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Need advice from Everyone Who Reads this - Please

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pyramid

Ideal_Rock
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Okay I looked at diamonds online but as I am in the UK and the hassle with tax etc. I decided to go with a local jeweller. I really had still not made up my mind but when viewing the stones I think I got a bit carried away and bought a stone in J colour. I e-mailed the jeweller within a couple of days to say I was not happy with the colour and they had an I colour but lower clarity which I enquired about. I have e-mailed since asking if I could get a refund that was about 10 days later. They say they cannot give me a refund but are willing to exchange the ring if I pay a resizing fee to put the ring back to stock size. I e-mailed them asking what rings they had in my price range of H or I colour but they never actually gave me details of particular rings just said it would cost a lot more and the ring I got was good value for the price. Now having looked up Superbcert and Whiteflash I find colour G and VS stones in my price range (this is excluding shipping, vat which would be more). I have sent the pages with the rings I saw to the jeweller by e-mail and asked they to reconsider my request for a refund. I have also asked again what stones they have in I colour VS quality.

I know this is a bit after the fact and maybe I have no chance of getting a refund. I would however like to get a better colour stone which will cost me above my budget probably. Is there anyway I can let the jeweller know how unhappy I am with what I got compared to the internet stones. Anyone have any ideas. I mean any ideas at all.

I think it is probably too late and I think the jeweller does not have the colour and clarity stones I want as they do not have a huge selection.
 

DiamondExpert

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Why not ask your jeweler to call in the color/clarity stone you want and find out what the difference in price (if any) would be.

If it doesn't look like they are going to budge from an exchange, your getting a SuperbCert, etc. might not work. Anyway, we would charge you for shipping, and you would be responsible for VAT and whatever other costs there would be...Oh, and because there is so much Credit Card fraud, NO credit cards outside N. America.

Just curious - where you from in the UK?...I was 8 yr. in London...my British salary eventually killed that however.
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pyramid

Ideal_Rock
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Thanks Gary. I know I would have to pay the vat etc. The jeweller is saying that I will pay hundreds more for an I VS from a J VS.

I am in Scotland.
 

nikolas_cy

Rough_Rock
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hello,
I am in the UK too and am about to receive a diamond ring I have ordered from whiteflash in the USA. After taxes and duties the price I paid is still competitive with the UK local jewelers but I must tell you that the quality from whiteflash is far beyond fantastic.If you do manage to get a refund maybe you should consider importing from the US. If you need more info on the price I paid, taxes, procedure etc you can leave me a personal message.
Good Luck!
 

pqcollectibles

Ideal_Rock
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Hi Pyramid~

Oh how awful for you!
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I can certainly sympathize with your situation. It would seem to me the jeweler would want to make you happy. By the time frame you mentioned, you are well within 30 days of purchase. Except for the resizing fee, I would think they should accept return of the ring and refund your money.

Our long time jeweler isn't into Certed diamonds, but she stands behind her jewelry. If you aren't happy with a purchase, she'll gladly take it back for exchange or refund. Whichever you prefer. She has even let me bring things home "on approval" for Hubby to see without payment in advance. She doesn't do that for everyone, but she does for her "trusted" customers.

Check the fine terms listed on your sales slip. There should be some sort of statement as to their policy regarding returns. If you have a grace period and made initial contact within that time frame, you most definitely have a case against the jeweler. Legal recourse may be your only solution as they are obviously trying to keep your $$$$'s in their store.

I would think that jeweler wouldn't want an unhappy customer out there bad mouthing him/her. Maybe you should go to the store and raise a ruckus right there in front of other customers. Maybe that will get some action.

I hope you get it all worked out!
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Heyjud

Shiny_Rock
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Hi Pyramid !

I'm sorry your experience turned out that way
You live and you learn - as some folks say.

Whatever the end result may be
Posting here may save others from the same agony!


Thanks for sharing your story, and the best of luck to you...
heyjud

 

pyramid

Ideal_Rock
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Thank you everyone for your reply. I think I may just keep the ring I bought. Are Superideal Cut Diamonds way better than generic diamonds. I keep reading that the girdles on them are thin which I know is alright it is very thin we should steer clear off. I would however like medium and the diamond I have is cut very well it is just the colour I am upset about.
 

jlim

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----------------
On 5/8/2003 5:39:26 PM pyramid wrote:

Thanks Gary. I know I would have to pay the vat etc. The jeweller is saying that I will pay hundreds more for an I VS from a J VS.
----------------

pyramid - hundreds more could mean $199 or $999. I was also curious about how much more would a stone of a higher/lower stone cost.

Rhino from Good Old Gold was kind enough to provide me some information.

Here's what he gave me. I hope he wouldn't mind sharing this info. Hopefully the columns will show up formatted properly.

In your case, if you are looking for a .7-.89ct. say VS1, the price difference bet. an I -> J would be $700/carat.

RAPAPORT: ( .70-.89 ): 4/4/03

IF VVS1 VVS2 VS1 VS2 SI1 SI2
D 88 70 64 58 54 50 45
E 70 65 58 54 51 48 43
F 64 60 54 51 48 45 40
G 59 54 51 48 45 41 36
H 53 48 45 43 41 37 34
I 45 42 40 38 36 33 29
J 35 34 33 31 30 28 26
K 31 30 29 27 26 24 22
L 25 24 23 22 22 21 19
M 23 22 21 20 20 19 18
 

Garry H (Cut Nut)

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Pyramid shame on you!

You have the benefit of lots of knowledge; you are probably more expert than the jewellers you are dealing with, and you make a mistake!

You should wear it.
Why should they pay their staff commisions and then give you a refund. The old principle of "buyer beware" should hold true.
 

pyramid

Ideal_Rock
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Jlim thank you for the information so I am looking at about £300 - £400.

CutNut, I know it is my own fault. I did not really expect them to give me a refund, except that it was less than 10 days when I first complained about the colour, but thought there was no harm in asking. In a way I like the stone except for the colour, the other thing that bugs me is that the culet facets do not meet up on one side leaving a small white mark which I thought at first was a feather or abrasion or crystal but can see that each facet is perfectly formed they just do not meet together. Can only be seen with a 10x loupe.

What I do like is the fact that the stone is a vs (not certified) but I have looked many times with a 10x loupe and cannot see anything apart from a few very tiny pinpoints. I don't know if the mark at the culet affects clarity but believe it is just diamond rough I am seeing.

I do intend sometime to buy a superideal certificated stone 1 carat or above at sometime in the DEF colour range and VS1 clarity and this is why I went for a 0.70 uncertified stone at the moment. I know internet dealers have an upgrade policy but I would rather just keep the diamond and buy another if I can afford it.
 

pyramid

Ideal_Rock
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The jeweller will not give me a refund only an exchange. I complained within days of buying the stone. They do not have a refund policy. Everything they sell they give a discount on at the checkout when you buy it, does this mean they do not have to give refunds? Is it legal to have no refund policy?
 

jlim

Shiny_Rock
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Almost every store in US has a 30 day return policy, w/ the exception of 15 days in some stores for computers. When you mailorder, it could be 30 days or it might have have a return policy but usually it is stated very clearly.

Perhaps you can try to go through the credit card company and see if they can offer some help. In US, certain CC companies have a policy of accepting your return if the merchant refuses to. I know AMEX cards have this policy BUT the amount if up to $250 or $300 only.

Try talking to the store manager or higher up and explain that you made a mistake etc. Maybe you can negotiate to get a store credit instead. That way you can buy other jewelry or merchandise they sell.
 

AGBF

Super_Ideal_Rock
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On 5/9/2003 8
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8:34 AM Cut Nut wrote:

"You should wear it."

I have no great wisdom to offer, but since you requested a response from everyone who read your posting, I will comply :).

I, also, acquired a diamond that I later decided was not my ideal. It happens.

I agree with Garry that you should wear it, though. In my opinion, most diamonds can be worn in some way that will please the owner. If you don't want it in a ring, set it in a pendant or a bracelet. You can save up for another stone to wear in a ring one day and still enjoy your stone.

You are not a novice to these boards, so I am sure the stone is lovely. Enjoy it!
 

pyramid

Ideal_Rock
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Thank you for your reply. I am today sending the stone to a qualified appraiser to see what grades it gets and am also looking into legal issues about this.

As you said AGBF I could save for another but I spent ages saving for this diamond and we have other priorities so I probably would have to wait about 10 years.

The store has told me they cannot deal with this through e-mail because they take so long to collect their e-mails. They do not reply to mine now. Going to the store to cause an argument is not what I want to do. They have said I can exchange the stone but do not give details of diamonds with parameters I have asked about. There is no point going to the store if they do not have other diamonds. I thought about telephoning them but know they will just say I cannot get a refund as they replied as such by e-mail. Ah the pleasures of living in Scotland.
 

pyramid

Ideal_Rock
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Just thought I would let you all know the comparisons I have been doing and hope no one else will be ripped off like I have been.

The solitaire ring I bought with very slim 18 carat gold setting probably no more than $100 or £80 cost me £1980 which is $3204.04 on 'SPECIAL OFFER' tag price £2180 $3527.68. Uncertified - no lab report 0.70 carat. Jeweller said clarity was VS and colour J. I asked if VS1 or VS2 and was told from a drawing to look there is not much difference between them.

This is a family owned jeweller who claims they buy direct and cut out the middleman so really these prices are probably very good for Scotland.

Now what I could have got diamond only from Whiteflash. I have not looked at the other sites in detail yet.

A Cut Above Superideal branded with AGS lab report.
0.721 VS2 H $3100
0.74 VS2 H $3186

Not Superideal but Ideal Cut with AGS lab report.
0.73 VS2 H $2850
0.70 VS1 H $2768

I know there is VAT to add and import tax and ring price but it would have been worth it to wait a bit longer to save some money instead of getting an uncertified J colour stone when I could have had a certified H colour stone. With the lower priced ideal stones here I would not have needed to save longer.

As Jlim said above if I had bought by credit card I would not be able to call the credit card company but I unfortunately bought by switch debit card.
I have told my friends and family to beware as this may be why they give a discount so they can say it was bought at a special price and therefore do not need to give a refund. I am presently in contact with an organisation who is checking on this and other things.
 

Tarams

Shiny_Rock
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Hi Pyramid,

Did you see the ring in person before you bought it?
Is this just a case of seeing better color for less $ afterwards? Or were you really happy with the ring when you bought it?

You have posted here many times, so I'm surprised too that you didn't do your price checking first! Sorry!
 

pyramid

Ideal_Rock
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Yes, I really only researched the dollars afterwards. I had looked at prices before because I intend to order a 1 to 1.25 carat E or F colour VS1 Clarity sometime but really thought it would not be worth the hassle of shipping and customs charges etc. for a 0.70 carat as I had got a good clarity stone here and thought from looking in the store with the darkened lights that J colour looked okay. When I saw it at home in daylight though I was not happy with how yellow it looked from the side so within 3 days I asked about changing to an I colour.

However although they are willing to exchange they will not refund. The I they have is an SI clarity (goodness knows if it is SI1 or SI2) but the jeweller said my stone is the better balance. As it is not certificated I do not wish to risk SI2 and anyway I would need to spend about another $80 which I do not think is worth it for 1 better clarity grade but with flaws as I want a very clear stone. I think the colour does not bother me as much as the flaws.

I have asked about 3 times what the price of an H or I in the VS clarity would be but get no answer at all now and previously was told it 'would be much more and unless I could think of anything else I would be better to stay with the stone I have.'

I bought the ring on 19 April but have been intouch with them ever since about this.
 

pyramid

Ideal_Rock
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