Bought diamond earrings from Cozumel, got them appraised, and they're below the stated grade

We sailed on the West Caribbean itinery for May 29th-June 5th. On June 3rd, our port of call was Cozumel. Since the shopping advisor on board says it's a very good deal to buy diamonds at the biggest diamond store at Puerta Maya, i bought a pair of diamond earrings. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention the store name here but I'll leave it out for now. I have just picked up the earrings from the gemologist who had them appraised. The earrings turned out to be 1 grade below the clarity comparing to the appraisal the store gave me. And instead of 18K gold, they are 14K gold. Can someone advise me on if I should contact Princess or the diamond store directly? Both Princess and the diamond store has a 30 days warranty on them.

Thanks,

Winnie

Caribbean Princess May 29, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by wwslau: The earrings turned out to be 1 grade below the clarity comparing to the appraisal the store gave me. And instead of 18K gold, they are 14K gold. Can someone advise me on if I should contact Princess or the diamond store directly? Both Princess and the diamond store has a 30 days warranty on them.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>If there is a warrantee, by all means use it.

On all gold, there should be a stamp (usually on the clasp area). For 14k, it should say 14K or 585 (58.5% gold). For 18k, it should say 18k or 750 (75% gold). It's wise to look for these stamps before purchasing and if the stamps say something different than what the jeweler is telling you, walk away. If the stamp doesn't match what the karats the appraiser said, get a 2nd opinion. If they still don't match, I'd think about suing for fraud if there is no other recourse. And let Princess be aware of the situation.

Pea

5/9 Golden Princess  

If it is Diamond International, my understanding is ships get kickbacks from the stores the endorse. If they mention it on the ship, i don't go there.

Sue

7 days on Star Princess 10/24

GROWING OLD IS MANDATORY..... GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL

I believe if you buy it through a store recommended by the ship, you then need to "register your purchase on the ship" - I saw on my last cruise where the shopping person had a counter to do this at the end of the cruise - then somehow you are covered????

I would definitely call Princess and start there.

If you registered your purchase with the Shopping Advisor's company PPI they offer a guarantee. Keep in mind this isn't coming from Princess but from a seperate company who the shopping advisor works for. Otherwise I think you may be out of luck.

I'm not an expert on Diamonds but I've heard that appraisals are subjective so the same diamond could be appraised differently. That doesn't explain the 14K gold though. That lead me to beleive you are dealing with a shady company.

Good luck

Scott

Thank you all for the support. Yes, I have filled in that form on the last day of the cruise and handed it to the shopping advisor Cindy at her counter. I will now call the 1-800 Princess number and see what happens. Will update all of you after the call.

Winnie

Caribbean Princess May 29, 2004

When we were on the Diamond a few weeks ago we received an instruction sheet for registering all purchases in "ship Approved" stores. The sheet said something to the effect of this was the way to protect your investment. I think this was for protection passed the initial 30 days. I would definitely contact Princess immediately and let them advise you what to do. It's disheartening to think a merchant is trustworthy and then this type of thing happens. Everyone after as many bucks and they can get. If this store is doing shoddy business, they should be removed from the approved list. That would certainly be a lesson to other approved vendors. Good luck.

Lynda

if u went to a princess quarantee store then call princess and they will advise you.

Just as a backup, check with your credit card company (if you used one) to see if they can offer any advice. AMEX offers some guarantees on their Gold and Platinum cards.

PeabodyNVL, thanks for that great information. An informed shopper is a happy shopper!

And Sue, I'm with you, if it's advertised on the ship, use caution. How can a "service" that is tied via kickbacks to certain stores be honest? We've shopped at non-recommended stores and done very well, while not being impressed at all with the "recommended" shops.

Completed:

Sea Princess, Royal Princess, Grand Princess (3X), Caribbean Princess, Golden Princess

The store is Diamond International, the biggest one on the left side walking out of the Duty Free hallway. The earrings setting says 585, so they are 14K gold. I just called 1-800-PRINCESS. The customer rep does not know how to help me, so she put me on hold and got me the 1-888-7744768 number, that is customer service at PPI Group. I called and the lady said they only guarantee for repair & exchange within 30 days, but not refund. She told me to call Diamond International directly and ask for a refund first, see if they do it. And if i have problems with the store, that I can call PPI back. I expressed my disappointment to her that I trusted Princess's recommended stores and she did not answered me and redirected me to talk to Diamond International directly. I will go home and double check the back of the receipt tonight before I call the store. This is quite an expensive lesson but at least the value that I got from the appraisal is about 33% more than I've paid for.

Thanks to all again,

Winnie

Caribbean Princess May 29, 2004

In 2003 I bought a diamond/emerald men's ring at Diamonds International. I bought it in Barbados but did not have time to have it sized before leaving so they offered to have their store in St. Lucia (our next stop) do it. On the way back to the ship I just happened to show the ring to the port shopping advisor who was at the gangplank.

In St. Lucia I dropped off the ring in the morning and went on an all day excursion, picking up the ring just before reboarding. It wasn't until dinner that I looked at the ring closely and the emeralds were not the same. Apparently they were either switched or were runined in the sizing process. (High heat is fatal to emeralds) I contacted the port shopping advisor and showed her the ring. She remembered what it had originally looked like and vowed to correct the situation. She made arrangements to meet me at the Amsterdam International store, in St. Maarten (our next stop again) which is a division of Diamonds International.

She explained to the store manager what happened and my ring was replaced with an exact duplicate, only with quality emeralds in it. No probelms were encountered with the store in doing so.

I had her inspect the emeralds, to be sure, prior to accepting the ring. She had given a class on gem quality which I had attended and she stated she used to be a gem buyer. She seemed to know her stuff and I trusted her opinion about the emeralds. Once she gave her approval, I accepted the ring.

She said she couldn't have helped me if I had not bought the ring at a recommended store. It sometimes pays to shop at recommended stores.

Sure the cruise line gets a kickback, but it was certainly worth something to me. I think the kickback is more like an advertising fee. The cruise line agrees to promote the store but the store has to agree to handle problems in a timely and professional manner. The cruise line does not want to stake their reputation on someone who does otherwise.

'89 Commodore/Caribe I

'92 NCL/Westward

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'02 RCI/Vision Of The Seas

'03 Princess/Sea Princess, back-to-back

'03 Princess/Sea Princess

'04 Hawaii, 2 weeks on land

TAHITIAN PRINCESS 02/11/05

Yes, it's sad that you had a negative experience with your jewellry purchase, and I really hope you can get some kind of correction from Princess. Way back when, cruise ships didn't offer these recommended stores (probably because many of them hadn't been built yet ), so we really didn't do any jewellry shopping. During my first stop in St. Thomas, though, I happened to hear a passenger tell another passenger to "make sure you get a GIA certificate". I knew what this was, and after shopping at several stores, finally discovered that AH Riise offered GIA certificates for precious (and some non-precious) gems. So, that's where I've shopped for the good stuff, and always got the GIA certificate. Also, keep in mind that an "appraisal" is just that, and doesn't guarantee that you'll get that amount of money to replace that jewellry if it's lost or stolen. If you decide to add this jewellry to a Homeowner's insurance rider, it will be under the "appraised" price, so you would pay more than it's actually worth. Hope I got this right - I heard it from an insurance adjuster.

Several years ago, my husband purchased an opal and diamond ring for me in a ship recommended jewelry shop in Acalpulco. The U.S. appraisal was several hundred $$ less than we paid. I called my credit card company to dispute the charge (you don't pay until the dispute is resolved one way or the other). I never called the cruise line but rather I called the store "collect" several times, spoke to several salespeople and managers, until they agreed to take the ring back with a full refund... asking me to please stop calling collect. They told me they would send a courier for the ring, that under no circumstances was I to mail it back to them. I called every month, for 4 months thereafter, asking when they would pick it up. They told me they would let me know. The credit was issued immediately... and I still have the ring. A nice ending! Hope you get this resolved in your favor, too.

Sandy

Sandy - good approach!

I am a GIA Grad Gemologist and I have some advice for you. While your home jeweler is better trained than those at DI, your jeweler's appraisal is only as good as their training. Many jewelers are part of the "family business" and never received any formal training. If they are GIA trained (not IGI, etc.) then you are probably getting good info. That being said, each jeweler in your town could give you a different analysis. Was the different grade you received the color or the clarity? If the color, did your jeweler use a master stone set? If clarity, did the jewelry provide a "plot" of the stone?

Basically, I'm trying to tell you to get a second opinion from another jeweler. I would also only suggest that people buy diamonds with GIA papers, especially when picking them up out of the country. IGI, EGL and other reports are not nearly as good (my opinion).

Hope this helps!

That's why I posted that I always have, and always will, buy precious stone jewellry outside the US ONLY if I get a GIA certificate. Thanks, 005flyer!

imsulin, do they sell diamonds at Winn-Dixie??

STD

I will ONLY buy GIA and AGS certified diamonds. I have always been leary of any other. I trust these two...

Mark

Until Caribbean Princess 9-4-04

Why, yes, STD ! I always buy my diamonds weekly at Winn-Dixie, but only if I can get the WD Instant Cheese Grits for free! You're looking pretty good, STD!

I have checked the receipt, one of the conditions says:

"DI, TI 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. Due to the extremely subjective nature of appraising, a refund will not be issued due to a discrepancy in value."

The Customer Service Center number at New York is printed on the receipt and it's 1-800-51-JEWEL.

Sandy, did you call this 1-800 number? Or is there another one that you called collect?

Spongerob and Sandy, very good advice on calling the credit card company. I bought it on June 3rd, it's already June 16th now, my fiance will call the card company tomorrow, which would be June 17th, do u think i still have a chance to stop the transaction? And what should I tell the credit card company?

005flyer, thank you for the information. It's the clarity that's below a grade (from an I1 to I2), the colour (from F to F-G), the carat (from 1.03 to 1.02), and the setting (18K to 14K gold). The appraiser that i used is a GIA graduate. I have stopped by the a gemstore where I trusted in my home town to ask for a 2nd opinion, the gemologist there also said the earrings are definitely I2's. He read the back of my receipt and suggested that I go to Gem Scan for an appraisal, who doesn't sell/buy gemstones.

I will call tomorrow and let you all know the results.

Thank you so much again,

Winnie

Caribbean Princess May 29, 2004

I tell everyone I come across, that is going on a cruise, to stay away from Diamonds International. My husband bought me a large tanzanite & diamond ring in Aruba. I had them size it and felt confident due to the fact that they are highly recommended by Princess. We ended up having to run to the ship to board on time and it wasn't until dinner that I noticed my ring looked different. I went home and had a local jeweler do a quick appraisal on it. He informed me that the "keel" was broken! (This is the point on the bottom of the stone.) I was devistated. I called Princess and they referred me to the DI NY office. DI informed me that I needed to get an appropriate appraisal which cost me $75. I sent the appraisal certificate, the ring, and a very detailed letter to DI as instructed. I felt that there would not be a problem when they saw that the stone was broken. I recieved the ring BACK and a letter stating that no refunds are given for BUYERS REMORSE. I couldn't believe it. After about 20 phone calls to Princess and DI...I finally gave up. The stress was horrible. Thankfully, I was able to get the stone repaired (recut) by a friend that is a gemologist and she also had to add quite a bit more gold to the prongs of the diamonds. The ring is beautiful and I love it BUT it is definitly not the quality or size (now) that was orginally purchased. I am convinced that there was a switch during the sizing process...BEWARE

Very interesting topic, I just had to chime in here. I to was on the same CP Sailing as wwslau, and this was my wifes and myself very first time cruising, with that said, it didnt take us long into the cruise to see the "push" for particular stores on port days. It doesnt take a whole lot of common sense to realize that there must be huge profits coming back to princess for refering these particular outlets. With that said my wife and I stayed clear of most of the recommended outlets for this reason, I felt we would really pay "more" for an item so that everyone could get there slice of the pie sort of speak. You also have to keep in mind that when your in another country, these outlets dont fall under the laws your used to, so they have a huge opportunity to rip you off, and may never see you again.

Just some thoughts from a newbie.

Completed:

Caribbean Princess 5/04

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Also, keep in mind that an "appraisal" is just that, and doesn't guarantee that you'll get that amount of money to replace that jewellry if it's lost or stolen. If you decide to add this jewellry to a Homeowner's insurance rider, it will be under the "appraised" price, so you would pay more than it's actually worth. Hope I got this right - I heard it from an insurance adjuster.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I am a GIA Gemologist, and I agree with imsulin.

My personal jewelery is insured on a Personal Articles Floater policy for only its "replacement" value, not the inflated "retail" value because I don't want to waste money on unnecessary premiums. If there were a loss, State Farm would only settle for what it costs them to replace the item - and you can bet they have connections in the wholesale jewelry business.

Cheryl

See our AOS 4/24/2005 website and the AOS 4/24/2005 ROLL CALL

4/22/01 RCCL Voyager of the Seas - Western Caribbean

6/08/02 RCCL Radiance of the Seas - Alaska

4/19/03 Star Princess - Mexican Riviera

4/17/04 Tahitian Princess - French Polynesia Pictures

4/24/05 RCCL Adventure of the Seas - Southern Caribbean

5/12/05 Coral Princess - Pacific Coastal Rollcall

Just to give everyone an update. My fiance called his visa card company, they said the money has been sent to DI (Diamond International), but they can put a hold on the charge for dispute so he doesn't have to pay for it yet for a few months. I guess it's too late.

Then I called DI, the rep asked for my contact information and the description of the problem, and he typed everything into the computer. He keeps on coughing at the phone which made my ears hurt...not polite at all. Then he transferred me to another rep, her name is Betty. She told me to fax my receipt and the appraisal from the Cozumel store, and the appraisal from my own gemologist, which I just did that. See how long she's going to get back to me. I'm going to call her again tomorrow. She said they only give full refund if the diamond is 2 grades below, then I read out the line on the back of the receipt to her "...beyond one color and/or one clarity grade of said appraisal," She said that means more than 1 grade. Then I thought to myself, yes, it really says "beyond". Shoppers (including myself), beware of the conditions on the back of the receipt before you buy and sign anything.

But of the 14K gold, she said I might be able to get some money back, and we'll see again.

Winnie

Caribbean Princess May 29, 2004

It is unfortunate that wwslau's earrings were not the quality that were represented to her. But this should be a lesson to all who buy jewelry in the Caribbean.

005flyer is correct in saying that you should buy major diamonds (say anything over a carat) accompanied with a grading report from the GIA Gem Trade Labratory. They are an independant lab whose job is only to grade a diamond with at least 3 Gemologists having to agree on the grade. They do not buy or sell diamonds, nor do they care what the diamond's grade is. They are paid only to grade the stone.

I have a story to tell while I was on the Star Princess last year. As I said earlier, I am a GIA Gemologist. I went to one of the jewelry port talks just for fun so I could hear what they had to say. They were talking about how inexpensive the diamonds were but what they were not talking about was their quality. They were passing around a diamond tennis bracelet for all to see. Some of the women were putting it on their wrists to see how it looked. When it came to me, I also put it on my wrist, but right next to the diamond tennis bracelet I happened to be wearing. Some of the women then remarked, look!!, there is no comparison in the quality ... mine looked so much whiter, and sparkled more than the one they were passing around. I then asked what quality the stones were and was told I/J in color, I1/I2 in clarity, and that the bracelet "hadn't been cleaned in a while". Well, no wonder, the diamonds in the bracelet I was wearing were F in color, VS in clarity, both of which were several grades higher than the bracelet they were passing around. Moral of the story, make sure you are comparing apples against apples, not apples against oranges, and don't believe them when they say the bracelet "hasn't been cleaned in a while" because neither was mine.

FYI, the GIA grading scale for color runs D through Z, with D - F being in the colorless range, and G - J in the near colorless range, and anything worse what I would not recommend to my friends. Clarity runs from FL (flawless),

IF (internally flawless), VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2,

SI1, SI2, I1 (where you can see the inclusions with the naked eye), I2, I3. So you can see that the clarity of the diamonds in their bracelet was near the bottom of the scale. Please educate yourself (there are many websites with information) before you buy. The prices may seem low, but that's because the diamonds are of poor quality.

When I was in Grand Caymen several years ago, I looked at loose diamonds and found that the prices were not that good. I found a similar stone to the one in my engagement ring but it was 2 grades lower in color than mine, but was $10K more than what I paid back in the States!!

Note: I decided to get my Gemologist Diploma from the GIA because I wanted to know what I was doing when I bought jewelry. I do not work in the jewelry business, but rather in the computer IT area. It's like reading Consumer Reports to be an educated consumer.

Cheryl

See our AOS 4/24/2005 website and the AOS 4/24/2005 ROLL CALL

4/22/01 RCCL Voyager of the Seas - Western Caribbean

6/08/02 RCCL Radiance of the Seas - Alaska

4/19/03 Star Princess - Mexican Riviera

4/17/04 Tahitian Princess - French Polynesia Pictures

4/24/05 RCCL Adventure of the Seas - Southern Caribbean

5/12/05 Coral Princess - Pacific Coastal Rollcall

[This message was edited by cflutist on 06-17-04 at 01:44 PM.]

[This message was edited by cflutist on 06-17-04 at 01:46 PM.]