Guaranteed Shops / Diamonds International

We were on the Epic Feb 16 - 23. After listening to the shopping consultants we went ahead and bought Kabana earrings and diamond stud earrings at Diamonds International in St Thomas. We did our research ahead of time and got a pretty good deal.

So here is the problem.

After returning to the ship we discovered the two diamond earrings are not the same, I'm pretty sure the salesperson mixed them up and we didn't notice at the store. I called the store from the ship and there wasn't enough time to return to the store so the manager said to do an exchange in Nassau which was our next port. Unfortunately on this cruise Epic skipped Nassau.

So now I'm home in Canada and have been emailing and calling Diamonds International constantly for two weeks and have not received a single reply. They seem to be ignoring me completely.

So here are my questions.

Has anyone had experience with Diamonds International after sale support?

What exactly does "Guaranteed Shops" mean in the NCL literature?

I can and likely will dispute through my credit card provider but looking for some input first.

They are a rip off. I would never buy anything from them. Sorry you didn't see the "warnings" here first.

We were on the Epic Feb 16 - 23. After listening to the shopping consultants we went ahead and bought Kabana earrings and diamond stud earrings at Diamonds International in St Thomas. We did our research ahead of time and got a pretty good deal.

 

So here is the problem.

 

After returning to the ship we discovered the two diamond earrings are not the same, I'm pretty sure the salesperson mixed them up and we didn't notice at the store. I called the store from the ship and there wasn't enough time to return to the store so the manager said to do an exchange in Nassau which was our next port. Unfortunately on this cruise Epic skipped Nassau.

 

So now I'm home in Canada and have been emailing and calling Diamonds International constantly for two weeks and have not received a single reply. They seem to be ignoring me completely.

 

So here are my questions.

 

Has anyone had experience with Diamonds International after sale support?

 

What exactly does "Guaranteed Shops" mean in the NCL literature?

 

I can and likely will dispute through my credit card provider but looking for some input first.

"Guaranteed Shops" means stay far away. Take up with someone at NCL. Go as far up the ladder as you can. They are the ones responsible for not stopping in Nassau.

They are a rip off. I would never buy anything from them. Sorry you didn't see the "warnings" here first.

What warnings did I miss? Why exactly are they a ripoff?

I know Kabana prices and I got a great deal as I was looking for a specific item and know the pricing. I had the diamond earrings appraised here at home and it confirmed although they got mixed up, the price was unbeatable - by a lot.

What warnings did I miss? Why exactly are they a ripoff?

 

I know Kabana prices and I got a great deal as I was looking for a specific item and know the pricing. I had the diamond earrings appraised here at home and it confirmed although they got mixed up, the price was unbeatable - by a lot.

Some people have reported that they did not get a fair deal at D.I. My DH & I shop there (more frequently than he would like I suspect :eek:) but we have not had problems with appraised values, etc.

We did have a customer service issue once, about 6 or 7 years ago with a watch. It took a bit of tracking them down to get e-mails responded to. We actually had luck with calling the D.I. number in New York and, once we got a customer service person, all was resolved to our satisfaction.

Otherwise, we have had very good experiences with them.

I'm not certain if you are calling the store you purchased from or another number. But, you may want to go through their website for assistance.

Tropical - So sorry you had a bad experience with Diamonds International. A couple months ago a poster here on CC had a problem with an engagement ring they bought from DI and she was so distraught about it. I have only made purchases from Columbian Emerald onboard the ship so I am sorry I cannot offer any assistance to your circumstances. However, as Sissa indicated, I would reach out to NCL by way of written correspondence to the Home Offices in Miami, Flordia. Best of Luck as I hope it all works out for you. :)

Some people have reported that they did not get a fair deal at D.I. My DH & I shop there (more frequently than he would like I suspect :eek:) but we have not had problems with appraised values, etc.

 

We did have a customer service issue once, about 6 or 7 years ago with a watch. It took a bit of tracking them down to get e-mails responded to. We actually had luck with calling the D.I. number in New York and, once we got a customer service person, all was resolved to our satisfaction.

 

Otherwise, we have had very good experiences with them.

 

I'm not certain if you are calling the store you purchased from or another number. But, you may want to go through their website for assistance.

I don't have a number for the store, their toll free number doesn't work from Canada. I'm calling their main number as well as sending emails and filling in their customer service form on their website, so far...nothing.

I will write a letter to NCL tomorrow but I have a limited amount of time before I have to start a dispute with my credit card company - I'm thinking that will get their attention.

We were on the Epic Feb 16 - 23. After listening to the shopping consultants we went ahead and bought Kabana earrings and diamond stud earrings at Diamonds International in St Thomas. We did our research ahead of time and got a pretty good deal.

 

So here is the problem.

 

After returning to the ship we discovered the two diamond earrings are not the same, I'm pretty sure the salesperson mixed them up and we didn't notice at the store. I called the store from the ship and there wasn't enough time to return to the store so the manager said to do an exchange in Nassau which was our next port. Unfortunately on this cruise Epic skipped Nassau.

 

So now I'm home in Canada and have been emailing and calling Diamonds International constantly for two weeks and have not received a single reply. They seem to be ignoring me completely.

 

So here are my questions.

 

Has anyone had experience with Diamonds International after sale support?

 

What exactly does "Guaranteed Shops" mean in the NCL literature?

 

I can and likely will dispute through my credit card provider but looking for some input first.

I had a 'bad' situation at D.I., BUT they fixed it & made it better....after I was back in Canada.

I bought a ring in Costa Maya, and then found the same ring less expensive in Belize.

Was also buying a Cartier watch in Belize, so that might have had something to do with it...but I got a fair price on the watch, a free Automatic-watch-winder, and they refunded the difference on the ring, to my credit card.

I had to escalate to their regional manager, but she worked (from Belize) with the Mexican store to ensure the credit was sorted.

End of story, what needed to happen happened, although it did take a small amount of whining. :rolleyes:

Just google the name and read the complaints or lawsuits

Be careful shopping at ANY tourist destination. IMO, the same caution applies to EVERY store in a tourist destination no matter what the cruise line says

Just google the name and read the complaints or lawsuits

 

Be careful shopping at ANY tourist destination. IMO, the same caution applies to EVERY store in a tourist destination no matter what the cruise line says

I absolutely agree. It is hard to impossible to resolve an issue after the fact. Every once in a while someone may have some good luck doing so, but it is not the norm.

We've made several purchases @ DI & have always been very satisfied. Last April we bought a black & white diamond ring with matching earrings in St Maarten. Shortly after we got home, one of the stones fell out of the ring. I was really upset because they were rather pricey. I was not willing to take the ring to my jeweler to repair since it had happened so soon after purchase.

When we were in Aruba in November, I took the ring back to them. (I had the earrings too & was prepared to return everything) No problem....... They replaced the stone without batting an eyelash. They did the right thing & we won't hesitate to continue doing business with them.

If the shopping consultant is steering you toward a store, think very hard about buying anything at that store. Everything is done for a reason.

When ever you read here about Diamonds International it's always negative and the most often comment is lack of customer service once your home.

When ever you read here about Diamonds International it's always negative and the most often comment is lack of customer service once your home.

I have also read many posts from people who took their items to be appraised once home only to find out that they did not get what they paid for! There are too many internet complaints on that place to ever buy something without always wondering.

I would not hesitate to file the dispute with the credit card company. Once they get a hold of them I am sure DI will make it right.

Too many people have complained about Diamonds Int.. If you bought at home, you wouldn't have a problem. Why do you think they are "recommended"? Do you think the ships just like them?

If the shopping consultant is steering you toward a store, think very hard about buying anything at that store. Everything is done for a reason.

The shopping consultants sole purpose is to get you to shop, the point is they simply go through the NCL printed literature so NCL controls to a degree what they recommend. I actually don't know who employs the onboard shopping consultants although I do know it is not NCL.

Too many people have complained about Diamonds Int.. If you bought at home, you wouldn't have a problem. Why do you think they are "recommended"? Do you think the ships just like them?

You're missing the point here, part of the vacation experience is to go shopping in the ports. I'm not certainly not naive when it comes to the recommended shopping but my question was about the "Guaranteed Shops" literature that NCL distributes prior to arriving at the port.

Too many people have complained about Diamonds Int.. If you bought at home, you wouldn't have a problem. Why do you think they are "recommended"? Do you think the ships just like them?

It took me a while to realize that those Port Shopping Seminars on the ships are not run by the cruise line, but by marketing groups that contract with port shops which provide fees to the marketing company to promote their store. The marketing company then gets a cut of the sales.

I just read a recent article, I wish I could remember where, about the Alaskan ports and coercion complaints by passengers from over zealous marketers to the point where I believe Alaska was considering a ban on these arrangements.

I just read a recent article, I wish I could remember where, about the Alaskan ports and coercion complaints by passengers from over zealous marketers to the point where I believe Alaska was considering a ban on these arrangements.

Alaska did pass a bill that bans cruise ships from certain things and outlines what can and can not be done. They now have to mention in their shopping seminar that the companies mention in the presentation have paid them a fee to be mentioned and that if the cruise line guarantees it, then they had better back it with actions.

We were on the Epic Feb 16 - 23. After listening to the shopping consultants we went ahead and bought Kabana earrings and diamond stud earrings at Diamonds International in St Thomas. We did our research ahead of time and got a pretty good deal.

 

So here is the problem.

 

After returning to the ship we discovered the two diamond earrings are not the same, I'm pretty sure the salesperson mixed them up and we didn't notice at the store. I called the store from the ship and there wasn't enough time to return to the store so the manager said to do an exchange in Nassau which was our next port. Unfortunately on this cruise Epic skipped Nassau.

 

So now I'm home in Canada and have been emailing and calling Diamonds International constantly for two weeks and have not received a single reply. They seem to be ignoring me completely.

 

So here are my questions.

 

Has anyone had experience with Diamonds International after sale support?

 

What exactly does "Guaranteed Shops" mean in the NCL literature?

 

I can and likely will dispute through my credit card provider but looking for some input first.

We were on a Princess Cruise on March 1-8 2014. After listening to the onboard shopping expert we visited DI in Cozumel. After all they were highly rated as the most reputable place to shop!! We ended up trading in the diamond in my wedding set and replacing it with a new diamond. The diamond we purchased has a GIA certificate, and the new diamond was placed in my setting and it wasn't until I returned home that I discovered that I was charged TWICE what the fair market price was for my new diamond!! I was amazed,not only were we given "the best price possible, much lower than retail", but we were charged TWICE what I could buy the stone for from retailers here in Dallas. I set about finding like stones with GIA certs from different retailers, and found 21 comparable stones and after filling out a complaint form with DI, sent them all the information regarding my stone and the like ones I had found. This was after I had contacted the manager of the Cozumel store (who I bought the diamond from) and he stated that if there was some error, then I needed to work through with customer service. At that point I began researching DI and all the complaints against them. I was horrified, and wondered how a company this fraudulent and unethical could still be in business! Well, one reason is they have all the cruise ships sending them unsuspecting customers in droves every week. I don't for one moment think that the cruise lines don't realize what is going on, and told the OnBoard Media representative as much. All she said was she would call DI about my complaint. After two weeks of back and forth with DI, I am accepting a partial refund. I am certain if I took them to court over this, I would win, but the amount of time it would take, and the hassle of dealing with it just isn't worth it to me. I have filed a complaint with the BBB in New York, and am just one of many who has done so. My advice to you is don't give up, keep calling them daily if you have to until you get some sort of resolution. Good Luck

Know your jeweler.

Know your jeweler.

and buy locally...not rushed because the ship is leaving.

What exactly does "Guaranteed Shops" mean in the NCL literature?

.

"Guaranteed Shops" means stay far away. Take up with someone at NCL. Go as far up the ladder as you can. They are the ones responsible for not stopping in Nassau.

If the shopping consultant is steering you toward a store, think very hard about buying anything at that store. Everything is done for a reason.

Good luck in your endeavours. If you got a favourable appraisal on them you might think about selling/trading them at home and cutting bait with DI. Might be a quicker solution. Don't forget your time is worth something too.

It amazes me the droves of people that flock to these stores in port. Makes me wish I'd brought those bridges I needed to sell ;)

The Cruiselines will tout any outfit they get a better kickback from. If rabbit turds paid a good kickback we'd all be hearing about how scarce it is and how we're running out of rabbit turd supplies in the next 10 years rather than Tanzanite!

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I had the diamond earrings appraised here at home and it confirmed although they got mixed up, the price was unbeatable - by a lot.

Appraisal value vs. what you can actually sell the item for are two completely different things.

Please see this article that better explains it.

http://jcrs.com/newsletters/2008/2008_03.htm

Appraisal value vs. what you can actually sell the item for are two completely different things.

 

Please see this article that better explains it.

 

http://jcrs.com/newsletters/2008/2008_03.htm

This post is the real explanation of what all this is about. Go through the entire link that is provided and you will soon understand how all of this DI business and the cruise lines work.

The simple solution if this poster believes the appraised value they were given after they got home, just ask the appraiser to buy it from you at that price!!! You will quickly find out what the "real" value is!!!