vendor! I totally get feeling bad when someone didn't have the same great experience as you did. But at the end of the day, if things go awry, it is not on you.

That would be like you telling me about how good the food is at a restaurant and that I should try it sometime. Then when I go, they steal my credit card info and I in turn blame you for giving them 5-stars.

Oh no, you don’t have to apologize at all! It’s just, I tend to take calculated risks with those vendors and I’m mindful that maybe it doesn’t always turn out well you know? I mean, it’s so hard to read how gems will look like from photos.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

@AnastasiaBeaverhausen please don't feel bad!!!!! I found this thread incredibly helpful despite having no desire to actually buy stones anytime soon. It's a great thread to make us all ponder what risks we're willing to take and what we seek to gain with those risks!

I will post recommendations for anyone who asks but I will put a disclaimer on in the future as many will find my transactions really bizzare!!!!!

 

[Venti25]

What a wild ride. The only thing I will add is that this whole refund business from other buyers reminds me of a Ponzi scheme. Future refunds after the current ones will rely on other purchases.. what a mess.

 

[voce]

I am NOT SAYING any of this is OK!! Show me where I have.

I’m solely trying to be reassuring to some scared and worried people that based on historic experience and factual evidence 1. They will be likely to get their money back eventually and 2. They will be very unlikely to suffer financial loss or criminal attack from the dissemination of wire transfer information.

How is it helpful to the OP to jump on the bandwagon and say “OMG you’re clearly the victim of a criminal scam! Change your bank accounts! You’ll never see that money again! Your identity is going to be stolen!”. Is that likely to improve the posters frame of mind or help in any way? It’s hysterical scaremongering and they are going through enough anxiety as it is!

Anastasia, I can imagine you are extremely worried. I feel terrible for you. But unlike some others I don’t want to catastrophise an already very scary situation for you. It’s likely you will get refunded. It’s unlikely you will suffer further dreadful consequences from the sharing of your wire information - however violating that feels. And it’s likely to be the only way you DO get repaid. I can only hope that this gets resolved for you in time and that you get over your present distress.

Sorry, I had said I felt your response was victim shaming in the other thread, without having read all your thoughtful posts on this one. Now that I have, I get that you are just trying to be helpful to the OP.

I'm not sure how bank wire information is different from ACH information, but it seems to me that it's fairly straightforward to get the bank's routing number from the SWIFT code, and then with the routing number and bank account information, that's good enough to use the bank account to pay bills online.

You had claimed the worst someone could do with the info was to send money INTO the account. With the name and address, what's to stop the account holder's bank info from being used to pay someone else's bills? Or used to open a credit card in the account holder's name (in the US, you will also need a social security number, but I think the social security number is fairly hackable once you have the other info... I mean, someone would be able to scour something like Facebook to get the date of birth fairly easily if the social media account is active.)

I don't want to fear monger, but any IT person would tell you it's not safe to share that info with a stranger. It could be intercepted by a malicious hacker and used to guess passwords and the like. Cyber security is more a priority for the US than a country like Sri Lanka.

The cultural difference explains why the vendor is behaving this way, but it doesn't mean the consumer should have to accept whatever the vendor decides to do with this kind of information. I fully expect as a consumer that to sell to me, they need to have business practices that *I* find acceptable. I think it's a vendor's responsibility to adapt to the consumer's cultural expectations, instead of the other way around. Even if Anastasia is made whole after months, the experience with the anxiety and untrustworthy person passing out her name, bank info and address has been bad. No pretty bauble is worth the anguish this experience would cause, for me.

Definitely. I am Chinese-Canadian myself and most of my older family members are in China, and they definitely see me as a very straight laced harsh person sometimes (even though I don't really say no either, I generally just say "I promise I'll try my best" ), so I definitely understand. It's really not about not saying no, it's just how they handle the situation after that "not-no" backfires. That makes all the difference in the world.

Edit: Just adding that I really dislike how some sellers when confronting return requests say some sh*t like "All of my customers have been satisfied." "I've sold to many clients and none had problems". Like it really doesn't make a difference to me?? I never get what angle they are trying to get at. They have a return policy and they have to honour it, it's that simple.

Lol I was telling a jade vendor that I can't accept a bangle as type A because it fluoresces all over, and that vendor's reaction was like "I have been making lots of sales, so you should trust that all my goods are type A." Makes no logical sense. I told them that I can point to vendors that sell clearly treated jade, and have made more sales than them. In the end, I did get my full refund, but I don't know if I would have, had my purchase transaction not been through a platform like Etsy.

 

[LD]

I don't want to bash anybody but I have had to block @Ionysis because when I posted a negative review about a Sri Lankan instagram seller she/he got on my case saying I was wrong. I wasn't wrong! I've been a member of PS since 2008 and a collector of gemstones for more years than I care to say. I have very rarely been negative about a seller - in fact it's probably only ever been that one time and the grief he/she gave me was nothing short of amazing! The gem was disgusting and I was ripped off. The videos of the gemstone had been highly manipulated to look so much better than what it did in real life. She implied I had manipulated my photos - why on earth I would do that I have no idea!!!!!

So it's not surprising to see that Ionysis is defending yet another Sri Lankan dealer that he/she knows personally - NOT TO MENTION lending them money to pay off one of those owed by him. I'm not sure what his/her agenda is - or even if there is one. One thing I do know however is that we should be able to safely post if things go wrong, just as much as heap praise when things go well.

 

[Ionysis]

I don't want to bash anybody but I have had to block @Ionysis because when I posted a negative review about a Sri Lankan instagram seller she/he got on my case saying I was wrong. I wasn't wrong! I've been a member of PS since 2008 and a collector of gemstones for more years than I care to say. I have very rarely been negative about a seller - in fact it's probably only ever been that one time and the grief he/she gave me was nothing short of amazing! The gem was disgusting and I was ripped off. The videos of the gemstone had been highly manipulated to look so much better than what it did in real life. She implied I had manipulated my photos - why on earth I would do that I have no idea!!!!!

So it's not surprising to see that Ionysis is defending yet another Sri Lankan dealer that he/she knows personally - NOT TO MENTION lending them money to pay off one of those owed by him. I'm not sure what his/her agenda is - or even if there is one. One thing I do know however is that we should be able to safely post if things go wrong, just as much as heap praise when things go well.

I have you blocked but clicked just to see what you said. And what you’ve said is, as usual, BS.

i have never met and have zero personal relationship with the seller you mention. And lots of other PSers also buy from him. What I did was to post comparative pictures of multiple stones I had bought from that seller which were accurately reflected. All bar one - which was a spinel - which are notoriously difficult to photograph.

My conclusion on that thread was I’d happily buy sapphires from him but not spinels.

I hoped my multiple comparative photos would give a more balanced and broader view than your single poor experience. And I believe several other forum members also did the same on that thread. Here is is if anyone wants to see which of us is telling the truth -I note you didn’t link to it.

Anyone ever buy from IG seller leenagemslk?

Anyone familiar with this seller? Thanks

www.pricescope.com

 

[LD]

You tried to tell me how to buy gemstones which is laughable! Please note that I have a sticky on this forum telling others how to buy.

I didn't link to the thread only because I couldn't be bothered and I'm quite sure most people could find it if they wanted to. I'm not in the habit of hiding anything! Please explain (if you don't know him) this comment which is on that thread:

"Please remember also that this seller doesn’t have the benefit of light boxes or turntables or a fancy camera or other sophisticated gadgetry to take pictures of his stock."

I'm sorry but I believe you have a vested interest in these Sri Lankan sellers. Do you buy from any sellers outside Sri Lanka? I believe you to be utterly biased to the point where you'll defend the indefensible. I'm sure we will disagree on that but this is a consumer forum and you don't seem able to accept any bad critiques of any Sri Lankan seller.

 

[Arcadian]

Ok look, EVERYONE SHOULD BE FREE TO EXPRESS THEIR OWN EXPERIENCE.

That includes you and you and you (all general yous)

Lets not get petty.

and @Ionysis I'm not the only one that thinks that your relationship and said pay off looks a little shady, because it does. I don't think you meant any harm because you seem like a decent person, but this is me speaking my mind; it does look funny.

Fine that you have a friendly relationship with said vendor (whatever that means to you) but don't try to CB anyone else from having their say, because its just as important. Even with vendors I've had great experiences with, if someone has a serious grievance, I stand down. I will tell them I've had great experience but I also feel for their side of the coin and I give them space to say what is needed without added any needless pennies.

Its not me coming for you or anyone here, but anyone that does that type of thing needs to have several seats. I've said as much on the diamond board because I don't give a crap who the vendor is; consumers have a right to air their grievance and this is a safe spot to do exactly that.

We need to (all of us) protect that.

The experience any of us have can be different from someone else. Its how the vendor behaves is the most important aspect. This is an instance where every red flag and warning signal was raised because that type of behavior is suspect and thats some seriously lookinlikesomemoneylaunderingwierdness.

I enjoy reading about all experiences here because they can be exceptionally educational, they serve as warning signals, they serve as trust barometers. And all experiences, good bad ugly (I've had all of them) are equally important experiences on this board for others to read.

We should for the sake of the thread and the forum, keep it copacetic.

 

[cheegg]

P.S. Thank you so much to everyone who've shown me such care and support. I'll share updates of my journey for those who would like to know.

As of now, still no word from the vendor

I haven't gotten a chance to read all, but I am wondering if you got any updates from the vendor.

I don't know how to PM in PS, not even sure if it is allowed. But I just want to let you know, if you want to report to local authorities in Sri Lanka about this, I am willing to join you. In that case, I will need to know how I can share my contact info with you without disclose my personal contacts in here.

I don't know if it is an option you are still considering, nor if it even worth the time to do so. There are chances it wont work, but just want to throw it out here, in cause you need some one to back you up, and I am willing to.

 

[lovedogs]

I haven't gotten a chance to read all, but I am wondering if you got any updates from the vendor.

I don't know how to PM in PS, not even sure if it is allowed. But I just want to let you know, if you want to report to local authorities in Sri Lanka about this, I am willing to join you. In that case, I will need to know how I can share my contact info with you without disclose my personal contacts in here.

I don't know if it is an option you are still considering, nor if it even worth the time to do so. There are chances it wont work, but just want to throw it out here, in cause you need some one to back you up, and I am willing to.

No PM function on PS. But if you want to contact members off the board people often put up a link on loupetroop to facilitate email communication