Fraudulent Appraisal?

[kbanton]

xxx

 

[Mara]

Appraisals are opinions for the most part, but educated opinions. Do you know your independent appraiser's credentials? I assume you checked him out somewhat before using him.

I would trust the independent appraiser's grading over the jewelers anytime, as the independent appraiser has no reason to falsify information, he knows you can take it elsewhere and get a 3rd opinion. Have you in fact done this? I would, definitely talk to someone else. If you would consider it..send the stone to Dave Atlas, Rich Sherwood or Bill Leiberman and have them appraise it..they all have very high reputations on this forum for telling it as it is.

From what I have heard, appraisals in settings can often be mistaken...viewing the loose stone is the true way to tell.

Just out of curiosity, why have you retained an attorney?

 

[PuddyKat]

My husband and I recently had my diamond (2c asscher) appraised and it appraised much differently than the appraisal the jeweler gave us (diamond is not certified). He appraised the stone as H/I in color, our appraisal says J/K, most likely K (appraised in setting). Our independent appraiser also told us his grading can not be a split grading since his appraisal was of a loose stone.

HI there,
I'm a bit confused. You said the appraiser appraised it H/I and your appraisal says its J/K. Isn't that a good thing? Wouldn't you have paid for J/K color but in fact got a slightly lighter H/I diamond? Sorry , just got off work and my brain's burned out. Please clarify.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Usually what I find has occurred in these type of situations is that the jeweler is not a gemologist, and attempted to do his own grading, or relied on the "in-house" grading given by his supplier (both dumb moves, usually done trying to save a buck).

Also, 99 times out of 100 the jeweler has charged a fair price for what the stone really is, while unintentionally overstated the grading. Fraud is too strong a word for that scenario.

How did the stone appraise out value wise? Did it appraise for what you paid for it, or more?

Don't crucify the guy if he gave you a good deal. Give him a chance to pacify you in some manner. Perhaps a credit for other merchandise, or a refund, or a trade-in, etc.

 

[kbanton]

Puddykat, thanks for reply. Basically, we were sold a diamond we were told was H in color and it appraised as J. After getting a band that was matched to what we believed was the true color, the stone appeared very yellow, which first raised the question. The jeweler's appraisal appears to misrepresent the sold he sold us. Regardless of price, we are angry we did not buy the stone we thought we were.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

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Regardless of price, we are angry we did not buy the
stone we thought we were.
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Ahh, so the stone did appraise out for more...

I can understand your anger. If you're convinced it was intentional, nail the guy to the wall. But first give serious consideration to the possibility that it might have been an unintentional blunder.

There's a universal law that as you judge others, so shall you be judged. The measure of harshness you use, you will yourself experience one day.

Give the guy a chance. Shelve the attorney for now. He'll just exacerbate the situation and suck as much money out of it that he can.

 

[kbanton]

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On 2/21/2003 10:13:59 AM Richard Sherwood wrote:

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Regardless of price, we are angry we did not buy the
stone we thought we were.
-----------

Ahh, so the stone did appraise out for more...

I can understand your anger. If you're convinced it was intentional, nail the guy to the wall. But first give serious consideration to the possibility that it might have been an unintentional blunder.

There's a universal law that as you judge others, so shall you be judged. The measure of harshness you use, you will yourself experience one day.

Give the guy a chance. Shelve the attorney for now. He'll just exacerbate the situation and suck as much money out of it that he can.



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Thank you for your thoughts, I too agree that we give him the benefit of the doubt, and that's what we would have liked to believe.

Our first visit to him was very honest, in which we expressed our 'concerns' that perhaps his appraisal was not accurate. He was not cooperative however, and suggested we simply 'changed our mind' about our purchase. After many months of getting the run around, you can imagine how frustrating this has become.

On a side note, our attorney is a family friend and has educated us on our rights as a consumer. Additionally, with the mention of this assistance, the jeweler has become surprisingly more agreeable.

It does upset me that we went to this jeweler trusting his expertise and walked out with something we never would have purchased otherwise. If someone thought they were buying a diamond at a good price and found out it was glass, would it matter what they paid??

 

[aljdewey]

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On 2/21/2003 10:26:44 AM kbanton wrote:

Our first visit to him was very honest, in which we expressed our 'concerns' that perhaps his appraisal was not accurate. He was not cooperative however, and suggested we simply 'changed our mind' about our purchase. After many months of getting the run around, you can imagine how frustrating this has become.

It's kind of silly for him to suggest that you've simply changed your mind when you can document that a subsequent appraisal seems to reflect that the diamond is not worth what it was originally represented to be worth.

On a side note, our attorney is a family friend and has educated us on our rights as a consumer. It does upset me that we went to this jeweler trusting his expertise and walked out with something we never would have purchased otherwise.

It's good that you are becoming educated on your rights as a consumer. I can fully understand why you're upset at your jeweler, but I would gently suggest that you might have been able to avoid this unfortunate experience if you had similarly educated yourself about your impending purchase. Some time investing in learning the basics about diamonds (what to look for, the important of an appraisal, the importance of a good return policy) could have helped
you make a decision that wasn't based largely on trusting someone else's word (no matter how seemingly expert). At the end of the day, each of us needs to remember "caveat emptor.....let the buyer beware."

May this serve as a reminder to all of us that our responsibility as consumers is to educate ourselves so we aren't in the position of having to rely solely on someone else's opinion....especially when that someone has a vested interest in the outcome of the sale.

Thanks, Leonid, for providing us with a place where getting that education is possible.

kbanton, I truly hope you are able to resolve this with the jeweler to procure a better quality stone and come out of this learning experience whole.
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