Tan''s reliability

[Agnesg]

I had ordered and paid for a gemstone from ebay. Tan the person in charge ended the listing and I transfered my payment through paypal to him. It is not under a ebay purchase. He told me that it will take 14-21 days for the tourmaline to be certified. It is the 10th day already. I had contacted him numerous time to get him to provide a rough date for it to be ready...but he did not reply...what should I do? does that happened to you before? can I openly discuss about a particular vendor like Tan? I do not wan to offend anyone unknowingly..

 

[Arcadian]

Date: 6/23/2010 3:43:46 AM
Author:Agnesg
I had ordered and paid for a gemstone from ebay. Tan the person in charge ended the listing and I transfered my payment through paypal to him. It is not under a ebay purchase. He told me that it will take 14-21 days for the tourmaline to be certified. It is the 10th day already. I had contacted him numerous time to get him to provide a rough date for it to be ready...but he did not reply...what should I do? does that happened to you before?

You may be better off counting business days instead of actual days.

Remember that when the stone is off to be certified, he's at the mercy of the lab at this point. So that rough estimate of days is something he's going to pretty much adhere to.

It can wear your nerves a bit I understand why you're anxious, but you may want to give him 24/48 hours to catch up to you. If you're sending messages every day, I'm sure thats a bit on the heavy side.

Sometimes when I have questions I check to see if he's on his twitter. That way I know I can always reach him right away. I otherwise just send an email and he gets back to me in about 3 days...sometimes sooner. He can sometimes get pretty busy and will send me a short email he'd get back to me as soon as he can, but without fail he never forgets.

Via ebay its usually 4 hours to 48 hours.

and BTW, my last certed stone took 14 days to certify. That does not include shipping the stone to me. (which was another 10 business days)


If you paid through paypal, you're still covered for 45 days, and I'm pretty sure you'll have the stone before then.


If you don't mind me asking, how long has it been since your last email to him?



-A

 

[Agnesg]

It was 24hrs ago excactly..he has promises to get back to me on a couple of things, but its obvious that he has forgotten as it has been weeks... is Tan on this forum?

 

[Arcadian]

Date: 6/23/2010 4:15:06 AM
Author: Agnesg
It was 24hrs ago excactly..he has promises to get back to me on a couple of things, but its obvious that he has forgotten as it has been weeks... is Tan on this forum?

To my knowlege no.

So first you say you sent him an email 24 hours ago but that its been weeks since he''s contacted you. I''ll admit I''m somewhat confused.

If you bought the stone 10 actual days ago, thats barely 2 weeks. from your OP he told you that Certification takes 14-21 days.

The biggest disconnect I see is that you''re asking for when the stone is ready but he''s already given you the estimate of when it should be done. TBH, I don''t see how asking at day 10 will give you a different answer.

If the time estimate of when the stone will be ready wasn''t good for you, you maybe should have held off purchasing from him or asked if there was a charge to certify the stone faster. Thats just me being honest.

When did he say he would get back with you? Did you get a specific time? I wonder if you''re giving him enough time give you the answers you seek.

-A

 

[chrono]

I have purchased 2 stones from Tan, one with certification and the second without. Depending on the lab you’ve chosen, it can be quick or slow. It seems that AIGS has management issues and takes a lot longer than usual. For the lab paperwork, it is out of his control and he probably can only tell you the same thing the lab has told him with regards to the completion date. His initial response is always prompt and after that, it might take him 2 to 3 days to get back to me, usually sooner than later. Tan does not frequent this forum and has no presence on it either.

 

[Agnesg]

Date: 6/23/2010 4:38:30 AM
Author: Arcadian

Date: 6/23/2010 4:15:06 AM
Author: Agnesg
It was 24hrs ago excactly..he has promises to get back to me on a couple of things, but its obvious that he has forgotten as it has been weeks... is Tan on this forum?

To my knowlege no.

So first you say you sent him an email 24 hours ago but that its been weeks since he''s contacted you. I''ll admit I''m somewhat confused.

If you bought the stone 10 actual days ago, thats barely 2 weeks. from your OP he told you that Certification takes 14-21 days.

The biggest disconnect I see is that you''re asking for when the stone is ready but he''s already given you the estimate of when it should be done. TBH, I don''t see how asking at day 10 will give you a different answer.

If the time estimate of when the stone will be ready wasn''t good for you, you maybe should have held off purchasing from him or asked if there was a charge to certify the stone faster. Thats just me being honest.

When did he say he would get back with you? Did you get a specific time? I wonder if you''re giving him enough time give you the answers you seek.

-A

I meant to say a couple of thing as in agreeing to revert to me on some pink spinel and chrome tourmaline. But I think he is too busy that it slip his mind. I experienced the same thing as chrono, immediate response initially and about 2-3 days delay later on. I do have faith in him from what I hear in this forum. I was thinking that I can chat direct with him here. Thank you

 

[morecarats]

Date: 6/23/2010 8:09:12 AM
Author: Chrono
I have purchased 2 stones from Tan, one with certification and the second without. Depending on the lab you’ve chosen, it can be quick or slow. It seems that AIGS has management issues and takes a lot longer than usual. For the lab paperwork, it is out of his control and he probably can only tell you the same thing the lab has told him with regards to the completion date. His initial response is always prompt and after that, it might take him 2 to 3 days to get back to me, usually sooner than later. Tan does not frequent this forum and has no presence on it either.

I have gems certified at AIGS every week and the turnaround time is currently about 3 days. I''m not aware of management issues at the lab; if anything the turnaround time has improved in the last month.

 

[chrono]

MC,
It seems like it is now taking at least a week for AIGS to run their tests for the briefs and not only that, emails to them either seem to either go answered or take a long time to get any response.

 

[T L]

One time it took around three weeks for me to get my AIGS due to some political issues in Thailand (don''t ask me what), but I did get my stone and memo safe and sound.

 

[morecarats]

Date: 6/23/2010 10:21:41 AM
Author: Chrono
MC,

It seems like it is now taking at least a week for AIGS to run their tests for the briefs and not only that, emails to them either seem to either go answered or take a long time to get any response.

I can''t answer for AIGS, but only relate my own experience -- 3 day turnaround on testing and emails answered within 24 hours. Possibly they are giving different service for the trade, I don''t know. But AIGS seems more efficient than GIA Bangkok or GIT, despite more aggressive pricing.

 

[T L]

Date: 6/23/2010 10:38:12 AM
Author: morecarats

Date: 6/23/2010 10:21:41 AM

Author: Chrono

MC,


It seems like it is now taking at least a week for AIGS to run their tests for the briefs and not only that, emails to them either seem to either go answered or take a long time to get any response.

I can''t answer for AIGS, but only relate my own experience -- 3 day turnaround on testing and emails answered within 24 hours. Possibly they are giving different service for the trade, I don''t know. But AIGS seems more efficient than GIA Bangkok or GIT, despite more aggressive pricing.

Not to get off topic, but for sapphires and diffused gems, GIA and GIT, are the way to go. AIGS is more unreliable when it comes to testing for foreign elements because they do not have the equipment. They''re good for other gems, like most garnets, and spinels, and other non-treated gems, I would suppose.

 

[LD]

Date: 6/23/2010 10:30:47 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover
One time it took around three weeks for me to get my AIGS due to some political issues in Thailand (don''t ask me what), but I did get my stone and memo safe and sound.

Exactly my experience. At the beginning of May I bought a Sapphire from Tan (that was already with AIGS). Despite me chasing Tan on numerous occasions, the stone didn''t come out of AIGS until 25th May. So it was over 3 weeks and possibly longer that it had been with them. Tan told me that there was some political unrest that had caused this unusual situation.

I have to say though that although he has always been prompt in replying to my emails, when the Sapphire arrived it was (a) grey and (b) extinct at the sides - both of which I had been assured by him it wasn''t. When I told him I was going to return it, his answer was that he felt he had done a lot of work on this sale! Errrrr? Right! I was completely and utterly peeved with his attitude as it was the delay at the AIGS that had caused him the issues and nothing to do with me!

 

[Arkteia]

You know...I was thinking today, not of Tan only, but all vendors that sell at high enough prices. Tan''s are not high but they are not low either.

When I go to Saks, I pay extra for courtesy, smiles, their insurance against stealing, what not. It is all included into their exorbitant price. At Filene''s basement or Nordstrom Rack, there are almost no salespeople, you do not get service, the cabins are small (and there are none at Filenes) but you can buy at 1/5 of Saks'' prices - same things, BTW, just deeply discounted.

So...same in jewelry business. I can expect slow delivery or late response from a seller who sells nice things at ridiculously low prices (BTW Bob Kast e-mailed me; apparently he had some issues and could not contact me promptly). But a vendor who sells high-quality goods at high prices should provide Saks'' quality of service. It mostly applies to LD''s story, I understand that AIGS cert. process could be delayed.

A while ago I had a certain problem with gemburionline - and it is hard for me to understand whether Tan is bound by an agreement with ebay or it was just his attitude. I asked him to find me a good sapphire among his material, and he referred me back to his websites and advised to buy from them.

So...as the result, I am not going to give a lot of my money to him and buy only cheaper things from auctions or not too expensive stuff. I could have spent more on VVS1 material, but I just can not forget this epizode. This, of course, does not imply leaving bad reviews or whatever - I am always trying to be nice to people who make a living trading on ebay, but as to spending $$$ after I was brushed off as a nasty buzzing fly...sorry, not no.

Back to people who treated me better.

 

[Upgradable]

I recently got a second chance offer on a spinel and I jumped on it. I asked for the stone to be sent to AIGS and was told it would be 10-14 business days. Yesterday was 10 days and I woke this morning to an email saying my order had just been shipped out to me. Just as stated.

 

[Indylady]

Date: 6/25/2010 4:25:16 PM
Author: crasru
You know...I was thinking today, not of Tan only, but all vendors that sell at high enough prices. Tan''s are not high but they are not low either.

When I go to Saks, I pay extra for courtesy, smiles, their insurance against stealing, what not. It is all included into their exorbitant price. At Filene''s basement or Nordstrom Rack, there are almost no salespeople, you do not get service, the cabins are small (and there are none at Filenes) but you can buy at 1/5 of Saks'' prices - same things, BTW, just deeply discounted.

So...same in jewelry business. I can expect slow delivery or late response from a seller who sells nice things at ridiculously low prices (BTW Bob Kast e-mailed me; apparently he had some issues and could not contact me promptly). But a vendor who sells high-quality goods at high prices should provide Saks'' quality of service. It mostly applies to LD''s story, I understand that AIGS cert. process could be delayed.

A while ago I had a certain problem with gemburionline - and it is hard for me to understand whether Tan is bound by an agreement with ebay or it was just his attitude. I asked him to find me a good sapphire among his material, and he referred me back to his websites and advised to buy from them.

So...as the result, I am not going to give a lot of my money to him and buy only cheaper things from auctions or not too expensive stuff. I could have spent more on VVS1 material, but I just can not forget this epizode. This, of course, does not imply leaving bad reviews or whatever - I am always trying to be nice to people who make a living trading on ebay, but as to spending $$$ after I was brushed off as a nasty buzzing fly...sorry, not no.

Back to people who treated me better.

It depends obviously on how he worded the message, but I wouldn''t take it too personally if a vendor asked me to take a look at their existing inventory after an inquiry. I had asked Judah at Excel Diamonds for his opinion on a diamond. In his kind and honest (very honest! he told me it was a "dog" and he couldn''t sell it to me in good conscience) he also said "I''d respectfully suggest that you canvass the database and see what else catches your eye..let us know and we shall get on it." I thought it was a perfectly fair response and felt like I was treated as a valued customer, but of course colored stones are somewhat different from diamonds and vendors do often source one of a kind gems for their customers. Perhaps Tan is wary to do so after spending time to source stones that customers did not end up purchasing or did not end up liking, as in LD''s case.

Ebay and Paypal both charge fees (though they''re the same company! ugh), and Tan doesn''t have much of a markup to start with, so perhaps its just most efficient for him not to provide those services. Of course, it does depend on how he said this, and I also wouldn''t spend my $$ on a vendor who doesn''t not treat me with respect, so I understand where you are coming from.