Gem Shopping Network
Reviews and Complaints

An item I purchased turned out to be of disappointing quality and was returned to the company. Gem Shopping acknowledges getting the returned item on Jan. 14, 2009 I was told that I would get a refund after 60 days. I have called customer service numerous times to see when the promised refund might be forthcoming. Each time I get a vague response and am now told that it may take up to 90 days. My advice is not to get involved with this company unless you want to go into the free loan business. Obviously, they use your money to fund operations and refund only when they are absolutely forced. So far, I have filed with the Better Business Bureau, the FCC and will contact the Govenors Office of Consumer Affairs tomorrow ( State of Georgia). What does it take? Isn't this exactly what Bernie Madoff did? Used money he took in to fund a house of cards? At this point, I'll be shocked if I ever see the money. Buyer BEWARE!

Please let me preface this complaint by giving a brief history of purchases made with GSN. I purchased approximately $25, 000 in jewelry with them in about a two-month period. I had to keep sending a majority of the jewelry back because it simply was not of the quality you would expect when spending thousands of dollars on such items. Up until recently I considered them to be the premier on-air gem shopping retailer.

I purchased a yellow sapphire ring costing $2, 975 plus $38.85 in shipping along with a pair of earring for $900 plus $18.85 shipping. The total was $3, 932, 70. I had house credit with them for $3, 615.50 and they charged the difference to my credit card. I was unable to wear the ring as it was too wide and extremely uncomfortable on the hand. The earrings were flimsy and cheaply made.

Prior to returning the two items, I purchased a $14, 000 yellow sapphire ring as I thought it would be a better fit and more comfortable on the hand. I explained this the man in the Customer Service Department, who was curt and short with me. It has been my experience that the men who work in the GSN customer service department are the most unfriendly and difficult to work with. I returned the first two initial items immediately and waited for the new yellow sapphire. I received a notice from Federal Express that the package had arrived. I went to pick it up that evening and was informed by Fedex that GSN had the item pulled and instructed Fedex to return it to them. I paid for an item and GSN, out of vindictiveness, took an item back from me without even giving me any sort of notice or explanation. I called to inquire about the ring and I was brushed off by Customer Service. They acted like "there's not much you can do about so too bad."

In the meantime, I waited to be reimbursed for the items returned to them. I opened credit card statement and had been refunded fifteen cents. I had to place a dispute with my credit card company and am awaiting full reimbursement.

GSN is always willing sell you jewelry, however when items of poor quality and workmanship are returned at what they deem to be at "unacceptable return ratio" they will ban you from further purchases and then not allow you to have an item that was legitimately purchased in good faith.

I am now shopping with Americas Value Channel and have spent nearly $100, 000 with them. I have returned a few items as would be expected, however I have always been treated with kindness, respect and honesty.

Gem Shopping is extremely slow in posting a credit to your charge card for merchandise that is returned. They keep telling me that they have to make sure that the returned item is ok and that since they have gone to broadcasting 24hours 7 days a week, they have really increased their workload, so they are sorry for the delay.

Well, when you purchase an item that has a pretty high dollar amount it is frustrating to have to watch your credit card charge you interest on that outstanding balance month after month. The credit amount Gem Shopping will refund you is only for the amount of the item purchased, so you are still strapped with the postage you paid to get the item shipped to you and then for the postage to send it back and on top of that now you are building finance charges on a balance that you thought was going to be cleared quickly.

According to their Return Policy there is a very small window of opportunity to get a Return Authorization number after receiving an item. It must be within 7 days of receipt. I've complied with their rules. I got my Return Authorization numbers and I've got the UPS tracking details that show when the items were received back by Gem Shopping. So I know exactly how long they have been in possession of the returned item. I've even seen one of the items I returned already displayed for sale again. It was a very distinctive bracelet so it was easy to spot. I've talked with their customer service and mentioned this to them. I've sent e-mails requesting that someone look in to the items that I've returned. I realize that I'm not one of their big spenders but over the past couple of years I have spent thousands of dollars and it is disappointing that they don't react as quickly as other companies when managing returns.

As I have been waiting for my credits to post I have continued to watch and purchase other items and it seemed interesting that the person on the phone would ask if I wanted to use my Store Credit...which leads me to believe that is part of the game they are playing. They keep the cash flow going by not running refunds quickly and encouraging customers to just use the credit balance they already have.

To their credit...on their invoice under the Return Policy they state 'Pending an approved inspection and validation of your returned item(s), your credit should appear on your statement within one to two billing cycles.'

However, I've had a couple of items returned as early as November 26, 2008 and as recent as January 16, 2009 and as of today, March 5, 2009, I have yet to see a credit for any of these items on my credit card.