27 replies to this topic

[Roger DR]

AJDiamonds Cheated My two Diamond Rings

I'm Roger. I would like to share with you my painful experience with AJDiamonds. I bought faulty diamond rings from them but they failed to refund me or provide diamond repair/replacement after more than half a year. Below are the full detail happenings:

May'08, I bought two diamond rings for my wife from Ajdiamonds on ebay (ebay item No: 360043780992 & 360048615248). I left two positive feedbacks

to him after I received the rings. My wife wore one of them and kept the other one in her drawer.

July'08, my wife observed a little "dirty thing" stuck on the face of the ring,but she didn't pay much attention to it as she thought that it might only be some

dirty on the surface which is removable.

Sep'08, my wife found that the little "dirty thing" became bigger and bigger and she couldn't remove it using a soft tissue paper.

Sep 21 08, I inspected the ring under a big power scope and found that in fact there was a very obvious crack on the surface of the diamond, therefore the internal crack line would reflect out a obvious black line on the surface of diamond ring. (see attached pictures.) I immediately feedback this issue to Ajdiamonds (contact person : Abe).

Sep 24 08, Abe replied : "It is from the enhancement, we will be happy to fix or replace."

Sep 26 08, the other ring was found to have a similar crack problem after I inspected it under a big power scope, so I had totally no confidence with the quality of the enhancement diamond rings. I requested to send the two rings back to Ajdiamonds for further investigation and refund me the money if the problem was confirmed.

Oct 04 08, the two rings were sent back to Ajdiamonds after discussed with Abe.

Oct 15 08, the two rings were received by Abe with his acknowledgement.

Oct 24 08, I asked Abe for the update of issue as I would go for two weeks' trip and would be not able to access e-mail. Abe replied : "I am waiting on a phone call from gem lab. I wont let you down and will be fair. " -- It sounded good to me.

Nov 8 08, I came back from trip and checked with him for the updates again. Abe replied : "I prefer to send different stones." I told him that I have no problem to take the replacement rings but they should be similar / equally valued to the old ones and I requested him to close this case ASAP.

Nov 12,13 08, it had been about one month since he received the rings. I had to remind him to resolve this issue ASAP otherwise I might have to report it to ebay.

He replied on Nov 13 08 :

"No need to threaten us.

While we have had the diamonds for a few weeks, you had the diamonds in your possession for a few months.

We were nice enough to offer to help, and we will.

We ask for your patience, while we fix this."

Nov 15 08, I told him that as long as he had intention to solve this issue, I would be patience and would give him more time to fix the probelm, but he should provide me with a reasonable deadline.

Dec 1, 2 08, I wrote two e-mails to him asking for the deadline but no any reply from him after waiting for another two weeks. He didn't even reply me!

Dec 11 08, another one month past. I had to ask him for the deadline again and told him that if he didn't respond in one week, I would have to report it to ebay.

Dec 15 08, I finally received the reply from him. It was a good news to me : "We are fixing both diamonds and will send soon.Please confirm address."

I gave him my mailing address and said "Merry Christmas" to him.

Jan 03 09, After waiting for another 3 weeks with very good patience,I had to write to him again to remind him that if I didn't receive the rings by Jan 15, I would have to report it to ebay.

Jan 04 09, Abe replied : "Will see if this is complete, and get you a tracking #", but no updates at all after that.

Jan 15 09, I still had not received the rings and had to report this issue to ebay finally. Ebay recommended me to continue communicate with buyer to solve the issue. I forwarded ebay's reply to Abe and gave him a very reasonable deadline : if he still couldn't get the problem fixed by Feb 15 09, then refund me the money.

Feb 15 09, no action from him again. I requested him to refund me money in 3 days.

Feb 18 09, neither he replied me nor gave me refund. I had to bid an item as a replacement of my rings. I won a bid and asked him to send this item to me as a replacement of my rings. I told him that I would raise a dispute in ebay if he didn't send the replacement ring to me in two weeks.

Mar 01 09, I had to raise a dispute in ebay as he had done nothing. In the dispute,he said that he had already got my two rings repaired and would like to send them back to me to close this issue. I accepted his proposal provided that they were really repaired and fixed. I gave him 10 days to get this issue closed and he said " OK".

Mar 03 09, I asked him for the shipment tracking number, but he didn't give. He replied "You have my word." So I had to wait again.

Mar 10 09, He had actually done nothing although he promised he would do it. No choice for me, I had finally to raise the dispute to ebay. He wrote a message to me saying that : "I have your first 2 diamonds ready,dont ever call me a cheater!!! you want them or not?"

Mar 15 09, I suddenly found that he was no longer an ebay registered user -- which meant that I couldn't get help from ebay anymore. Why did he escape from Ebay? How many buyers has he cheated?

Mar 16,17 09, I found that Ajdiamonds has his own web site which is also selling the enhancement diamond rings on this web site. I wrote an e-mail to its customer service and told them the story (I was not sure if Abe is the main boss of Ajdiamond or not, therefore I wrote to Ajdiamonds.), but they didn't reply me at all.

Mar 18 09, I had to inform them that if they still didn't send my two diamond rings back to me by Mar 25, I would publish my story on forums.

Mar 20 09, he replied : "STOP YOUR NONSENSE". I told him that if he send my rings back to me then I would stop, otherwise I would pursue my rings forever because I paid for my rings and he had no any reason to cheat my rings!

Mar 24 09, he replied me : "If you leave me alone for a few days, I will send them out. If not, I wont." I took this reply as a positive reply and told him that I would not disturb him again in the next 10 days, but Apr 5 would be the last day.

Apr 6 09, he had done nothing again. He cheated me one more time and I couldn't call him a cheater? Anyway, I told him that I couldn't trust him anymore. If he didn't send the rings to me and let me know the tracking number in 24 Hrs, I would publish my story on forums -- I really have no other choice to do.

It took me more than 6 months to be engaged in this painful issue and my two diamonds rings have finally still been cheated by AJDiamonds!!!!!!!



"Abe,

I took the opportunity to look up your neutral/negs at toolhaus.org. You have a lot of complaints and most have more to do with those appraisals than either the merchandise or your service. If that's not a reason to rethink your approach I don't know what is.

Neil -- from diamond review forum"



If I had got this message from Neil early, I'm sure that I would not buy any diamond ring from AJDiamons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Edited by Roger DR, 06 April 2009 - 10:29 PM.

[davidelevi]

I would suggest that you contact the Better Business Bureau and look into the procedure to start a Small Claims Court case. If AJDiamonds keeps the rings, they owe you your money back.

I'm sorry that this has happened to you Roger - I think you have been more than patient waiting for 6 months for the issue to be resolved.

[paws]

davidelevi, on Tuesday, Apr 7 2009, 04:36 AM, said:

I would suggest that you contact the Better Business Bureau and look into the procedure to start a Small Claims Court case. If AJDiamonds keeps the rings, they owe you your money back.

I'm sorry that this has happened to you Roger - I think you have been more than patient waiting for 6 months for the issue to be resolved.

Roger,

I had a problem once with Budgetmags.com they only sent one magazine I had ordered instead of two. I contacted the company several times, then the BBB, then threatened to contact the Attorney General's Office. Finally after 8 months I received my magazine. I know people who have also gone to a local newspaper. You can also contact Seven On Your Side from Channel 7 News if you are near New York. If not maybe your local city has a service like this. A Small Claims Court is good, but it probably will not stop this scum from cheating other people. The more publicity the worse it becomes for this seller.

[denverappraiser]

Roger,

Bummer.

I see two separate and very different issues here, neither of which relates to my prior comments that you quoted. First, you are unhappy with the quality of your purchase. Since we don’t know anything at all about how it was represented, there’s no way for us to have a feel if it was misrepresented. Since it took you 5 months to decide that you were unhappy, I think they were actually being pretty reasonable in offering to exchange it for another. With most companies this is well beyond their return period although I don’t know AJ’s and don’t want to take the time to look. Surely it’s on their website. They could have simply told you to bugger off after all.

The second issue is that it’s taken them another 4 months and they still haven’t returned the pieces. They have both the money and the merchandise and presumably the matter would be settled if they would just send you back the goods (or a refund but don’t hold your breath for that). Certified mail is sometimes helpful in making demands but do be sure you’re clear about what you want. Despite the photos and description, this doesn’t seem to be fundamentally a product quality complaint. You just want your purchases back. BBB is pretty good at adjudicating this sort of complaint as is the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (www.jvclegal.org)

It sounds to me like the ebay dispute is still active. The fact that he’s no longer registered does not eliminate their buyer protection program. I don’t remember the rules and I’m a tad surprised that a May purchase could still be protested in March but if it was still in force Mar 1 ’09 I would expect it to still be in force now. Paypal is a problem to get much out of and I wouldn’t expect doodly in terms of help from them but it’s worth filing the claim anyway and if you funded the paypal purchase with a credit card you may be able to get some assistance from your credit card company although I would expect some resistance because you’ve waited so long. Waiting more will just make it worse. By the way, ALWAYS fund Paypal purchases with a credit card for this reason.

In the end it sounds like you’ve got a pretty good legal case, at least with regard to getting the rings back. You sent him some stuff for ‘repair’ and he didn’t give it back. You’ve got written acknowledgment from him that he received them and agreed to do the work and quite a bit of evidence that he hasn’t returned them. He’s got nothing. This may or may not help because I presume you aren’t in New York and filing even a small claims case there is a serious pain in the rear but it’ll be useful for the BBB/JVC types and as has been pointed out above, the TV folks seem to like this sort of story. Keep all of your paperwork.

Neil

Edited by denverappraiser, 08 April 2009 - 10:14 AM.

[Roger DR]

Thank you all for your support and inputs.

I know that it would be quite difficult for me get back the rings,therefore I would like to share with as many as possible people my experience so that I can try my best to stop this scum from cheating other people.

I'm from Singapore. It's not easy for me to sue him from here. Anybody has good ideas?

I would take your comment to feedback this issue to BBB, while I know nothing about BBB. Could anybody teach me how to contact BBB and submit my issue?

Thanks again and appreciate your helps.

[paws]

Roger,

Type in Better Business Bureau. Then they'll direct you to type in the company's name. They will direct it to the BBB in the area the company is located if I remember correctly. Then you will fill out a form giving as many details as possible. They will get back to you via e-mail about the company. They will let you know if the company responds to the complaint. They will contact the business several times. You will also learn of where the company originates and google the state to contact the Attorney General for internet fraud. Good luck! They probably think they got you because you are not in this country. Don't give up. I'm sure there are others out there in the same boat. I would still try to contact your credit card company if you charged it. I had to do that once and they were able to refund my money.

[paws]

Roger,

AJdiamonds is located in NYC. You might know this. They are not Better Business Accredited which tells you something about the company. You can still file a report with them. Now you can contact the New York State Attorney general for internet fraud and file your complaint. Just google in Attorney General's office for New York State. Also e-mail ABC network out of NYC and see if 7 on your side will help you. If they do they will even report the fraud on TV. This is a NYC company and they will not want the piblicity. Make sure you have all your correspondence and document it.

[Roger DR]

Paws,

Many thanks for your kind helps! I really appreciate it.

I will try it and see what is going on.

[diamondsbylauren]

Roger, I feel just terrible about what happened to you.
You probably already know I was very critical of the problem company last year based on their incredibly deceptive ads.
I hate to say this, but the way they acted when I pointed out the errors- well actually outright lies- on their ads, they never fixed them.
I am afraid they just don't really care.
I'm really sorry again that this happened to you......

[denverappraiser]

This should lead to their BBB report. (note that there are 2 companies in NYC with very similar names. Do make sure you're complaining about the correct people since one of them is quite possibly entirely innocent)

http
://search.newyork.bbb.org/reports.aspx...&id=102764

It looks like they've had one formal complaint in the last year and it's listed as resolved to the customers satisfaction. We've no way of knowing what that means and it might not mean much but it does mean that they responded to the claim and did something. That's a good sign.

Here's the link where you file a complaint. It is not necessary that they be a member or that you be in the US and there is no fee.

https://odr.bbb.org/...aspx?siteID=113

Neil

Edited by denverappraiser, 08 April 2009 - 03:18 PM.

[Roger DR]

diamondsbylauren, Thanks for your inputs.

Neil, Thanks for your very useful info.

[Roger DR]

This is the copy of dispute raised on Mar 1 09 (Feb 28 US). It is an evidence for what I have published on this forum.

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[Roger DR]

"I am having the same problem with Abe from AJDiamonds...

I bought a ring from him in November 2008 on Ebay...I paid for it (almost $3000 USD) and it was promptly delivered. I then noticed that it too had an obvious mark on the top of the stone. I sent pictures to Abe and he said to return the ring and he would replace. I returned the ring in Dec 08 and have been waiting for a replacement ever since. A few weeks ago Abe stopped replying to my emails. I have tried to call their phone number and nobody answers.

I am contemplating reporting him to the police. I have requested a refund or a replacement ring for over three months now, with no luck. I tried ebay and paypal but they said it is over 60 days so they cannot follow up. They referred me to the US government ecommerce website www.econsumer.gov where you can report internet fraud. I am tempted to report AJDiamonds to the authorities if I do not receive a reply soon. "

-- by nickt from pricescope forum.

Edited by Roger DR, 09 April 2009 - 07:19 PM.

[hillsangels1]

i am another person abe from ajdiamonds is cheating a ring out of.
i initially got a ring jan7,2008. i did not recieve the ring for almost two months because he
said the prong was broke when it came in so he would fix it and send it to me
well i did not get it until almost the end of march and i had the ring checked by
two different jewelers and they both said the diamonds were loose. so i contacted abe
and he said to send it back and it would be fixed or replaced. well i didn't get the ring back
until 3 months later. because he couldn't find it at first and questioned whether i sent it
to him.. well when i presented the proof he changed his tune. well i finally got it back and
wore it a couple of months and the prong broke off and i almost lost the diamond out of it.
i called and abe from ajdiamonds said to send it back again and he would either fix or
replace it. i really was kind of leary and i even told them that but i was assured that he
had all of these great reviews of ebay buyers so i eventually did and called them before
so in march 2009. well now it has been over a month with no email, i can't get a hold of
anyone. i have tried over 100 times to get a hold of someone. and i can't. i live in pennsyl-
vania only one state over if i have to we will pay him a personel visit with the local police.
i am going to try and ruin any of his business deals as much as i can if he doesn't get
my ring to me this next week. i'm not playing. it sucks that there is people that will
take people's money and send crap to them and lie about helping them with their
problems with the gaurantee. or at least don't steal peoples rings ajdiamonds. or king
diamonds, abe or whoever you choose to be that day. you are a lie and cheat.
BUYERS BEWARE! AJDIAMOND'S

[Roger DR]

hillsangels1, on Saturday, Apr 11 2009, 01:08 PM, said:

i am another person abe from ajdiamonds is cheating a ring out of.
i initially got a ring jan7,2008. i did not recieve the ring for almost two months because he
said the prong was broke when it came in so he would fix it and send it to me
well i did not get it until almost the end of march and i had the ring checked by
two different jewelers and they both said the diamonds were loose. so i contacted abe
and he said to send it back and it would be fixed or replaced. well i didn't get the ring back
until 3 months later. because he couldn't find it at first and questioned whether i sent it
to him.. well when i presented the proof he changed his tune. well i finally got it back and
wore it a couple of months and the prong broke off and i almost lost the diamond out of it.
i called and abe from ajdiamonds said to send it back again and he would either fix or
replace it. i really was kind of leary and i even told them that but i was assured that he
had all of these great reviews of ebay buyers so i eventually did and called them before
so in march 2009. well now it has been over a month with no email, i can't get a hold of
anyone. i have tried over 100 times to get a hold of someone. and i can't. i live in pennsyl-
vania only one state over if i have to we will pay him a personel visit with the local police.
i am going to try and ruin any of his business deals as much as i can if he doesn't get
my ring to me this next week. i'm not playing. it sucks that there is people that will
take people's money and send crap to them and lie about helping them with their
problems with the gaurantee. or at least don't steal peoples rings ajdiamonds. or king
diamonds, abe or whoever you choose to be that day. you are a lie and cheat.
BUYERS BEWARE! AJDIAMOND'S

Thanks for sharing.

If you report it to police, please add my case as well, because I'm in Singapore and not able to report it to the local police. I would provide all evidence / doc. to police if it is needed.

[Roger DR]

This is the link to Ripoff Report. If I finally can't get back my rings by working through BBB, I will file it to Ripoff Report as well.

[url="http://www.ripoffreport.com/"][url]http://www.ripoffreport.com/[/url][/url]


We can also file it to [url="http://www.econsumer.gov"]www.econsumer.gov[/url]. I will try one by one.

[davidelevi]

Roger (and others) - I don't see what you stand to gain by taking a drip-drip approach. File a complaint whereever you can NOW. From what you posted, you have evidence of fraud that will stand up in a court of law, more so with a consumer protection agency.

Keeping threads live here or on PS won't do anything for you except produce some sympathy, and cause minimal inconvenience to a business that sounds like it's about to disappear into the woodwork (de-registered from eBay, no response to phone calls, no indipendent website...).

[diamondsbylauren]

Please - Roger and others- do as Davide suggests, and stop wasting time.
Report this crook ASAp!!

[Roger DR]

diamondsbylauren, on Monday, Apr 13 2009, 03:20 PM, said:

Please - Roger and others- do as Davide suggests, and stop wasting time.
Report this crook ASAp!!

I filed it to BBB last week and waiting for results.......

[diamondsbylauren]

Roger- the man has stolen your rings- this is a police matter at this point!
The BBB is a good idea, but not strong enough.