EXPECT TO BE DISAPPOINTED, LIED TO AND DISMISSED ONCE YOU PAY FOR YOUR PURCHASE. I purchased GIA certified loose diamonds for earrings from Continental Wholesale Diamond. Andrew tells me he does not stock high quality GIA stones "because his Tampa customers are too cheap to pay for them" so they need to be ordered. I paid for the diamonds in advance and I was told they would arrive in the parameters requested based on a smaller pair I had viewed in store. DO NOT TRUST THAT ANDREW WILL DO ANYTHING FOR YOU ONCE HE HAS BEEN PAID.
The diamonds I ordered arrived though they were not a matched pair (one of them was cut a little deep and appeared darker than the other, in addition they were supposed to be triple excellent in terms of cut, symmetry, and polish and the symmetry is off on both stones), so in essence they were not what I paid for. I brought this to Andrew's attention and he agreed. Andrew said he understood assured me he would would replace them without issue. "We are here to make you happy" is what his sly catchphrase is. Well, it is now 3 months later and 20+ calls later and the stones have still not been replaced. NEEDLESS TO SAY I AM NOT HAPPY. Andrew has yet to return a single call- NOT ONE. I have to continue to call to catch him in the store. When I eventually reach him he promises that diamonds are either ordered or being shipped and though when pressed on this he says the shipper has not provided him with a tracking number. Every week I call they are coming in the following week. I live in New York so I was unable to visit the store to address this in person. Each week passes and Andrew lies once more and never orders the stones. I finally returned to Tampa to address the situation in person and he went so far as to tell me 100% the diamonds would arrive end of day.. guess what? He called to let me know Fedex had not arrived and once again he had no tracking number. He said the diamonds would arrive first thing so I should't worry. Let's be honest, diamonds are being shipped, there is a tracking number! Well, I just called him again and his employee confirmed they were not ordered and therefore would not be arriving. ANDREW IS NOT AN HONEST BUSINESS OWNER, HE IS A CON MAN & LIAR. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS MAN OR THIS STORE, YOU WILL NOT GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR!
***UPDATE***
Following this original post. I returned the diamonds to Continental Wholesale Diamond and I have yet to receive a refund. I was promised by Will upon their return that I would receive a refund by the end of day 4/6/2017 or at the latest the following day. Needless to say no refund was issued. I called 4/7/2017 to find out why the refund had not been issued and Will stated he did not know but Andrew would be in that afternoon if I wanted to speak with him. I went to the store and waited for Andrew. It was obvious when he arrived that he was not told I was waiting to speak with him. He approached the lobby door, saw me through the glass and his demeanor changed immediately. He walked in the store gave me a terse "Hi" and went straight to his office for some time. When he emerged he kept his back turned to my friend and I ignoring us. Now, we were the only customers in the store so this was such an extreme and pronounced behavior it actually felt like some kind of parody playing out. Eventually Andrew rudely and reluctantly addressed us.
He stated that he would not issue a refund. He also said I couldn't prove they had taken the diamonds back because "I had no signature that they had been returned". That is a pretty scummy statement to begin with, however I let him know that Will signed for their return. He was visibly upset by this and called to Will to find out if this was true. After confirming it, he became angry and said it didn't matter and he would not give me a refund and he would dispute any claims with my credit card company so I should "just take the diamonds with me, because they are pretty". Now this statement by him is extremely discriminatory. Can anyone out there imagine him saying this to a man who had purchased diamonds who had not received what he had paid for? Something like.. Sir, I know I am ripping you off and I didn't supply you with what you paid for, plus I've spent the last several months lying to you and avoiding your calls/emails and despite the fact that we have signed for the return of these diamonds because we are unwilling to do anything to resolve the situation, I'd like you just just take with you because they "are pretty". No way in hell would that happen. We went in circles discussing the issue. Andrew kept repeating he would "make it right".
THE EARRINGS WERE RETURNED TO THE STORE 3/30/2017. ANDREW HAS THE DIAMONDS & THE $6,600 PAID FOR THEM. TO DATE ALMOST 6 WEEKS HAS PASSED AND THERE HAS BEEN NO OUTREACH BY THE STORE OR ATTEMPT AT RESOLUTION.
***BUYER BEWARE!
I HAVE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH OTHER JEWELERS IN THE TAMPA AREA AND LEARNED THAT THIS IS IN NO WAY AN ISOLATED OCCURRENCE!! read more
