Got my e-ring from a pricescope dealer :-(

[baltneu]

Shibbell
Is the wedding band supposed to be even all around or is the extra thickness at the top a problem? Sorry for the ignorant question.

 

[baltneu]

Noobie
from the 2 pics you posted on this thread it is hard for me to see the difference. The only problem that I can see in the first pic seems to be a prong that seems to be sticking straight up. Others have a better eye and more knowledge than me on this stuff anyway.

 

[shibbel]

Here is a pic of the Blue Nile wedding band. The band is supposed to be slightly thicker at the top. On mine, it's overly thick; and the thick part is not centered.

 

[diamondsbylauren]

Shibbel,


I'm in complete agreement for letting the vendor make this right. Your actions here are admirable.


I'd be very upset, yet you've maintained your cool- thank you for that.




I also have NO idea who this vendor is.




However, let me also say that after looking at the workmanship of the ring, a total re-make is in order.


The rough areas are caused by a defective cast- trying to straighten something like this out is not likely to succeed.


The misplacemenmt of the head is just bac choice of parts and bad exectution- that particular aspect could be fixed, but the ring will still be messed up in the "gallery" areas.




As far as the black spot- this is really up to you.


if there's any hesitation about this stone, it may come up again- so think carefully.



As far as price - you got a very good deal IF you love the diamond.




Now as far as that scoundrel Wink- I think we should tie him down in the forest up there in Boise, smear him with honey and let the local yellowjackets have thier way- have the kiler bees gotten that far yet????






Seriously- we shoud all APPLAUD Wink for having the honesty to stand up and let folks know how it really works-.


I know Wink , and you could not find a more caring and honest merchant.

 

[fire&ice]

Sorry for your misfortune. Insult to injury.

 

[noobie]

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On 5/17/2004 4:03:35 PM baltneu wrote:





Noobie
from the 2 pics you posted on this thread it is hard for me to see the difference. The only problem that I can see in the first pic seems to be a prong that seems to be sticking straight up. Others have a better eye and more knowledge than me on this stuff anyway.
----------------

baltneu,

In person it was easy to see. The first had extra metal below the trellis, was not nearly as smooth and flowing and is actually flattered by the picture. Even the jeweler admitted it was not his best work. However he more than made up for it.

I only posted them to help shibbel in getting a resolution. But, after seeing the wedding ring, I hope he gets his money back and finds good jeweler.

 

[shibbel]

Update,

I just got back from FedEx; where I shipped both rings back to the vendor. He got back to me about 1 1/2 hours ago and gave me two choices:

1. Re-make the ring by another fabricator
2. Refund my money.

I choose to have my money refunded.

Although my trust has taken a big shot, the character of this vendor was even bigger. It took a lot of "balls" to admit he had never even see the ring after it was made. Anyone can make a mistake. I asked for a refund, and he agreed.

Mistakes happen, but the solution is what makes the difference.

Thank everyone for their advice! I feel better now, but I won't feel completely comfortable until that refund check is in my bank account.

 

[WinkHPD]

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On 5/17/2004 4:31:43 PM diamondsbylauren wrote:



Now as far as that scoundrel Wink- I think we should tie him down in the forest up there in Boise, smear him with honey and let the local yellowjackets have thier way- have the kiler bees gotten that far yet????

.
----------------

No killer bees, they like it hot! Thank goodness for real honest winters in this part of the world! Now me and yellow jackets get along just fine. When ever I am hunting I let them have some of the meat and they let me have the rest. They much prefer a little protien to carbs, they been doing the low carb thing for about a zillion years.

Thanks for the kind words, other than that part about the killer bees and the yellow jackets I mean. I don't want to think what a mess this place would be without the yellow jackets, but I prefer to stay on their good side!

Wink

 

[WinkHPD]

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On 5/17/2004 6:19:31 PM shibbel wrote:

Although my trust has taken a big shot, the character of this vendor was even bigger. It took a lot of 'balls' to admit he had never even see the ring after it was made. Anyone can make a mistake. I asked for a refund, and he agreed.

Mistakes happen, but the solution is what makes the difference.

Thank everyone for their advice! I feel better now, but I won't feel completely comfortable until that refund check is in my bank account.
----------------

I would have bet good money that he had not seen the piece. It never would have been shipped otherwise. I am glad that he did the right thing and sorry that you got stuck with this mess over the weekend. There are a lot of great vendors here that can do that piece for you, some of them like my yellow jacket friend have the good fortune to be in New York City where they can go from benchman to benchman to benchman if necessary. I am willing to be that with the scrutiny that your ring will receive before it is delivered that no matter who you choose it will be a first class job. Todd is also a stickler for detail and I have heard rumors that he is a royal pain in the behind to work for if it does not get done right the first time. So there you have people on either coast and there are a host of good people in between.

This is not a style that we are currently doing and I certainly do not want to start in the middle of a fire storm, so I will thank all of my friends for the recommendations and pass the ball on this one. It is an elegant style and fairly simple though so perhaps you will get an email from someone who is already doing it. Good luck, and I thank you for your class in the way that you handled the situation.

Wink

 

[MichelleCarmen]

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On 5/17/2004 2:36:42 PM verticalhorizon wrote:

I, too, cannot tell by what's written who the 'offending vendor' is. I'm all for letting the vendor and the client work things out before 'outing' them. However, if the vendor should not come through, then it's fair for them to voice their grievances.

----------------

The vendor isn't mentioned in this thread, but I still figured out who the company is. Oh well. I thought it would be more obvious how to find out than it apparently is. lol

I, of course, don't think any company should be bashed as we all make mistakes, but if there are continous problems with any vendor, I'd want to avoid them because who wants the hassle? Knowing who the company is, to me, is just a heads up for future reference so I'd know that there could be potential problems IF others end up complaining as well. Hopefully this isn't the case and from here on out this vendor receives rave reviews.

Michelle

 

[Jennifer5973]

I am impressed with this vendor's actions. We've all seen many threads around here (eBay, anyone?) where people have been robbed.

I am very critical person (hardest on myself) and have to remind myself that we are all human and mistakes happen, even when they shouldn't.

At least you got your money back. I hope you get the ring you want and I applaud your civility. Good luck!

 

[Shay37]

Kudos to the vendor (whoever they are) for giving you a couple of options and allowing you to choose how best to resolve the situation. Good luck in the search for the company to make your rings as you want them to be.

Shay

 

[Skyblue]

I am glad that the vendor was able to give you an option that you are satisfied with, although, you are still left with your disappointment. I do not blame you for choosing to go elsewhere. I would have done the same considering the poor quality of 2 rings.

Did you decide to return the entire ring -- diamond and all or did you decide to keep the diamond?

 

[shibbel]

I returned it all. I still would rather get the whole package from one vendor.

 

[niceice]

Sorry for not being around to comment during the rest of this thread Shibbel, we took a couple of days off (totally unplugged) so that Robin could go shopping in a Big City... Okay, that sounds strange, I know, but if you've ever seen Robin shop you would understand completely... She does it twice a year and it's a major endeavor!

Anyway, we were thinking that the ring might have been made and shipped out without the vendor ever seeing it... Many of the internet vendors are "virtual" and they never see the diamonds that they sell... To add to that dilemma, many of them have started to mount jewelry for people by having the cutter take care of the setting (many diamond companies also sell mountings) and that is in our opinion a recipe for disaster... Your situation may be a case in point. Glad to see that the vendor is standing behind the sale with a no hassle refund.

As far as the comparison of the Blue Nile pictures to the photographs of the actual product, we'd like to say with no defense as to the quality of the work because that IS simply awful, that the pictures of the ring you posted from the Blue Nile web site look like CAD renditions of a ring design as opposed to being actual photographs and that real work looks nothing like CAD renditions which have been worked in Adobe Photoshop, etc. for maximum eye candy... Again, we're not attempting to justify the quality of the ring you received, we just wanted to mention the difference in the graphics in case some people didn't realize that.

It took us a few times through Iceman's post to get what he was saying

But we like to think that those of us running smaller operations have a better chance of being able to provide our clients with a quality product. This is not to say that mistakes don't happen and that things don't sometimes slip through without being perfect because it happens... It happens everywhere where people are involved although we make every reasonable attempt to prevent and correct problems before the client can be disappointed. But still, sometimes things happen and from our perspective, this is yet another opportunity to earn a clients business and trust because mistakes and oversights happen, they just do, but it's in how a company chooses to deal with those issues that provides true insight into the character of the people running the company. As responsible business owners, we can tell you that we STRESS anytime we're out of the office and are unable to personally oversee every aspect of our operations... We don't want to trust the satisfaction of our client on a staff member that might be unfocused at one particular time or another, this is not to say that we doubt their abilities, but the reality is that an owner usually has more of a desire for everything to be right than most employees... We used the word "most" so don't flip out if you happen to be an employee, please look at the general statement people and don't get caught up on your personal efforts... This is why we personally hand select EVERY diamond that we sell, but we're pleased to say that our staff is just as ready to kick a stone to the curb as we are if they notice something that bothers them about it when they unpack and clean it in preparation for us to begin our evalution... We'll hear something like "OMG take a look at this feather!" and we'll take a look at it and if appropriate say "good call, send it back!" Virtual dealers can not provide this type of service, they might be able to shave a few points off the price (because they have no overhead involved with selling the stone) but we have to ask... Was all of this aggrevation worth the "savings"? We ask this question with the assumption that this ring was created by a virtual dealer, we're going to flat fall off the planet if it was produced by any of the real brokers that we know

 

[fire&ice]

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On 5/17/2004 7:07:00 PM MichelleCarmen wrote:

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On 5/17/2004 2:36:42 PM verticalhorizon wrote:

Oh well. I thought it would be more obvious how to find out than it apparently is. lol

Makes me question people's reading comprehension skills. Yes, obvious.

 

[winyan]

Personally, I was more interested in finding out if the vendor made things come out all right for the customer, than puzzling out the vendor's identity.

If it had *not* turned out well, then I, too, would have been ferreting out the identity.

win

 

[MichelleCarmen]

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On 5/18/2004 9:25:02 AM winyan wrote:

Personally, I was more interested in finding out if the vendor made things come out all right for the customer, than puzzling out the vendor's identity.

If it had *not* turned out well, then I, too, would have been ferreting out the identity.

win----------------

Yeah, I understand why most don't want to know the company's name UNLESS there had been a problem with Shibbel's refund request. I guess since many of us provide recommendations, I like to know as much about a vendor's reputation as possible to maintain the integrity of this furum. At any rate, after a quick search here on PS, I found VERY little about this company mentioned, but did find they were responsible for destroying another customer's setting

. Oh well! I'll check DT later and see what's said over there (hopefully, all comments are positive).

 

[jtoskey]

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On 5/17/2004 10:52:39 PM niceice wrote:

As far as the comparison of the Blue Nile pictures to the photographs of the actual product, we'd like to say with no defense as to the quality of the work because that IS simply awful, that the pictures of the ring you posted from the Blue Nile web site look like CAD renditions of a ring design as opposed to being actual photographs and that real work looks nothing like CAD renditions which have been worked in Adobe Photoshop, etc. for maximum eye candy...

Robin and Todd, those images certainly are photographs, not CAD renditions. We have a talented creative team that spends a great deal of time on our photography.

Thanks
John

 

[strmrdr]

lol MC now I know who it was.
They get 0 recomendations from me after that incident.
They did not handle that one nearly as well as this one wich shows maybe that end of things is improving but the quality hasnt.

niceice: welcome back.
I wondered where you were and if everything was ok.

 

[Jaded Gem]

Hmm. I wonder who that vendor is also.

I would not be suprised if we were dealing with the same one. I did what I thought I should have done, but I chose to name the vendor to save other people the heartaches of the same possible problem. For the longest time I blamed myself, but I clearly saw that I had tried to ask/notify the vendor, many times, of what my concerns were. I guess both owners overlooked my concerns.

Perhaps they thought I wouldn't care after they had my money and had mounted the diamond onto the ring. Of course, I understand that you don't feel the need to reveal their identity. Yet if it is the same vendor then you did what other people had suggested in my post. You had purchased the diamond and the setting from the same vendor, and still they messed up the whole transaction. Yep, different strokes for different folks of whether the company identity needs to be revealed or not. Anyway, I read what you wrote from the beginning which was "I'm still annoyed that the dealer would send me the ring like this. It's very clear the setting is inadequately finished. And even more irritating, is the fact that they knew about that black spot and didn’t make sure it was pronged (even though they were supposed to)."

Well, at least they offered to give you your money back. The vendor I dealt with did the same after they admitted, by both owners, that the ring looked horrible. I said the setting didn't look right, but I wasn't sure since the other company said it was the proper setting. The diamond vendor asked if they could see it so I sent it to them. Next thing you know, the diamond company sends it back to me in the wrong setting. I was like "I thought you were going to call me before you set it?" "It looks terrible." "Why did you set it?" Then they admitted their faults of "I don't know. It was the other company who sold you the setting." So in essence, they masked the other vendor's lie of improper setting, set the diamond onto the improper ring setting, and when it came out looking horrible they shrugged their shoulders and blamed the first vendor for a poor quality ring that was not the proper setting to begin with. That was the extent of their quality control from both owners who had both seen the finished product and who had this so called "expertise in the diamond industry." Their response was something like, "Yep I saw your ring, it was horrible, but so what...I wasn't going to wear it, so I didn't care." Gosh, I wanted to scream. To add additional insult to injury, they tried to give a lame apology on this forum and lie about some of the conditions that they had offered me. What a bunch of bad apples!

Anyway, if it is the same vendor. Most likely you should not have a problem getting your money back as soon as possible. At least you purchased the whole diamond and setting from the same place so you will only go through getting a refund from one company instead of two companies. Well, I got my money back, and with that I got my altered ring setting with a little note saying "too bad for you, it sucks to be you, and good luck getting your money back from the ring company after we had altered it." Yeah, the apology did not seem to be a sincere one.

Just look at all of this as a learning experience. Not every vendor whether they are Pricescope approved or not will be an honest vendor. I guess this forum is a good place to start to get opinions of what you should do in the case if the vendor does not live up to the store's policies or what should be naturally good integrity and an honest apology. Everyone is different. Some are motivated solely by the extra buck and others might actually care about the customer while making money. Hopefully the companies that care about their customers are the ones that survive the longest. My best regards to you if you can muster the strength and courage for another attempt at putting together your ring. I'm sure the great posters here will help you like they have helped me in the past of rectifying a not so pleasant experience.

 

[hoorray]

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On 5/18/2004 4:01:28 PM Jaded Gem wrote:


Just look at all of this as a learning experience. Not every vendor whether they are Pricescope approved or not will be an honest vendor.

----------------

People should remember here that there is no such thing as "Pricescope approved" (not picking on you Jaded Gem -- just want to clarify for newer people.) Vendors here participate and/or advertise by their own choice, and it is still up to the consumer to do their homework and check references, testimonials, BBB, etc. before buying. Just their participation here doesn't guarantee they are great vendors. (Although many are

). Everyone should remember to check them out before buying.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

You know, I don't agree with vendor bashing, BUT, I think that all consumers have a right to know the truth IF they do a search on a company even if it's just tid bits of info rather than full out complaints. I'm rather disappointed to find that the MOST clearly stated post Shibbel made naming this company as the one who he was working with on the setting/ordering this above named stone has since had the company's name removed! Sorry, I can sympathize with your problems regarding the craftsmanship of this ring, but question your protection of this company when others here RELY on experiences such as your to help them determine who to work with. And, keep in mind, you're NOT the first person who's had this problem with THIS company, but now, you've possibly created another problem for another person in the future who comes to this site and depends upon *unedited* stories like yours when spending thousands of bucks, but now instead assumes this company is possibly okay!

Michelle

 

[finerthings]

Wow, good sleuthing MC. You make a very valid point, which unfortunately brings me back to my original feeling of mistrust about being scammed on the internet, ... and who can we trust here?

 

[madmarlin]

Well, now I'm a little concerned. When I saw the posts from those who knew who the vendor was, I did a little search and found the post where the vendor was named. Now I do the same search, after reading these last couple of posts, and the thread with the name of the vendor is gone??? What's up with that? In a forum dedicated to the consumer, shouldn't the consumer have all pertinent information? Positive or negative, referrals are imporatnt in decision-making.

This thread could arguably be viewed as a positive for the vendor, as they did the right thing by the customer. But, when information is removed, it begs the question, "what is the motive for the removal?" Especially when the thread removed only referred to the vendor and was in no way negative. That's a shame.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

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On 5/18/2004 10:51:24 PM madmarlin wrote:

Well, now I'm a little concerned. When I saw the posts from those who knew who the vendor was, I did a little search and found the post where the vendor was named. Now I do the same search, after reading these last couple of posts, and the thread with the name of the vendor is gone??? What's up with that? In a forum dedicated to the consumer, shouldn't the consumer have all pertinent information? Positive or negative, referrals are imporatnt in decision-making.

----------------

Coolest option here on PS. Another member here just PM'd me and explained if you do a search on a person's posts via their profile page and then click on any of their previous posts, after being forwarded to that post, you'll see on the bottom part of the message the number of revisions a person has made and if you click revisions, HERE you can see where the vendor's name had been in the message and now has been removed! Interesting feature!

Michelle

 

[purduephotog]

I'm with Wink here-

I've worked in an industry that has people showing up 'early' all the time to pick up their orders. Nothing is worse than knowing there is a day or two left to finish a custom job and then having the customer show up out of place. They always have a valid excuse (in town, going out of town, surprise visit, etc).

It's very hard to ignore the mounting pressure and turn them away. Just think of your last trip to an electronics store to pickup an item ordered. If it's not there, you're pissed .

Slipups happen. As long as they don't happen on a regular basis OR happen with Life Support Equipment... and it can be corrected... it should work out.

But I agree- that ring looks as if it was finished off with a Dremel to fit that last diamond in

 

[Jaded Gem]

Well, I totally agree with Michelle Carmen on this one. It seems like the identity of this vendor is masked making it hard for anybody else like a future customer to judge before their purchase if dealing with this vendor would be a positive or negative one. Some people call it tactfullness and some may be thinking "Gosh, I wonder who this vendor is? I hope I don't come across this store. I guess a vendor can mess up even though the diamond and setting were purchased at the same place. Hmm. Oh well, I guess I just hope I don't pick the wrong vendor despite their good refund policy." Like I said different strokes for different folks. I think it's not bad to reveal the identity since most people who replied to this thread said at least it was a positive one, but it begs the attention from others like me that quality control whether it was mounting the diamond to hide the inclusion or fabricating another site's ring did not work out as they had made you to believe. I think this is another valid point on why the customer should know who this company is whether they spend a buck or a million bucks. Perhaps getting it done the right way by spending a little bit more money from the original company who perfected the ring mounting and matching wedding ring that you liked from Blue Nile would have been a better way to go about it. I know that I got thrashed on another thread for not purchasing an original Tacori setting and going with an off make of the product. And then this person said that I was silly to not go to a brick and mortar store to see the finished product. Yeah, that person had no love for me, but oh well, I took it all with a grain of salt. Most of the advice that I got from most of the Pricescopers were very helpful. And yeah, it was a humbling experience to have more than a few people tell me that one was just asking to get scammed or given a "lack of quality control" when dealing with only a price factor in mind. At the end, if I could do it again, I don't think price would be such an important quotient to my decision making process, and I would actually pay a lot more to deal with a much more competent and honest vendor. Again good luck if you decide to go about it again. I hope you have a better experience the second time around. People here will help you like they have helped me.

 

[hoorray]

I think is was right of Shibble to not mention the vendor before contacting them about the problem. (Thus avoiding a large bashing thread with only one side represented and before getting a chance to solve the problem.)

Now, I think it is up to Shibble to decide if he wants to mention who it was he dealt with. It would probably be useful to others considering working with this vendor in the future. Particularly since looking for previous customer experiences is a good way to decide whether you want to work with a vendor or not. Both good and bad things came out about the vendor through his experience. But, it is his choice. It's an open forum, and that's the beauty of it.

 

[shibbel]

Lop,

Thank you. As you said, I think it's up to me to decide when and IF I say who the vendor is. I think it's unfair for people to dig around, and repeatedly post about how to find out who the vendor is. I don't have my money in my hand as of yet. SO until then, it would only hurt me to post such information.