- Report: #438302
Complaint Review: Diamonds International - New York New York
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Diamonds International
38 West 48th Street, 4th Floor New York, 10036 New York, U.S.A.
Phone:
800-515-3935
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Diamonds International Fraud misresentation New York New York
On December 28, 2008 I went on a cruise on the Carnival Pride to the Mexican Riviera. This was the first time I had gone away since my retirement in July 2008.
While on the ship I took a gemology class on how and where to buy diamonds as I had always wanted a precious stone and felt this would afford me the opportunity to go about the purchase in a knowledgeable way. While on the ship, we were told to only buy at the recommended stores in Mexico. The Cruise Line recommended Diamonds International in Cabo San Lucas as the #1 guaranteed place, the safest place to be trusted in diamond purchases.
As mentioned above, I was recently retired and always wanted a special diamond. I went to Diamonds International in Cabo San Lucas, as suggested by the cruise line, and purchased my dream diamond. I was elated and so very happy. The stone was written up by Diamond International's Appraiser to be the following: Weight 2.66 carats; Color D-E; Clarity SI 2.
I paid $21,800.00 for the pear shaped stone in a platinum setting. I was so excited to buy the diamond, satisfying a life-long dream of mine. This was a huge purchase for me being single and 66 years old!
When I returned to Los Angeles and was reviewing my receipt, I noticed I had been charged an additional $50.00 that not had been mentioned to me. I thought that if the company charged an additional amount without explanation, I should have the ring appraised here in Los Angeles. I took the ring to a local jeweler - an objective 3rd party and had it appraised (appraisal # 20002936) by Sandy Horovitz, a graduate gemologist and certified appraiser. The appraiser's CP# 3732207. He removed the stone and weighed it in front of me. He gave the following appraisal: Weight 2.60; Clarity 1.1; Color F.
After the appraisal he told me that Diamonds International had over appraised the ring. He said all 3 categories were below the original appraisal. It was appraised at $13,000.00, not $21,800. I was devastated! Shocked! Wondered if it could possibly be a scam!
Immediately, I called Visa and asked them to put this item in dispute. I was informed that they had already paid the bill, but that they would review my case and let me know their decision. They were to send me a form; which they did and I promptly filled out and returned it.
I called Diamonds International based in New York and spoke to Isaac. Asking his last name, he refused to give it to me. Isaac asked me to FAX all appraisal information from the Los Angeles appraiser to him. My bank supervisor did this for me as I do not have a FAX machine and Isaac said he never received the FAX, The bank supervisor gave me proof of FAX showing it was sent and received by Diamonds International in New York.
Since then I have asked Isaac several times for an address where I could send the ring. He gave me no information and has not returned my repeated phone calls.
This has left me feeling inferior as a person not good enough to know the last name of the person in charge at a supposedly large company. I finally, in my frustration, hired an attorney, as I am no longer able to handle this bizarre situation myself. From my attorney, I was informed that Isaac Klugman may be the man's name in New York. There is an Isaac Klugman who is the Vice President of the company. I feel this man, Isaac Klugman, is the man responsible for me getting to the point of stress and upset that led me to this legal path. If people like Isaac Klugman were investigated more thoroughly by the Cruise Line or his company perhaps this rip-off may not have happened.
I feel ripped-off by Isaac Klugman and Diamonds International in dealing with him and this whole experience. It has been a nightmare that this man and his large diamond company will not give me credit for my ring, which was a misrepresentation of the original purchase. I feel cheated and taken that my hard earned retirement money went to purchase a quality ring instead - in this ugly situation!
Sandi
Manhattan Beach, California
U.S.A.
While on the ship I took a gemology class on how and where to buy diamonds as I had always wanted a precious stone and felt this would afford me the opportunity to go about the purchase in a knowledgeable way. While on the ship, we were told to only buy at the recommended stores in Mexico. The Cruise Line recommended Diamonds International in Cabo San Lucas as the #1 guaranteed place, the safest place to be trusted in diamond purchases.
As mentioned above, I was recently retired and always wanted a special diamond. I went to Diamonds International in Cabo San Lucas, as suggested by the cruise line, and purchased my dream diamond. I was elated and so very happy. The stone was written up by Diamond International's Appraiser to be the following: Weight 2.66 carats; Color D-E; Clarity SI 2.
I paid $21,800.00 for the pear shaped stone in a platinum setting. I was so excited to buy the diamond, satisfying a life-long dream of mine. This was a huge purchase for me being single and 66 years old!
When I returned to Los Angeles and was reviewing my receipt, I noticed I had been charged an additional $50.00 that not had been mentioned to me. I thought that if the company charged an additional amount without explanation, I should have the ring appraised here in Los Angeles. I took the ring to a local jeweler - an objective 3rd party and had it appraised (appraisal # 20002936) by Sandy Horovitz, a graduate gemologist and certified appraiser. The appraiser's CP# 3732207. He removed the stone and weighed it in front of me. He gave the following appraisal: Weight 2.60; Clarity 1.1; Color F.
After the appraisal he told me that Diamonds International had over appraised the ring. He said all 3 categories were below the original appraisal. It was appraised at $13,000.00, not $21,800. I was devastated! Shocked! Wondered if it could possibly be a scam!
Immediately, I called Visa and asked them to put this item in dispute. I was informed that they had already paid the bill, but that they would review my case and let me know their decision. They were to send me a form; which they did and I promptly filled out and returned it.
I called Diamonds International based in New York and spoke to Isaac. Asking his last name, he refused to give it to me. Isaac asked me to FAX all appraisal information from the Los Angeles appraiser to him. My bank supervisor did this for me as I do not have a FAX machine and Isaac said he never received the FAX, The bank supervisor gave me proof of FAX showing it was sent and received by Diamonds International in New York.
Since then I have asked Isaac several times for an address where I could send the ring. He gave me no information and has not returned my repeated phone calls.
This has left me feeling inferior as a person not good enough to know the last name of the person in charge at a supposedly large company. I finally, in my frustration, hired an attorney, as I am no longer able to handle this bizarre situation myself. From my attorney, I was informed that Isaac Klugman may be the man's name in New York. There is an Isaac Klugman who is the Vice President of the company. I feel this man, Isaac Klugman, is the man responsible for me getting to the point of stress and upset that led me to this legal path. If people like Isaac Klugman were investigated more thoroughly by the Cruise Line or his company perhaps this rip-off may not have happened.
I feel ripped-off by Isaac Klugman and Diamonds International in dealing with him and this whole experience. It has been a nightmare that this man and his large diamond company will not give me credit for my ring, which was a misrepresentation of the original purchase. I feel cheated and taken that my hard earned retirement money went to purchase a quality ring instead - in this ugly situation!
Sandi
Manhattan Beach, California
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Brian
Manhattan Beach,California,
U.S.A.
Some things you need to appreciate
#2Author of original report
Wed, April 01, 2009
Dear Sandi: First, please know I am so sympathetic to your plight. To advance the discussion I want you to know you are wrong about one thing, Diamonds International is not the way it is because of a big mean unsympathetic corporate culture. I can well imagine that because of their unbending policy it might seem that way. The company is family owned as an LLC or closely held corporation. It is a big company though, and does, according to one of their reps I spoke to this morning, Isaac H., possibly Issac Hecht, about One Billion Dollars in annual gross sales. The names of the owners almost never come up in any of the many places to find complaints (Rip-off Reports is just a small tip of the iceberg.) Also, try Complaints.com, Complaints board.com, Cruisecritic.com, Jewelryblogger.com (Jewelry News), NYTimes.com Anemona Hartocollis staff writer, Rapaport News,Tripadvisor.com and others. In fact, just Google, Fraud Diamonds International New York and see the above-listed results and many other forums reporting the same pattern you see here. I don't know when it happened, but in my opinion, at some point making money and succeeding in America changed. The business model in America became not about service to the communityIt became about enticing people into bad decisions. Look at the sub-prime mortgage industry as a prime example. The richest most successful entrepreneurs in America sell candy of all sorts. The scammers exploit the fact that, although we all want candy, too much injudicious consumption is not good for you. Almost all bad decisions about finances have two things in common-- greed and trust. Trust carries with it riskscan anyone say, Madoff made off with the money easily due to blind trust.? This trend is one reason Rip-Off Reports is so valuable. Let's take the diamond industry and the world in which DI operates for a second. A definition of service in this industry would be providing good quality at reasonable prices-not getting people in a captive setting and enticing them to overspend on inferior products. The former is old America; the latter is the new America. How so? What does the biggest most successful diamond company in the Caribbean do? It leases space on booze cruises with Carnival Cruise Lines, etc., through a company called PPI Sleep Services, gives classes in diamond buying on board and then advises of recommended stores (to avoid being taken advantage of) at various ports of call. The intermediary that leases the cruise ship space for the classes creates a legal buffer for the cruise line. Many people complain to Carnival but for the most part, it can disavow making a recommendation or falsely advertising or guaranteeing the reputation of the merchant. You see legally, its not really the cruise line making the recommendation-it's the companies they hire out space to on the ship. Those companies are basically name- dropping the cruise line operator because the customers don't appreciate that the recommendation is not coming from the cruise lineit is just being made on the cruise.
