The International Jewelry exchange in Boca Raton, FL has many vendors to choose from so when you visit this exchange, beware of Zo Diamonds. The owner Max likes to talk calm and sweet but be careful of his bad side. I have purchased and sold many many items over the years here until they did a bait and switch on me and then refused to follow through on their promise.
I had a diamond ankle bracelet with approximately 7 K of diamonds that were good quality stones. I brought the pieces in and asked Max to make me a diamond wedding band using my own stones. He told me that he would only need a portion of the bracelet and it would cost approximately $5-600.00 in labor and he'd give me back the remaining stones and value of the gold. He asked to borrow my engagenment ring for them to make a wax mold of the band to match it.
He called me when the wax band was completed and had me come in and try it on for size. It appeared fine and I asked for it to be ready in 2 weeks for Valentine's Day. At no time did he say there was any issues I needed to be aware of.
When I came to pick it up the Bait & Switch happens! All of a sudden he now starts telling me that they couldn't use my diamonds because they were too big so the person making the ring had to purchase other diamonds and now the ring was $2200.! I was floored. From $5-600. And now $2200.??? He was first telling me this after waiting all this time and here it was Valentine's Day?
I had already told my husband the original cost of $5-600. And there was no way I could tell him $2200. I was painted into a corner by Max.
Max proceeded to show me that the ring, his cost, was $1500. And he would take my diamond ankle bracelet in exchange for the ring. I was so upset I could barely speak. I took the ring and told him I was very unhappy. When the Exchange reopened on Tuesday, I called him first thing. He told me that he knew I was upset when I left on Saturday and that he would try to sell the ankle bracelet and give me whatever additional monies over his cost just so I wouldn't be upset.
In the meantime, I dug out the original Appraisal for the bracelet and it stated $14,000. Of course I know that true value is probably more like half of that so clearly he took advantage and had at least $5-7,000 worth of diamonds and gold that he gave me a $1500. Ring for.
After 2 months of waiting to hear if he sold the bracelet, I heard nothing from him so I called him. He told me on the phone that if I was that unhappy that I could bring back the ring and he would give me back the bracelet.
I went in to the Exchange to do just that and when I got there he refused to honor his offer.
To add insult to injury he told me I could buy my own bracelet back!
Then he threatened me that if I complained any further that I would experience what he's really like when he get's angry. He also threatened to call security and have me thrown out of the Exchange!
I further found out that they never even put the bracelet in their cases to try to sell like he said he would and that their employee Richard said it had been sitting in a plastic tray in a drawer all that time. MAX is not only a cheat but now a liar.
The joke is that Zo Diamonds primarily sells wedding bands and large engagement rings plus high end consigned pieces... He claimed my ring was custom and he won't take it back... But everything in his cases are custom!
If you would like to be ripped off and treated like this, then be my guest and shop there but be forewarned that your arrangement needs to be iron clad before you give up any jewelry or money here!
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