Problems with Blue Nile?

[Upside Down Man]

Hey everyone,

Has anyone had any problems with Blue Nile? What are the major criticisms of Blue Nile? Thanks.

 

[Alastor]

I love blue nile.

 

[kenny]

Higher prices than other Internet vendors
No Sarin reports
No pics of actual diamonds
No IdealScope images

 

[Alastor]

Their prices are NOT substantially higher, and not in all cases. They also have the largest collection of diamonds to choose from. They''ve also won numerous awards for their excellent.
BlueNile''s site is also one of the most user friendly I have ever come across. They don''t have pictures of the diamonds because they have eighty thousand diamonds, whereas online vendors that do have pictures might only have 2 or 3 thousand stones. They have a 30 day return policy too so you can see the stone yourself. What can you see from a picture?

Go with BlueNile

 

[pinkrose]

Date: 11/1/2006 1:15:44 PM
Author: kenny
Higher prices than other Internet vendors

No Sarin reports

No pics of actual diamonds

No IdealScope images[/QUOTE

I agree their prices are higher than other vendors I looked into.

 

[pinkrose]

Date: 11/1/2006 1:15:44 PM
Author: kenny
Higher prices than other Internet vendors

No Sarin reports

No pics of actual diamonds

No IdealScope images

I agree their prices are higher than other vendors I looked into.

 

[turtledazzle]

Date: 11/1/2006 1:19:37 PM
Author: Alastor
Their prices are NOT substantially higher, and not in all cases. They also have the largest collection of diamonds to choose from. They''ve also won numerous awards for their excellent.
BlueNile''s site is also one of the most user friendly I have ever come across. They don''t have pictures of the diamonds because they have eighty thousand diamonds, whereas online vendors that do have pictures might only have 2 or 3 thousand stones. They have a 30 day return policy too so you can see the stone yourself. What can you see from a picture?

Go with BlueNile

I don''t have a problem with Blue Nile ~ we thought about using them because of their 30-day return policy. Ended up going with James Allen, who also has a 30-day policy. At the time, it did not seem that Blue Nile''s prices were substantially higher than other vendors.

However, to address a couple of things you say above. Most of Blue Nile''s stones are virtual ~ meaning that they don''t have them in-house. Lots of different vendors have access to these virtual stones. This also means that you cannot just call up Blue Nile and ask someone there to look at a stone. They have to contact the place that actually has the stone, and then you get a second-hand account the stone''s description.

As for what you can see from a picture -- inclusions, for one thing.

 

[kenny]

I believe only their "Signature" series is in-house.

I think any other vendor can also call in any of those other stones - perhaps at a lower price.

 

[Arcam]

"Most of Blue Nile''s stones are virtual ~"

very true, but their in house inventory is bigger than the majority of the other online vendors. I''m still waiting for proof that other vendors can sell their signature series stones. It doesn''t make much sense from a business perspective that they would pay for a GCAL report and get their stones laser inscribed, just to have someone else sell it at suposedly a lower price, but I guess it is possible.

 

[turtledazzle]

Date: 11/1/2006 1:59:23 PM
Author: Arcam
''Most of Blue Nile''s stones are virtual ~''

very true, but their in house inventory is bigger than the majority of the other online vendors. I''m still waiting for proof that other vendors can sell their signature series stones. It doesn''t make much sense from a business perspective that they would pay for a GCAL report and get their stones laser inscribed, just to have someone else sell it at suposedly a lower price, but I guess it is possible.

The Blue Nile Signature stones are in-house, like kenny said above. Other vendors would not be able to sell these stones.

 

[jaz464]

I happen to think you can tell a lot from a picture, especially when dealing with fancies. Though nothing is as nice as seeing it in person. The reasons I prefer not to deal with BN are, when I contacted them, they could not give me any pictures, sarin information (which I wouldn't buy a diamond without), and they couldn't tell me if the diamond I was interested in was eye clean. Other vendors will bring in diamonds that a customer is interested in but BN could not do that for me.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 11/1/2006 1:15:44 PM
Author: kenny
Higher prices than other Internet vendors
No Sarin reports
No pics of actual diamonds
No IdealScope images

I found the price lower, but yes on the others... sorta - I did get a rough sarin report.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 11/1/2006 1:19:37 PM
Author: Alastor
Their prices are NOT substantially higher, and not in all cases. They also have the largest collection of diamonds to choose from. They''ve also won numerous awards for their excellent.
BlueNile''s site is also one of the most user friendly I have ever come across. They don''t have pictures of the diamonds because they have eighty thousand diamonds, whereas online vendors that do have pictures might only have 2 or 3 thousand stones. They have a 30 day return policy too so you can see the stone yourself. What can you see from a picture?

Go with BlueNile

What can you see from a picture? A LOT!!! Especially for a cushion - a good pic of a cushion will tell you what the facet plot looks like and in cushion hunting that''s the FIRST thing you need to consider IMO and you can weed it out before you purchase it.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 11/1/2006 1:48:51 PM
Author: kenny
I believe only their ''Signature'' series is in-house.

I think any other vendor can also call in any of those other stones - perhaps at a lower price.

Sorry Kenny - that is incorrect. I was working with a PS vendor andI really wanted to see a BN stone and they could NOT get it. And I *really* wanted to see this stone so I called BN and they told me they have a contract iwith their distributors that as long as they''re listing it it cannot be listed or sold anywhere else, period. Once BN releases it from their database then itcan be but there is no guarantee that wil ever happen, or when. I think it *used* to be you could access the same stones, but it isn''t now. I bought the BN stone and kept it... I still feel kinda bad that the PS vendor didn''t get my business, but I got a *way* better $deal anyway...

 

[icekid]

Date: 11/1/2006 4:10:22 PM
Author: Cehrabehra

Sorry Kenny - that is incorrect. I was working with a PS vendor andI really wanted to see a BN stone and they could NOT get it. And I *really* wanted to see this stone so I called BN and they told me they have a contract iwith their distributors that as long as they''re listing it it cannot be listed or sold anywhere else, period. Once BN releases it from their database then itcan be but there is no guarantee that wil ever happen, or when. I think it *used* to be you could access the same stones, but it isn''t now. I bought the BN stone and kept it... I still feel kinda bad that the PS vendor didn''t get my business, but I got a *way* better $deal anyway...

hmm, I know previous psers have found a diamond on BN they liked and then had other vendors call the stone in. Sounds like things may have changed!

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 11/1/2006 4:22:01 PM
Author: icekid

Date: 11/1/2006 4:10:22 PM
Author: Cehrabehra

Sorry Kenny - that is incorrect. I was working with a PS vendor andI really wanted to see a BN stone and they could NOT get it. And I *really* wanted to see this stone so I called BN and they told me they have a contract iwith their distributors that as long as they''re listing it it cannot be listed or sold anywhere else, period. Once BN releases it from their database then itcan be but there is no guarantee that wil ever happen, or when. I think it *used* to be you could access the same stones, but it isn''t now. I bought the BN stone and kept it... I still feel kinda bad that the PS vendor didn''t get my business, but I got a *way* better $deal anyway...

hmm, I know previous psers have found a diamond on BN they liked and then had other vendors call the stone in. Sounds like things may have changed!

Yes... I got mine in early sept? I think... anyway, the vendor I was working with was surprised they couldn''t access it... said they''d had trouble "lately" and I do believe it''s a recent change. Maybe some of the sources BN works with aren''t following their contracts but if you find a stone you really want on BN don''t count on being able to get it anywhere else....

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 11/1/2006 1:59:23 PM
Author: Arcam
''Most of Blue Nile''s stones are virtual ~''

very true, but their in house inventory is bigger than the majority of the other online vendors. I''m still waiting for proof that other vendors can sell their signature series stones. It doesn''t make much sense from a business perspective that they would pay for a GCAL report and get their stones laser inscribed, just to have someone else sell it at suposedly a lower price, but I guess it is possible.

Arcam, the vendor emailed me today and told me that the reason the signature stones were still showing up on the suppliers inventory was that they do not keep their list updated as they should. So my understanding is that you are correct..the signature stones are in-house and the thousands of other diamonds they list are available to most other vendors. So other than the signature collection, the stones can be obtained elsewhere possibly for a lower price. I am sorry for the confusion about BN.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 11/1/2006 4:26:38 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006

Arcam, the vendor emailed me today and told me that the reason the signature stones were still showing up on the suppliers inventory was that they do not keep their list updated as they should. So my understanding is that you are correct..the signature stones are in-house and the thousands of other diamonds they list are available to most other vendors. So other than the signature collection, the stones can be obtained elsewhere possibly for a lower price. I am sorry for the confusion about BN.

it''s true they''re virtual (mine was shipped to me from new york and BN is in seattle) but to my understanding they are not available anywhere else until BN removes them from their virtual inventory.

 

[february2003bride]

I''ve placed 7 orders with Blue Nile (2 big purchases), so yeah, I like ''em.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 11/1/2006 4:29:47 PM
Author: Cehrabehra

it''s true they''re virtual (mine was shipped to me from new york and BN is in seattle) but to my understanding they are not available anywhere else until BN removes them from their virtual inventory.

Thanks, Cehra. I had only asked about the signature collection and there was no discussion about the virtual inventory. So this certainly may be true now. Thanks for the clarification! It might be nice if someone from BN participated on this forum so we wouldn''t be so confused!!!

 

[sydney]

I think the trade off with bluenile compared to other online jewllers is this....
The person I spoke with at BlueNile wasn''t as forthcoming with info as the person I spoke with at WF. Hands down, customer service in my experience is far better at WF than at Bluenile. However, the BN 30 day exchange can''t be beat. Its a trade off I suppose. BTW the BN sig ideal aren''t really in house. They are property of BN but the rep you speak with can''t eyeball the stone for you as they are in 2 different locations.

 

[aljdewey]

Someone also recently noted that after she returned stones (2, I think?), they wouldn''t allow her to order from them anymore?

For me, this makes the 30-day return policy a bit less meaningful given that I like to purchase SI stones.

They can''t see the stone in advance to tell me if it''s eyeclean, so my only option would be to buy and then return if it''s not. Presumably, if I reject two stones for not being eyeclean, they could decide I can''t buy from them?? Rock and a hard place - and for me, an unworkable way to do business.

 

[jaz464]

The thing about the 30 day return period for me, is that 30 days is kind of overkill. I certainly don''t need that much time to decide if I want to keep a diamond or not. I would most likely know in the first day. I wouldn''t have to think about it for that long. It gives you longer to get the diamond to an appraiser, which is nice, but is still much longer than I need.

I wholeheartedly agree about WF being much more forthcoming with information. They seem to bend over backward to find things out for you. The woman at BN just kept saying to me "I don''t have that information. We have a 30 day return period if you don''t like the diamond."

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 11/1/2006 5:59:28 PM
Author: aljdewey
Someone also recently noted that after she returned stones (2, I think?), they wouldn''t allow her to order from them anymore?

For me, this makes the 30-day return policy a bit less meaningful given that I like to purchase SI stones.

They can''t see the stone in advance to tell me if it''s eyeclean, so my only option would be to buy and then return if it''s not. Presumably, if I reject two stones for not being eyeclean, they could decide I can''t buy from them?? Rock and a hard place - and for me, an unworkable way to do business.

I 100% agree with Alj. It really does not take 30 days anyway to decide to send a stone back. I am happy with the 10 days that WF gives or the 30 that GOG gives. It is invaluable to me that they can look at stones for me and provide me with size comparison pictures, etc.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 11/1/2006 6:01:11 PM
Author: jazmine
The thing about the 30 day return period for me, is that 30 days is kind of overkill. I certainly don''t need that much time to decide if I want to keep a diamond or not. I would most likely know in the first day. I wouldn''t have to think about it for that long. It gives you longer to get the diamond to an appraiser, which is nice, but is still much longer than I need.

I wholeheartedly agree about WF being much more forthcoming with information. They seem to bend over backward to find things out for you. The woman at BN just kept saying to me ''I don''t have that information. We have a 30 day return period if you don''t like the diamond.''

I agree with everything you said, bt to add I think WF 10 day is too short... I don''t think you need 30 days but it''s nice to have it in case the things you want to do will take longer, esp if your appraiser is out of state.