Poor James Allen experience thus far...

[diamond1shot]

Last wednesday 2/22/12 I ordered a loose diamond and was told it would ship the next day. Well that night I was called saying an email was sent for me to confirm I made the purchase but the confirmation had to come from another account, a .org, .mil, .edu, .gov, etc account. Well I never got the email and I double, triple checked but no worries I used my .gov and confirmed the purchase.
Next day I am called saying it should ship shortly, even get a confirmation email...it never shipped. Then on friday, 2/24/12 I get a call and am told they are not shipping it because it could sit in a fedex location over the weekend and they don't want that, err sort of mad but I guess I understand. However, I get an email that night saying they don't have the diamond as it was coming from another source but "it will be there by 10:30am on 2/27/12. Well nothing come today!
So I'm at work and at 6:21pm I get an email saying the diamond hasn't cleared the QC standards but will be examined tomorrow and shipped as soon as it is done. I reply with my displeasure. Twenty minutes later I get a call saying the diamond isn't in to go through QC but it should get there tomorrow and if it passes it will be shipped, and will arrive the next business day. The JA rep cautioned it may not pass though and I will have to wait longer.

So I want to warn everyone, while I am happy with the price and calls I am very disappointed with the service so far. How can you post a picture and claim "Receive by 2/24/12" when that is not true! Now mind you they have taken the money from my account! I am not saying this won't turn out great, a great diamond will change my tune, but I had an appointment to have the stone set and now I have to cancel that and reschedule my visit to get the stone set. Not to mention now I am going to have to figure how to get off work to be home to receive the package.

Hoping for the best, and I'll keep you updated.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

That is poor customer service. I would think they should know whether they have the stone or not right there in their computer! I have a hunch that since James Allen is owned by a diamond supplier, that stone could have been with another vendor and they had to wait until it came back or was sold. If that wasn't it and it was a stone from another supplier, I think you should have been told at the outset that it would take longer to get it in. I hope in the end that the inconvenience was worth it, though!

 

[Sparkle524]

I hate it when vendors lie. They should just tell the truth because sooner or later the truth will come out. I had a diamond vendor lie to me as well. Needless to say I am no longer doing business with them. Well I hope it all works out for you. I know how painful the waiting can be!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Yes, that all does not sound good at all.

I hope they were not misleading you knowingly or on purpose.. If I had to guess, this is something somewhat out of their control in the sense that the diamond is likely in another vendor's possession, and sometimes, the vendor in possession can monkey things up by not releasing a diamond when they say they will. But clearly, if that was the case, you should have been told so you knew what was going on.

 

[hearts-arrows_girl]

How disappointing for you...I hope you get your stone soon. I will wait for your next update.

 

[Ccsz]

Sorry to hear about that. I purchased with them month ago and it only took them 5 days to get the stone came in and get back with me. But I do have quite a bad starting off with one of their rep that made me very uncomfortable and worry. One time she even asked "are you going to make a purchase?" and do you know each time you request a stone in we need to pay blah blah blah. I was like, wow. If you are the first one I conacted with I'm sure you will not have my business, ever.

I also need to sent my ring back in the next few day so I will see how will I treat again. Finger crossed.

And yes, I agree with you, it's their pricing being so reasonable that I chose them in the first place. Plus their .gov, .edu is trouble IMO. It took them 3 more days to get that "verified" so my order delayed by that, and being push back. I think that might happen in your case too. They did have your order, but not yet until the email account checks out so they put that in place.

 

[minmin001]

Last wednesday 2/22/12 I ordered a loose diamond and was told it would ship the next day. Well that night I was called saying an email was sent for me to confirm I made the purchase but the confirmation had to come from another account, a .org, .mil, .edu, .gov, etc account. Well I never got the email and I double, triple checked but no worries I used my .gov and confirmed the purchase.
Next day I am called saying it should ship shortly, even get a confirmation email...it never shipped. Then on friday, 2/24/12 I get a call and am told they are not shipping it because it could sit in a fedex location over the weekend and they don't want that, err sort of mad but I guess I understand. However, I get an email that night saying they don't have the diamond as it was coming from another source but "it will be there by 10:30am on 2/27/12. Well nothing come today!
So I'm at work and at 6:21pm I get an email saying the diamond hasn't cleared the QC standards but will be examined tomorrow and shipped as soon as it is done. I reply with my displeasure. Twenty minutes later I get a call saying the diamond isn't in to go through QC but it should get there tomorrow and if it passes it will be shipped, and will arrive the next business day. The JA rep cautioned it may not pass though and I will have to wait longer.

So I want to warn everyone, while I am happy with the price and calls I am very disappointed with the service so far. How can you post a picture and claim "Receive by 2/24/12" when that is not true! Now mind you they have taken the money from my account! I am not saying this won't turn out great, a great diamond will change my tune, but I had an appointment to have the stone set and now I have to cancel that and reschedule my visit to get the stone set. Not to mention now I am going to have to figure how to get off work to be home to receive the package.

Hoping for the best, and I'll keep you updated.

can you request them ship the package to a nearby fedex location for you to pick it up? that's what I normally do. If you have the shipping # you can call fedex yourself and have them hold it for you

 

[Amys Bling]

That stinks- I hope you like the stone and it all works out for you!

 

[mandasand]

I didn't know this until recently but apparently many of these online jewelry companies don't actually have the diamond inventory at their location. So, they often don't inspect the diamonds before it ships. I know Blue Nile does this. So, when you call and ask how the diamonds looks and the rep says, "it's beautiful," how would they know if the diamonds is not physically there?

 

[bunnycat]

I'm sorry to hear about this too. I know they don't always have diamonds in house and I have had some strange experiences with them myself. (LIke only giving you 3 Idealscope images max, ever...with different diamonds you have a question about) That just seems awfully strange to me for something that people are spending thousands on, but I must admit, yours sounds even more harrowing.

We did get the same kind of verification email you got also, because we'd signed up with a gmail return address. It was no big deal, but a bit of an inconvenience.

 

[Frenchcut]

I'm sorry you're disappointed with your xperience so far, it sounds like the diamond was from their virtual inventory and they needed some time to get their hands on it...but they should have told you that upfront when you placed your order.

Let's hope you receive your stone soon, we want some pictures

 

[slg47]

I'm sorry to hear about this too. I know they don't always have diamonds in house and I have had some strange experiences with them myself. (LIke only giving you 3 Idealscope images max, ever...with different diamonds you have a question about) That just seems awfully strange to me for something that people are spending thousands on, but I must admit, yours sounds even more harrowing.

We did get the same kind of verification email you got also, because we'd signed up with a gmail return address. It was no big deal, but a bit of an inconvenience.

I believe they only allow 3 idealscope images because they do not have all of the diamonds in-house and have to call them in. It is a different business model, somewhere in between the drop shippers who do not provide any information other than the grading reports and the vendors who have stones in-house and provide IS/ASET/other scans/etc.

 

[kindred]

Well that night I was called saying an email was sent for me to confirm I made the purchase but the confirmation had to come from another account, a .org, .mil, .edu, .gov, etc account.

It sounds like a bad experience all around, but I am especially surprised about the above. I don't have access to an account like that and I would imagine many others don't, either.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I'm sorry to hear about this too. I know they don't always have diamonds in house and I have had some strange experiences with them myself. (LIke only giving you 3 Idealscope images max, ever...with different diamonds you have a question about) That just seems awfully strange to me for something that people are spending thousands on, but I must admit, yours sounds even more harrowing.

We did get the same kind of verification email you got also, because we'd signed up with a gmail return address. It was no big deal, but a bit of an inconvenience.

I believe they only allow 3 idealscope images because they do not have all of the diamonds in-house and have to call them in. It is a different business model, somewhere in between the drop shippers who do not provide any information other than the grading reports and the vendors who have stones in-house and provide IS/ASET/other scans/etc.

And this is also why JA is able to charge less for its diamonds than full service vendors who have stones in house

 

[YoungPapa]

Hi diamond1shot,

I'm sorry you've had a poor experience with our company thus far. If it offers any comfort, your diamond arrived in our office this morning and you should receive a tracking number later this evening.

I wanted to quickly address the allegation of "lying" that was mentioned in the thread. As I hope the veterans of these forums know, we do our best to operate in an honest and transparent fashion, and would never intentionally mislead a client. Our execution is not always perfect and we are sometimes ourselves misinformed, but at no point would we tell someone something we knew to be false.

In regard to our verification process, the simple fact is that we receive a relatively large number of fraudulent orders and do require additional information from a subset of our customers. We are working to make that process more streamlined, and find that the overwhelming majority of our clients understand the nature of our request (as did diamond1shot) and are able to quickly get their orders approved and into production.

Lastly, we don't drop ship anything (which is actually at the root of the problem we had with diamond1shot). While 99% of our diamonds are within a couple blocks of our NYC office, this particular diamond had to be shipped in from out of state so it could be examined by our gemologists prior to shipment to the customer.

All the best,

 

[Enerchi]

Good info to know James. Thank you for the input above.

 

[bunnycat]

I'm sorry to hear about this too. I know they don't always have diamonds in house and I have had some strange experiences with them myself. (LIke only giving you 3 Idealscope images max, ever...with different diamonds you have a question about) That just seems awfully strange to me for something that people are spending thousands on, but I must admit, yours sounds even more harrowing.

We did get the same kind of verification email you got also, because we'd signed up with a gmail return address. It was no big deal, but a bit of an inconvenience.

I believe they only allow 3 idealscope images because they do not have all of the diamonds in-house and have to call them in. It is a different business model, somewhere in between the drop shippers who do not provide any information other than the grading reports and the vendors who have stones in-house and provide IS/ASET/other scans/etc.

Thanks for the extra info. It does make sense from that perspective, but it seems to me a better plan might be once you have scans on a particular diamond to post them so people don't have to ask so much. They must get tons of these daily and think how much trouble you could save having to rescan every time someone asks about a diamond if you just get someone to add it to the website...or maybe that's just not a realistic thought.

 

[diamond1shot]

I received an email today concerning the diamond and was told it had NOT gone through QC but it should ship today. I got a FEDEX shipping number but it has not shipped.

Still waiting....

No I have never been in agreement with this process. It is just pointless to yell into a phone at a person who just works for a company. The only one that would of personally heard me yell at them would of been the owner. I have never said the company "lied" I just stated they CLEARLY misled me. I feel that taking out anger on sales reps only makes them angry at other customers, thus I am always honest and fair.

I have voiced my displeasure to the kind ladies I have spoken to, and through emails. That is all a customer can do, hence why I am here to inform other customers of problems that exist.

Should I receive the diamond tomorrow, my tune may change, but as before I have been told by email the diamond has not been examined and it is 5:30pm eastern time...and if you count the post on here I have been told it has been examined, so two stories again.

 

[diamond1shot]

kindred: if you don't have access to a .gov, .edu, .mil account they will let you scan your credit card and send that to them.

 

[Amys Bling]

I received an email today concerning the diamond and was told it had NOT gone through QC but it should ship today. I got a FEDEX shipping number but it has not shipped.

Still waiting....

No I have never been in agreement with this process. It is just pointless to yell into a phone at a person who just works for a company. The only one that would of personally heard me yell at them would of been the owner. I have never said the company "lied" I just stated they CLEARLY misled me. I feel that taking out anger on sales reps only makes them angry at other customers, thus I am always honest and fair.

I have voiced my displeasure to the kind ladies I have spoken to, and through emails. That is all a customer can do, hence why I am here to inform other customers of problems that exist.

Should I receive the diamond tomorrow, my tune may change, but as before I have been told by email the diamond has not been examined and it is 5:30pm eastern time...and if you count the post on here I have been told it has been examined, so two stories again.

Did you see JA's personal response to this on the thread?

 

[diamond1shot]

Amys bling: Yes, i did. I said "if you count the post on here I have been told it has been examined, so two stories again." Thus, counting the response here makes a conflicting story. The email I received says one thing, the JA post on here, says another.

I used that post to clarify I never said they were lying and to update everyone on the status of my order.

 

[YoungPapa]

Hi diamond1shot,

I think my words were that the diamond had "arrived" (not been examined), and that it "should" ship tonight, which it has. Any emails sent to you were done earlier in the day, prior to the examination.

As the coFounder and a major shareholder in the company, I'm as close to an "owner" as you're going to get. With that said, consider me as yelled at

The diamond should arrive tomorrow morning and I hope it exceeds your expectations. Please let us know.

 

[rcp2]

For what it's worth, I went through the extra verification process with JA today. It took all of about an hour to get verified. I simply sent an email via my work account (.com extension), and within an hour, I had confirmation that my order was verified and being processed. Personally, I'm willing to be slightly inconvenienced -- if you can even call it that -- to add an additional layer of protection.

 

[diamond1shot]

I checked my fedex tracking number and the stone has been picked up in NYC for delivery. This situation may end well after all.

JA rep - thank you for your direct interaction. I have said your business customer service has been good, minus the incorrect shipping date/information. You are one of the few companies that deals over the phone and not over email, I do like that.

I will keep everyone informed when/if I get this tomorrow...then will post a picture!

 

[Ravinmad]

I ordered a stone late today, I did have it brought in for Ideal Scope images and a inspection, so with that said the stone was in the diamond department. I did go thru the verification process as well, combo of work and personal email accounts. I am happy to say that my stone shipped today, the JA rep who assisted me went the extra distance to ensure we had the verification done so the stone could make it out today and as of about 630pm or so I have a FEDEX tracking number for my diamond. I'm sorry to hear you experience has not be stellar.

I for one will state that my James Allen experience has been 1st class. From working with both Stacy E in the inital selection stages, Adam B from the inspection department and the Ideal Scopes and reports, and finally Luis C on my final order and verification.

I would dare say if you are looking at a new, different diamond purchase or a follow up (2nd purchase) that James Allen and Company would allow you to get IS images and reports again, but that remains to be seen and right now I'm estatic waiting on the stone that should arrive tommorow.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Okay, so you are saying that even if you are wiring James Allen $20,000, they won't send you the diamond without another email address? I am pretty thankful that GOG and WF are happy to take my money without one! If they have your money, I am not sure what other verification they need!

Good luck with your diamonds 1shot and Ravinmad!

 

[Sparkle524]

Yes please post pics of your diamonds when you receive them and hopefully you will get them tomorrow.

 

[diamond1shot]

I just got a call from FEDEX (I took your advice and got it put on a hold at a location near my work) and they have my package! Now I just have to wait until lunch to go get it. Only five days late. I hope it looks as good in person as on the online loupe. Pictures and final conclusions about James Allen will be posted later tonight.

 

[Ravinmad]

I too took the FEDEX location option because the weather and a unscheduled doctors appointment came up. They called me at 1115am to say its at the FEDEX location of my choice as I had 3 to pick from. Now to get out of work and go get it!! Pics will be posted once I can get them done.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Diamond1shot you referred to Jim as the "JA rep". Just wanted to make sure you know, he is in fact James Allen, the man for whom the company was named, so your concerns have been heard by the top kahuna

I hope you love the diamond!