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#1
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experience with Gary Weiss Jewelry47
Hello,
I wanted to post my experience purchasing from Gary Weiss Jewelry / Jeweler in NYC, also called Jewelry47 on eBay. I am a consumer (not a business) who found Gary through eBay. He did not have the exact ring I wanted listed on eBay so I contacted him about making a ring. After several emails with Gary, I purchased a diamond eternity band - unfortunately, the experience was not as expected. I made sure that my correspondence with Gary was in writing and he still did not deliver on the terms we had agreed to: 1) Gary promised a ring of G color diamonds, VS clarity. Upon receiving the ring, I immediately had it appraised - the diamonds in the ring turned out to be I and J color and SI clarity - with plenty of chipped stones, which could easily be seen under a lens. 2) Gary promised a ring of 1.60 total carat weight. The estimated carat weight from the appraiser was only .9 carats. 3) Gary promised a 7-day return policy with a full refund (exactly the same as his return policy on eBay). I returned the ring within 7 days of receiving it, sent via FedEx with proof of signature from his office. This was on July 9, 2004. I have yet to see my refund. Since then, I have had numerous emails and calls with Gary - he has offered excuse after excuse about why he has not gotten to the refund. He even emailed me that he would process my refund on July 20. He then said he hadn't been able to do it and that he would do it "tomorrow" or "next Monday" or "in 4-7 days". Repeated stalling. It is now August 14 and I no longer have the ring, nor do I have my money. On the phone, Gary is very well-mannered, soft-spoken and a seemingly really nice guy. Even when pressed, he sounds so sweet and apologetic, almost "fumbling" so that you feel bad for him. Before purchasing, I checked all of his reviews on eBay - he has hundreds of positive reviews. I am guessing that these folks are not having the items they purchase from him appraised. Or possibly I just happened to get a bad deal from him. Either way, I am working with my credit card company to dispute the charges and I expect to be reimbursed for this eventually. When I did a Google search on Gary Weiss before making my purchase, I could not find anything about him other than the eBay listings. I am posting this now for others that might be doing research and considering purchasing from him. My advice is, of course, not to buy from Gary Weiss / Jewelry47. But if you do, I offer the following tips: 1) Have the item appraised. Make sure you are getting what was represented. 3) Pay by credit card, so that you have a way to dispute the charge if things don't go well. If you send a money order or cashier's check and then return the item, you will have a much harder time getting your money back. 4) Conduct your business in writing as much as possible. If you do have to dispute the charge on your credit card, you will need documentation to prove everything. Best wishes, Victoria C. |
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#2
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Hi.
I've never purchased anything from that seller. I'm surprised what you bought was misrepresented, seems like that seller is one of the big boys out there that plays honest. Just recently I purchased 2, 3-stone diamond rings. Both were misrepresented, had both certified. I notified the seller, she immedialtey refunded my payment. Your advice about using your credit card is correct. Since this seller of yours has a business in NY, maybe you can see him in person? it's up to you. he'll have a surprise look on his face if you show up unexpected. you can file a complaint report with the Better Business Bureau in NY, I would. Best wishes Lawrence L. "VC" wrote in message ... Hello, I wanted to post my experience purchasing from Gary Weiss Jewelry / Jeweler in NYC, also called Jewelry47 on eBay. I am a consumer (not a business) who found Gary through eBay. He did not have the exact ring I wanted listed on eBay so I contacted him about making a ring. After several emails with Gary, I purchased a diamond eternity band - unfortunately, the experience was not as expected. I made sure that my correspondence with Gary was in writing and he still did not deliver on the terms we had agreed to: 1) Gary promised a ring of G color diamonds, VS clarity. Upon receiving the ring, I immediately had it appraised - the diamonds in the ring turned out to be I and J color and SI clarity - with plenty of chipped stones, which could easily be seen under a lens. 2) Gary promised a ring of 1.60 total carat weight. The estimated carat weight from the appraiser was only .9 carats. 3) Gary promised a 7-day return policy with a full refund (exactly the same as his return policy on eBay). I returned the ring within 7 days of receiving it, sent via FedEx with proof of signature from his office. This was on July 9, 2004. I have yet to see my refund. Since then, I have had numerous emails and calls with Gary - he has offered excuse after excuse about why he has not gotten to the refund. He even emailed me that he would process my refund on July 20. He then said he hadn't been able to do it and that he would do it "tomorrow" or "next Monday" or "in 4-7 days". Repeated stalling. It is now August 14 and I no longer have the ring, nor do I have my money. On the phone, Gary is very well-mannered, soft-spoken and a seemingly really nice guy. Even when pressed, he sounds so sweet and apologetic, almost "fumbling" so that you feel bad for him. Before purchasing, I checked all of his reviews on eBay - he has hundreds of positive reviews. I am guessing that these folks are not having the items they purchase from him appraised. Or possibly I just happened to get a bad deal from him. Either way, I am working with my credit card company to dispute the charges and I expect to be reimbursed for this eventually. When I did a Google search on Gary Weiss before making my purchase, I could not find anything about him other than the eBay listings. I am posting this now for others that might be doing research and considering purchasing from him. My advice is, of course, not to buy from Gary Weiss / Jewelry47. But if you do, I offer the following tips: 1) Have the item appraised. Make sure you are getting what was represented. 3) Pay by credit card, so that you have a way to dispute the charge if things don't go well. If you send a money order or cashier's check and then return the item, you will have a much harder time getting your money back. 4) Conduct your business in writing as much as possible. If you do have to dispute the charge on your credit card, you will need documentation to prove everything. Best wishes, Victoria C. |
#3
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I have made the ring to the exact specification of Victoria,the stones were
white and clean, she did get a refund,I hope to satisfy all my customers,I missed with this one. IF YOU VISIT MY SITE http://stores.ebay.com/Jewelry47-GAR...S-INC-Diamonds AND MY FEEDBACK , YOU will see that everybody is happy with the merchandise that I deliver. GARY WEISS |
#4
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On Thu, 07 Oct 2004 18:01:39 -0700, in ôõ "gary0106" wrote:
I have made the ring to the exact specification of Victoria,the stones were white and clean, she did get a refund,I hope to satisfy all my customers,I missed with this one. IF YOU VISIT MY SITE http://stores.ebay.com/Jewelry47-GAR...S-INC-Diamonds AND MY FEEDBACK , YOU will see that everybody is happy with the merchandise that I deliver. GARY WEISS We, at least those of us reading this newsgroup who are jewelers, have no doubt all had occasions when customers were not happy, and as a graduate gemologist with some past experience in appraising, I know quite well that a written appraisal can estimate stones weight and color only within an approximate range once they are mounted. Nevertheless, I find it of concern that Victoria says she was promised a ring with 1.60 carats total weight, G color, and VS clarity, and the written independent appraisal she got estimated .90 carats total weight, I-J color, and SI stones with numbers of visible chips. That seems to me to suggest that one or more of of the following situations may be the case. I'd be curious to know which:: 1. Victoria's understanding of what she was to recieve was mistaken. This could be an initial misunderstanding from the beginning, or a case of, when picking up the ring, remembering a different promise than what was actually made. 2. Gary Weiss erred in how he described what she was to recieve, either intentionally or by mistake. 3. The appraiser is inept, improperly trained, much too "conservative", or for some reason the ring makes proper grading unusually difficult, and that the stones actually were G, VS clairity and weighed the promised 1.60 carats. I can see color grading being off if the mounting were yellow gold, but the difference between G and I-J is rather substantial. So is the weight difference. And even if diamonds start out as VS, if the setter chips half of them, you can't call them VS any more. So what were the actual grades and weight of the stones? This is a dicey situation, since there are many fine appraisers who's skills are quite sufficient to allow them much greater accuracy than this apparent discrepancy would suggest, but there are also some jewelers out there, not well qualified in appraising and improperly trained in gemology and appraisal science, who simply are not preparing an accurate appraisal. Some of the latter do it intentionally to "slam" competitors goods. So it would be useful to know the qualifications of the appraiser. Is this another retailer, or a true professional independent appraiser? In today's economy, and especially in an area like the highly competative jewelry district of New York, jewelers are under pressure to make sales and survive in business despite dealing with a public who belives they should get wholesale pricing even though they are retail customers. And there is compteition not just from discounters and internet sellers, but also those who occasionally will tell a customer whatever is needed to make the sale, even if untrue. So perhaps it's understandable that there are some retailers and salespeople who may be somewhat loose with gemological terms in describing the quality of their goods. There is a vast difference, for example, between promising diamonds that are "white and clean", (neither of which terms have any formal definitions in diamond grading) and telling a customer that their diamonds will be G color and VS clarity. In some cases, it's simply ignorance, where the jeweler making the claims does not actually have sufficient gemological training to understand that they are making a false promise. We, reading both the original complaint posting (which I've taken the liberty of copying at the end of this message, for those readers who's news servers may not still carry it) and this reply, are left wondering whether we're looking at a simple misunderstanding between two basically well meaning and reasonable people, or whether we're looking at the long suffering honest jeweler dealing with the customer from hell, or whether this is indeed a case of the honest trusting customer finding that the jeweler has attempted to cheat them. All three scenarios are possible. So which one, then, is it? Ebay feedback is all well and good, but it can be skewed a bit. people tend to post nice things in order to avoid negative feedback in return. And the average ebay buyer, like the average retail buyer in brick and morter stores, may not be equipped to know when they've been cheated. In a ring with set stones, how are they to know the weights are actually less than promised, or the color grade a grade or two lower than the paperwork says? If they don't pay to get an appraisal, how will they know? And how can we, reading Gary Weiss's ebay 'about me" page, or reaiding these two posts, know the truth? Some starters that would help would be further details. Does Gary Weiss or an employee have proper gemological training such that the business can actually check the quality of the goods they sell? Or are the the all too common "learned in the business" variety of self taught gem experts, who all too often get most of the info right, but don't quite understand it well enough to get it all. These are the sorts of folks who'll tell you that the GIA grades assigned by GIA trade labs are wrong or too strict, or the like, despite the fact that the grades themselves, and indeed the whole system, is one defined and invented by GIA... And some more info on who prepared the appraisal upon which the claimed discrepancy is based. Same questions. What is the training and qualfications, not just in gemology, but in appraising too (remember that a graduate gemologist diploma attests to training in gem grading and identification, but NOT in evaluation or pricing)? Is the appraiser independent, or is it someone who's also a retail jeweler, thus a competitor of Gary Weiss, with perhaps a vested interest in making the merchandise seem poorer quality than it is? And while I'm asking questions, why was the issue of a refund delayed as long as it was? Or are there aspects to the deal that are not mentioned in the original complaint posting? Peter Rowe here is the original posting to rec.crafts.jewelry by Victoria, to which Gary Weiss's post replied. From: (VC) To: Newsgroups: rec.crafts.jewelry Approved: pwrowe AT ix DOT netcom DOT com -- This is a MODERATED NEWSGROUP Subject: experience with Gary Weiss Jewelry47 Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2004 09:41:17 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Message-ID: X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 2.0/32.652 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Hello, I wanted to post my experience purchasing from Gary Weiss Jewelry / Jeweler in NYC, also called Jewelry47 on eBay. I am a consumer (not a business) who found Gary through eBay. He did not have the exact ring I wanted listed on eBay so I contacted him about making a ring. After several emails with Gary, I purchased a diamond eternity band - unfortunately, the experience was not as expected. I made sure that my correspondence with Gary was in writing and he still did not deliver on the terms we had agreed to: 1) Gary promised a ring of G color diamonds, VS clarity. Upon receiving the ring, I immediately had it appraised - the diamonds in the ring turned out to be I and J color and SI clarity - with plenty of chipped stones, which could easily be seen under a lens. 2) Gary promised a ring of 1.60 total carat weight. The estimated carat weight from the appraiser was only .9 carats. 3) Gary promised a 7-day return policy with a full refund (exactly the same as his return policy on eBay). I returned the ring within 7 days of receiving it, sent via FedEx with proof of signature from his office. This was on July 9, 2004. I have yet to see my refund. Since then, I have had numerous emails and calls with Gary - he has offered excuse after excuse about why he has not gotten to the refund. He even emailed me that he would process my refund on July 20. He then said he hadn't been able to do it and that he would do it "tomorrow" or "next Monday" or "in 4-7 days". Repeated stalling. It is now August 14 and I no longer have the ring, nor do I have my money. On the phone, Gary is very well-mannered, soft-spoken and a seemingly really nice guy. Even when pressed, he sounds so sweet and apologetic, almost "fumbling" so that you feel bad for him. Before purchasing, I checked all of his reviews on eBay - he has hundreds of positive reviews. I am guessing that these folks are not having the items they purchase from him appraised. Or possibly I just happened to get a bad deal from him. Either way, I am working with my credit card company to dispute the charges and I expect to be reimbursed for this eventually. When I did a Google search on Gary Weiss before making my purchase, I could not find anything about him other than the eBay listings. I am posting this now for others that might be doing research and considering purchasing from him. My advice is, of course, not to buy from Gary Weiss / Jewelry47. But if you do, I offer the following tips: 1) Have the item appraised. Make sure you are getting what was represented. 3) Pay by credit card, so that you have a way to dispute the charge if things don't go well. If you send a money order or cashier's check and then return the item, you will have a much harder time getting your money back. 4) Conduct your business in writing as much as possible. If you do have to dispute the charge on your credit card, you will need documentation to prove everything. Best wishes, Victoria C. |
#5
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I am happy to provide additional details regarding my experience with
Gary Weiss. --------------------------------- Every promise and specification of the ring I purchased was made in writing (via email) from Gary to me. I live in Chicago and Gary Weiss is in New York – I never met him in person nor did I visit his store. Because of this, I made sure that I had everything in writing and I saved every email. These are Gary's exact words from one email dated 6/23/04 – he provided a list of the specs of the ring: "shiny platinum" "the diamonds will be G color "VS clarity" "the width will be 2mm" There is no mistaking that I had all of the specs clearly documented from him. --------------------------------- I brought the ring to an independent appraiser in Chicago. Gary Weiss is in New York. The appraiser was not a retailer or jewelry company and isn't even in the same city market as Gary Weiss, so I believe he really had no reason to steer me wrong. I do not have his web site address on me now, but I recall that he had been in business for something like 20 years and had some certifications (sorry for being so un-technical), if that makes any difference. I can definitely get his web site address and find out his qualifications. The appraiser admitted to me that it is difficult to be exacting about specs when stones are in a setting. Even accounting for this leeway, he said that it was highly unlikely that the stones could be the size that was in the specs from Gary Weiss. Regarding the color, the setting was platinum (not yellow gold), so there shouldn't have been a serious discrepancy in color grading. He also let me look at the stones under the lens myself and it was CLEAR to see that multiple stones were chipped. There was no mistaking that. --------------------------------- I want to make clear that Gary Weiss did NOT give me my refund directly. I had to dispute the charge with my credit card company. I had to answer several questions, fill out forms and provide documentation to them. Luckily I had the documentation that showed I shipped the ring back via FedEx on 7/9/04 and it was signed for by someone at Gary Weiss's company. I also had every email from Gary promising the ring specs and his 7-day return policy. I even had an email from him promising that I would receive my refund by 7/20/04. I had another email from him promising "another 4-7 days". Once I gave all of this documentation to my credit card company in August, they investigated and they provided me with a credit on my account in September. The refund did not come directly from Gary Weiss – it clearly shows that on my statement and in the documentation they provided me. Had I not gone through the dispute process with my credit card company, would Gary have ever given me a refund or would he have kept my money and the ring? I don't know, but the facts are that I waited over 6 weeks and received multiple promises of a refund from him, with no actual refund. --------------------------------- Sure I was disappointed that the ring wasn't what I had paid for, but what really bothered me was that I could not get my money back from Gary Weiss. I specifically made sure he had a return policy (and got it in writing from him to prove it) before I purchased the ring. It is frustrating to have been promised a refund and to not receive it, even after multiple emails of promises. I was left without the merchandise and without my money. To hang onto both my money and the merchandise is just wrong. It makes you ask WHY? Why wouldn't he just provide the refund on 7/20/04 like he said he would? Why did I have to seek recourse from my credit card company? It was such a simple thing - he received the ring back from me on 7/9/04, he promised a refund by 7/20/04 (and subsequent promises thereafter) – so WHY wouldn't he just process the refund? That just doesn't make sense to me. Best wishes, Victoria |
#6
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Two years ago, I was working with a very good firm in the wholesale diamond business. This was right around the time just before his firm jewelry 47thst was thrown off ebay. Gary asked me for merchandise, and of course, I told my employer that I knew him for 30 years, and that he could be trusted. Mr. Weiss bought $250,000 worth of merchandise on my word to my employer. He started bouncing checks almost immediately, and he never paid us, with the exception of several thousand dollars. Needless to say, he cost me one of the best jobs I ever had. The man does it with a gentle smile, and has no conscience whatsover. Jewelry 47 th was thrown into Chapter 11 first, than chapter 7 after it was determined that the firm had no assets. It's amazing that in less than 60 days, a forensic accountant concluded there were no assets. Included in the lawsuits flying back and forth were several suppliers that he did not pay, and customers that paid, and never got merchandise, including an attorney from North Carolina through jewelry 47th on ebay. If you want to do business with Blue Gem or Mr. Weiss, I suggest you read this blog before you do. |
#7
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Quote:
Two years ago, I was working with a very good firm in the wholesale diamond business. This was right around the time just before his firm jewelry 47thst was thrown off ebay. Gary asked me for merchandise, and of course, I told my employer that I knew him for 30 years, and that he could be trusted. Mr. Weiss bought $250,000 worth of merchandise on my word to my employer. He started bouncing checks almost immediately, and he never paid us, with the exception of several thousand dollars. Needless to say, he cost me one of the best jobs I ever had. The man does it with a gentle smile, and has no conscience whatsover. Jewelry 47 th was thrown into Chapter 11 first, than chapter 7 after it was determined that the firm had no assets. It's amazing that in less than 60 days, a forensic accountant concluded there were no assets. Included in the lawsuits flying back and forth were several suppliers that he did not pay, and customers that paid, and never got merchandise, including an attorney from North Carolina through jewelry 47th on ebay. If you want to do business with Blue Gem or Mr. Weiss, I suggest you read this blog before you do. |
#8
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I purchased a PadParadscha Fancy Sapphire ring from Gary Weiss in 2008 that was listed as being 4.65 Cts. The accompanying appraisal report stating the same; 4.65 Cts. Recently, when seeking another appraisal the PadParadscha Sapphire was determined to be 3.74 Cts. PadParadsha sapphires are very rare/expensive so a difference in almost a ct is substantial. The measurements on the appraisal from Gary Weiss were incorrect also.
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#9
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#10
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I too had a similar experience with Weiss. He claimed he could make a ring for me which I had shown him from another website and set it with an H-SI1 "white clean diamond." I received the ring and was immediately appalled by the terrible craftsmanship - the setting itself looked like I might have made it myself and the stone had an enormous black inclusion almost centered on the table. I contacted him immediately and he said that I could return the ring for a refund as we had discussed earlier. I sent out the ring and he sent dodgy emails for several weeks - saying the refund was "coming soon" or will be processed "next Tuesday". He finally claimed that there was no diamond in the setting when he received the package and he was not going to refund my money. I've initiated lawsuits to deal with it, but I would recommend all who are considering doing business with Weiss to go elsewhere.
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