Joel McFadden Designs swap diamond took my vs clarity h color and gave meklcolor I clarity Greenfield Massachusetts
in dec. 1996 i bought a diamond ring from a women named linda from the diamond gold connection in hartford connecticut. the diamond was purchased outside the store on a friendship bassis and came with an appraisal. a third party who was a jeweler help me pick a ring from several linda showed me. there was know doubt about what i purchased because the two jewelers disscussed the clarity and color duing the sell although i personally did not no the differences. in stones but, was looking for something better than comercial quality.
the appraisal that came with the ring states the stone is oval cut wieghing .45ct of vs clarity and H in color. this ring was given to a very nice lady i was going to marry and after a couple year engagement things did not work and i recieved the ring back. In March 2001 i took the ring in its origal setting to joel mcfadden designs and asked for an estimate to have the stone removed from the setting an installed into a new setting. i spoke to a deanne thompson she showed me rings she was wearing commenting on she only wears stones like the one i brought on the ring refferring to the clarity. finnally i agreed on a stuller hand engraved setting for my stone for a cost of approx 700 dollars. when i went to pick up the ring it could not be located and was not done because they misplaced the stone.
a coulpe days later it was found and set in the new setting and i asked for an appraisal. when i looked at the appraisal there seemed to be an 1000. dollar difference from the origal appraisal. i look for the origal appraisal and with no luck could not find at the time. then i thought maybe because the original ring setting had baguette cut diamonds also in the mount perhaps those baguettes made the difference. i also was unhappy about the 700.00 dollar setting because the band was papper thin and after complaining it was made thicker and looks out of round and poorly done but i did except it. In december of 2004 i found the origal appraisal and imediatly compaired the two and disscovered i had a different stone. i called the diamond gold connection and they said yes i was taken they even went further and gave me lindas phone # and i called her and she was so sure of what she sold me that she said i should go to mcfaddens and confront them. Linda said and diamond connection said they are sure there orginal appraisal was correct and you can not make that big of a mistake.
i went to deanne thompson/letourneau and showed her the two appraisals. she justified it at first by saying that she was harsh on the apprisal because she was new at it at the time and would be happy to re appraise it and perhaps she had slight errors in the first appraisal. she change her kl color I clarity jl color si 1-2 clarity and increased the appraisal my 700 dollars thinking this was going to satisfy me. after speaking with the another jewler i asked mcfaddens to buy it back. when i called joel Mcfadden answered himself saying they are not interested in buying the ring. latter deanne thompson called leaving a message that i could have store credit for the diamond itself but not the gold. i never returned the call but really do not know what to do. i have a ring now that is a couple grades lower than i origanally had and it also includes a crstal beneath its table.
Richard
millersfalls, Massachusetts
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Joel
Greenfield,Massachusetts,
U.S.A.
I am unaware of this customer.
#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Tue, April 19, 2005
I have no memory of this customer or there complaint. I wish to attempt to respond to all complaints, and hope that Richard contact me directly and in person. If he has a valid complaint I will remedy it.
Our company makes every effort to respond to valid complaints as quickly as possible. Since the stone was origionaly purchased from an individual and we do not know the quality or credentials of the origional appraisal I must at this point consider it invalid. Furthermore unless the appraisal has a serial number on it that matches a serial number on the stone, we have no way of knowing that the appraisel from Conn. belongs to the diamond in question. I have been a jeweler for 35 years and would never tarnish my reputation by switching stones. I believe that is the most unethical of actions.
As for our credentials I have been a member of the regional Jewelers of America board and Dee our appraiser is a Graduate Gemologist from GIA.
As the other poster stated it is unlikely that any buisness would risk there reputation or legal action for such a small amount.
As a jeweler what I do see is the difference in grading by the different labs and different appraisers. I also feel that there is a great deal of overstating of values by appraisals given out when stones are sold. While this makes the purchaser feel like they got a great deal, it often causes problems later. Our company only issues replacment appraisels. In other words we always appraise the value at what we are willing to replace a piece for.
As for the customers suggestion that we buy the ring from them. We do not buy jewelry and I do not understand how buying the ring would satisfy the problem. I suggest we send the diamond to a third party lab and determine which appraisal is correct. I would also like to see the origional appraisal and would like evidence that the diamond brought to us was infact the one in the mentioned appraisal.
Cory
San Antonio,Texas,
U.S.A.
My Two Cents A jeweler isn't going to risk his reputation for a couple of hundred bucks
#3Consumer Comment
Tue, March 29, 2005
I think it unlikely that a jeweler would switch a .45ct oval. In 23 years in the business I've heard of it being done one time. You state you purchased the stone in 96 and got it back a couple of years later after "an engagement that didn't work out". If an appraisal had been done, after the stone had been returned to you, I might look harder. That was not done. You can't say whether or not you got the original stone back to begin with. As a side, the wholesale cost between the the two grades of stone is $300 to $400. A jeweler isn't going to risk his reputation for a couple of hundred bucks. It's not worth it when you're dealing with tens of thousands of dollars worth of goods each week. Another thing that I wonder about is that you state "it was bought outside the store on a friendship basis". I don't quite know what that means.