- Joined
- May 3, 2001
- Messages
- 7,516
Dear Pricescopers,
I am losing sleep over a mistake I made and what has followed. A colleague suggested that I share my situation with the community and collect opinions from the educated jewelry enthusiasts here.
Last year I was approached by a shopper. We worked for a long time on a high value diamond purchase. In the end she flew to Boise to compare my diamond to one she already owned. She loved my diamond, confirmed the purchase and we made the deal. That deal involved three components. Credit for trade-in of her outside diamond. Cash paid, and reimbursement of her trip to Boise.
Before coming she sent me the grading report for the diamond she proposed to trade-in. A reliable trade-buyer offered me $63K sight-unseen, which I offered to her as trade-in credit. She told me she had paid $83K retail at another store and wanted that full amount in credit. I explained on the phone how retail compensation is simply not possible. I can only give what a trade-buyer is willing to pay me. I also suggested she see if her original seller would pay $63K+ to take it back. They would not. So I continued searching on her behalf, and eventually found a buyer who stepped-up and offered $70K (almost 85% of what she paid retail). I told her this was the absolute best I could do. I further said, if accepted, her old diamond would be sold immediately and could not come back. She agreed to all of this.
I also lowered my retail price, so she could pay an even $50K additional to seal the deal at $120K. Finally I agreed to reimburse her trip to Boise if she bought my diamond. When I did that it lowered the $50K due to $48,500.
All told I received $70,000 for sale of her trade-in diamond and $48,500 she paid in cash, totaling $118,500.
In terms of writing up the sale she had insisted for full retail-price of her old diamond to be reflected. This made sense to secure proper insurance, so I granted her request and cited its value as $83K. Technically that inflated the paper-value of the transaction by $13K over what I received but it was intended to be helpful.
I was surprised weeks later when she said she was returning the diamond, but that was her right. This is where my mistake comes to the surface. Somewhere during our emails she had asked if a return would be “on the whole amount of money I paid for my new diamond.” In this, she was referring to the inflated value. My usual return policy is full refund so I reflexively replied “yes” without stopping to consider how the numbers had been written, or consider our trip-reimbursement arrangement. In hindsight I should never have made that reflex one word reply. I’d like to think I am careful in most things but I am also more trusting than I am cautious. I never presumed what was to follow.
For her return, in addition to the $118,500 which was transacted she insists on an additional $13K, giving her the full retail price she originally paid to another store for her trade-in ($83K) instead of the $70K I received when selling it for her. She also expects to keep the $1,500 trip reimbursement, as she considers that part of “the whole amount of money.”
I have apologized for the email mistake, but she continues to ask for $13K additional for her trade-in and $1,500 trip reimbursement, despite knowing this would put me severely in the red. There is added confusion because I did confirm she could receive the higher amount as “upgrade-credit” if she upgrades, rather than returning the diamond. That would still be a windfall for her, and doable for me because it would create a new transaction on my side, allowing me to negotiate with my supplier on terms for a new diamond, thus cushioning the loss.
I’ve been doing business with wonderful clients for 40+ years and did not see this coming. She had such love and excitement for my diamond. She knew her old diamond would be sold and could not return. She told me in-person she did not plan to return the new one. She repeated that in the email which I mistakenly replied “yes” to. She knew trip reimbursement was conditional on keeping my diamond. But here we are.
Pricescopers, I am asking for guidance. Should I continue dialoguing with her, hoping for some kind of understanding and middle ground, human to human? Or do I just send her the additional $14,500 and try to somehow swallow the loss?
I imagine the bottom line is to suck it up, pay the lady and explain to my wife why we cannot take any vacations for the next two years. But I wanted to ask for thoughts here. This is an unusual situation because I am usually here to provide advice, but I find myself in strange territory. I want to be clear that I am not disparaging this person. I am, however, struggling with the scope of the misunderstanding.
Thank you for listening and for any thoughts you may have. As anyone who knows me might imagine, I am heartsick about the situation. I am also wearing thick skin, so fire away.
Wink
I am losing sleep over a mistake I made and what has followed. A colleague suggested that I share my situation with the community and collect opinions from the educated jewelry enthusiasts here.
Last year I was approached by a shopper. We worked for a long time on a high value diamond purchase. In the end she flew to Boise to compare my diamond to one she already owned. She loved my diamond, confirmed the purchase and we made the deal. That deal involved three components. Credit for trade-in of her outside diamond. Cash paid, and reimbursement of her trip to Boise.
Before coming she sent me the grading report for the diamond she proposed to trade-in. A reliable trade-buyer offered me $63K sight-unseen, which I offered to her as trade-in credit. She told me she had paid $83K retail at another store and wanted that full amount in credit. I explained on the phone how retail compensation is simply not possible. I can only give what a trade-buyer is willing to pay me. I also suggested she see if her original seller would pay $63K+ to take it back. They would not. So I continued searching on her behalf, and eventually found a buyer who stepped-up and offered $70K (almost 85% of what she paid retail). I told her this was the absolute best I could do. I further said, if accepted, her old diamond would be sold immediately and could not come back. She agreed to all of this.
I also lowered my retail price, so she could pay an even $50K additional to seal the deal at $120K. Finally I agreed to reimburse her trip to Boise if she bought my diamond. When I did that it lowered the $50K due to $48,500.
All told I received $70,000 for sale of her trade-in diamond and $48,500 she paid in cash, totaling $118,500.
In terms of writing up the sale she had insisted for full retail-price of her old diamond to be reflected. This made sense to secure proper insurance, so I granted her request and cited its value as $83K. Technically that inflated the paper-value of the transaction by $13K over what I received but it was intended to be helpful.
I was surprised weeks later when she said she was returning the diamond, but that was her right. This is where my mistake comes to the surface. Somewhere during our emails she had asked if a return would be “on the whole amount of money I paid for my new diamond.” In this, she was referring to the inflated value. My usual return policy is full refund so I reflexively replied “yes” without stopping to consider how the numbers had been written, or consider our trip-reimbursement arrangement. In hindsight I should never have made that reflex one word reply. I’d like to think I am careful in most things but I am also more trusting than I am cautious. I never presumed what was to follow.
For her return, in addition to the $118,500 which was transacted she insists on an additional $13K, giving her the full retail price she originally paid to another store for her trade-in ($83K) instead of the $70K I received when selling it for her. She also expects to keep the $1,500 trip reimbursement, as she considers that part of “the whole amount of money.”
I have apologized for the email mistake, but she continues to ask for $13K additional for her trade-in and $1,500 trip reimbursement, despite knowing this would put me severely in the red. There is added confusion because I did confirm she could receive the higher amount as “upgrade-credit” if she upgrades, rather than returning the diamond. That would still be a windfall for her, and doable for me because it would create a new transaction on my side, allowing me to negotiate with my supplier on terms for a new diamond, thus cushioning the loss.
I’ve been doing business with wonderful clients for 40+ years and did not see this coming. She had such love and excitement for my diamond. She knew her old diamond would be sold and could not return. She told me in-person she did not plan to return the new one. She repeated that in the email which I mistakenly replied “yes” to. She knew trip reimbursement was conditional on keeping my diamond. But here we are.
Pricescopers, I am asking for guidance. Should I continue dialoguing with her, hoping for some kind of understanding and middle ground, human to human? Or do I just send her the additional $14,500 and try to somehow swallow the loss?
I imagine the bottom line is to suck it up, pay the lady and explain to my wife why we cannot take any vacations for the next two years. But I wanted to ask for thoughts here. This is an unusual situation because I am usually here to provide advice, but I find myself in strange territory. I want to be clear that I am not disparaging this person. I am, however, struggling with the scope of the misunderstanding.
Thank you for listening and for any thoughts you may have. As anyone who knows me might imagine, I am heartsick about the situation. I am also wearing thick skin, so fire away.
Wink