willow estates jewelry in San Jose - be wary of buying from them!

[ringster]

be wary of buying from Willow Estates in San Jose, CA!!! and if you did buy from them get your jewelry appraised! FI saw an article on the news about this last night.

the San Jose PD is opening an investigation into them.

when i was shopping for my ering, my FI and i went to the jewelers next door to them and walked by this place. luckily we did not go in.

this article shows that it is really important to get any purchase independently appraised

[/i]http://www.nbc11.com/news/15368424/detail.html


South Bay Jeweler Admits Lying To Customers
SJPD Opens Investigation Into Jeweler

POSTED: 11:11 am PST February 21, 2008
UPDATED: 4:13 pm PST February 21, 2008
[NEWSVINE: South Bay Jeweler Admits Lying To Customers] [DELICIOUS: South Bay Jeweler Admits Lying To Customers] [DIGG: South Bay Jeweler Admits Lying To Customers] [FACEBOOK: South Bay Jeweler Admits Lying To Customers] [REDDIT: South Bay Jeweler Admits Lying To Customers] [RSS] [PRINT: South Bay Jeweler Admits Lying To Customers] [EMAIL: South Bay Jeweler Admits Lying To Customers]
A South Bay jeweler is apologizing for selling poor quality diamonds to some of his customers.

Dan Mokma, the owner of Willow Estates in San Jose, said he was desperate for cash to pay his bills.

Customers paid thousands of dollars for what they thought were quality diamonds. Mokma admits wrongdoing.

South Bay Jeweler Admits To Lying To Customers About Diamonds

"I regret that. I did do that. And I deeply regret that. And I''ve been doing everything I can to make it right," Mokma said.

instead.

"Trust is everything when it comes to doing business," Kimura said. "If you can''t have trust, you can''t have anything really."

Kimura said he took the earrings back to Mokma and the owner agreed to give earrings with diamonds in return.

Mokma denies selling cubic zirconias to any of his customers.

Mokma said he''s willing to give his customers their money back, give them a better stone, or trade it for something else.

The Better Business Bureau said Willow Estates Jewelry currently has an unsatisfactory rating because the business did not answer a complaint request that the BBB had sent on behalf of a customer.

The BBB said it''s always a good idea to get a second opinion on your jewelry if you have any suspicions.

A long time family friend and employee of Mokma''s calls him a "fair and honest" man. "He has never, ever led me to believe that he was a crook," the family friend said.

Because of the NBC11 story, San Jose police said they received a phone call from a "concerned customer," NBC11''s George Kiriyama reported.

A police department spokesman said the fraud unit would open an investigation alongside the Santa Clara County D.A.''s office.
[/b]

 

[Mara]

wow how scary. i am not sure if this is the consignment antique store or the one next to it, they are owned by separate people so i hope that one doesn''t get dinged by the other for proximity, but i have shopped at both stores before. the antique one has been there longer and they sell eightstars or used to and the one next door is more like a BBB with rings, diamonds, the whole works. i am not sure which one this is but how sad!! the one with the estate stuff is where i go and have my rings cleaned, they resized them for me as well, they are so friendly.

 

[ringster]

yeah it is pretty scary! we totally were thinking of going to willow estate on a return trip. if you are facing the two stores it is the one on the left, not the one that sells all types of jewelery. i think the one on the right was recommended by some one on PS so that is why we went there to check it out. it was a saturday and it was very busy. the willow estate looked like a place where you need an appointment because it was kind of empty and there was a SA in there with one couple.

in the article and the video, the guy at willow estate seems very sorry about what he did and i feel bad for him cause once you lose your credibility in the diamond business, i am sure it is extremely difficult to win it back.

ETA : mara, i think it is the place you go to

. if you click on the slideshow or the video on the nbc11 page it shows a picture of the storefront and it says "Jewelry and Consignment" underneath the name of the store

 

[Diamond*Dana]

How awful! Thanks for posting this!

 

[Mara]

yeah ringster i think you are right...in reading the article it sounds like the one i go to. how sad!! they were an eighstar dealer too but not sure if they still are. i agree re: the guy sounding chastised but yeah he''s screwed now rep wise.

i posted the url in their yelp profile too so that way anyone considering them can read what''s going on. so sad for them...and i really liked that place too. i have recommended it to PS''ers before for ''service'' mostly since they are so great.

 

[surfgirl]

mara, you never left your jewelry there overnight did you???

 

[asscher_girl]

That is so scary! I''ve been to the place next door (Willow Glen Diamond Company - I think that''s the name) but I''ve never been to Willow Estates. Thanks for the heads up

 

[ringster]

mara - that is a good idea to put the url in their yelp profile. i know i use yelp all the time - i think most bay area-ers check out yelp for info. it''s sad and scary when it hits so close to home.

surfgirl - that is a good point about leaving jewelry overnight there. anyone who has left their jewelry there overnight might want to get an appraisal of their jewelry. never know and better to know now while the police are trying to figure out what has been going on.

ascher_girl - no problem , you are most welcome! Willow Glen Diamond Company, yep that is the one that i went to as well. wonder what they make of the whole situation.

 

[HeartingDiamonds]

Yikes. This is downright scary and the stuff nightmares are made of!

 

[Mara]

surfgirl...nope never left it there overnight. the longest i left it was 5 minutes for them to either clean it or resize it. it's too bad they had to go all shady-like because it used to be a cool place...i have been going there for years and have tried on eightstars there.

 

[A Day Late]

Sorry for my lack of knowledge, but what is a yelp profile???

 

[Modified Brilliant]

yelp.com is a consumer website for all things, consumer ratings, rants and raves.

Jeff Averbook,GG
Graduate Gemologist since 1986
www.jeffaverbook.com

 

[jellycat]

i went there last year and that guy was really rude to me. he didn''t even acknowledge me and my friend walking in there. then he gave us this annoyed look and asked what we wanted. i was really thrown off and taken aback because i''ve never had such hostile service before. i think the other sales person felt really bad for us and she was very nice. it was just a really odd, horrible, experience.

the other side has wonderful sales people and the owner, terry, is great, too. mara, when you talked about the WG store, i always assumed it was the one that sells everything.. i didn''t realize you were talking about the antique place on the left. anyway, what a sad state of affairs..

 

[snuggles1]

Just an FYI, but I was by there today and noticed that the Willow Estates was no longer there and instead there was a woman selling costume jewelry in the space. The name of the business was different as well. So I hope if any of you had issues with them, you got them resolved or are in the process of doing so.

 

[Liberty Diamonds]

It''s jewelers like this that give our industry a bad rap. Though the Better Business Bureau is the first place I check before I make any large purchases. I couldn''t imagine spending a couple thousand with someone who rates unsatisfactory on the BBB website! It''s time to check your existing Jewelers BBB rating. As well the "JBT" Jeweler Board of Trade, and the Federal Trade Commision regulates Jewelers who are deciving others and will investagate most claims.

 

[Mara]

jelly, nope it was the little store on the left...the one on the right (the one that is still here) is newer than the estate place and is more like a regular jewelry store. but i actually haven''t been to the other place in a while actually, thankfully i guess!! they used to sell eightstar as well...so sad!

 

[cutes814]

omg, that is so scary how he would do such a thing.

i feel bad for all who purchased from him and didn''t get what they thought they were buying.

 

[Peepa]

I just wanted to chime in and say that my DH bought E-ring from Dan a few years ago. When I read about what he was doing on here, I went to get a quick check on it to found out if I even truly had a diamond and what it''s color and clarity were. Happy ending for me but you know, I''ve been looking for a different jeweler anyways because Dan was VERY rough around the edges and he was hard to talk too. I need a jeweler who is super patient and doesn''t mind if I ask a ton of questions. Well, hopefully none of you were ripped off, not just by Dan but by any jeweler.