REVIEW: Thaigems - my opinion only

Thank you for the warning, Kath. I won't buy from them.

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


Kathy N-V wrote:
Over on the About.com Jewelry making boards, the subject of Thaigems has come
up again. Some people seemed to love Thaigems, although they had screen names
that are unfamiliar to me. I suspect that these opinions may be from plants,
although it's only a suspicion with no proof. After having been sucked in
once, I won't use them again. Here's the opinion I posted to that board in
response to a posting that thinks $30 shipping is a fair amount:

I bought from them - once. I was okay with the expensive shipping charges,
because the website touted that I would get my beads in 72 hours. (I assumed
this meant 3 business days) It turned out to be a lot closer to two weeks,
which angered me, because I feel that the shipping charges should be much
lower if the customer is going to get slow boat shipment. I tried to cancel
the order after 5 days, but was told it had been shipped out days before.
The shipping papers stated otherwise.

I ordered moderately priced strands of blue topaz, citrine and amethyst
beads. Not their cheapest, and not their most expensive stuff - things that
looked good online and seemed to be a good value. I was astonished when I
opened the package, because the beads were among the worst I've ever seen. A
good 50% were unusable, due to cracks, really bad chips, black inclusions and
misaligned holes. Most of the color in the stones was from the colored thread
running through them, and dye came off in my hands. Needless to say, they
looked not one thing like the photos on the site.

Returning the package to Thailand seemed stupid, because the shipping charges
weren't refundable, and I was skeptical about receiving a refund at all. I
considered my Thaigem experience to be a costly lesson, and have no intention
of ever using them again. I've gotten a lot fussier about what semi-precious
stones I buy, and only use vendors I trust implicitly. (Jewelweaver and
South Pacific, mostly.)

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

My opinion only, YMMV,

Kathy N-V

I like Rockin Rocks too... good stuff, good prices, accurately represented.

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


grenner wrote:


Thank you for the helpful review. I have never purchased from Thigem but
have purchased from Gemandgem who is also in Thailand and has an Ebay store.
They use Fedex shipping and it is steep at $18 but my purchase arrived in 3
days in perfect condition. I bought loose Spinel gems and not beads and am
not sure if they carry beads but the quality was very high and the gems
genuine. Most of the gem beads I buy I buy from Rockin Rocks on Ebay.
Prices are good, shipping is fast and the quality has been excellent.

Greg

A delivery truck would not make the package stink INSIDE... this has
happened to me many times and I don't usually buy from that person again as
both my husband and myself are very allergic to tobacco. I also received a
package one time full of pet hair... to which I'm also allergic ... as well
as dirt and I wondered if they wrapped their packages in a kennel! It's
something that vendors should be very aware of IMHO. Cuz it will make you
lose customers.
--
Karleen Page/Vibrant Jewels
Vibrant Jewels Online Bead & Jewelry Store
http://www.vibrantjewels.com/jewelry/welcome.htm
JustBead Auctions
http://www.justbeads.com/search/ql.cfm?s=21770
PayPal Merchant Account
https://www.paypal.com/mrb/pal=7XJ98L86Z7S2C
"Ray DeVous" wrote in message
...
Is it possible that the bags reek because your delivery person was
smoking in the truck? I would think that a package would have time over
several days in transit to air out. I've never received a package that
reeked of smoke in all the packages I've gotten.

Ray

grenner wrote:

Greg


My only problem it that he or someone in his house is a smoker and the
bags reek when they arrive.


Greg
Greg

Did you complain to them and attempt to get a refund? Or did you complain to
eBay?
--
Karleen Page/Vibrant Jewels
Vibrant Jewels Online Bead & Jewelry Store
http://www.vibrantjewels.com/jewelry/welcome.htm
JustBead Auctions
http://www.justbeads.com/search/ql.cfm?s=21770
PayPal Merchant Account
https://www.paypal.com/mrb/pal=7XJ98L86Z7S2C
"mjoann" wrote in message
...
grenner wrote:

(snipped)
genuine. Most of the gem beads I buy I buy from Rockin Rocks on Ebay.
Prices are good, shipping is fast and the quality has been excellent.

Greg

My experience with RockNRocks (if you are referring to the same people)
was horrific!!! I bought some loose stones for fun. Five carats. The
postage said $5.00 for first item, $1.00 each additional, and I thought
a single auction for five carats would count as one item since it was
just one auction... I was charged $9.00 shipping for 49 cents of postage
in an envelope. On top of that, the gems that were supposed to be top
quality and genuine, and guaranteed to have no chips, were complete crap
with chips and some CZs. The whole lot cost way more than it should have
and was worthless.

AND... on top of that, they added me to a weekly e-mail list and spammed
me for months, as if I wanted to be ripped off again! The e-mail list
had an address to be removed, and I e-mailed it every week asking to be
removed with no reply.

If I see their auctions while I'm searching, I click away as fast as
possible. That was the only auction I ever got truly ripped off on out
of thousands =( And the nerve to spam me! Yikes!

mjoann

I also received a
package one time full of pet hair... to which I'm also allergic ... as well
as dirt and I wondered if they wrapped their packages in a kennel! It's
something that vendors should be very aware of IMHO. Cuz it will make you
lose customers.

It's mystifying, isn't it? Aren't these people selling stuff and making a
living? So why aren't they treating it like a professional venue?

Sending your stuff out in a dirty or smelly condition is like saying, "I don't
want you for a customer. And tell all your friends I don't want them either."
It's pretty stupid. (Not an opinion)
~~
Sooz
-------
"Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry." John
Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html

Karleen/Vibrant Jewels wrote:
Did you complain to them and attempt to get a refund? Or did you complain to
eBay?

Twice, but they ignored me. Just like they did later when I asked to be
taken off the e-mail spam list! Unfortunately, e-Bay can't/ won't do
anything.
I just learned my lesson and stay the heck away from them! I ended up
buying another lot of gemstones from a different seller the next week.
It was the same price, but with free shipping, and the stones I received
were 100 times nicer. So, he got my repeat business.

mjoann

"Karleen/Vibrant Jewels" wrote in message ink.net...
A delivery truck would not make the package stink INSIDE... this has
happened to me many times and I don't usually buy from that person again as
both my husband and myself are very allergic to tobacco. I also received a
package one time full of pet hair... to which I'm also allergic ... as well
as dirt and I wondered if they wrapped their packages in a kennel! It's
something that vendors should be very aware of IMHO. Cuz it will make you
lose customers.
--


that's just disgusting. if someone sent me a package like that, I'd
never buy from them again..and I'd certainly complain about it. I'd
also never dream of sending out something full of pet hair and dirt.

luckily so far I've only ever received stinky packages..while not
exactly pleasant, I'd imagine that a reeking package is better than a
dirty, animal hair filled one.

-amber.

I only ordered from them once. It was carved jade, and I loved it. I got it
on auction, and not on their website.


Becki
"In between the moon and you, the angels have a better view of the crumbling
difference between wrong and right." -- Counting Crows

I have! Oh my god, I really have. They reek inside and out. Especially
inside -- but also outside. Ray, you've just been lucky. I stop buying from
sellers on eBay that have reeky packages -- it makes me ill.

Yes, so have I (LOTS of them) and so has Carol, but we have been buying on Ebay
since about 1995 or 1996 and you get a lot of stuff in that time period!
However, I wanted to mention that she got another one just this week -- a book.
The book and package were sitting outside when I got there.


Becki
"In between the moon and you, the angels have a better view of the crumbling
difference between wrong and right." -- Counting Crows

Havre you had any color change with firing gems? In my class someone fired
a garnet and it turned colors (looked like hematite after!).

Thanks for the info on the stones you've fired.

Kathy K
"grenner" wrote in message
. ..
Top posting is unuusal for most groups but here it is. I have no problem
with using natural gems especially in the 8-10 level of hardness on the
Moh's scale. I have made many pieces with sapphire and ruby and a few
black
diamonds with no problem. Emeralds by nature crack a lot and I do not use
them. I also check for inclusions and cracks etc. under a microscope
before using a stone. I have never had a stone blow on me when firing. I
also use very small stones typically 3mm or less. I fire for the longest
time with the lowest temperature too.

Greg


"Christina Peterson" wrote in message
news:1083564262.57109@prawn...
Hi Greg,

I was advised not to use natural stones, but only man made stones for
PMC
(firing), because most natural stones have places they split.

By the way, would you mind top posting instead of bottom posting? It
works
much better for newsgroup, especially busy ones.

Tina


"grenner" wrote ...
Just for a point of interest I use the non bead gems in the PMC
jewelry
I
make and must use gems from the high end of the Mohs scale like
diamond
and
sapphire to handle the heat of the kiln.

Greg