what should i do regarding this vent?

last week, i posted a vent about a vendor who over-charged FH and I ... when we confronted that vendor, he was extremely nasty to us. The following day, FH spoke to the vendor briefly (without me) and the vendor told him 'don't listen to your fiance, listen to what i'm saying!' ...

i'm ready to share the full details now and ask for advice (i didn't want to give out the vendor info before ... it's a long story).

The vendor is the store where FH bought my engagement ring. I still don't want to post the jeweler's name but it's a complete no-name place in Freeport (they don't even have a website). Apparently, this is the jeweler FH's family always uses.

Anyway, I got my e-ring appraised last week (it was actually the first chance i had to do this since there were things wrong with the e-ring and the jeweler didn't have these things fixed until a week and a half ago) and it was appraised for $700 less than what FH paid. When i asked the appraiser if the amount FH paid was still considered fair, she said 'oh no no no no no ... that's waaay too much'.

When FH and I spoke to the jeweler, he kept saying how the price FH paid was amazing, especially because his appraised value was $3500 more than we paid. Jeweler refuses to believe that the appraisal i got is valid.

at this point, i'm so annoyed with this whole situation that i want a full refund (Jeweler is happy because he can re-sell this ring at his inflated price ... and i can get the ring for much less elsewhere) but since the ring is already bought and paid for, i have no idea how likely that is to happen. he did mis-represent the ring since he showed FH a high appraisal price ... and i did take it to be appraised as soon as i could have so he can't blame the fact that we waited so long

so do i have a leg to stand on or am i wasting my time? i will take this guy to court if need be ...

Thanks and sorry for the long vent.

ps: this guy is SOOOO nasty to deal with ... he is rude and inconsiderate and refuses to listen to anything you have to say ... he also said to me 'honey, i know more about diamonds than you'll know in your entire life' (which is especially wrong of him to say because i had already told him not to call me honey)

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Posted by cateydee

do you think you should get it appraised elswhere just to make sure?

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Well, i asked the original appraiser what the price diff between her appraisal and other peoples' would be ... she said that they would not be more than $300-ish different. Getting it appraised cost me $125 (and about an hour of my time) ... i don't really want to do it again unless the jeweler pays for it

i'm sorry that you overpaid but unfortunately i think you're probably stuck with the ring unless you can prove he fraudulently induced you to purchase the ring (i.e. tricked you into thinking it was worth more than it was)... otherwise stores like saks and neiman wouldn't be in business!

as far as appraisals go... my ring was appraised at $10k more than FH paid... it just means that its more valuable than the market price (which in some ways is good for you if you have it insured and its lost or stolen, depending on how you have it insured). i wouldn't base an assessment of value on an appraisal.

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Posted by pipermaru

i'm sorry that you overpaid but unfortunately i think you're probably stuck with the ring unless you can prove he fraudulently induced you to purchase the ring (i.e. tricked you into thinking it was worth more than it was)... otherwise stores like saks and neiman wouldn't be in business!

as far as appraisals go... my ring was appraised at $10k more than FH paid... it just means that its more valuable than the market price (which in some ways is good for you if you have it insured and its lost or stolen, depending on how you have it insured). i wouldn't base an assessment of value on an appraisal.

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actually thats a good point that i forgot about. the jewwelrey is usually appraised for more than its worth. my moms in insurance and she said thats common. mine was appraised for 3K more than it was worth (i think-im just guessing on how much FH paid)

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Posted by cateydee
the jewwelrey is usually appraised for more than its worth.

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but that's my main problem .... FH paid more than the appraised value

I don't know how to prove that we were mis-led about the value ... we have the jeweler's appraisal which says the ring is worth about $3500 more than FH paid ... does that count? isn't there a 30 day guarantee or anything? bleh!

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Posted by AwaitingAugust

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Posted by cateydee
the jewwelrey is usually appraised for more than its worth.

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but that's my main problem .... FH paid more than the appraised value

I don't know how to prove that we were mis-led about the value ... we have the jeweler's appraisal which says the ring is worth about $3500 more than FH paid ... does that count? isn't there a 30 day guarantee or anything? bleh!

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do you have anything in writing about the specs (i.e. the 4 c's) that he claims he gave you and thats why he charged you $x but when you had it appraised it turned out that it wasn't true and therefore they were appraising it for a lower amount?

for example, maybe there was an imperfection or the diamond was of a lower quality than the jeweler represented

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Posted by pipermaru

do you have anything in writing about the specs (i.e. the 4 c's) that he claims he gave you and thats why he charged you $x but when you had it appraised it turned out that it wasn't true and therefore they were appraising it for a lower amount?

for example, maybe there was an imperfection or the diamond was of a lower quality than the jeweler represented

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This is worth looking into. Did you get a diamond gia report with it's characteristics (always get one!) If the c's were misrepresented, that is definitely something you can fight. Otherwise, I think you may be bound by his return policy...does he have a money back guarantee for X amount of days???

I'm sorry you have to deal with this

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Posted by pipermaru
do you have anything in writing about the specs (i.e. the 4 c's) that he claims he gave you and thats why he charged you $x but when you had it appraised it turned out that it wasn't true and therefore they were appraising it for a lower amount?

for example, maybe there was an imperfection or the diamond was of a lower quality than the jeweler represented

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Yes, i have the GIA papers for the diamond ... the jeweler and the appraiser both had the same paper.

ETA: the diamond was not misrepresented (it matched the GIA paper)

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Posted by AwaitingAugust

Yes, i have the GIA papers for the diamond ... the jeweler and the appraiser both had the same paper.

ETA: the diamond was not misrepresented (it matched the GIA paper)

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Then my next question is - what kind of appraiser did you go to? Another jeweler or an independant appraiser.

It is recommended to go to an independent appraiser (one who has nothing to do with buying or selling diamonds) because they don't benefit from inflating or deflating the price.

for example, another jeweler may lowball the appraised value to get you to return and buy from them. on the other end of the spectrum, your jeweler has motive to jack up the appraisal because that is in his best interest to sell the diamond for 'a steal'.

That is the only thing i can think of for the vast difference in appraisal for a diamond which both jeweler agree on the characteristics!

I got it appraised at an independent appraiser ...

the a$$ jeweler, when he found out that it was appraised at such a low value, said 'i can re-appraise it for you and write whatever number you want!' ....

but my problem is not that i want to have a good number for insurance purposes ... i just want to know that we got what we paid for!