Yay my pad arrived! Lovely!

[Linda W]

Date: 3/23/2009 2:18:26 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 3/23/2009 2:10:16 PM

Author: MakingTheGrade

Date: 3/23/2009 1:57:15 PM

Author: TravelingGal


MTG, first of all, I thought I commented, but I guess I didn''t..the stone is pretty and you did a nice job photographing all the different personalities of the stone!



Secondly, wow...that''s what NSC said eh? That''s kind of lame. I find it hard to believe you would have chipped it already, so it probably happened when they took it out of the mounting. Good lesson to learn though...always loupe and check the stone right when you receive it, so it would be less a case of ''he said, she said.''



Also, (and this is just my own, unexpert opinion), I wouldn''t just accept a NSC cert for a pad. If I bought from NSC, I would send to an independent reputable lab and make sure they would give me a refund if it came back as anything other than what they claim.

Thanks for the compliments, and I agree that their answer was lame. Can''t say I''m particularly impressed by their care for customer satisfaction. But in the end, I do want to keep the stone, so there''s no point in getting huffy at them since even if they offered to let me return it, I wouldn''t want to, lol. I would get it certed, but it was only 400$ and I think it''s at least 200$ to get the special padparascha certification from AGTA. I don''t really doubt that it''s a real sapphire or that it''s unheated(I believe others here have had their NSC stones sent in for testing, and while some came back negative on the pad count, there weren''t any that came back as synthetic or treated). If I ever buy anything over 1k from them (or anyone), I would definitely send it in for a 3rd party certification. And I might eventually get this one certified when the budget is less tight, and believe me if it comes back synthetic or heat treated, the Natural Sapphire Company will get an earful!

MTG, yes, I agree...I was just speaking generally. In your case, it wouldn''t make much financial sense to get it certed by AGTA.


If I were in your shoes, they would have lost me as a customer. And if I were you, I would have returned the stone, based on principle. Maybe you should take it to them directly for them to look at - you paid $400 for what was supposed to be a stone without chips.

Ditto. I would also take it into them personally and have them look at it. I am not happy with the answer they gave you.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 3/19/2009 4:12:09 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade
My attempt at color accuracy...The picture at the bottom is closest except the color is brighter and livelier in person. I think I''m starting to get the hang on this...

MTG, I see what I think is a chip on the second photo from the top left. It''s at about 9:30. Is that the chip? I saw it on a previous photo as well, but sometimes it can be the lighting playing tricks on you.

 

[TravelingGal]

Here is the collage I am referring to...

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I know, from a principles standpoint, I'm pretty upset about it to. But from a practical standpoint, I don't want to return it because I like the color, and it was the only fitting one I found after searching around, and I'm afraid if I do return it I won't be able to find another suitable one in time for the wedding. So if I took it down to them, I don't know what the result would be since I wouldn't actually want to return it even if they conceded it was their fault (and we're assuming they would even concede it was their fault, they might just argue that I must have chipped it). :/ I guess I just don't want to get myself all worked up, make a trip over there, and just return empty handed (which is the most likely possibility, at best I might get an apology)

And it's safe to say they've more or less lost me as a future customer.

I do appreciate that you guys are behind me though Thanks for the support.

 

[TravelingGal]

Also thought I saw it in the same position in this picture. Bottom right pic at, between 9 and 10 o clock. So if it is the chip, it was there when you posted the pic several days ago.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

And yes Tgal, that''s the chip (at least, the most prominent one). I circled it in the pic below for ppl who don''t have your crazy sharp eyes.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 3/23/2009 2:35:52 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade

And yes Tgal, that''s the chip (at least, the most prominent one). I circled it in the pic below for ppl who don''t have your crazy sharp eyes.

I would send a link to this thread (for time stamp purposes) to your contact at NSC and see what they think now. It would be small (since the pic is so magnified) but it''s STILL a chip.

 

[Linda W]

I see it too. Most likely happened when they removed it from the setting.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Date: 3/23/2009 2:38:01 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 3/23/2009 2:35:52 PM

Author: MakingTheGrade


And yes Tgal, that's the chip (at least, the most prominent one). I circled it in the pic below for ppl who don't have your crazy sharp eyes.

I would send a link to this thread (for time stamp purposes) to your contact at NSC and see what they think now. It would be small (since the pic is so magnified) but it's STILL a chip.

Even if they acknowledge the time stamp and that it's their fault, where should I proceed from there?
The only other stone I found that was close was this one:
http://gemrite.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=156

But it looks like it might be too dark in person (and i've also heard little about Gemrite in terms of their reputation in sapphires)

So I'm kind of in between a rock and hard place in terms of acting on principle and being practical :/

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Could that be polished out by any chance? If you want to keep the stone, they should offer a discount on it at least.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Date: 3/23/2009 2:48:36 PM
Author: LtlFirecracker
Could that be polished out by any chance? If you want to keep the stone, they should offer a discount on it at least.

Something tells me that a company of their size doesn't do partial refunds, assuming they'd even admit liability at all. They can always argue that I injured the stone in the few hours I had it, there's no way for me to prove otherwise except to have taken a photo right when I opened the package with the USPS guy there to sign as a witness...

Sigh, I wrote them another email with pictures of the stone attached, and asking if they'd offer a partial refund or a refund period. We'll see what happens I guess, but I'm not keeping my fingers crossed. I think the risk of dealing with larger companies is that their customer service suffers since they don't need you to be a return client..
Oh well, here's hoping we can reach some conclusion.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

So I got a reply And it''s good news!

They''re offering to polish it up for me, or offer me a 50$ refund (I suggested the figure, I thought it was fair considering it was only 400 to begin with, and the point of this wasn''t money, it was more about principle and the company taking responsibility for it''s oversights and caring for their customers.)

I''m unsure if I want them to repolish it because it may or may not work, and it''d change it''s shape. Any input would be welcome, I don''t really know the dangers of repolishing.

Having said all that, I''m very happy that I decided to email them about it, I guess my cynicism about them was unfounded and they do indeed care for their customers I''m very happy to be able to say that!

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 3/23/2009 3:46:28 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade
So I got a reply And it''s good news!

They''re offering to polish it up for me, or offer me a 50$ refund (I suggested the figure, I thought it was fair considering it was only 400 to begin with, and the point of this wasn''t money, it was more about principle and the company taking responsibility for it''s oversights and caring for their customers.)

I''m unsure if I want them to repolish it because it may or may not work, and it''d change it''s shape. Any input would be welcome, I don''t really know the dangers of repolishing.

Having said all that, I''m very happy that I decided to email them about it, I guess my cynicism about them was unfounded and they do indeed care for their customers I''m very happy to be able to say that!

Well, it would have been nice to them to "care" when you called them in the first place! They''d be crazy to deny the chip once you sent them the photos!!

But that aside, I am glad they took the solution. I am no expert so I can''t comment on the repolishing. If I knew the chip wasn''t going to lead to further damage, I might just take the 50 and cover it up with a prong.

 

[Linda W]

I am so happy to hear that, that is wonderful news.

I have only dealt with repolishing once. It was on a tanzanite stone that my husband bought me in Mexico. I had it set into a ring and the jeweler made a mess of it. He scratched the whole top of it. He sent it out to be repolished. The scratches were very deep too. It came back beautiful. Could not even tell where it had been scratched.

I am sure they would do a beautiful job for you, if that is what you chose to do.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

There''s actually more than 1 chip, 3 that I can count, but that one is the broadest of them. I could probably cover at least 2 of them with a prong though...

I''ve never repolished anything, and with it being so small, I''d be afraid it''d be polished into dust! heh.

 

[Linda W]

Date: 3/23/2009 3:56:32 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade
There''s actually more than 1 chip, 3 that I can count, but that one is the broadest of them. I could probably cover at least 2 of them with a prong though...


I''ve never repolished anything, and with it being so small, I''d be afraid it''d be polished into dust! heh.

You are too funny LOL. I am just so happy they are going to do something for you.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Date: 3/23/2009 4:00:29 PM
Author: Linda W

Date: 3/23/2009 3:56:32 PM

Author: MakingTheGrade

There''s actually more than 1 chip, 3 that I can count, but that one is the broadest of them. I could probably cover at least 2 of them with a prong though...



I''ve never repolished anything, and with it being so small, I''d be afraid it''d be polished into dust! heh.

You are too funny LOL. I am just so happy they are going to do something for you.

Me too, I''m glad you guys convinced me to speak up I tend to be passively cynical more often than not, but I''m glad I was wrong in my cynicism of the company not caring!