Menu
Login
On january 25, 2011 my husband purchased a diamond necklace from diamonds international in costa maya, mexico store number 723. He was told and given an appraisal form which confirms what he was told by the sales lady. He was purchasing one diamond necklace set in 14 karat white gold, the cut was round brilliant, carat was 0.95, color g, clarity s.2, valued at $2, 370.00 us dollars. When we arrived home after vacation I took it in to our local jewler who is a trained jewler and gemologist (g.I. A.) for him to complete an apprasial. His appraisal was the follow: diamond pendant is 4 prong basket style with attached v bail. Pendant is suspended on 18" link chain (1.2gr). Diamond measures 4.82 x (depth) 3.04mm. And has large feather across edge of table. Qualities cut round brilliant #3, color g-h clarity i1 and carat weight.44 carat. Value excluding any taxes $985.00 for the pendant and $275.00 for the chain, total $1, 260.00. This appraisal was performed on january 28, 2011, I attempted to contact diamonds international and all I was able to do was leave a message. No one contacted me back. I called on january 29th, 2011 and they were closed, I called on jan 31, 2011 and they were closed. Finally on febuary 2, 2011 I was able to speak to a paulina, she confirmed via the phone that I had purchased a.95 carat diamond necklace because that is what the appraisal form from diamonds international stated. I told her no, this was fraud and false advertising and I wanted a full refund. She said she would have to contact a manager and get back to me.in the mean time she needed an appraisal in writing with a business card from my jewler. On feb 12, 2011 I faxed and mailed the appraisal form to paulina and while I waited for the appraisal to be completed I also contacted our credit card company (gm card).in the beginning they were all willing to help, but once I sent them the appraisal form, they didn't like the wording on it. They wanted all the paragraphs placed in their wording. Why didn't they tell me that in the first place. I called diamonds international daily wanting to know what was going on, never got through to anyone, I left numerous messages and sent a complaint letter. Finally I received a phone call in late feb from paulina and she said I needed to mail back the necklace, I had to pay to mail it back and she told me to make sure I placed insurance on it. I asked to be reimbursed for shipping and insurance and she said yes she would. I mailed back the necklace the very next day. I waited four days and called, didn't get through to paulina, I left a message, she called back and said she hadn't received it yet, but the mail went through a couple different departments before it came to her. What I found was interesting, the company claims to have their headquarters in new york, new york. I mailed the necklace to new york. Paulina claimed to be in costa maya and just the call center was in new york, what a joke! It's march now and paulina said she needed to send the necklace to the costa maya store where it was purchased to ensure that yes I returned the necklace I had purchased, this process took the entire month. I called and emailed daily as the credit card company was on my case to pay my $2, 370.00 bill from january. I thought credit card companies were suppose to assist in situations such as this but they do not. Time to find a new credit card company. Finally on march 29th 2011 I received an email stating my full refund had gone through, it was in spanish so I am not fully sure if it did go through, the credit card company has not seen it yet. I asked paulina for an approval code to give the credit card company and she wasn't able to do that. So I am still waiting for a refund. Please do not purchase anything from this company they are out to screw people over and screw them over good.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Claire's Stores
14 reviews
Epic Watch Bands / Epic Industries
3 reviews
Glamood
10 reviews
I Love Jewelry Auctions
19 reviews
ZinvoWatches / Zinvo
2 reviews
In May 2009, while on a cruise visiting Antigua, I went to Diamonds International. They came highly recommended by the cruise line. I had always wanted a 5 stone anniversary ring, and we were celebrating out 30th wedding anniversary. The salesman showed me a few rings in the $1500 range. I asked him what the color of the stones were and he said (H-I). I asked if he had anything in an E or F color. I wanted to stay close to the color of my engagement ring, which is an E. He brought me over to a case that had Hearts on Fire diamonds and he showed me a beautiful ring that cost $4400. I asked him the color and he said "F". I told him that it was nice, but it was too much money. He said that they don't discount HOF but he would see what he could do. He came back saying that he could take $400. off. I told him I would think about it and left the store. About an hour later my husband went back and looked at the ring. He decided that he would try to get it a little lower in price. He was able to get it down to $3600. He again asked the salesman the color and was told again that it was an "F". He purchased the ring. When we went back to the store to pick it up after having it sized, the salesman gave us the bill of sale we read it and it said "F" color. The salesman handed me the bag with the box and told me that the HOF appraisal was in the bag. We left the store and went back to the ship. The following day, as we were packing I looked at the appraisal for HOF and it clearly stated "H-I" color. When we got home we took the ring to an independent GIA appraiser and found that the HOF appraisal was correct. The worst part was that the ring was only appraised for $3200.
The salesman sold us a ring, knowing full well that the quality was not what we wanted. He put the appraisal in the bag so that we didn't see it knowing that our ship was sailing soon and did not have time to look it over. Fortunately, the insurance company that was listed on the cruise lines paperwork helped us get back a full refund. I will never shop at Diamonds International, whether it be on an island or on-line. Buyer Beware!
KOBICLEO: In the future DO NOT purchase any solitaire diamonds that are UNCERTIFIED and to let you know HEARTS ON FIRE DIAMONDS do have discounts BUT not for the jewelry consumer.
I'm a REAL ONLINE PERSONAL JEWELRY DESIGNER, JEWELRY BROKER, AND JEWELRY CONSULTANT who's also a GRADUATE GEMOLOGIST.
I'm glad you were able to get a refund of your purchase because you were certainly entitled to one due to the FRAUDULENT TRANSACTION that was made by the jewelry salesperson and you.
I don't sell UNCERTIFIED DIAMONDS over 1/2ct because i feel when my online customers want a single diamond 1/2ct and larger they want to be assured they're getting what they pay for, and i like to make sure they do by selling them GIA, EGL, or AGS CERTIFIED DIAMONDS.
I hope this comment helps you out and if you have any questions for me feel free to contact me.
Thank You!
James The Jeweler
http://jamesunder900.ecrater.com
http://jamesisajeweler.blogspot.com
A salesman that lies? Thats impossible!
You are a ### to buy diamonds at retails prices.
i have been ripped off too by Diamonds International. I don't have the energy to fight them as I have read so many people get no where. $11500 US down the drain. I have a ring with poor quality diamond that are all loose. I cannot wear it unless I have the entire ring remade at approx $2000. I wish the cruise companies could be sued for using the shopping people to persuade innocent tourists to buy from their recommended scam jewellers. I hope they rot!
As I posted elsewhere, I'm just starting off with my return to DI but I'm not getting a good feeling about it thus far. I'm not getting returned calls/emails for days and no one will discuss the actual return of my ring but that they will fix it... at a cost to me for the lost stone (on a ring that was less than 30 days old). I will go out of my way to let others know not to buy from these guys. And the cruise lines are unethical in promoting this kind of garbage.
MY HUSBAND PAID $13, 200, for a Crown of Light ring, 2.75 total carats, a chip fell out shortly after returning home, the ring was purchased last feb. while cruising the carribean
shop@DI in New York was contacted and I was assured it was Insured and proceeded to send it for them to repair it, / w/ their label, long story, basically, in the end, the ring which Fed/Ex was the carrier, according to DI arrived empty, It's one big mess, basically my husband is still owing 7500 and DI says package was empty, and Fed/Ex says DI did not properly instruct me how to mail it. DI says it was my fault, Fed/Ex says it was DI's fault, my husband is still paying for a ring which disappeared, yes, I felt stupid mailing such an expensive ring, this has caused tons of distress to me, I'm hiring a lawyer and will go after them all, this is principle for me. Big Time, They at DI DO NOT CARE, FED/EX DOES NOT CARE, IT's NOT over, this is NOT OVER
I've been dealing with BELLA which is a supervisor, she is totally worthless. We purchased a crown of light and had it put in one of their settings and the very next day I lost one of the stones and there is currently another one missing, we spend almost $24, 000 dollars on this ring. I would write to the CEO of the cruise line and let them know what happened. I am in the process of writing to Carnival Cruise Lines about my experience with these people. DO A SEARCH FOR DIAMONDS INTERNATIONAL COMPLAINTS and you will see all kinds of stuff. I am going to post on every website I can find and I am going to comment on all YOUTUBE videos and I am going to post on the Cruise Lines website under FUNVILLE. I suggest EVERYONE that has had a bad experience with this company POST everywhere you can to get the word out there.