sometimes ebay.....

[Arcadian]

Now I know what some folk are gonna say (yeah don't say it though)

However, as a test spin, I purchased an emerald. According to the auction its 3.15cts SI2, Columbian and oiled. The seller on Toolhaus checked out fine, a few neutrals but nothing major.

Anyway, prior to bidding I asked the seller if they could send the stone to AIGS to have it checked out. They said yes we can send it wherever you want.

Ok so cool beans right?


So I won the auction. For 2 days they went ghost....they've not answered any of my emails or messages through Ebay as I've been asking them I want it sent to AIGS or at least to have GIT memo on it. I even told them to add the extra cost to the invoice, just let me know how long it takes. (I ain't asking them to pay for the extra stuff I want)

And today, sent them another message.

So what say you? I've got my own thoughts around all this (most of which is amusing because I think they faked the funk)

here's the emerald in question (remember, this is a test spin, its not about color, its about verification)





-A

 

[Kismet]

My guess is that they know they have a fake on hand and were hoping that their assurance that they would send any of their stones to a lab for testing would be enough without them actually having to do it.

 

[chrono]

My guess is like Kismet’s that they are hoping that their word of willingness to send the emerald to a lab of your choice is enough to convince you to purchase it and just let it go. Still, two days isn’t enough time to say with surety so your second email to them is what I would do to give them that second chance in case they missed the first email, miscommunication/language barrier, etc.

 

[CaraMish]

Where in Asia are they located? Typhoon Megi blasted through the Phillipines several days ago, now it's close to China coast, might possibly hit Hong Kong. If they're in that region, they may have evacuated. Long shot, I know...

 

[T L]

Arcadian,
Even if you did get it sent to a lab for a memo, a memo doesn't indicate the degree of enhancement, and that matters a lot when it comes to emerald value. A memo will only state, "filled with oil or resin." A more expensive lab report would only give that more comprehensive information. BTW, the photo does look enhanced in color. Honestly, I would try to get out of this purchase if you still can, unless it was so cheap you don't care.

A very long time ago, you could actually get decent emeralds on ebay, and at reasonable prices, but those days no longer exist. The only good emeralds on ebay are $$$$,and the rest are pretty much poor quality commercial grade, synthetics, or composite material (glued together emerald pieces).

 

[Arcadian]

A memo would have been fine with me It would be enough to tell me resin or oil or nothing at all. Personally I really don't care as far as location, the win wasn't expensive enough for that.

Also if they aren't willing to cert it as they said they could, I wouldn't buy it no matter how cheap it was. That is in part to principal, the other is the fact that I know emeralds are NEVER this cheap...not at that size! This is how I do on ebay these days, but I have to. They have to tell me they can cert it via an independent lab or, that its not something they do. If they don't do it, I'm not going to bother because its not only a waste of their time but mine too.

This is the reason why I asked if they could send it to AIGS FIRST. But you know, they could have so easily said no, we don't do that.

jus sayin.

-A

 

[movie zombie]

A memo would have been fine with me It would be enough to tell me resin or oil or nothing at all. Personally I really don't care as far as location, the win wasn't expensive enough for that. Also if they aren't willing to cert it as they said they could, I wouldn't buy it no matter how cheap it was. That is in part to principal, the other is the fact that I know emeralds are NEVER this cheap...not at that size! This is how I do on ebay these days, but I have to. They have to tell me they can cert it via an independent lab or, that its not something they do. If they don't do it, I'm not going to bother because its not only a waste of their time but mine too. This is the reason why I asked if they could send it to AIGS FIRST. But you know, they could have so easily said no, we don't do that. jus sayin.-A

so, based on your response, i'm not sure what your question was really about: 2 days of not hearing from someone in asia is typical in my experience. you say you'd be happy with what they agreed to provide: do you pay for this extra service? in my experience, people will agree to almost anything to make a sale.....but i then have to pay for that "extra".


MoZo

 

[Arcadian]

A memo would have been fine with me It would be enough to tell me resin or oil or nothing at all. Personally I really don't care as far as location, the win wasn't expensive enough for that. Also if they aren't willing to cert it as they said they could, I wouldn't buy it no matter how cheap it was. That is in part to principal, the other is the fact that I know emeralds are NEVER this cheap...not at that size! This is how I do on ebay these days, but I have to. They have to tell me they can cert it via an independent lab or, that its not something they do. If they don't do it, I'm not going to bother because its not only a waste of their time but mine too. This is the reason why I asked if they could send it to AIGS FIRST. But you know, they could have so easily said no, we don't do that. jus sayin.-A

so, based on your response, i'm not sure what your question was really about: 2 days of not hearing from someone in asia is typical in my experience. you say you'd be happy with what they agreed to provide: do you pay for this extra service? in my experience, people will agree to almost anything to make a sale.....but i then have to pay for that "extra".


MoZo

I'm just laying out the scenario, and asking what people think.

Yes I would pay for independent lab testing. I do with any vendor I do business with on ebay if the independent lab tests is not already included with the stone, but I ask first. If they says yes, we'll send it to a lab of your choice for for x dollars, then ok thats fine. If they say yes, we send it to (insert major lab here) and it costs x dollars, then ok thats fine too. If they say they don't use labs they do it in house, I move on.

Those sellers that DO offer it, they do so as an extra service. meaning, yes, they do charge you extra for it if the cert is not already included in the auction already. Thats common and understandable, so i'm willing to pay it. This also allows me to separate those that are faking the funk and those that are the real deal.

herein lies the rub if you will. Why say you can send it to that lab (they got back to me same day), And answer any other questions I may have about the item within a 24 hour period leading up to the end of the auction, but go ghost at the end of the auction, even after I sent a message asking for the invoice to pay? See where this is going?

Personally I think its kinda funny(not haha funny) and pretty typical for ebay. Thats not to say that all of the sellers of gems are like that, but a great deal of them are.

-A

 

[JewelFreak]

Too bad there's enough skulduggery in the gem field that this is necessary, Arcadian. But it's a way to weed out the wheat from the chaff on vendors you don't know. Kind of time consuming but it tells you something, at least. It's pretty much a given that ebay & others are buyer beware & smart of you to avoid a more costly problem.

I'm gobsmacked by the news that some glue pieces of emerald together, eeuw. So some poor soul gets a glued-up gob of green stuff?

--- Laurie

 

[movie zombie]

so, did you get an invoice to pay after the bidding closed and you were notified of your winning bid?
if yes, you notify them you'll pay when they provide what was agreed.
if not, assume what you're already assuming: they sell junk and you'll not be doing business with them.

personally, i think this is par for the course and just one of those things one takes in stride in dealing with eBay......not worth much drama.

MoZo

ps its great to bargain hunt and/or look for that one in a thousand great steals but there are going to be clunker stones and clunker vendors in the process....all part of "the game". you've got a set of procedures in place [asking for cert] and that helps weed out some vendors but it won't weed out all. relax and enjoy it for what it is: fun, educational, and sometimes a value for $ spent.

 

[LD]

Arc - on occasion it's taken Tan longer than 2 days to come back to me (I know that this stone isn't from Tan) but just wanted to say that in my opinion 2 days is waaaaayyyyyyyyy not long enough to make any deductions about what may/may not happen. Give it a few more days and then if you don't hear then that's the time to get out of the purchase.

As TL said, the photo of the Emerald does look like it may have been photoshopped and the inclusions are a bit scary. There's jardin and then there's jardin! Mind you, if this is a relatively cheap purchase then it's probably worth going ahead BUT do you really want to go to the expense of sending to a lab? If it's oiled only, the strength of the jardin actually brings down the value of the gem somewhat so unless you're thinking of selling it on, I'd just get it tested locally to make sure it's a natural Emerald.

I hope all goes well.

 

[minousbijoux]

Fwiw, I had a vendor just get back to me with the following message:

"There will be a slight shipping delay due to the past National Day in our Country (Oct 1 to 7). [btw, I think this was China, can't recall at the moment] During that periods, the post office did not work."

Perhaps they are just dealing with a backlog?

Just a thought

 

[Arcadian]

Well, I got an update at least. the seller said he was away from his computer so sorry. then he said he would get the pricing to me in a day or two. Thats cool if there's follow through but I have to admit on this one the spidey senses are tingling.

BTW, ebay said that if a seller is being non-communicative, they can contact the seller on your behalf.


So we shall see! If this guy is legit I'll get something probably by next week.

-A

 

[morecarats]

Well, I got an update at least. the seller said he was away from his computer so sorry. then he said he would get the pricing to me in a day or two. Thats cool if there's follow through but I have to admit on this one the spidey senses are tingling.

BTW, ebay said that if a seller is being non-communicative, they can contact the seller on your behalf.


So we shall see! If this guy is legit I'll get something probably by next week.

-A

The prices for the AIGS reports are right there on their website (www.aigslaboratory.com) for all to see. You are right to be concerned.

 

[DiaDiva]

Fwiw, I had a vendor just get back to me with the following message:

"There will be a slight shipping delay due to the past National Day in our Country (Oct 1 to 7). [btw, I think this was China, can't recall at the moment] During that periods, the post office did not work."

Perhaps they are just dealing with a backlog?

Just a thought

That period is known as Golden Week in China. Oct 1st is China's national day.

 

[Arcadian]

Well, I got an update at least. the seller said he was away from his computer so sorry. then he said he would get the pricing to me in a day or two. Thats cool if there's follow through but I have to admit on this one the spidey senses are tingling.

BTW, ebay said that if a seller is being non-communicative, they can contact the seller on your behalf.


So we shall see! If this guy is legit I'll get something probably by next week.

-A

The prices for the AIGS reports are right there on their website (www.aigslaboratory.com) for all to see. You are right to be concerned.

Thanks Morecats. My last message prior to the one they sent me I did in fact send the urls to AIGS and to GIT so I'm really trying to give benefit of doubt but its hard.

Pretty much, they know now that I won't pay unless they get it certified by an independent lab, but herein lies the sad part; even if I cancel the sale, they would get someone else to buy it without asking even one question.

So even though a cert will probably cost me as much (or more) than the stone, I'm going to hold them to this as apart of the conditions of sale. Personally I think my vetting process is pretty easy..lol.

-A

 

[Lee Little]

OMG I about freaked when I saw the AIGS prices on a full report, 1900, a brief for 700.....then I saw that the prices were in Thai baht, LOL. divide by 29. Best regards, Lee

 

[m76steve]

to arcadian-several days is the norm for any report-if there is a holiday in your time frame it could add days to your sale-the great thing you have is ebay usually covers the cost of the item + shipping-you have 45 days from sale date to question or claim against the seller-in short youre still in good hands allstate!-be patient but be aware!!!!!!!! all will be fine-my 2 cnts as the usual-steve....

 

[Arcadian]

In conclusion, the seller and I did not reach a deal because they decided they wanted to play a few games. In the last volley of emails they've telling me they had the stone looked at and papered by AGRL. You know I asked if thats what he meant, he said yes thats what he meant.

I guess he's saying that the the Agriculture department is now papering stones because thats all I could come up with on google.

So I've asked for a full lab name and address. You think I'll get it? I think they're mad because as of Today the last I got some message how I'm destroying their livelihood but thats it. Didn't bother to answer me as far as the address and full name of the lab.


So how am I destroying them by asking questions? Them fools can GTFOOHWTBS. I'm asking simple questions, they can answer back just as simply. If the lab isn't real, just say so and my NBA will go look somewhere else.

Lucky for me, no money spent, but does show how careful any of us has to be on ebay.

-A

 

[T L]

Stories like yours make me grateful for consumer forums like this. Anyone else would have been cheated and deceived.

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

Acrcadian,

Who pays for the report if it doesn't come back the way you want or you decide you just don't want to purchase?
If it is the vendor or if you aren't paying up front for the report I would have told you to bounce a long time ago.

Lets assume the sellor beleives his listing or what his supplier told them and isn't flat out misrepresenting, do they need to take a gamble on a lab report from XYZ lab that is suitable to you(and they probably have barely heard of or done busines with)?

How much is this item selling for?

 

[Arcadian]

CCL, here's how I see it;

When I ask for a report from a true 3rd party laboratory that I could track the results back to and the stone comes back not as stated, the seller would have to eat that cost. Thankfully ebay uses paypal so I wouldn't have been out of money had it came back not as described (unless the seller suddenly decided to split...which is always a chance.)

The emerald in question according to their auction info was oil filled. They also stated Colombian but I wasn't going to go that far because origin isn't as important to me unless I drop grip on a stone. All I wanted was a report that stated what the stone was and what type of treatment.

In my case, the report from AIGS would have been slightly less than I paid for the stone, a GIT Report, more than I paid for the stone. Neither here nor there because as far as I'm concerned its an emerald, I want it verified.

So its important to do some due diligence on your own behalf. Ebay themselves don't like to get involved unless you've lost some money. They do not really police the people on their selling fakes. They're a market place so its up to the buyer to really do their homework.

These days where ebay is concerned, unless I've done business before I won't buy without a gem report. Even if I know you and have done business with you, best believe I'm not going to buy certain stones from you that I can't have checked out or check out myself.

Like TL said, thankfully this place is here. Ive certainly learned what to look out for, and how to pay attention to instinct and ask questions prior to making a purchase.

Its really dicey out there and some folks will do whatever they feel is necessary to make a buck, even if that means they cheat you. Everyone isn't like that on ebay, and there's sellers I've purchased from that are the real deal. but you sure do have to get though a lot of muck to find them.


-A

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-15CT-VS2-AAA-...pt=Loose_Gemstones_1&hash=item4aa5626dc9#shId

Arcadian,

There is no responsible vendor(who will stay in business) who would get either grading report you asked for on an item won for $103.50.
A situation where if it doesn't come back exactly as you like they eat the lab fees and shipping to/from the lab and you can back out without responsbility.

Shipping and grading report fees to send it to the lab match or exceed what you are paying even if they are reasonably sure it is as stated. Then you have the price, is that even close to realistic for a natural untreated(except oil) emerald of that size and color?

An obvious question, what does their certification entail and will they add it to the listing, that should have been asked even before you bid. Most vendors disclose what type of memo they procured if the stone is certified it helps garner higher bids.

Next time you ask a question do it through ebay on the listing rather than in e-mail.

First rule of shopping for gems on ebay, if the price is too good to be true 99% of the time it usually isn't true.
Second rule: If the seller has mostly recent feedback on much cheaper items and yours is the most expensive proceed with caution.

If all you wanted to do was send it to the lab and have all treatments disclosed than pay them for the stone, grading report and shipping to/from the lab without conditions and they should agree to your request.
It seems a lot of miscommunication going on between you and the seller(they are thai) and on top of that it seems unclear what the seller means by certified. Overall I think you were hoping for a steal and for service afforded to much higher priced items and from sellors with a much different business model. Unrealistic expectations from this item and this vendor.

Sorry I don't agree with this thread or the feedback you left for them, your demands are unreasonable and your request to send it to AIGS only makes sense on much more expensive items.

 

[Arcadian]

Well let me just say CCL, you're wrong. I not only asked about AIGS I asked about GIT too. I also told the seller I would pay for it as an extra cost. I do not and never have expected sellers to pay for the lab reports IF they're not with the stones and IF I request them. They'd pay and keep the stone if it came back as a fake though!

Trust me, the lines of communication were totally open and I've got the emails to prove it.

And I want to put one thing out there: the seller speaks perfect english. None of the emails were of someone who did not know english. I've bought PLENTY of stuff for thai and non english speaking sellers, and this guy knows english pronunciation better than I do!

When I buy something on ebay I ask for just the truth. I asked if I can get it for the extra cost, they said YES. How is that me being unreasonable??

Far as I'm concerned, the guy is a fraud. He's not stupid nor did I treat him as such. He knew exactly what I asked for and agreed to it, all though replys back and forth through ebay email...that is until AFTER the sale and he had to deliver.


I don't care if the damn thing was an auction won at 15 bucks, if we had agreed he would send it to a lab at my expense, send it! No need to hem and haw about it. If it comes back as described, of course I pay for it. Why would I not? If it dosen't come back as described, they eat it. Hell thats more than fair!

But if you're going to hem and haw about it, then tell me oh its certified by a lab I can't find? THEN bitch about the fact that I ask about the name of the lab, in which they don't give to me. I'm not ruining sh8t for them, they're doing that on their own.

between Thursday and today they've sent me 5 invoices. None of them had the additional cert charge I had asked for. Each time I would ask them what happened to it and each time I'd get another cock and bull story. I asked them to cancel the sale, I got the Oh no no no, we want to continue. I send them the URL of AIGS because they indicated to me they could get that for me, I reiterated I would pay for the cert, then I get this sh8t about oh it has xyz cert already. I told them then and there sorry I can't find this lab, can you give me their full name and address.

Like anyone who's sick of being jerked around I left a neg today around noon because I'm sick of their sh8t.

I don't ask anyone to do what I'm not willing to do. All they had to do was tell me the price of the additional cert I had asked for, and add it to their invoice, OR, tell me sorry, we'll cancel the sale. That would have been fine. But that round and round crap? Thats not a way to do business. so yes I got fed up. They totally deserved the neg.


You don't have to agree with me either because trust me, I didn't ask you to.


ETA:

BTW CCL, why in the hell would you think I would make them buy the cert on their dime? I have never in any message on this board said that was their initial responsibility if the specific cert wasn't included. You apparently didn't read the post where I said this.

-A

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

Well let me just say CCL, you're wrong. I not only asked about AIGS I asked about GIT too. I also told the seller I would pay for it as an extra cost. I do not and never have expected sellers to pay for the lab reports IF they're not with the stones and IF I request them. They'd pay and keep the stone if it came back as a fake though!

Trust me, the lines of communication were totally open and I've got the emails to prove it.

And I want to put one thing out there: the seller speaks perfect english. None of the emails were of someone who did not know english. I've bought PLENTY of stuff for thai and non english speaking sellers, and this guy knows english pronunciation better than I do!

When I buy something on ebay I ask for just the truth. I asked if I can get it for the extra cost, they said YES. How is that me being unreasonable??

Far as I'm concerned, the guy is a fraud. He's not stupid nor did I treat him as such. He knew exactly what I asked for and agreed to it, all though replys back and forth through ebay email...that is until AFTER the sale and he had to deliver.


I don't care if the damn thing was an auction won at 15 bucks, if we had agreed he would send it to a lab at my expense, send it! No need to hem and haw about it. If it comes back as described, of course I pay for it. Why would I not? If it dosen't come back as described, they eat it. Hell thats more than fair!

But if you're going to hem and haw about it, then tell me oh its certified by a lab I can't find? THEN bitch about the fact that I ask about the name of the lab, in which they don't give to me. I'm not ruining sh8t for them, they're doing that on their own.

between Thursday and today they've sent me 5 invoices. None of them had the additional cert charge I had asked for. Each time I would ask them what happened to it and each time I'd get another cock and bull story. I asked them to cancel the sale, I got the Oh no no no, we want to continue. I send them the URL of AIGS because they indicated to me they could get that for me, I reiterated I would pay for the cert, then I get this sh8t about oh it has xyz cert already. I told them then and there sorry I can't find this lab, can you give me their full name and address.

Like anyone who's sick of being jerked around I left a neg today around noon because I'm sick of their sh8t.

I don't ask anyone to do what I'm not willing to do. All they had to do was tell me the price of the additional cert I had asked for, and add it to their invoice, OR, tell me sorry, we'll cancel the sale. That would have been fine. But that round and round crap? Thats not a way to do business. so yes I got fed up. They totally deserved the neg.


You don't have to agree with me either because trust me, I didn't ask you to.

-A

You left out the most important thing in that response. Your explicit expectation and their agreement before you bid that if the stone didn't come back as you wanted from the lab that the seller pays for the report and you get a rull refund.

That seems like a rediculous thing for any sellor of cheap gems to agree to even if their own in house gemologist or some mickey mouse lab certified the stone.

The reason why ebay reccomends you post your questions using their system as opposed to e-mail is they have a record and can be used for future disputes and/or as evidence of unscrupulous vendors.

Scenario A - Stone comes back as listed vendor makes what 30$ profit?
Senario B - Stone comes back with more treaments, synthetic etc etc. and they lose 1900 baht plus shipping for AIGS memo. ($57 USD + Shipping).

Please by all means cut and paste the e-mail where you explicitly stated your expectations and they agreed to this before you bid. Then you can call them a fraud and you and the other gals can bring out the pitch forks and have an ol' fashioned vendor lynching.

I really think this listing screams red flag to me in so many ways "pear shape" and they didn't list the certificate.
This would have been a clear pass to me after reading the listing, could have saved yourself the trouble.

 

[texaskj]

Has their feedback always been private? That's a HUGE red flag.

 

[Arcadian]

Ok look CCL,

if the stone came back as a emerald they would have lost nothing. I didn't tell him I wouldn't pay him for it, I asked him to add the cost of the cert to the invoice In other words, I would have paid it via paypal once the price was added as an additional cost TO THE INVOICE, and at that point he would have sent the stone off to the lab because in essence, he has my money.

Had the stone come back and it was real, fine, he could keep the money, I would have gotten a stone that had the paper I wanted.

Had the stone come back fake, sorry Charley, no can do and I would have asked for a refund of my money. If he woudn't give it freely I would have went through ebay dispute to get it back. If he had the nerve to bother sending the stone without checking the paperwork first, he would have gotten his stone and paperwork back. because I'm not that damn nefarious or greedy.

When I purchased from Tan in the past, I have ALWAYS gotten certs from him at an additional cost. Doubtful I would have been expected to pay for the cert if the stone he was selling had come back fake. I doubt it would even make it out the door! Thats what an ethical seller does.

If you are a seller and you're selling me a stone , then I expect it would be as described. I would also espect that if its been sent to an independent lab, the paperwork would be AS DESCRIBED IN THE AUCTION OR BY TERMS OF THE SALE.

And this is wrong because of Why?

And yet another seller, one of which I asked for a cert for on a dematoid garnet. Did I pay for it upfront? you betcha. I have ALWAYS expected to. If it came back as fake would I have paid for it? Are you crazy? hell no!

The seller in this instance had every opportunity to tell me he dosen't send out to either of the labs I asked about, I would have been fine with that and moved on. I asked for a seller to just be straight because I sure am.

There have been plenty that have said they don't send their stones out and thats fine, no skin off my butt, I pass their auctions up. The ones that do, I bid. Here's what I ask in advance of me bidding:

Hi,

I'm really interested in your auction. I would like to know if you send your stones out to independent labs like AIGS or GIA. I would pay for this cost if I win your auction.

Please let me know.

Thanks!

I do change the names of the labs around depending on where the seller is. If an american seller I used labs closer to home.

And this is bad because of Why again? If I'm going to be that upfront to ask, why lie and say yes? There are plenty who have said no, be they american, thai, or indian or whatever they are.

That dosen't bum me out because there's other sellers out there I can ask.

There are some that do have bad enough english that they don't understand what I ask so therefore I just don't bother bidding on their auctions period.

And I can count on one hand the number of times I've negged since I've been on ebay. I don't like to, I tend to work with sellers unless they just don't work with me. But I also won't stand for being jerked around like this seller did.

Sending an invoice once? ok, but when I ask them to please correct it and they continue to send it out without what I've asked for? That may be fine for you, its not for me.

Personally, you're getting a 'come on son' from me on this CCL.

I won't be putting up emails because I don't want you or anyone THAT much in my business. The emails are still in my ebay box true but unless you're ebay, god, or my husband There's no way on this green earth i'm putting them up, with headers, on a public forum. Excuse me but I work in IT and that is not a good look. I wouldn't expect anyone to do so on a public forum nor would I ask them to, so don't try to take it there.

Do I expect you to agree with me? No, but I'm not going to sit here and let you call me a liar either.

-A

 

[Arcadian]

Has their feedback always been private? That's a HUGE red flag.

You may be looking at my feedback which is private.


**Edit**

I stand corrected!

-A

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

Arcadian,

I'm not calling you a liar, I do agree with some of what you posted.
But that general bolded statement (doesn't state what lab, the exact costs and who pays) the part you bolded is not enough. If that is all you sent than I can understand why you didn't get what you expected after the auction completed. Too general and too vague, and I'm sure after this you will be explicit next time.

Example:

"I intend on asking you to send the stone to AIGS lab after the auction for a grading report. The cost will be $57 + shipping please add this to the invoice price. I will also expect that if the stone does not come back from the lab as natural emerald that I will still be able to receive a refund for both the stone and grading report. Do you agree to these terms?"

Interestingly enough the feedback on this vendor wasn't private about an hour ago and now is, that is a really strange coincidence now wouldn't you say?

Anyway I don't have a clue about this vendor they sound a bit careless. I see a lot of careless vendors on EBAY selling cheap stuff it comes with the territory. It doesn't make sense to spend hours of time responding to customers when you make $5 on an item.

Tan sells more expensive items and even he has been inconsistant in returning emails at times. I had a Tanzanite project I was sourcing through him and I gave up due to his lack of proper responses and availability of stones I was looking for.

 

[movie zombie]

so much anger and energy expended for a $100 stone?! life is too short.

while i can understand the OP's frustration, i still see it as all part of the eBay experience. personally, i don't have the time, energy, or inclination to put myself through this type of thing and while some may have their reasons to do so, it would seem reasonable to expect and accept that this may happen periodically and just move on.

MoZo