Leon Mege months of bad service and the 5.13 carat Pear

[arkieb1]

Since Leon Mege thinks it is funny to cut and paste my words in Yelp, I have decided that maybe it IS time I did the same, I was not going to put anything on this forum, but if Leon can cut and paste my emails then I think it is fair that I do the same....... The pear which some of you know about sat at Leons for months and months in that time I got one link to a ring that he made (months after I first emailed him) he ignored my ideas repeatedly to the point that his assistant Rachel emailed me asking for them to which I replied I have sent these to Leon 3 or more times already. Then after several more months of waiting he came up with 2 badly photoshopped ideas one of which was O.K, but he then went on holidays and was then not available to deal with me.

Finally my mother because critically ill (she suffered from heart failure and we thought she was going to die) and my husband was deeply annoyed that the stone had been sitting there all that time so I requested it back. At the time it was possible I could need the money from the pear to bury my mother, it was that serious. Having said that her illness did not have any impact on the many months of bad service I encountered up until that point. Nor did it account for the fact that Leon gave me the option of either taking an amount he set, or paying $3000.00 for his "design services" or he refused to release the stone in order to be sold to someone else.

Here is a link to the YELP review, please read it if you would like to get the gist of some of what went on..... If you want me to cut and paste any other emails, or answer you questions since Leon thinks it is appropriate to do leaving out information on that forum I am more than happy to do so....

**edited by moderator, please post all comments directly in the thread. links to yelp etc. are not allowed**

 

[bgray]

I am so sorry that you are dealing with him. Leon Mege is a sociopath. He is manipulative, vindictive, and petty, a misogynist--and a LIAR. If I tried to describe my interactions with him it would take so long and be so complicated that it would impossible to do effectively. He is truly bizarre and a low person.

 

[arkieb1]

I am so sorry that you are dealing with him. Leon Mege is a sociopath. He is a manipulative, vindictive, and petty and a misogynist--and a LIAR. If I tried to describe my interactions with him it would take so long and be so complicated that it would impossible to do effectively. He is truly bizarre.

Leon blatantly lied to make up his own reality of what went on with this diamond. Sure my mother was ill and YES I asked for it back. He sent me an email lying trying to make out that he did more design work than he actually did and that he spoke to me several times on the phone - which he NEVER did because if the time differences between Australia and New York and I have a number of emails to prove that.

It is not normal behaviour from normal jewellers to extort money from their customers for crappy service and to hold a diamond hostage.

 

[bgray]

He plays games, is manipulative and deceitful. None of your story surprises me. Many other vendors in NYC no longer do business with him. File a complaint online with the NEW York Better Business Bureau

 

[armywife13]

The way he acted is completely unacceptable. And then to post your email with information about your mother? Disgusting. I am so sorry you went through this whole ordeal.

 

[arkieb1]

He plays games, is manipulative and deceitful. None of your story surprises me. Many other vendors in NYC no longer do business with him. File a complaint online with the NEW York Better Business Bureau

It's fine now, Mark Broumand helped me recover the diamond, gave me advise and purchase it from me in the end. There were weeks of tense drama from Leon when my mother was having heart surgery + a pace maker that did not need to happen.... The man is a complete and utter d*bag who makes up his own version of reality to serve himself.

 

[bgray]

I am so glad everything is settled. Yes--he is a compulsive liar. He treats women like _hit! I have observed that he does this when he is dealing solely with a woman. When its a woman WITH a Man or just a MAN you rarely hear major problems. He has serious issues with females.

 

[arkieb1]

The way he acted is completely unacceptable. And then to post your email with information about your mother? Disgusting. I am so sorry you went through this whole ordeal.

I am sure he could have answered back to that review leaving out my mother which I did in the initial review and without cutting and pasting my words which by the way I suspect is against the law in New York without my permission. The point here is not that my mother was ill and almost died, the point is, the man gave me months of non existent service, made up every excuse under the sun for his crappy service and the fact he was "too busy to deal with me" and then tried to extort money from me when I asked for the stone back.

 

[arkieb1]

I am so glad everything is settled. Yes--he is a compulsive liar. He treats women like _hit! I have observed that he does this when he is dealing solely with a woman. When its a woman WITH a Man or just a MAN you rarely hear major problems. He has serious issues with females.

My observation is if you buy a substantial stone from him then expect 5 star service, send him your own stone, then expect whatever he gives you.....

 

[KaeKae]

I am so sorry to see how terribly you have been treated by this supposed 'artist.' Stories like yours are why I would never consider doing business with him. Just looking at the reviews below yours, 1 out of 4 reviews were negative. Not a good reference for him.
So glad Mark B was able to help you out and more importantly, that your mother is better.

 

[WhoaNelly]

I am so sorry to hear about your awful experience. I know it must take quite a bit of courage to post something like that on PS. Glad to hear your mother is better---that IS what counts. Here's to a much better experience in the future.

 

[arkieb1]

I am so sorry to see how terribly you have been treated by this supposed 'artist.' Stories like yours are why I would never consider doing business with him. Just looking at the reviews below yours, 1 out of 4 reviews were negative. Not a good reference for him.
So glad Mark B was able to help you out and more importantly, that your mother is better.

Thanks, my mother is slowly recovering, which is great!!! Mark was wonderful, and so was Grace. There are fantastic vendors out there for sure!!! Leon has a number of bad review time and time again. His work is stunning but the sporadically good versus bad service is not worth the stress and drama. Leon is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you are going to get.....

 

[arkieb1]

I am so sorry to hear about your awful experience. I know it must take quite a bit of courage to post something like that on PS. Glad to hear your mother is better---that IS what counts. Here's to a much better experience in the future.

Thank you, the fact she is still alive & is now much better IS what really counts. The pear has been sold and the drama now over. I was not going to post anything on here about it at all but the fact Leon thinks it is acceptable to cut and paste my words out of context and mention my mother on YELP is despicable, so that is why I am now happy to tell everyone on P/S what occurred.

 

[PintoBean]

NO words!! I'm just so disgusted by what happened to you.

I'm happy though that your mom is OK and the diamond situation squared away.

 

[msop04]

Wow. Just... WOW! I had read many stories here on PS about LM being a jerk, but this is totally off the charts and basically criminal activity -- I mean, he literally held your stone for ransom!! Seriously, that's crazy! I am so sorry you had to go through all this, arkie.

On a more positive note, I'm glad your mother is recovering.

 

[arkieb1]

Thanks PintoBean, all is fine now apart from the fact Leon thinks it is cool to cut and paste my words out of context on Yelp.

Thanks msop04 - I have heard of at least two other people where Leon refused to release their diamonds, that is they were fully paid for or owned by customers but were locked in his safe and unless the people agreed to Leon's terms he would not give them back again.....

 

[The sun is shining]

That's shocking - I had always thought his designs were neat, but I never seemed to get a warm response from him. Perhaps he just doesn't like working with us Aussies.

 

[arkieb1]

That's shocking - I had always thought his designs were neat, but I never seemed to get a warm response from him. Perhaps he just doesn't like working with us Aussies.

Being an Aussie has nothing to do with it. He picks and chooses who he works with. If he doesn't like you or he thinks your project is beneath him or he doesn't really want to do it he has been known to either be rude or charge much more than the going rate to let you know you he doesn't want to work with you.

 

[yennyfire]

I'm so sorry that this saga has continued and been shared on a public forum like Yelp. His behavior is outrageous!! If it were anyone else, I'd be shocked, but given quite a few stories shared here, I'm really not. I'm so glad you got your stone back and sold and that your Mom is recovering.

 

[missydebby]

so so so sorry to hear of your experience. Glad your mom is better!

 

[msop04]

Thanks PintoBean, all is fine now apart from the fact Leon thinks it is cool to cut and paste my words out of context on Yelp.

Thanks msop04 - I have heard of at least two other people where Leon refused to release their diamonds, that is they were fully paid for or owned by customers but were locked in his safe and unless the people agreed to Leon's terms he would not give them back again.....

Sounds like he's hoping to intimidate people into paying him for nothing...

 

[arkieb1]

Thanks PintoBean, all is fine now apart from the fact Leon thinks it is cool to cut and paste my words out of context on Yelp.

Thanks msop04 - I have heard of at least two other people where Leon refused to release their diamonds, that is they were fully paid for or owned by customers but were locked in his safe and unless the people agreed to Leon's terms he would not give them back again.....

Sounds like he's hoping to intimidate people into paying him for nothing...

I don't think it is simply paying him for nothing it is coercing/verging on blackmailing them into doing whatever he wants. That is not a normal way to do business.

 

[arkieb1]

I'm so sorry that this saga has continued and been shared on a public forum like Yelp. His behavior is outrageous!! If it were anyone else, I'd be shocked, but given quite a few stories shared here, I'm really not. I'm so glad you got your stone back and sold and that your Mom is recovering.

Thanks Missydebby & Yenny.

I guess it is my fault because others have encouraged me to put an honest review on Yelp, which I did as succinctly as possible without getting into a personal slanging match or mentioning the personal issues at the time with my mother being critically ill.... I thought that would be the end of it. Leon thinks it is acceptable to both share my personal information and cut and paste my words out of context on there to defend his work. I believe this speaks volumes about the type of person that he is.

 

[arkieb1]

I am so sorry that you are dealing with him. Leon Mege is a sociopath. He is manipulative, vindictive, and petty, a misogynist--and a LIAR. If I tried to describe my interactions with him it would take so long and be so complicated that it would impossible to do effectively. He is truly bizarre and a low person.

I really think while we are getting it all out there you should describe some of your interactions with Leon!!!! That way people who read this can see it's not an isolated event there is a LONG and consistent history of people having colourful run-ins with him.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Arkie, this is beyond unacceptable and I am SO extremely sorry for your ordeal and especially at the end when he refused to release your stone. I am glad when people like you and bgray have the courage to speak up, because the rest of us need to know of these situations when we decide on a vendor for our own projects. At this point, I only recommend Victor and Steven here, and now that you have posted, all I can say is, buyer beware.

 

[missy]

Arkie, this is beyond unacceptable and I am SO extremely sorry for your ordeal and especially at the end when he refused to release your stone. I am glad when people like you and bgray have the courage to speak up, because the rest of us need to know of these situations when we decide on a vendor for our own projects. At this point, I only recommend Victor and Steven here, and now that you have posted, all I can say is, buyer beware.

I agree-It took courage to share what happened here so others can make informed decisions. And I am so happy your mom has recovered.

 

[soxfan]

Too many bad reviews on here for me to ever consider him for anything. So sorry about what he did to you-It's disgusting. Glad your mom is doing better!!!!

 

[bgray]

I am so sorry that you are dealing with him. Leon Mege is a sociopath. He is manipulative, vindictive, and petty, a misogynist--and a LIAR. If I tried to describe my interactions with him it would take so long and be so complicated that it would impossible to do effectively. He is truly bizarre and a low person.

I really think while we are getting it all out there you should describe some of your interactions with Leon!!!! That way people who read this can see it's not an isolated event there is a LONG and consistent history of people having colourful run-ins with him.

The thought exhausts me.................but I will come back later and try to do it succinctly. The irony is that after a first mediocre experience I tried to come back to use him and that blew up, then I tried again a third time (glutton for punishment at the alter of Leon) and because of the prior incident (I suppose) he behaved like a SOCIOPATH of the first order.

 

[arkieb1]

Thanks, Diamondseeker, Missy and Sox.

I was not going to post anything on here, but since Leon thinks its fine to cut and paste my emails out of context it has opened the floodgates for it being acceptable for me to do the same. And if he wants to come on here and lie and justify his insane behaviour, bring it on - I hope that all of the members who have had pave work that fell apart, the member that had the coloured stone that he scratched, the member that I know who has a diamond ring that he chipped, those who have had to pay fees for non existent work, people who he refused to give back stones to and all the others that have encountered rude and unacceptable behaviour from him all come forward and say well what about the time when this happened to me.

The man created an insane amount of stress and drama for me at a time when I did not need it. Nothing will excuse him for that.

 

[gregchang35]

Hi Arkeib1,

I am so sorry that it happened to you. No one needs to be treated this way. i am glad that you (and bgray) have found the courage to let other PSer know of the issues with LM.

Great to hear that you mum is recovering!!!