Please don''t quote people out of context

[researcher]

Just today I came across a post on Diamond Talk entitled "online confusion and misinformation", and was very disappointed to see that someone named Brad took something said by a PS vendor to help guide me out of context. While I appreciate the fact that he was supposedly looking out for the consumer, his message was, in fact, criticizing another vendor for HIS perspective on what to look for in a princess cut diamond (when he was specifically asked for his opinion). Is it not true that these forums are designed to allow everyone to post their perspectives on what makes for the best diamonds? If this man had been familiar with my other posts, he would be aware that I was overwhelmed with the diamond search process and wanted people (vendors and all) to give me their advice on ways to narrow my 50 choices down to about 10. If he had read through all the posts, he would have seen that several other vendors and appraisers agreed with this vendor on the diamond. Moreover, it turned out that this vendor and the other helpful individuals who posted were correct (the ideal scope image I received through a different vendor showed the diamond had a bright "x" but leaked light in large triangular regions). My point is that it was not only this vendor giving me advice; several people offered their advice. And just because, in his opinion, it''s not good to be so blunt with people, I personally like the fact that this particular vendor was straight forward with me. Could he have said "there''s a chance that" or "it''s possible"...Of course. But that wouldn''t have helped me out and would have wasted my time. Through his postings I knew what I had to look for when viewing the optics for the diamond.

I guess the point of this thread is I just wanted to express my opinion that people shouldn''t condemn someone for standing behind his/her beliefs about a product. All vendors are in business, and if they didn''t stand behind their products they probably wouldn''t be in business. This particular vendor never pushed me to purchase a diamond from him, and was still more than willing to help me narrow my search. You can''t beat that kind of service. The fact that he stood behind his advice just made me more confident that, according to him, if I looked for certain specs I would have a better chance finding a diamond HE felt was a good possibility. After visiting his website and seeing other postings, I would have to agree that he and I have similar taste. The best thing about this vendor, I must say, is the fact that he (and other helpful souls) constantly reminded me of one caveat: you can''t judge a book by its cover. I was just trying to narrow down my search before calling in 35-50 diamonds, and he helped me do that (as did the charts by Dave Atlas). I can''t thank him and the other people from the PS forum enough for their assistance. So please, in the future, let''s try to avoid taking quotes from people out of context; it''s not fair to the person you''re quoting when you misconstrue their words.

Thanks for your time and consideration on this matter!

 

[sumi]

I'm a little confused as to why this is being posted here at PS. This seems like an issue you have with DT. PS is not an annex of DT and I don't think DT dirt should be brought over here.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having a negative experience with DT. Let's keep that negativity at DT where it belongs!

 

[researcher]

Sorry! I wasn't able to post on DT (didn't feel confortable giving my credit card info to join a forum), and felt that this should be addressed here anyway as I've seen other posts that have included quotes taken out of context that lead to huge debates. I absolutely LOVE this forum, and feel that everyone here is wonderful. I just feel really bad that a post I started was getting negative feedback by at least 1 person, and therefore wanted to remind people that some conversations take place privately (so people aren't always aware of the context). Thanks for expressing your opinion! I promise to stick to PS post topics!!!

 

[moremoremore]

he's venting!

(& LOL..."some guy named Brad"....chuckle!)

 

[valeria101]

No... white is not all bad. For example (below), you might want to consider the B-Scope reading corresponding to the three pictures. These three princess cuts basically top the scale, while one with softer red, no balck and no white throughout would fall much lower.

Since there is no Iscope chart for princess cuts, the bets reference I know remains the collection of "educational diamonds" at GOG (where these come from). This is just a personal interpretation, but the presence of black surfaces seems to make the difference between the so-so and the extraordinare princess cuts in the respective (already rarefied) neighbourhood...

regardless, the images around there might make a good reference for reading your Iscope pic

 

[valeria101]

Actually, this was the picture I wanted to link above, since it seems clearere a bit. Too bad I did not have the inspiration to note which stones were these!

 

[researcher]

You're right; I should have been more explicit. There was a lot of white and pink, and hardly any black. The vendor I worked with told me the stone just wouldn't dazzle the way others I was looking at would. While I think the stone was still pretty good, it wasn't a keeper compared to other ones I was looking at. In fact, the last one I posted was so good that someone got it before I could even call on it! Oh, well! I guess it just wasn't meant to be!

 

[aljdewey]

Researcher....sorry you picked up on something that is a behind-the-scenes friction.




This is not commonplace.....folks don't usually take quotes from one forum and insert them into another.




It so happens that the "some guy named Brad" has very strong feelings about using data to help narrow the field. While I respect his right to his opinion, I disagree with his opinion, as do many of the vendors here. He is unfortunately on a crusade on this, and the post in your thread was unfortunately another way to try and make his point to those in his camp of thought.




Just be reassured that this isn't typical operating procedure....99% of the time, that's not the case. And also be reassured that the vendors here on PS don't have to resort to that kind of behavior, which is part of what makes it a great place to be.

 

[Hest88]

Well said, aljdewey!

 

[niceice]

Thank you for your post Researcher and for acknowledging the assistance you received here on PS and for pointing out that portions of your thread were published out of context. The fact is that many diamond buyers visit the various diamond chat rooms in an effort to establish a better understanding of the product that they hope to purchase or have purchased and thus some readers of DT will visit PS and vice versa and your post may enable a few of them to realize what happened...

It is unfortunate that some of the tension between the various vendors and forums is finding it's way into the public arena, we really feel that these things should be discussed / resolved privately between the dealers and if all else fails, at least restricted to the inner chambers of the forums which are restricted to the trade.

 

[aljdewey]

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On 5/6/2004 9:58:32 PM niceice wrote:





It is unfortunate that some of the tension between the various vendors and forums is finding it's way into the public arena, we really feel that these things should be discussed / resolved privately between the dealers and if all else fails, at least restricted to the inner chambers of the forums which are restricted to the trade.
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I agree that it is unfortunate, but it's kinda hard to put Pandora back in the box (inner chambers) when some of the players have their gripes splashed all over their website (and I know you know who I'm referring to).

That's about as public as it gets.

 

[niceice]

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On 5/6/2004 11:56:02 PM aljdewey wrote:

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On 5/6/2004 9:58:32 PM niceice wrote:



It is unfortunate that some of the tension between the various vendors and forums is finding it's way into the public arena, we really feel that these things should be discussed / resolved privately between the dealers and if all else fails, at least restricted to the inner chambers of the forums which are restricted to the trade.
----------------

I agree that it is unfortunate, but it's kinda hard to put Pandora back in the box (inner chambers) when some of the players have their gripes splashed all over their website (and I know you know who I'm referring to).

That's about as public as it gets.
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We didn't say that it could be resolved or put back, we just think it is unfortunate. The entire situation is a tragedy on a variety of levels. But we still don't think that this is the place.

 

[Rhino]

Dear Researcher,




I appreciate your response and the fact that you took my advice strictly for what it was. I was also made aware of the post by Brad and while I was anxious to respond to his lashing out at us (basically a lashing out at me & the PS forum) your words expressed my sentiments perfectly. It is a shame as niceice points out that people have to resort to these tactics publicly as we have shown nothing but kindness to these same people so it comes as a bit of a shock to us to see that kind of negative activity directed our way and specifically about your post. Sorry to see you caught in the mix of that researcher.




Regards,

 

[researcher]

I just wanted to say THANKS to the PS community for not resorting to this type of attack. The reason I posted this message was, in fact, to try to reach the people who have resorted to this type of behavior in an effort to protect their own business. It was a little upsetting to find myself in the middle of this, and to no fault of the people participating in this forum. BTW, thank you for your kind words regarding this matter. It really isn't a big deal, but I do think it is unfair when people are misquoted or words are taken out of context. Rhino has been nothing less than wonderful, and his advice and assistance is greatly appreciated. Moreover, following his advice (and the advice of other PS members) I think I may have found my dream stone!

At any rate, I wanted to say thank you for keeping this forum on an informational level--and for being so giving of your time and expertise (even when I really didn't want to hear it

)!