James Allen Order Discrepancy Thread For Record Keeping

[nuskool89]

Hello Pricescope!

So I took the plunge and ordered a from James Allen last week.
I received the package this morning and the packaging is awesome and everything is great!
EXCEPT....There is a Discrepancy with my GIA certificate!

When ordering my stone it said "Very Good" Symmetry but upon receiving it and opening my own certificate it said

Good

The number is: 1162076214

Now what is even stranger, is that number does not show up on gia.edu

I am being helped via the 24/7 chat on thier website by a "David" who has been helpful so far but told me "I have never seen this before"

I am opening this thread to keep record of the response I get from James Allen.

-Nuskool

 

[nuskool89]

 

[nuskool89]

Sorry everyone I messed up the first post and went to edit it and for some reason could not change the second picture. Anyways, in the second post you see mine in my hand says "Good" instead of what the website showed "Very good"

 

[nuskool89]

Good
http://tinypic.com/r/axy3vl/8
Very Good
http://tinypic.com/r/2r6nm9w/8

 

[teobdl]

That is bizarre. Definitely first I've ever heard of this. I'm confident JA will resolve things for you. I'd guess that if they can't figure it out w/ GIA, they'll ask you to ship it back and give you a 100% credit, and maybe a slight discount on another purchase.

Not to ring alarm bells, but I wonder if GIA ever even graded it, and if it's not a really good man-made diamond (not simulant, but actual man-made diamond)?

Interestingly, there has been increasing proficiency in creating extremely good man-made diamonds requiring very special technologies to detect the difference between them and mined diamonds.

If a source can make a diamond, I'm sure they'd be able to generate a fake GIA report quite convincingly.

Again, this is all speculation and thinking out loud... but the weirdness of this makes you wonder.

 

[Karl_K]

That is just weird.
Knowing Jim the head man at JA they are scrambling to get to the bottom of it.
I am sure they will take care of you and resolve it to your satisfaction.
I would not speculate until we hear from Jim.

 

[oldminer]

It might be that the original report which says "GOOD" was appealed back to GIA and they raised the grading to Very Good. The "Facsimile" copy you have is based on the now current file one would hope. If the file is not there at GIA at all, then there is some other issue also going on. However, in the course of doing business, the old, original report made it to you and they may find a more recent, regraded version, which is now officially Very Good. It can readily happen as most approved re-graded reports get tossed out, not saved. Maybe this is one more good reason to get rid of reports which do not agree with the current grading.

 

[nuskool89]

Well I will definitely keep you guys filled in on the juicy bits as this is resolved! I did mention I made an Unboxing video and I also received a price scope discount "while ordering prior to this incident" so I have a feeling they will fix this quickly. I have not yet given them the link to this thread.

Thanks for posting people, really glad I took the time to study stones and joined price scope too before purchasing!

-nuskool

 

[nuskool89]

That is just weird.
Knowing Jim the head man at JA they are scrambling to get to the bottom of it.
I am sure they will take care of you and resolve it to your satisfaction.
I would not speculate until we hear from Jim.

Is Jim a manufacture rep for James Allen?

 

[drk14]

Is Jim a manufacture rep for James Allen?

Jim Schultz is the "James" in James Allen, and the CEO of the company. He participates on PS on occasion.

In any case, because I was bored, I pulled some CSI-style image enhancement on the QR code shown on the hardcopy report in your second photo:



...which allowed me to decode the QR code to get this link:

https://myapps.gia.edu/ReportCheckP...616C834E70C6B83E9B40DBBB751&weight=<<RPT_WT>>

Unfortunately, following the link only produced a "Match Not Found" error on the GIA website. Oh well, it was worth a try!

In your screen-shot of the JA online version of the report, the QR code is only half visible, so I couldn't check that one out.

I also noted that the two versions of the report have the same date (April 29), so it's not just a matter of one of the reports being old. Nonetheless, I'm sure there's an innocent explanation. Curious stuff!

 

[nuskool89]

Haha nice! Good eye and cool tech knowledge, I'm 25 and still have never used one of those code boxes. But I also don't have a facebook or twitter, I'm an old soul. Thanks for the info on Jim, that is impressive to say the least he takes the time to post on the forum. I have to admit, looking accross the site I realize my stone is small sauce compared to most, but I went with as high a quality I could afford, as apposed to size. My attention to detail is what initially caught the difference, which led to finding "no result found" on gia.edu

Do you need a clearer pic of the one from there site? Here is a tinypic link with a better view. Thanks again for the interest

http://tinypic.com/r/8voeuf/8

I am going to let the business day finish before contacting them tomorrow with a link to this thread. Havn't heard back today but it was only 10 hours ago.

-nuskool

 

[drk14]

The QR in the (new) screenshot of the JA report decodes to the exact same URL. Not sure that leaves us any wiser!

Are you still communicating with JA via their online chat? I've had mixed results with the 24/7 chat reps, and found better customer service by calling their office directly (301-631-1414), or if you want to have documented written correspondence, use their customer service email ([email protected]).

Also, PS is a small world, and Mr. Schultz may find his way to this thread on his own...

 

[YoungPapa]

Also, PS is a small world, and Mr. Schultz may find his way to this thread on his own...

Did someone mention my name? My ears were burning

Hi nuskool,

Thanks for trusting our company with your purchase and for the kind words you've said about your experience thus far. I think if you check your inbox (or your spam folder), you'll find an email from David - the gentleman you chatted with earlier today. He actually sent you the email about 2:30 EST, but based on your recent posts it looks like you haven't seen it - thus the reference to your spam folder.

In short, we called GIA and it looks like the symmetry grade was changed sometime between the creation of the 'facsimile' (which we display on our website when you click on the report link) and the printing of the hardcopy report. How, why, or exactly when that happened I really don't know. I can tell you, however, that we've seen printing mistakes from GIA quite a few times over the last 15 years, and I think it just comes with the territory when doing anything in massive volume.

There were a few other things in the email for you to read, but the main point is that we're sorry for the confusion and stand behind our products and policies. If the symmetry grade is a deal-breaker for you, consider a free return label on the way. If solving the mystery was more important than the actual difference in grade, then consider it solved. Either way, if there is anything else I can do for you personally, just give the office a call, chat or email and we'll talk sometime on Friday.

All the best,

 

[nuskool89]

I spoke to David mostly and he said he was taking on the issue, then about an hour later I spoke with a female but I cannot remember if it was chloe or courtney or another "c" name just bringing up that the gia number did not show up at all Very good or good for that matter on gia.edu. To which I was told something along the lines of "David is taking care of it and will get back to you with more information"

I do not feel the need to contact them through other means at this time. I'm calm about it. Since I ordered and since I brought this up with them, James Allen has been helpful and friendly. Honestly the moment I ordered I was already dreaming/thinking "wow in a couple years when my finances are better off I'm excited to shop here again" At this point in time I would not hesitate to remain a life long customer. Who knows, maybe this will somehow land me an even nicer stone!

-nuskool

 

[nuskool89]

Also, PS is a small world, and Mr. Schultz may find his way to this thread on his own...

Did someone mention my name? My ears were burning

Hi nuskool,

Thanks for trusting our company with your purchase and for the kind words you've said about your experience thus far. I think if you check your inbox (or your spam folder), you'll find an email from David - the gentleman you chatted with earlier today. He actually sent you the email about 2:30 EST, but based on your recent posts it looks like you haven't seen it - thus the reference to your spam folder.

In short, we called GIA and it looks like the symmetry grade was changed sometime between the creation of the 'facsimile' (which we display on our website when you click on the report link) and the printing of the hardcopy report. How, why, or exactly when that happened I really don't know. I can tell you, however, that we've seen printing mistakes from GIA quite a few times over the last 15 years, and I think it just comes with the territory when doing anything in massive volume.

There were a few other things in the email for you to read, but the main point is that we're sorry for the confusion and stand behind our products and policies. If the symmetry grade is a deal-breaker for you, consider a free return label on the way. If solving the mystery was more important than the actual difference in grade, then consider it solved. Either way, if there is anything else I can do for you personally, just give the office a call, chat or email and we'll talk sometime on Friday.

All the best,

Wow that was fast! Thanks for taking the time to respond! I checked my spam folder and havn't received it.

****The email I sent pictures to David with is just the icloud email attached to my iphone, and I admit I have not checked that one yet as I was watching the [email protected] email I used for my user account on James Allen.

update mid post****I got that email now thanks for that again. I will continue the conversation through the contact outlets you listed.