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Diamonds International Complaint - Diamonds International -Unscruplous Business Practices - 1.07 Ct Tw Diamond Studs
1.07 Ct Tw Diamond Studs - Complaint
NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- Diamonds International also operates as Almod Diamonds Limited, Amsterdam Diamond Gallery, DI Watches & Design, Diamond Creations, Jewelry Exchange – Cozumel, Just for Men International, Tanzanite International and Watches International
This company has totally unethical business practices. I bought a pair of round brilliant diamond studs for $2775(1.07 ct tw ,color-G and H ,clarity- SI2 fair cut )from diamonds international from St maarten while on a cruise which they delivered in my cabin after mounting in st thomas. I realized they had delivered the inferior diamonds to me than what I saw in loose form.These had black naked-eye visible inclusions right on top,not present on the ones shown to me in store. I sent them back to them on returning for refund .They refused that and only offered me replacement stone or store credit .As per their store policy DI will only accept appraisals done (within 30 days of purchase) by an independent, certified appraiser, who does not buy or sell loose precious gemstones and jewelry. If we are beyond one color and/or one clarity grade of said appraisal, we offer a money back guarantee. Also if the diamond is certified by lab(as in my case it came with EGL certificates) then the appraisal I get ,has to be done by a certified LAB and has to come with a CERTIFICATE.They dont accept an independent appraiser in this case.
NO lab would CERTIFY the diamonds unless I send them in loose form and they will charge me $500 and 4-6 weeks for this.So I was stuck as couldn't take them out of moutning.
So I requested round brilliant diamonds studs with total ct wt approx 1.00- 1.10 ct tw (abt 0.50-0.55 each and color-G/H,clarity VS2/SI1 ,GIA class II cut (good cut to assure I get a diamond with good fire/brilliance without seeing the diamonds)-A simple search over internet will reveal above diamonds in range of $1200- $1500each with GIA CERTIFICATION) .
They sent me one list of replacement diamods with most inferior cut.Then they sent another list of diamonds from $5200-$11000 some of them of similar proportions which I had bought earlier for half price(above is more than 2-3 times the US price and not in my range ).
And now they told me either to take a store credit or threaten to just send my diamonds back..I don't want either of that.It is unwarranted and unreasonable for Diamonds International to hold my money and not actively look for a diamond . All businesses need to make a profit but there is a line where profit becomes greed.When a company charges 60-90% over the industry price for a similar product that becomes ridiculous.
PLEASE don't listen to the cruise shopping guide.This shop is just a terrible ripoff with absolutely non-concerned customer service.I feel absolutely cheated and have no idea what to do about this.
They don't care for customer satisfaction at all so I hope the customer instead goes elsewhere.
This company has totally unethical business practices. I bought a pair of round brilliant diamond studs for $2775(1.07 ct tw ,color-G and H ,clarity- SI2 fair cut )from diamonds international from St maarten while on a cruise which they delivered in my cabin after mounting in st thomas. I realized they had delivered the inferior diamonds to me than what I saw in loose form.These had black naked-eye visible inclusions right on top,not present on the ones shown to me in store. I sent them back to them on returning for refund .They refused that and only offered me replacement stone or store credit .As per their store policy DI will only accept appraisals done (within 30 days of purchase) by an independent, certified appraiser, who does not buy or sell loose precious gemstones and jewelry. If we are beyond one color and/or one clarity grade of said appraisal, we offer a money back guarantee. Also if the diamond is certified by lab(as in my case it came with EGL certificates) then the appraisal I get ,has to be done by a certified LAB and has to come with a CERTIFICATE.They dont accept an independent appraiser in this case.
NO lab would CERTIFY the diamonds unless I send them in loose form and they will charge me $500 and 4-6 weeks for this.So I was stuck as couldn't take them out of moutning.
So I requested round brilliant diamonds studs with total ct wt approx 1.00- 1.10 ct tw (abt 0.50-0.55 each and color-G/H,clarity VS2/SI1 ,GIA class II cut (good cut to assure I get a diamond with good fire/brilliance without seeing the diamonds)-A simple search over internet will reveal above diamonds in range of $1200- $1500each with GIA CERTIFICATION) .
They sent me one list of replacement diamods with most inferior cut.Then they sent another list of diamonds from $5200-$11000 some of them of similar proportions which I had bought earlier for half price(above is more than 2-3 times the US price and not in my range ).
And now they told me either to take a store credit or threaten to just send my diamonds back..I don't want either of that.It is unwarranted and unreasonable for Diamonds International to hold my money and not actively look for a diamond . All businesses need to make a profit but there is a line where profit becomes greed.When a company charges 60-90% over the industry price for a similar product that becomes ridiculous.
PLEASE don't listen to the cruise shopping guide.This shop is just a terrible ripoff with absolutely non-concerned customer service.I feel absolutely cheated and have no idea what to do about this.
They don't care for customer satisfaction at all so I hope the customer instead goes elsewhere.
Comments:
Posted by rhondam718732 on 2007-04-03:
I am shocked you would buy diamonds on a cruise on an island then have them shipped to you on the cruise not knowing for sure you were getting what you wanted...Yes you are entitled to what you thought you bought, but didn't any red flags go up during this process??
Posted by superbowl on 2007-04-03:
So to get this straight, you bought diamonds from somebody you did not know. Then you left the diamonds to be delivered later? That is what's known as a "cruise ship switch", they do that a lot to people buying at the art auctions. When you buy it, take it with you. We bought Tanzanite in Aruba, the shop said they would FedEx the Tanzanite home for us to avoid the duty. I think not. Hid it in our dirty laundry, Customs does not like digging thru dirty laundry. No wonder merchants all over the world love screwing American tourists, it's our own fault most of the time. We let them do it to us.
Posted by chrgrd on 2007-04-03:
Thanks for your comments.
I know I was too trusting but part of the reason is that our shopping guide at Ship (princess cruise) repeatedly told us that Diamond international had 100 branches in different cities in caribbean/alaska with headquarters in NY and was one of guaranteed stores by them and we should plan to buy from their handpicked stores as they were guaranteed for quality .
Also ,getting them delivered to our cruise cabin was't to avoid custom duty,infact I paid about $150 for custom duty on these diamonds.
The diamonds which I bought from them in St Marteen were loose and EGL certified.They charged me for mounting ,told me that they didn't have enoguh time for mounting and gave me loose diamonds to hand over to their branch in St Thomas and they will mount in an hour.They said they do it all the time .
In St Thomas I was sent to 3 different stores branches and then waited there an hour before they could determine that they could mount it in Martini setting for me and then said it will take 3 hours to mount so they will deliver them to my cabin.
I had no choice as I had already bought them loose and believed "Diamonds international" was a reputed shop with so many brances (not a small store which could just diasappear), so trusted them instead of bringing loose diamonds here and ask a jeweller here to put them in setting (from someone I didn't buy)
Anyways lesson learned..I hope others benefit from my mistake..as I have lost both money and diamonds.They infact threaten me to send the diamonds back if I don't accept the store credit and sign a letter saying that matter is resolved.
Posted by Clamshell on 2011-10-14:
Never Ever go to "cruise ship recommended" stores... Cruise ships recommend them and suckers believe it, cruise director gets kickbacks.
Go to your local jeweler - at least you can go kick his Azz if he rips you off.
Clamshell
Go to your local jeweler - at least you can go kick his Azz if he rips you off.
Clamshell
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