is this a wrong observation? I am new here.

[Kelkel]

I think that the OP had a legitimate problem in his experience with Whiteflash, assuming he told the truth. WF should have made it clear in the first place that the original diamond he inquired about is officially not available to be sold by WF because the company''s insistence on quality. They way he found out the diamond''s unavailability is significantly problematic, I feel. (Even though I personally had a positive experience with them buying one of their in-house ACA diamonds.) It could be a communication problem indeed, where the sales rep meant that a diamond roughly meeting the customer''s requirements has been found and is available. Yet the OP has a good reason to be suspicious of WF''s business practices standard, given that he almost bought a different diamond than he thought he was buying. It made things worse that the diamond the sales rep recommended costs more than the original one he requested.

On the other hand, I think the OP perhaps should try to understand that the "call for availability" diamonds are not really being "advertised" in the traditional sense. They are listed as such because they are not in the vendor''s inventory and probably have never been seen by the vendor. The business model of the online vendors here relies on the fact that they only sell what they have seen to ensure quality. It should be perfectly acceptable if the vendor comes back and tell the customer that the inquired diamond is not available for sale because of quality concerns or available only with conditions attached for the same reason. Most customers wouldn''t mind listening to suggestions for alternatives at that point, but I don''t think it''s fair to think of it as a form of baiting.

 

[Kurt_3_0_1]

STRMRDR you dont have it straight I will break it down a little further maybe that will help. It is not that there is a pricing error on WF''s website go there now there is a more than 5% disparity between thier prices listed on price scope and the prices they have when you click the link from price scope to what they are advertising.

now this was not just a stone I inquired about I did a search on here they listed the stone here with their name beside the stone and a price that they could sell it for I clicked on it. They advertised the stone here for a price

I did not quote anything to my client. I told them I would get them a ring for the best price I could and let them know what thier price would be.

and finally bait and switch. imagine if the world worked the way that this transaction went down. everything every day. you look in the paper and milk borden is 2.99 a gallon on sale at your local store so you go there to save some money and when you get it to the register the cashier tells you yes we have that milk on sale but we cant sell it to you because it expires three days from now. But I have this better milk that expires in a week that is 4.50 however since I like you I can get it to you for 3.75 and then when you say well why did you advertise this milk in the first place if it does not meet your store policies for resale? and they because we can sell it to you but if its clumpy when you get it home we are not going to take it back like we will the better milk. now imagine that everything you purchase today this has to be gone through to get it and see if you would like someone practicing business that way

Bait: you were drawn in by the advertisement of a specific item at a specific price by this specific company who advertised it for sale.

Switch: once there the price higher they wont back the quality of the very thing they advertised and try to sell you one at a discounted but still higher price than what you were suppose to pay for the item they advertised anyway

 

[pricescope]

We asked John Pollard to clarify about "refusing to sell" that first diamond because that''s the only question we have to know the answer of.
About lower prices on Pricescope database - it''s a good not a bad thing for consumers, now if you are another "trade member" that''s another story.

 

[Finding_Neverland]

If this is the search you did:

https://www.pricescope.com/panning.aspx

The stone lists for $958 on the PS Search Engine, but the WF page shows $1206.

http://www.whiteflash.com/marquise/Marquise-cut-diamond-301109.htm

With a 5% PS discount off the list price at the PS website, the price would be $1147.

WF clearly has a disclaimer posted on their website about situations such as this that might arise:

Pricing. Despite WhiteFlash’s best efforts, a small number of the items listed on our website may be mispriced. Prior to shipment of every order, we verify the pricing, and will do the following if we discover a mispriced item:

* If an item’s correct price is lower than our stated price, we will charge the lower amount and ship you the item.
* If an item’s correct price is higher than our stated price, we will, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before shipping the product or cancel the order and notify you of such cancellation. If the order has been confirmed and charged to your credit card, WhiteFlash will immediately issue a credit in the amount of the incorrect price.

Prices and items are subject to change without notice. We are not responsible for, and will not honor, printing or typographical errors.

Disclaimer

ALL DIAMONDS ARE SUBJECT OF AVAILABILITY

ALL DIAMOND PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE

WHILE WHITEFLASH.COM ENDEAVORS TO PROVIDE THE MOST ACCURATE, UP-TO-DATE MATERIALS AVAILABLE, THE INFORMATION, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, PRICING, AND SERVICES AVAILABLE ON THIS SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES, TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS, OR OUTDATED INFORMATION. MOREOVER, WHITEFLASH.COM MAY MAKE MODIFICATIONS OR CHANGES TO THE SITE OR THE INFORMATION, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES DESCRIBED IN THIS SITE AT ANY TIME, FOR ANY REASON. WHITEFLASH.COM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR AND NEED NOT HONOR TYPOGRAPHICAL OR PRICING ERRORS ON THE SITE.

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds_info/t/faq.aspx?articleid=351&zoneid=6

According to JohnQ''s comments, WF has attempted to contact you to explain the pricing error. Both in email and via phone. JohnQ has invited you to call their office.

This is not a bait and switch. It''s an information error/glitch with a particular supplier. This is not the first time a Vendor has had issues with Virtual Inventory Price Listings. Look thru old posts. Just about every Vendor here has had some sort of database issue at one time or another.

 

[JohnQuixote]

 

[JohnQuixote]

For Pricescopers:

After investigation, the prices here are correct.Our internal system gave erroneous PS prices for some virtual goods.This has been addressed but we’ve asked our people to physically check the PS site to verify the data matches.

The PS price is always the bank wire price, as indicated by the asterisk in the PS sift and in our pricing policy.Between WF exports, PS uploads and our internal calculation there is always a possibility of error.If this occurs we will act as quickly as possible, and per the linked policy.