WARNING do not shop at Milano's Jewelry in St. Thomas

[FOXTROT]

Do NOT buy anything of value at Milano's Jewelry . Even though they are one of RCCL's Approved Shopping Stores. Yes at the Shopping Talk they tell you how great the store is. They tell you about how RCCL stands behind your purchase. We dealt with Hitesh the store's manager.Our purchase was a legal text book example of fraud. RCCL's position is "wait to see what Milano will do". It is still in the Resolution Part but with all the evidence it should have been resolved two weeks ago.

[cruisinforabruising]

Can you be more specific. Vague posts like this do nothing to help anyone.

[bouhunter]

Can you be more specific. Vague posts like this do nothing to help anyone.

 

+1. Why bother posting if no real info is provided.......................

[setsail]

7.95.

[George C]

We have been going to Imperial jeweler for almost 30 years bought my wife engagement ring there a ;long time ago, great service

[Clarea]

We have been going to Imperial jeweler for almost 30 years bought my wife engagement ring there a ;long time ago, great service

We've dealt with Imperial for around 5 years and have had nothing but good experiences. They get consistently good feedback from cruisers.

[PHIPSI]

Have found very good deals at Alpha jewelers in St. Thomas.

[BecciBoo]

Caveat emptor - Let the buyer beware

[poncho1973]

7.95.

 

Yes. Who is going to pony up the $7.95 for us to get the deets??

[Lionesss]

7.95.

 

 

 

I do not understand

 

Help me figure it out.

 

Thanks ahead of time

[Snooksi]

I do not understand

 

Help me figure it out.

 

Thanks ahead of time

 

They were making a side joke about the new $7.95 room service charge on another thread with TONS of posts.

[FOXTROT]

We meet Hitesh at the Milano store by where the ship docks. He took us downtown to his shop. We purchased a loose diamond with a GIA Certificate. An 18 k gold band with .75 side baguettes. A 14 k gold wedding band. This was on day 1 of a B2B cruise. Wlfe' wore the ring twice did not want to wear it because we could not get it insured until we returned. On day 5 she noticed the baguettes were loose. Went down to the shopping desk & talked to the shopping guide. He filled out the papers to have Milano contact us to get the ring fixed.

 

Upon returning home we contacted our insurance company. They told us to take the ring to a place to get it appraised. We did & that is where the story goes bad. Wife' asked the gemologist to find the GIA number on the diamond. Our GIA Certificate said the diamond was inscribed with the certificate number. He could not find the number & said there where other discrepancies. The ring was to have .75 cw of baguettes, it had .30. We had the diamond looked at by another gemologist, same results. We contacted Milano & RCCL they said to have the ring examined by an independent gemologist.

 

We took the ring to an independent gemologist. The report states on the diamond there is no GIA number, there is florescence present, the diamond on the GIA report had no florescence, there were size difference, carat weight was within allowances. The ring had .30 cw baguettes not the .75 as on our sales receipt, it was 14 k gold not the 18 k gold we paid for.

 

Milano's last response was for us to send everything back to them. They would fix the loose baguettes & charge us $400 to have the diamond GIA inscribed. Our diamond per the GIA Certificate said it was already inscribes.

 

Yesterday we received in the mail the "Original GIA Certificate". It was the same as we had since the purchase. Also was a bill of sales showing where the diamond was sold to another Company. The sale was 3 weeks AFTER we had purchased it. Looking at everything closer. Milano sent us the Certificate, The seller had a different address than Milano. The buyer had the SAME address as Milano. We called the seller & they confirmed the diamond was sold & delivered as stated on the bill of sale.

 

We have talked several times with RCCL about this. Their position is wait for Milano to make a resolution. We told her how many cruises we have taken on RCCL. We told her how many more we have booked with them. We told her we would sit in the front row at every Shopping Talk & tell people what a scam it is. Her attitude changed to let me contact Milano. The Diamond Institute's definition of fraud is receiving items not as described on the sales receipt.

 

We have talked with our Credit Card Company. They will have no problem with us disputing the sales. Their fraud department said if the document from the gemologist & sales receipt are different the change would be removed. We are still within this time frame.

 

You would think once you showed Milano the differences in their sales receipt & the independent gemologist report they would bend over backwards to make it right. By the sales pitch at Shopping Talks on the cruise ship, RCCL would be on your side. I admit there can be mistakes. When ALL of the mistakes are in the favor of the jewelry store, which means more money in their pockets it is called fraud.

 

 

Please put the 7.95 on my Seapass

[BecciBoo]

I never buy anything outside the USA in precious gems. I have a jewelry appraiser best friend who works for Neimans in Dallas and he is a gemologist as well, that is his advice. You just cannot authenticate a stone or ring whilst in another country so its dangerous.

 

Went round and round with my MIL once in Cozumel at the port shops, she was buying a "tanzanite" ring for $400!:o First off, it looked way too blue and without the purple fire real Tanzanites have, plus it was way too big...if real Tanzanite it would've been well over $400. I tried to show her the same rings, same mounts in every shop on the strip and said you can't think this is a genuine tanzanite when every shop has the same ring...you are getting ripped off. Well she bought it anyway because "I just like it". But for $400??? This was not a jewelry store either, just a curio shop.

 

Several months later I asked if she got it appraised and insured and she said it was a lab created Tanzanite. Taught her a lesson...no substitute for common sense. But the shopping guides take a little knowledge about gems, spout it out along with showing genuine stones and then sit back and watch the kickbacks flow in...misleading folks at the least.

 

I hope the OP gets a satisfactory resolution, but I became aware of the deviousness involved on the ship with the port shopping guides and the art auctions on my first cruise, I have never darkened their doors since.

[FOXTROT]

The plot thickens. Milano's resolution is,it is our fault the vendors did not supply what was on their sales receipt. They want us to send the ring to New York to be evaluated. They will contact the vendors to see what the problem is. If everything lines up we will be refunded. If not I guess we get the ring back. I said we will send the ring back for a full refund period.

 

RCCL's view point is what ever Milano says is ok with us.

 

We felt safe with the GIA Certificate. Felt safe with Royal Caribbean backing up our purchase. With us having taken so many cruises and with many more booked, you would think Royal Caribbean would care?

[Arzeena]

The plot thickens. Milano's resolution is,it is our fault the vendors did not supply what was on their sales receipt. They want us to send the ring to New York to be evaluated. They will contact the vendors to see what the problem is. If everything lines up we will be refunded. If not I guess we get the ring back. I said we will send the ring back for a full refund period.

 

RCCL's view point is what ever Milano says is ok with us.

 

We felt safe with the GIA Certificate. Felt safe with Royal Caribbean backing up our purchase. With us having taken so many cruises and with many more booked, you would think Royal Caribbean would care?

 

Very sorry this happened to you. But after so many Royal Caribbean cruises could you not have been aware of not buying such expensive stuff in the Caribbean?

 

The port and shopping people are employed by an independent company. There should be a company name, address or email in small print on some shopping flyer somewhere that you can track down?

[pa6860]

Thank you Foxtrot for this info. I'm sorry you have to go through this. I can only imagine the extreme frustration, and basically feeling completely abandoned by RCCL's lack of a strong response.

 

We have purchased several high end watches in the Caribbean without a hitch, and have been thinking of taking the "next" step towards buying fine diamonds in the Caribbean. Admittedly we have always been hesitant, and your story really helps me put things back in perspective. That's not to say all Diamond stores are risky. But your story will certainly give me pause from now on.

 

Thanks again, and truly hope things work out for you!!

[Truluv]

Wow - thank you for posting!!! Don't forget to complain to the Better Business Bureau (New York?) too, but disputing the charge with your credit card company may be your best bet. I'm tempted to suggest asking Milano if they are filing a police report for the apparent fraud. This whole situation stinks to high heaven and gives both Milano and RCL a black eye.

 

I don't think buying jewelery in the Caribbean is always a bad idea, as long as passengers know what they're doing. It's definitely buyer-beware, especially when you're buying higher ticket items. I've bought multiple loose diamonds from jewelers in the Caribbean over the years. I've been very fortunate with my purchases (for ex., a loose certified diamond that I purchased for around $3,500 nearly 20 years ago was recently appraised for about $18,000). I had purchased unset stones with the intent of giving a diamond to each child when they were getting engaged (the kids could upgrade them, use them, trade them etc.). More often than not, we returned from cruises without purchasing anything, depending on whether or not we found a particular diamond that we felt was a good value. Bargains aren't that easy to find in the Caribbean, despite what the cruiselines represent!! There may be a large selection, but the jewelers aren't giving anything away or taking losses. OP's situation is a worst-case scenario.

[FOXTROT]

Yes we knew better than to shop at a non cruise line store. Milano's was highly recommended & The cruise line was standing behind us. Royal Caribbean is standing behind us only backing Milano.

 

We had been shopping at home & could not find the right combo. This was exactly what we both had in mind. The cost was about what we had been thinking. The diamond & ring are still amazing. First appraisal was for a tad more than we paid. Second appraisal a tad less. If Milano had given us what we paid for, we would be extremely happy. Worse case scenario we keep the set & get the baguettes fixed.

[riclop]

More details needed.

[ColoradoGurl]

The plot thickens. Milano's resolution is,it is our fault the vendors did not supply what was on their sales receipt. They want us to send the ring to New York to be evaluated. They will contact the vendors to see what the problem is. If everything lines up we will be refunded. If not I guess we get the ring back. I said we will send the ring back for a full refund period.

 

 

 

RCCL's view point is what ever Milano says is ok with us.

 

 

 

We felt safe with the GIA Certificate. Felt safe with Royal Caribbean backing up our purchase. With us having taken so many cruises and with many more booked, you would think Royal Caribbean would care?

 

 

Wow, how frustrating. Given all your efforts to authenticate what they claimed they sold you, and the refusal of the seller and Royal Caribbean to offer any help in either getting a partial refund for the true value of what you bought, or exchanging the item for a ring with larger stones, I would now feel no hesitation in making the claim with the credit card company and getting your money back. You gave them plenty of opportunity to make it right, they didn't, and now they can suffer the consequences of doing shady business- getting zero money and also being out the product. Serves them right, and if more people held them responsible then they would stop taking the risk of the bait and switch.

 

 

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[JamesEM]

Thanks for the heads up.

[blairknill]

I will sit at the front row of our next cruise and tell fellow cruisers what experience you have had from the store and from RC, let's hope other cruisers do the same and place some real pressure on RC to sort.

 

 

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[north29]

I feel for you what a PITA to go through, If paid by CC isn't there something you could have done with the CC company?????

 

I hate to say this, but in there are NO BARGAINS, gold is basically priced fixed world wide, diamonds vary so much in quality the it is hard for a buyer who is not a gemologist to know a quality one from low quality one. I guess I should say buying LOCAL from a small independent dealer is best, and even then have a appraisal done quickly with a return policy guarantee.

Few places in the world are good for buy gold, and we have bought some in Egypt off a tour guide vendor (LO, took a chance) and Dubai at the gold markets and they apprised out better than we dreamed. BTW, I had a artificial alexandrite (wife's birthstone) into a ring, while shopping in Grand Cayman the store clerk could not tell the difference, and wanted us to upgrade to a larger stone. I'm sure he would have found out LOL

[alfaeric]

The plot thickens. Milano's resolution is,it is our fault the vendors did not supply what was on their sales receipt. They want us to send the ring to New York to be evaluated. They will contact the vendors to see what the problem is. If everything lines up we will be refunded. If not I guess we get the ring back. I said we will send the ring back for a full refund period.

 

RCCL's view point is what ever Milano says is ok with us.

 

We felt safe with the GIA Certificate. Felt safe with Royal Caribbean backing up our purchase. With us having taken so many cruises and with many more booked, you would think Royal Caribbean would care?

 

Given that possession and tracking are so important, I'd personally be leery of sending it away to their people.

 

On the other hand, if you contest the charges with the CC- the ball would be between them and Milano/RCI. Sending it to THEIR resolution department, if possible, seems like a good idea. At that point, you'd be out of the argument, and more back and forth would be between other people.

 

And thanks for posting the details. Your painful loss is a powerful gain for many people.

[FOXTROT]

We have talked with our credit card fraud department. They have no problem with us filing a claim. They say DO NOT send them the ring. Talked with our attorney last night, he said DO NOT send them the ring.

 

The credit card company wants one more letter from our Gemologist. Once we receive this we will give them one more chance. Then it will go to the credit card fraud department.

 

WE leave on our next cruise in 3 weeks. We will be sitting front row at shopping talk, informing every one what a rip off it is. In June we will visit St. Thomas again. We will tell every one entering two of their stores do not shop here.