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Thread: Question About Jewerly - Am I getting ripped off?

  1. #1
    Platinum cmoney's Avatar
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    Question About Jewerly - Am I getting ripped off?

    I tried to Google this without any luck. Like pretty much all businesses these days, i think this one is trying to fuck me.

    So I got a diamond in a setting. I want to move diamond to new setting. Found the setting I want w it will take approx 3 weeks to move the stone from the old setting to the new one. Sounds like a long time but whatever.

    I got quoted for the whole thing which is about what I figured it out it would cost. However, they then are trying to charge me 500 for an "insurance fee." The explanation I got is that if they are handling a stone they need to be insured in case something happens to the stone, like they lose it or scratch it. So now I am annoyed. Had they simply added 500 to the price of the whole thing I probably would have not questioned it, as the price would still be in line with what I was thinking about paying for this. But now with this insurance shit (which just seems like a way for someone to up their commission) I dont trust them at all. I mean a fucking company that handles diamonds as their sole business has to have insurance already right?

    Just curious if anyone has come across this and if there is any truth to the above.

    This is why i buy nearly everything online these days. Brick and mortar stores have become so desperate that they try to fuck their customers whenever they get a chance.
    :freelewfather

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    Plutonium sonatine's Avatar
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    gut feeling is the risk of ruin when handling stones is high enough for them to justify offloading the insurance costs to the client.

    gem cutters, for example, routinely destroy star rubys the size of robin eggs while trying to get one proper cut out of them. i understand that they arent cutting your stone, but the process of handling it at all may fall under that insurance bailiwick.
    "Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky

    "America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs

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    Platinum cmoney's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sonatine View Post
    gut feeling is the risk of ruin when handling stones is high enough for them to justify offloading the insurance costs to the client.

    gem cutters, for example, routinely destroy star rubys the size of robin eggs while trying to get one proper cut out of them. i understand that they arent cutting your stone, but the process of handling it at all may fall under that insurance bailiwick.

    You may be right and i hope you are. The 500 isnt a big deal. I just dont want to deal with this company if this is a known "semi scam" to get more out of you. For example, they already have insurance that covers all this and the money is just going into the salesman's pocket.
    :freelewfather

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    Gold gauchojake's Avatar
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    I had a diamond re-set and the guy just told me that there was a risk of the stone being damaged. No additional insurance needed on my part although the stone was already insured by me. This was a guy from the jewelry district in LA though so maybe he was just gonna hose me if the stone broke.

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gauchojake View Post
    I had a diamond re-set and the guy just told me that there was a risk of the stone being damaged. No additional insurance needed on my part although the stone was already insured by me. This was a guy from the jewelry district in LA though so maybe he was just gonna hose me if the stone broke.


    I also had a stone re-set at a the LA jewelry district, and there was no such charge.

    This sounds like a complete ripoff.

    I would re-raise them by telling them that you're willing to accept the risk of damage, and that you just expect them to take care not to lose it. (Telling you that you have to pay for them to insure not to lose it is a HUGE red flag, btw. They should have just stuck with the damage story.) Explain that you acknowledge damage is always a possibility in these situations, but that the customer should never have to pay to insure carelessness (the loss) on the part of the store.

    You should absolutely refuse to do this. This is indeed a way to tack on an extra charge and/or pad an individual's wallet.

    If they won't agree, take it elsewhere. This is not at all standard.

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    Plutonium sonatine's Avatar
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    im going to take a total shot in the dark and say the value of cmoney's rock is approximately one full exponent higher than any of the others mentioned in this thread.
    "Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky

    "America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sonatine View Post
    im going to take a total shot in the dark and say the value of cmoney's rock is approximately one full exponent higher than any of the others mentioned in this thread.
    Even if true, the fact that they were trying to get him to insure for "loss" pretty much shows the whole thing is BS.

    What are they going to do? Take a 1-day policy on the rock for $500?

    I doubt it.

    And if they do lose or damage the expensive rock, the $500 won't come anywhere close to the cost of replacing it.

    The fact that the insurance is exactly $500 (rather than something like $478.32) is another red flag.

    If it is an expensive stone, that might be the reason they run the scam. They figure that rich people will be willing to pay it, and in fact might feel better that it's insured in case of damage or loss.

    If you do pay the $500, get something in writing that they will pay you XXX amount (the stone's value) in case of loss or damage. Also you will want to get a report from them on the condition of the stone before the procedure, or otherwise the insurance is useless, as they can claim the damage already existed.

    I would suggest NOT insuring it unless $500 is a very small fraction of the diamond's value.

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    Platinum DirtyB's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sonatine View Post
    im going to take a total shot in the dark and say the value of cmoney's rock is approximately one full exponent higher than any of the others mentioned in this thread.
    I was thinking about that and it still doesn't add up. I can't believe that a professional jeweler could destroy 1% of the stones they just put into a different setting. cmoney is a baller, but he doesn't seem like the kind of guy that buys $50k pieces of jewelry. That's just excessive. My guess is that this piece is in the 15 to 20 range.

    cmoney,
    Come out to CES in January.

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    Photoballer 4Dragons's Avatar
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    I had a ring sized and stone reset and it didn't cost a damn thing, but it's been mentioned that the price of the stone may have an effect on this. Other than that i've never heard of such a thing.

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    I used to work as a jeweler and this is bullshit. A higher charge for resetting a high value stone isn't unheard of but an extra $500 is, especially a diamond which is much more durable than some other stones. Take it somewhere else!! What ever you don't do as Druff suggests and tell them you will assume any risk. If the break it they replace it period (a good reason to use a well respected - not fly-by-night jeweler for work on high value stones). If there existing insurance doesn't cover this the they aren't the type of operation you should trust leaving your high value stuff with. Also three weeks turn around time is a red flag. It suggest that they are sending it out to have the work done. A well run operation should treat you much better when you bring big dollar items in to get worked on.

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    Diamond Hockey Guy's Avatar
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    How the fuck could you possibly damage/scratch a diamond re-setting it? What do they use a diamond tipped chop saw?

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    Seems unlikely.
    (•_•) ..
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hockey Guy
    I'd say good luck in the freeroll but I'm pretty sure you'll go on a bender to self-sabotage yourself & miss it completely or use it as the excuse of why you didn't cash.

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    Comparison. Track insurance for the weekend on 50k+ BMW less than $300. That's for a car going 100+ mph. Go some where else.

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