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Very upset - I think I got scammed for the first time :(

Miss Sparkly

Miss Sparkly

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 2, 2010
Messages
1,664
I'm always so careful about what I buy and who I buy it from. I bought a Bob Kast stone, paid for it, he said it was shipped but it never arrived. Then, the EXACT same stone was relisted five days after I bought it and never market as sold. I've tried to contact him and have not heard anything yet. The other thing that gets me is that the stone was listed with a return policy but then after I bought it he said there were no returns. Makes perfect sense if it's a total scam. I'm really upset and although it wasn't much money just the idea that somebody else might have taken advantage of me really sucks ;( I know some of you here have worked with him before - will my stone just randomly show up one day? I'm thinking of heading to the bank tomorrow to file a claim (I paid with Visa). I don't want to jump the gun but also don't want to miss my window.
 
Did you pay via paypal?
 
I did. But having worked for the bank that I used my visa card with, I trust them more.
 
Sorry to hear you think you might have been scammed :nono:

Did you email the vendor? What did they say?

If you paid with Visa do a chargeback.

I had to do a chargeback once for a purchase I made (non jewellery related) that never came. It was pretty easy to do, but did take some time to get the funds credited to my card. Also print a keep any info/communication you have from this "purchase"

I hope it works out and good luck.

-Sniven
 
I am so sorry that you did not receive it.

As to posting the stone again, I do not think it was done maliciously. When I bought my first Tourmaline from Bob, he marked a totally different one as "sold" and mine was remaining on his website as "unsold". I pointed it out to him but the stone had already been shipped. He said he made a mistake. I received the one I bought. It took him a while to change labels.

Not properly marking sold/unsold stones does nor surprise me. Nor does he like to respond to e-mails. But it is hard for me to believe that he is a scammer. I get an impression that he is often preoccupied with many things at the same time. Also, when I was buying my first stone, he was recovering after an illness.

Good luck in getting back your money!
 
Not to be a B***, but I think you should do a search here
Some of us have had "experiences" with that particular vendor....
I am kind of surprised nobody else mentioned searching....
But it's early in the day yet.

As for me, it is the little things that keep me amused in my humdrum life :devil:
 
crasru said:
I am so sorry that you did not receive it.

As to posting the stone again, I do not think it was done maliciously. When I bought my first Tourmaline from Bob, he marked a totally different one as "sold" and mine was remaining on his website as "unsold". I pointed it out to him but the stone had already been shipped. He said he made a mistake. I received the one I bought. It took him a while to change labels.

Not properly marking sold/unsold stones does nor surprise me. Nor does he like to respond to e-mails. But it is hard for me to believe that he is a scammer. I get an impression that he is often preoccupied with many things at the same time. Also, when I was buying my first stone, he was recovering after an illness.

Good luck in getting back your money!
Click to expand...

Hey, well maybe it's a looooong, lingering one.
To put that into perspective, Dana was legitimately ill once,
but still worked up the
energy to email me about the stone he was holding for me, and why there was
a slow-down.....not that I even asked....
 
I am getting very concerned about the frequency of issues that have popped up with Bob Kast’s stones (not shipping out, not arriving at expected time, no tracking, etc). Even though I had a good experience, based on what I’ve been reading, I can no longer recommend him with a clear conscience. I can overlook one or two occurrences as genuine mistakes but not when it happens with such consistency. SparklyBlonde, I do not believe Bob to be a scammer although I am truly sorry about what has happened.
 
He's refunding my money, and if the stone does show up I'll send it back to him at my expense as it will still be his stone. I just feel that communication is paramount and maybe I'm too uptight about it. I honestly don't care if it takes a month or more to get here - just as long as I know that it will take that long. Not hearing anything back worries me :sick: I'm happy it will work out in the end.
 
M-da-a. It is sad to lose trust in someone, especially since Bob is a good cutter. I wish you good luck, Sparkly Blonde!
People have been buying from him for a long time. Has not returning e-mails, being late with shipping and confusing labels always been the case, or is it something new?
 
crasru said:
M-da-a. It is sad to lose trust in someone, especially since Bob is a good cutter. I wish you good luck, Sparkly Blonde!
People have been buying from him for a long time. Has not returning e-mails, being late with shipping and confusing labels always been the case, or is it something new?
Click to expand...

I will say that he's not the greatest when it comes to customer service, but even for him I think this is rather bad. I don't know whats going on with him but he needs to really step his game up. With the economy being what it is, just being a good cutter isn't enough anymore. being its now 2 people who are having issues with him at roughly the same time with missing stones, it sure enough makes me NOT want to buy from him anymore.

There are other cutters who can do just as good or better job. Customer service really does matter.

-A
 
Sparkly Blonde said:
He's refunding my money, and if the stone does show up I'll send it back to him at my expense as it will still be his stone. I just feel that communication is paramount and maybe I'm too uptight about it. I honestly don't care if it takes a month or more to get here - just as long as I know that it will take that long. Not hearing anything back worries me :sick: I'm happy it will work out in the end.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry this happened, Sparkly Blonde - sounds very frustrating, but I'm glad to hear he's sending you a refund. Hope that comes through without any issues! Can you say which stone you bought from him? If not, that's okay - I was just curious.
 
Eeesh, so sorry, Sparkly.

Maybe he has something significant going on in his life, which is not enough of a reason but some men . . .

That guy can cut though - WOW. He recently made me a pale green aquamarine in an OEC type cut - visible culet and all. You all would love it, I think. I was hoping for him to do a sugarloaf for me sometime in the future.

Is he reachable by phone, btw? Have you tried that?
 
Sparkly

Paypal are actually very very good about forcing a refund if the item isn't received. I've just had to do the same thing and within a week of filing a claim with Paypal, the Vendor (who previously had been incredibly uncommunicative) suddenly offered a refund! Sometimes, just Paypal sending an email to the Vendor is enough to get things moving!

Fingers crossed you get your money back.
 
That aqua does sound pretty! I didn't even think until now to check the po box in case it went there by accident. I checked it Saturday and if it was shipped over a week ago it should've been there.
 
Sometimes, stones do get lost in the mail. I had one that was going to NYC, and it took over 1 month. I think it's after 21 days that a claim can be filed with the post office. I had another stone going to Chicago, that got lost and never arrived. These are the only 2 that have really had problems with the US post office, but sometimes a stone will be delivered in 3 days, and than going to the same address it may take 7 or more.
 
If he's not sending out the stones registered mail and/or insured, they could be getting stolen. I often wonder what is up with his post office. Once time it took forever to get a stone. He should be insuring these if he's finding they're getting lost a bit too often. I really want to believe that Bob isn't just running off with people's money, I just don't think he's that kind of guy. My gut feeling tells me that he'll refund once he gets the funds available, and that's why he doesn't respond to emails. Of course I don't know the truth, but the pattern suggests this.
 
I agree, stones do get lost in the mail. I once mailed an expensive stone to an upstate NY jeweler and he gave me hard time because I mentioned "..jewelry" on my package (which had been insured). He said that it was "way to trouble". All I can tell is that I never had problems with receiving Bob's stones and actually, he mailed them priority mail when I asked him to. I needed them fast. My gut feeling is that he is not a scammer at all, he does not come across as such. Perhaps he is not too organized, but a good cutter. Personally, I shall continue buying from him, especially because his stones are cheap and "pleasing to the eye".
 
I don't think Bob is a scammer, but I do think there may be some issues there. I've bought stones from him that were already cut, and they were sent out promptly and looked beautiful. I was interested in having him source and cut some stones for me, and suffice it to say, it's been a long wait. I've been waiting since December, asking every few months for an update. His last one said that he could guarantee it would be here by August (I recently had a big b-day and I'm getting married in about 2 months). So now I'm just trying to find a stone the right color, and not worrying about it fitting the setting I was going to place it in. I'll probably still buy from Bob for precut items, but I don't think I'll request anything that isn't anymore.
 
tourmaline_lover said:
If he's not sending out the stones registered mail and/or insured, they could be getting stolen. I often wonder what is up with his post office. Once time it took forever to get a stone. He should be insuring these if he's finding they're getting lost a bit too often. I really want to believe that Bob isn't just running off with people's money, I just don't think he's that kind of guy. My gut feeling tells me that he'll refund once he gets the funds available, and that's why he doesn't respond to emails. Of course I don't know the truth, but the pattern suggests this.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by once he gets the funds available? I paid him. No stone and no refund yet. Nothing at the po box.
 
SparkleyBlonde,
When I say I mean "funds available," I mean that he may have used the money you paid him with already for bills, or whatever. He may be one of those guys that lives from paycheck to paycheck. I just know people have a difficult time getting a refund, and often have to wait a while, so I suspect he uses the money before the return period is up. It's just speculation of course, but I do know some vendors often have a difficult time refunding money for that reason.
 
He just refunded me very promptly from the time I requested it.
 
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