I was on an overseas deployment for 4 years and in December I bought a diamond Necklace from the Internet Auction (Bid4Assets.com). The seller (Biton Auctions) failed to deliver the exact Necklace as was listed in the auction and as was stated in the Certificate of Authenticity attached to the necklace. The were discrepancies in the weight which was less by 8.9 Grams and the necklace was not stamped with the Gold Stamp as stated in the certificate and as was stated in the auction listing.
Initially, I thought it's a matter of an honest mistake and I have have been in communication with the seller since February and we got to a dead end when I discovered that, the seller had re-listed the same Necklace in the same auction and under the same certificate I have in my possession as we speak. Actually the seller, initially said it was a "Typo" in the certificate and then it became a matter of business practice and it's legal as many jewelery sellers do the same in the same auction with Bid4Assets. Also, Bid4Assets allowed the seller to replace and change the certificate and the change the history record of my transaction in my account with Bid4Assets. The seller claimed that Bid4Assets had no problem with the use of duplicated certificates in their auction and many sellers were allowed to do so in Bid4Assets, Overstock and eBay.
I would like to know if the use of duplicated Certificate of Authenticity for selling the Jewelries is legal and is acceptable business practice? Actually, the certificate of authenticity played a very big role in my decision in buying the diamond necklace which I believed to be real and genuine certificate of authenticity. Also, I found out the company which was used in the jewelry appraisal and issued all the certificates is an affiliated company to Biton's Auction (The seller) and this information was not stated in the auction listing as to indicate the appraisal as an " In-House".
More over, Bid4Assets refused to address my concerns and answer all the questions regarding the change in the auction information that were listed by the seller and the alteration of my account transaction history. I believe this is a clear case of defrauding unsuspected buyers who use Bid4Assets on line auction. Also, I do think that Bid4Assets aided and facilitated the sellers in misleading the members and failed to protect the members by exercising the proper control over the information of the items listed for sale in the auction
1-The information on the certificate of Authenticity of the Necklace I bought in December (Auction # 369171). The certificate Number has been changed from (# 1004810) and the date of Jan 04 to Certificate (# TH3740) without date.
2- I have a copy of all my Bid4Assets records and the comparison of the same records as of today would clearly indicate the change in the particulars of the Auction (# 369171) at the time it suppose to have the same information.
3- The same certificate number is the number of the certificate that changed by Bid4Assets or allowed Mr. Biton to change in the suspended Auction # 384367. The fact is the certificate was changed.
4- My transactions history in my account with Bid4Assets should reflect the details of the item I won in Auction (# 360171) at all times, including the item description and the certificate details.
5- The details of the certificate of the necklace I won in Auction (# 368171) has been changed and replaced by a different certificate carrying the Number (TH3740) which is same certificate that was used to replace the duplicated certificate that I challenged in Auction # 384367.
That's not an accident or a mistake, it's clear that either Bid4assets allowed Biton Auction to replace the certificate or one of Bid4assets own personnel made or facilitate the change because I know I did not.
6- The certificate was replaced in Auction # 384367 and also replaced the original certificate on my records for transaction related to auction # 369171.
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