shape
carat
color
clarity

Vendor problem: Abraham Gomez/ExoticGemstones

woweezowee

Shiny_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 27, 2016
Messages
150
Just a heads up that sadly I've had my very first vendor issue ever and it's with Abraham Gomez of exoticgemstones.rocks, who I've seen mentioned on here. I found him via Etsy and follow him on IG, and have admired his skills and affordable prices. Late last year I bought several 3.5mm spess garnets on Etsy to set some day. Took a long time but I received them. In January, I ordered two 3.5mm tsav garnets to see what they'd look like and upon receipt, was quite pleased.

Based on the cutting of the tsav, I ordered several more small gemstones to use as side stones or in eternity rings or whatever. Not a big order: $75. But $75 is $75! The other day I decided to look up the purchase date and was floored to see it was Feb. 9 and how long I'd been waiting. I went to his website two days ago, and the only way to contact him is via the form on his site, which is what I did. I gave him more than 24 hours to respond, and then went to PayPal to file a complaint. When I did this, PayPal showed me his direct email address, so I emailed him that way and am now giving him 24 hours to respond.

Abraham's communication has always been bad. The spess garnet I first ordered took quite some time to arrive and he never responded to an Etsy message I sent inquiring about their progress nor uploaded tracking. Not a biggie on its own but taken with the current situation, I'm letting you all know that working with him is a buyer beware situation. It all comes down to communication. And right now I'm out $75 with no communication.
 

lovedogs

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
18,014
I had this same issue with him (see my thread called "no stones for 6 months). My order was 600+ and it took 6 months when he promised 1-2 weeks. It was very frustrating, and I am now trying to sell the stones bc even though they are beautiful I can't help but be annoyed all over again when I look at them. He's a nice guy, but his communication is a nightmare and I wouldnt purchase from him again.

Edit. I ordered in July, 2018 and didn't get my stuff until Jan (I think, although I would need to check). It took a million messages and me filing a PP complaint for stuff to be sent.
 

woweezowee

Shiny_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 27, 2016
Messages
150
Holy crap, @lovedogs! That is SO not okay. I will look up your thread. Thank you for taking the time to warn buyers. In the future, I will do a MUCH better job of research before taking my chances with someone. Are your stones on LT?
 

woweezowee

Shiny_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 27, 2016
Messages
150
OK, @lovedogs . Just read through the thread. I can't believe ANYONE would give flack about mentioning names for bad experiences. That's the whole mission of this website - it's a consumer forum so we can make informed choices.

And the excuses about inexcusable behavior baffle me. I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer when I had a 5-year-old and 10-month-old baby. The tumor was 6 cm x 9cm (deep in my breast - thank goodness for breastfeeding or I may not have found it) and cancer was in my lymph nodes. I went through two rounds of chemo, major surgery, and radiation over a year's time. I have also been deluged in depression multiple times in my life, and just finished going through something even more gut-wrenching than cancer -- divorce! Throughout ALL of this, I was able to communicate with people. From my chemo infusion room, I blogged. Through the bitter divorce and daily sobbing, I went to grad school and was a parent. You have to deal with the crap life deals you. There's no excuse for holding onto someone's hard-earned money without letting them know what's up.

I truly hope others will come forward with similar situations and the people with friendly relationships with unethical vendors can find it within themselves to assign blame where blame is due.

P.S. Cancer-free for six years!
 

lovedogs

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
18,014
OK, @lovedogs . Just read through the thread. I can't believe ANYONE would give flack about mentioning names for bad experiences. That's the whole mission of this website - it's a consumer forum so we can make informed choices.

And the excuses about inexcusable behavior baffle me. I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer when I had a 5-year-old and 10-month-old baby. The tumor was 6 cm x 9cm (deep in my breast - thank goodness for breastfeeding or I may not have found it) and cancer was in my lymph nodes. I went through two rounds of chemo, major surgery, and radiation over a year's time. I have also been deluged in depression multiple times in my life, and just finished going through something even more gut-wrenching than cancer -- divorce! Throughout ALL of this, I was able to communicate with people. From my chemo infusion room, I blogged. Through the bitter divorce and daily sobbing, I went to grad school and was a parent. You have to deal with the crap life deals you. There's no excuse for holding onto someone's hard-earned money without letting them know what's up.

I truly hope others will come forward with similar situations and the people with friendly relationships with unethical vendors can find it within themselves to assign blame where blame is due.

P.S. Cancer-free for six years!
So happy you are healthy and sorry for your experience! Agreed on the communication part! I would have been ok with reasonable delays, but it got rediculous. Yes, stones on LT and also on pre-loved. I got 2 moonstones (one sold already), a merelani mint garnet, and he recut a pink/red tourmaline.
 

SouthernGent

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Dec 5, 2018
Messages
425
OK, @lovedogs . Just read through the thread. I can't believe ANYONE would give flack about mentioning names for bad experiences. That's the whole mission of this website - it's a consumer forum so we can make informed choices.

And the excuses about inexcusable behavior baffle me. I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer when I had a 5-year-old and 10-month-old baby. The tumor was 6 cm x 9cm (deep in my breast - thank goodness for breastfeeding or I may not have found it) and cancer was in my lymph nodes. I went through two rounds of chemo, major surgery, and radiation over a year's time. I have also been deluged in depression multiple times in my life, and just finished going through something even more gut-wrenching than cancer -- divorce! Throughout ALL of this, I was able to communicate with people. From my chemo infusion room, I blogged. Through the bitter divorce and daily sobbing, I went to grad school and was a parent. You have to deal with the crap life deals you. There's no excuse for holding onto someone's hard-earned money without letting them know what's up.

I truly hope others will come forward with similar situations and the people with friendly relationships with unethical vendors can find it within themselves to assign blame where blame is due.

P.S. Cancer-free for six years!
Sometimes you women amaze me with your mental strength by being able to go through such things and still be a mom and a wife and more.:clap:
 

ilovegemstones

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 13, 2010
Messages
2,071
Woweezowee,
You have gone through some really rough periods. Wow, you are so strong! A Wonder Woman! You are so right about communication.
 

cmd2014

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
2,541
Sometimes you women amaze me with your mental strength by being able to go through such things and still be a mom and a wife and more.:clap:

Truthfully, I don't think the world gives us much choice. Men seem to be allowed to withdraw from responsibilities when they get sick (and others step in to take care of things). This doesn't seem to be the case in the same way for us. Maybe it's because we don't let ourselves ask for help, or maybe it's because the 'help' we are all too often offered is not nearly enough. But my sense is that it's not about strength so much as it's about necessity.
 

seaurchin

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 2, 2012
Messages
3,526
Thanks for the heads-up, all. Much appreciated.
 

woweezowee

Shiny_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 27, 2016
Messages
150
Hey everyone! Updating this thread and will update my original post when at a computer ...

I filed a complaint yesterday with PayPal and included a screenshot of the receipt from purchase and a message to a Abraham about how communication is key. I requested a refund. He finally responded today and apologized, refunded me, and said every stone except one small tsavorite was cut. Thanks to the input of others on this board who posted previously about their experiences, I knew that accepting the refund was preferable to betting on the stones coming in a timely manner.

So Abraham resolved the situation and I hope that he uses this as an opportunity to improve. And I hope others feel confident in addressing any similar issues with vendors going forward. :)
 

lovedogs

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
18,014
Hey everyone! Updating this thread and will update my original post when at a computer ...

I filed a complaint yesterday with PayPal and included a screenshot of the receipt from purchase and a message to a Abraham about how communication is key. I requested a refund. He finally responded today and apologized, refunded me, and said every stone except one small tsavorite was cut. Thanks to the input of others on this board who posted previously about their experiences, I knew that accepting the refund was preferable to betting on the stones coming in a timely manner.

So Abraham resolved the situation and I hope that he uses this as an opportunity to improve. And I hope others feel confident in addressing any similar issues with vendors going forward. :)
I'm glad you went this route! I should have done the same.
 

cmd2014

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
2,541
I think getting a refund is the better course of action when a vendor has disappointed you in terms of not being able to deliver items as promised. If they can't do it in the first place, it's not likely that they will be able to fix that going forward unless the issue has been one of honest miscommunication or an honest mistake.
 

pwsg07

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Nov 21, 2016
Messages
739
Hey everyone! Updating this thread and will update my original post when at a computer ...

I filed a complaint yesterday with PayPal and included a screenshot of the receipt from purchase and a message to a Abraham about how communication is key. I requested a refund. He finally responded today and apologized, refunded me, and said every stone except one small tsavorite was cut. Thanks to the input of others on this board who posted previously about their experiences, I knew that accepting the refund was preferable to betting on the stones coming in a timely manner.

So Abraham resolved the situation and I hope that he uses this as an opportunity to improve. And I hope others feel confident in addressing any similar issues with vendors going forward. :)
Thanks for the update. I still have some stones with him. I will contact him again.
 

SouthernGent

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Dec 5, 2018
Messages
425
He finally responded today and apologized, refunded me, and said every stone except one small tsavorite was cut.
And I'll almost guarantee you that he was full of bullchit with that explanation too.
You did the right thing by accepting the refund. Niw you can move on to someone else with better customer service.
 

Indylady

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
5,717
Totally unacceptable; communication is a bare minimum. Holding your products out for sale implies you are able to do business; if you are not in a position to do business, then close your shop or post a notice—do not accept payment from your customers if you do not intend to or are not able to perform your side of the obligation (mailing the gems). Thanks for the review. Definitely follow up with PayPal and it may be best to just seek a refund altogether.
 
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top