PressRelease: Class Action Suit Targets Diamond Overgrading

[diagem]

"Press Release: The law firm of Cummings Manookian announced that it will begin filing a number of class action lawsuits centered on the dumping of billions of dollars of intentionally overgraded diamonds on hundreds of thousands of consumers....."

http://www.diamonds.net/News/NewsIt...Class+Action+Suit+Targets+Diamond+Overgrading


http://diamondlawsuit.com/

 

[Karl_K]

Re: PressRelease: Class Action Suit Targets Diamond Overgrad

I was expecting this news sooner or later given everything that has happened lately.

Just a few comments on the website. http://diamondlawsuit.com/#checklist
You would think for a law firm they would do their homework....
No mention of AGS being an honest lab.

gia does not certify gemologists: "GIA-certified graduate gemologist"

GIA also does not certify diamonds they issue grading reports. "GIA certificate"

"You don’t need a full appraisal; just an informal evaluation that should take less than a few minutes."
It can take several minutes to properly grade a diamond particularly in a setting and how could an informal opinion be considered evidence in a court case?

 

[diagem]

Re: PressRelease: Class Action Suit Targets Diamond Overgrad

I was expecting this news sooner or later given everything that has happened lately.

Just a few comments on the website. http://diamondlawsuit.com/#checklist
You would think for a law firm they would do their homework....
No mention of AGS being an honest lab.

gia does not certify gemologists: "GIA-certified graduate gemologist"

GIA also does not certify diamonds they issue grading reports. "GIA certificate"

"You don’t need a full appraisal; just an informal evaluation that should take less than a few minutes."
It can take several minutes to properly grade a diamond particularly in a setting and how could an informal opinion be considered evidence in a court case?

You are right..., maybe they need to come to PS for some education which will most probably help.
But in any case..., something is starting, but you know what they say about justice....

 

[Rockdiamond]

Re: PressRelease: Class Action Suit Targets Diamond Overgrad

If a GIA graded L sells for $10k but someone buys the same stone, same price but it has an EGL report calling it H what is the actual damage?
Based on what I've seen that's far more common than a consumer paying the "real" price of an H but getting the L.
This is by no means a simple case- and proving damage is going to be a can of worms to say the least.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Re: PressRelease: Class Action Suit Targets Diamond Overgrad

If a GIA graded L sells for $10k but someone buys the same stone, same price but it has an EGL report calling it H what is the actual damage?
Based on what I've seen that's far more common than a consumer paying the "real" price of an H but getting the L.
This is by no means a simple case- and proving damage is going to be a can of worms to say the least.

Yes, it might be difficult for many consumers to prove actual damages and be fairly compensated. But I am sure the lawyers will make money!

I guess they feel it makes good business sense to play the hysteria card. It's a shame their approach is not more balanced and professional. It is a good cause.

No doubt it will get the attention of those in the trade still shipping water from the first round of this saga and hoping it would sort of go away. It's pretty clear that ain't happenin. In the long run it will be good for the industry. But with sensational press like this, a lot of people get punished unfairly.

I will not be surprised to see mainstream media pick up on this story and run with it. Heck, they love ripoff stories so much they dredge them up from the past and regurgitate them, even if facts on the ground have long since changed. Now they have something new to fire up their audiences with.

All to the detriment of a whole industry of mostly honest and hardworking people. I guess this is what you get as an industry when you don't police yourself well enough.

 

[denverappraiser]

Re: PressRelease: Class Action Suit Targets Diamond Overgrad

Who is the defendant here?

I’m certainly not a fan of the whole overgrading industry but, as David points out, this is not a black and white case. It’s not even just evened out by the prices. Some merchants charge more than others for similar merchandise and this is NOT, of itself, a fraudulent or deceptive practice.

Unfortunately, although the heart of this is the grading labs, the key is the appraisers. People are upset because a H is ‘worth’ more than an L. There’s the damages. They didn’t receive the benefit of the bargain that was represented to them. That’s about value, and value is about appraising, not grading.

I agree with Karl, this is a fishing expedition and it doesn't hold up to even the slightest bit of scrutiny. This is a stunt to drum up customers for the lawyers. (Bet'cha it works.)

 

[bcavitt]

Re: PressRelease: Class Action Suit Targets Diamond Overgrad

Is there any coincidence that this law firm is located in the same city as the jeweler who's getting hammered over the EGL-I certs?

 

[Karl_K]

Re: PressRelease: Class Action Suit Targets Diamond Overgrad

Is there any coincidence that this law firm is located in the same city as the jeweler who's getting hammered over the EGL-I certs?

No, Same attorneys who have reached settlements in some of the diamond over grading cases we have already heard about.

 

[Karl_K]

Re: PressRelease: Class Action Suit Targets Diamond Overgrad

If a GIA graded L sells for $10k but someone buys the same stone, same price but it has an EGL report calling it H what is the actual damage?
Based on what I've seen that's far more common than a consumer paying the "real" price of an H but getting the L.
This is by no means a simple case- and proving damage is going to be a can of worms to say the least.

A lot of time that discount is not passed on in full to the consumer so that falls apart a bit.
I don't like class action suits because its the attorneys who always make out like bandits and the consumers get peanuts but I think the case does have a lot of merit on some levels.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Re: PressRelease: Class Action Suit Targets Diamond Overgrad

If a GIA graded L sells for $10k but someone buys the same stone, same price but it has an EGL report calling it H what is the actual damage?
Based on what I've seen that's far more common than a consumer paying the "real" price of an H but getting the L.
This is by no means a simple case- and proving damage is going to be a can of worms to say the least.

A lot of time that discount is not passed on in full to the consumer so that falls apart a bit.
I don't like class action suits because its the attorneys who always make out like bandits and the consumers get peanuts but I think the case does have a lot of merit on some levels.

My take is that sellers using these EGL reports , in general, try to prove how "cheap" they are.
Yes, it's possible that in a percentage of the cases, the buyers may have paid more for their EGL H ( actually an L) than buyers who bought the legitimately graded L.
But I think part of the attraction to the consumers who have bought these stones was exactly that they seem to cost a lot less than GIA graded stones.
So the whole "class action" seems misguided.
To say nothing of the fact that from a utility standpoint, unless EGL graded stones explode more often than GIA graded stones, the misgraded diamonds performed just like the correctly graded ones.
Regardless who graded the diamond, buyers would get hit with a big loss on resale.

 

[denverappraiser]

Re: PressRelease: Class Action Suit Targets Diamond Overgrad

If a store sold Rock's example of a GIA-L/EGLI-H along with EGLI paperwork and charged $10,000 for it, who gets to decide if that was an appropriate price? They're suggesting it be the result of a 2 minute examination by a competitive GIA 'certified' gemologist (whatever they think that is). That's an absurd, even non-existent, standard but without something, what are the damages?