I purchased a gents diamond Renato WildeBeast watch from ShopNBC. The watch contained 2.45cts of round diamonds that ShopNBC and Renato watches told its audience were G color and VS clarity. I have been in the diamond business for 30 years and I am an expert when it comes to diamond grading. Because I have always wanted a diamond watch and because I liked the style presented by Renato and ShopNBC I decided to purchase the watch. I also know what the diamonds would cost me to purchase based on the claim of color and clarity and thought that the watch represented a fair value for my money.
When I received the watch I immediately took out my 10x diamond grading, corrected, Bausch and Lomb loupe to inspect the diamonds. Remember the diamonds were stated to be G color and VS clarity and that fact has been stamped on the case back of the watch by Renato Watches. To my surprise out of the 236 diamonds set into the watch at least 40 were worse clarity than VS, either Si2 or I1 and there at least 20 diamonds that were visibly tinted yellow.
I immediately contacted Renato Watches and spoke to their customer service department and finally to the owner of Renato Watches, Mr. Daniel Mink. The people at Renato were very concerned with my situation and immediately offered me a replacement watch as soon as I returned the defective watch. They sent me a Fed Ex shipping form and I sent the watch back. After seeing my watch Mr. Mink told me he was sending me another watch which he promptly did and apologized for the discrepancy in the diamond quality.
I received the second watch and to my dismay the diamonds were again not ALL G color and VS clarity. Though this watch was a bit better only about 20 diamonds were not VS and a similar number were not G color. When a piece of jewelry is sold based upon the quality of its stones ALL of the stones, NOT just most of the stones, MUST BE AS STATED, in this case G color and VS clarity.
I was extremely disappointed that the watch was not as described. 2 times, not just once. The fact that I was paying almost 2K for the watch and not getting what was stated really made me sad and disillusioned.
The customer service rep at Renato contacted ShopNBC to advise them of the issue. A rep from the Presidents Office of ShopNBC called me to tell me what they were going to do about the return of the watch. He was sending me a Fed Ex label so that I could return the watch to their shipping department. He also told me that he was waving the fact that the watch did not have a Mylar tag on it as is required by ShopNBC and also was extending the return period on the watch to allow for his shipping the label to me and then my returning the watch to ShopNBC.
However, and this boggles my mind, he never once apologized to me for the problem with the quality of the diamonds. The fact that I received 2 of these watches and neither were what was claimed by ShopNBC and Renato is totally upsetting. The reason for my upset is this... I am a diamond expert, I know what I am buying when it comes to diamonds. Sadly, the public has got to rely on the seller for stating the truth about the diamonds quality and in this case the consumers are being misled. When I spoke to Mr. Mink of Renato he was genuinely concerned about my issues and promised me that he would take care of it. Obviously if he is putting out a product that is not what actually G color and VS clarity his company can be opened to a lot of legal hassles.
I sent an email to the ShopNBC rep to explain my position on this matter and that ShopNBC owed it to its customers to check every piece of jewelry that they sell if they are representing the items to be an exact color and clarity. The email was sent on Jan. 30 and as of this writing @9:30pm on Jan. 31. ShopNBCs representative, Douglas Rost contacted me on March 4 and told me that ShopNBC would no longer allow Renato Watches to be specific on the color and clarity of the diamonds they used in their watches. He told me that they were removing ALL notations of exact color and clarity from their website and no longer would be mentioning specific color and clarity on TV. I made the error of believing him. On several TV shows on Thursday March 6 Renatos owner, Daniel Mink and various ShopNBC employees were mentioning specific color and clarity of their diamond watches. I had been assured by Mr. Rost that this practice would be stopped as of march 4.
I am writing this complaint in an attempt to help unsuspecting consumers of ShopNBC. They had better understand what they are buying and to question the qualities that are being represented by ShopNBC. The average consumer knows nothing about diamonds and is relying on ShopNBC to be honest and trustworthy in its statements that are allowed in the selling of their jewelry products. Buyer you had better beware because neither of the 2 watches I received from Renato and ShopNBC were fit to be called G color and VS clarity. I know this because I am a GIA Diamond Graduate with 30 years of loose diamond buying and grading.
As soon as I get the Fed Ex return label I will be sending the 2nd watch back to ShopNBC instead of Renato so that Renato, the producer of the watch, can examine the defective merchandise. When ShopNBC receives the watch I wonder what they will do with it? Continue misrepresenting what they are selling or will they actually call Renato on this serious breach of faith with their customers.
The bottom line to all this is that both companies need to become more exacting in their quality control, and if they cannot improve they cannot represent exact grades of their diamonds. This is deceptive and totally unfair to the public.
I will update this letter when I receive my credit from ShopNBC and also if I hear from them in regard to my email which called upon them to change their deceptive practices whether intentional or not. Since I am buying the watch from ShopNBC it is up to them to stand behind the products they put up for sale. When their representative did not offer to make the situation right by providing me with exactly what I thought I was buying and now has failed to answer my email I feel that others should know and learn from my experience. I should not have to deal with misrepresentations from a company that should know better. Maybe they will learn from this.
I am returning the 2nd watch to ShopNBC for a refund on the value payments that have already been charged to my credit card. I have wasted many hours on phone calls, e mails and waiting to have 2 packages picked up by Fed Ex. The only saving grace is that I am not spending 2k on a watch that wasn't what it was supposed to be. Though I really did want the watch that I thought I was buying.
I have received all my money back from ShopNBC. The point now is that they are still allowing lies to be told about the diamond qualities that Renato Watches uses. These 2 companies are making millions of dollars by selling watches to the public that contain diamonds that are lower in quality than represented. Something must be done to prevent this from continuing and to make ALL CONSUMERS AWARE OF THIS ONGOING FRAUD.
One other point, Renato Watches has the nerve to stamp the EXACT quality of the diamonds used on the casebacks of their watches. The fact that they do this further adds to the blatant misrepresentations of the diamonds that they use. If they are claiming a specific diamond color and clarity used than the quality MUST BE AT LEAST THAT QUALITY OR BETTER but certainly not lower quality than stated on TV and the casebacks.
Howard
albany, New York
U.S.A.
0 comments