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Derco Diamonds in San Francisco

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sfdiamondhunt

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
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I''ve been a longtime lurker on this board. Ok, not that long, but at least a couple months before finally registering today! But I have been looking at buying an e-ring for my now girlfriend, soon to be fiancee.

I was wondering if anyone knew the name of a manager at Derco Diamonds. I had an "interesting" experience there the other day and wanted to share it with the management. I will share after I get a chance to talk to them.
Thanks!
 
Call and ask? I''ve seen their name on this board so maybe a search couldn''t hurt.
 
Been to the place, but don''t know the manager''s name. Just call and ask for the manager!
 
I thought one of the persons in charge was named Mirna or something like that. Ask for Jack, he is the owner. I love Derco, got my engagment ring and lots of other stuff there before I discover online vendors. I hope your experience was not that bad?

Betty
 
I think it''s either Ohan or Jack.

I personally love Derco so, I hope everything goes well.
 
I''ve bought both an e-ring and wedding band there. The manager''s name is Mirta Arsenien. I''ve worked with her with all our purchases. Curious...what was this ''interesting experience"?
 
My curiosity is piqued as well. Care to share?
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I''ll post back next week. I sent an email to Jack and Ohan and I''m awaiting a reply. I know that they are out of town this week. I want to be able to have a chance to speak directly with them prior to posting.
 
Just to inform you guys, Mirta Arsenian does not work at Derco anymore. She was let go as I was told. I "had" a appointment with her this month and found out from a mutual friend that she is gone.

So I''m going to have to go through another sales rep. at Derco to purchase my setting for the stone I had already purchased from Mirta at Derco.

-Patrick
 
I just saw her (Mirta) on Thursday when I went by Derco. She was behind the new desk area typing.
 
Hmm, Are you sure if it was her. I just went today to finalize my fiance''s setting. John Sarmiento said she''s gone. He wouldn''t say, but I think it was to cut overhead. Anyways, Now I just have to wait 4 weeks for our rings.

-Patrick
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I''m pretty sure. I purchased a few items from her including my engagement ring. I upgraded my stone a few times before we got married so we were in there a lot. Maybe she was there to complete a few things? She is very nice and I am sorry to hear that she is no longer affliated with Derco.
 
So, I haven''t heard a response from Derco after 2 voicemails and an email.

I want to start this off by saying that I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but without a return phone call or even a reply email, it makes it difficult for me to be that generous.

In a nutshell, Derco had been recommended to me by several of my personal friends as well as through the Pricescope community. Upon making an appointment with them, I found them to be extremely helpful. They didn''t have quite what I wanted in their store, so they were going on a search for me to find me the perfect diamond. During this period, we exchanged emails and phone calls quite often. The sales representative always kept me in the loop on what they were finding and what I should take a look at as well as what I should pass.

One day, I received an email saying that they had found me a stone that they knew I would love. They sent me a copy of the GIA certificate and, on paper, the stone was wonderful. I asked her what her initial thoughts were upon seeing it in person and she said it was beautiful. It was everything that I wanted. When I made an appointment to go in and look at the diamond in person, the sales person greeted me warmly and we sat down to look at the diamond. She presented me with the certificate of the diamond that I was to be looking at and told me that she got me an even better price than what she had quoted me via email. I was ecstatic. When she went to show me the diamond, I instantly saw it was not the diamond in the certificate. Without going into too much detail, the diamond did not have the same cut/facet structure or nearly the same dimensions as the diamond that I wanted to see. The diamond was of the same color, carat and clarity grade, but nothing else matched up. Already knowing that this was not the same diamond as the certificate and what she had promised me in the email, I looked at it through the loupe just to be sure, looking for the inclusions. They were not to be found in the same place.

I pointed this out to the sales person, and she said instantly, "No, this is the correct diamond." I looked again, as I could have made a mistake. But, no, it definitely was not the same diamond. She looked at it through the loupe, and again, claimed it was the same diamond. Now, I was beginning to get frustrated. I pointed out again, that the cut of the diamond was not the same and the dimensions of the diamond were not the same. She looked again, and finally, after much consternation, agreed, that it was not the right diamond.

Now, she went on to explain how the mix up might have happened, and that the diamond buyer for the store is usually so careful with bringing in diamonds. Now, this might have been a mistake, but it may have also been on purpose. When asked about the original diamond, she said that she would check on it, but unfortunately, it was not available.

I sent an email as well as left 2 voicemails with the owner of Derco over the course of 2 weeks, and have yet to receive a reply or a call back. What I told him in the email was that, to me, the sale of a diamond engagement ring combines high ticket items with a very emotional purchase. The average consumer also has limited knowledge of the diamond industry and they hope that the purchase of an engagement ring is a one time event! I had just hoped that this one time experience would be a special one.

Now, best case scenario, Derco made an honest mistake, but the sales person is poorly informed about diamonds to the point where an average joe like myself could easily spot the differences between two significantly different diamonds. Worst case scenario is, that the sales person at Derco was trying to pull a fast one on me and sell me a lesser diamond, and luring me into by saying they got me a "much better price."

Either way, I''ve lost confidence in Derco. It''s a little disappointing, but I need to know that when buying high ticket items such as diamonds, that the person I am working with is trustworthy.
 
You know what? After that strange experience, I think I would have just started over elsewhere. Take a look at Good Old Gold, Winfield''s, WhiteFlash, etc. I haven''t heard of anything like this from these vendors.
 
WOW!
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Thank God you knew what you were doing!

I agree there are tons of other places out there.
 
So, I got a call from the owner of Derco Diamonds today. He apologized for the mix up and offered to look for an acceptable diamond for me himself. Also, he offered to sell me the diamond at his cost with no markup. Now, that begs the question, how do I know what his cost is for the particular diamond. What is the typical markup for a store like Derco?
 
Hmm. I don''t know what the markup is but I am curious to know! Have you asked them what price that would be? Have you made a decision on where to purchase the diamond?
 
well they are a B&M so their markup will be pretty high...my friend was just in the santana row store and said their prices were really high. i'd see what kind of price he quotes you for something and then come here to see what a comparable online stone is. it may or may not be a 'deal'.
 
sfdiamondhunt, I don''t know what the markup would be, but I would recommend staying away from Derco, based on my own personal experiences and from what you just told me about yours. It appears that service is quite lacking when not dealing with the owner(s) directly. The salespeople at Derco were incredibly friendly, patient, and helpful when my bf and I were looking to purchase a diamond from them. When I went back 6 months later for a check up and cleaning, they were VERY reluctant to help. I stood around for five minutes, while salespeople walked back and forth doing absolutely nothing, and finally demanded someone help me. I had to wait another few minutes before someone came up and asked who was it that needed help, and that person automatically gravitated towards a couple that just walked in the store! It was like I was invisible. When I explained what I wanted, she was impatient almost to the point of being rude.

Just my humble opinion though. I would go somewhere else for your purchase to avoid the frustration. Try Zwillinger & Co. It''s in the Phelan Building 760 Market St. That''s where I got my ring reset, and I found them to be much more helpful and personable. The saleslady that helped me was very patient with my questions and was more than happy to let me try on all the settings they had in their display case. I''ve also found that the quality of their settings exceeds those that Derco has in stock. Plus, they go out of their way to make their customer happy. I worked with a woman named Suki, if you do decide to look into Zwillinger.
 
cinderella, just curious which derco did you go to?
i have only been in their santana row store once, it was much smaller than i expected, and the few salepersons were busy with lovey dovey couples =)
peeking over their shoulders i was able to examine the engagement ring settings and was rather disappointed by their lack of much variety. also very few stones were one display for me to check out in the displays.. maybe they had all the good stuff hidden in back! =)
 
I had been to both the Santana Row store and the Gift Center store in SF. The service seemed to be slightly better at the Santana Row location, but their selection is limited when compared with the Gift Center store.

I''m just going to stay away from Derco from now on, because when they set the stone that we had purchased from them, you can easily tell it was a half-a$$ed job. The prongs were uneven, and the base of the head was yellow. They don''t have a laser solder, so they decided to solder on the platinum head to the platinum shank with white gold solder, and the finish wasn''t even smooth. It was lumpy.
 
Hi there,

I thought I would jump in on this exchange and ask if anyone knows how Derco''s would be to work with on returns? I bought a diamond there yesterday (along with a setting) and am now interested in a different stone. Does anyone know the likelihood of my being able to return the diamond only? Their ppwrk says they have a 10 day return policy for full amount, but I thought I would ask the audience out there for any insight. Thanks!
 
If their paperwork clearly states a 10 day return policy, there should be no problem.
 
Hi everyone, Just wanted to follow up and let you know I spoke to Derco''s today and they were very polite and accommodating!
 
Just a quick followup. After a few calls and emails back to the owner, I have yet to hear back from him on his offer. I decided to abandon it altogether and just go with another vendor. So far so good with this new vendor. I''ll report back when everything is complete.
 
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