Don't Buy At Diamond's International

[psychboss]

While on our last cruise my husband bought a Mont Blanc pen at Diamond's International in Antiqua. He asked the clerk for a 'regular' fountain pen, yellow gold trim, the larger the pen the better. She showed him a couple of pens that did not meet those specs and finally she picked out a pen that seemed just right. The nib retracted into the main body of the pen, which he had not seen before, but she assured him that it was a regular fountain pen that filled from a bottle of ink so we purchaed it.

 

Upon returning to the ship he read the users manual and found that it was a cartridge pen not a 'regular' pen. We tried to return it in St. Martin but their store there is going to carry the pens but does not have them yet. They told us no problem just email headquarters when we get home. WELL, I did that, they had me fax them the receipt and now they have called me and told me TOO BAD. They will not even take it back for a store credit, they will not take it back at all. They will not let me talk with a supervisor. They just told me it is my problem and hung up.

[Ships R Great]

While on our last cruise my husband bought a Mont Blanc pen at Diamond's International in Antiqua. He asked the clerk for a 'regular' fountain pen, yellow gold trim, the larger the pen the better. She showed him a couple of pens that did not meet those specs and finally she picked out a pen that seemed just right. The nib retracted into the main body of the pen, which he had not seen before, but she assured him that it was a regular fountain pen that filled from a bottle of ink so we purchaed it.

 

Upon returning to the ship he read the users manual and found that it was a cartridge pen not a 'regular' pen. We tried to return it in St. Martin but their store there is going to carry the pens but does not have them yet. They told us no problem just email headquarters when we get home. WELL, I did that, they had me fax them the receipt and now they have called me and told me TOO BAD. They will not even take it back for a store credit, they will not take it back at all. They will not let me talk with a supervisor. They just told me it is my problem and hung up.

 

Call Celebrity. They guarantee Diamond's Intl. Maybe they can help.

[canderson]

D.I. is one of the outfits that pays Celebrity for the .. er .. recommendation. Take your problem to Celebrity -- they have assured you that they'll take up your cause when you shop at their "recommended" stores.

[bububr]

I've alway bought at Diamonds International. As a matter of fact I've even upgraded once and they kept their promise to accept the value of the diamond towards the the new one ( As long as you keep the original reciept and the certification).

 

As for fountain pens. Now-a-days MOST fountain pens do have a cartridge and are not true FOUNTAIN pens. From what I can remember from my old pens are that they always have a lever to lift to refill the compartment or you twist the top half of the pen to reload.

 

Unless you are not familiar with Fountain pens, then you should have had her take it apart and show you the mechanism.

 

There are inexperienced people everywhere now-a-days including many idiots here in the US that don't have a clue but work on commission.

 

I'm sorry you had this experience. I've never had a bad one after many, many years, but like everything else there is always a first.

 

By the way, the cruiseline guarantees its sources and warantees. Try talking to customer service to see if they can help you in this situation.

 

I do hope you are able to resolve this issue.

 

Dave:eek:

[kitty9]

My sister collects Mont Blanc pens and I purchased three of them for her this past Christmas. Every fountain pen I've seen in their collections in the past 15 years has never been the old fashioned fountain pen where you need to have the inkwell, but they've all had the ink cartridges. I own two Mont Blanc fountain pens, and they also take the cartridges. While I'm sorry for your disappointment, maybe next time you could make a full inspection of the pen. I know there's a Mont Blanc store in St. Thomas and that might be a better place to look for pens in the future. I just read an article that said many of the pens you purchase in the Caribbean aren't really Mont Blanc but fakes made to look like them, so you have to be careful.

 

Personally, after a few not-so-great experiences at various Diamond's International, I don't go in any of their stores.

[gizmodog]

We shopped and bought a tanzenite ring at diamonds international in St. Thomas, left the shop and while shopping around found a much better ring at a much better price at a different store, we returned the ring to Diamond International, and they gave us such grief it was ridiculous, they hesitated to refund our money, even though it had just been an hour, they wanted to know what store we were buying the ring at, when my husband would not say they were rude, they even followed us after we were refunded the money to see which store we were going to, it was the craziest thing we ever saw, needless to say, we will NEVER step foot in any Diamond International again.

[psychboss]

After relating my story to some of my friends they have told me the same thing. That they don't shop at DI any more. Most shop for jewelry at Omni. After we got home we went to the the Mont Blanc web site and they do make the pens we wanted and of course the cartridge pens. We made the mistake of thinking the sales people know their products. A mistake we paid for. BUT we also thought they were an honorable dealer as Celebrity promotes them so.

[cruiseyguy]

Many of the jewelry, watch, diamond, etc. shops that clutter many of the major ports are actually owned, in whole or part, by the big cruiselines, including Royal Caribbean, the parent company of Celebrity. A notable exception is the Little Switzerland chain, owned by Tiffany and Co.

[canderson]

Many of the jewelry, watch, diamond, etc. shops that clutter many of the major ports are actually owned, in whole or part, by the big cruiselines, including Royal Caribbean, the parent company of Celebrity. A notable exception is the Little Switzerland chain, owned by Tiffany and Co.

The Gad family from NY is going to be surprised to hear that.

 

That's not to say that the cruise lines don't have a very cozy deal with the businesses they "advertise" via their "shopping guides" and in their shore dailies... and DI is certainly no exception.

[tuggers]

Isn't it Omni Media that does all the shopping stuff for most of the cruise lines? Look on the back of one of the 'Discover Shopping' guides for their info and contact numbers in Miami or FLL (I forget which). They should be able to help you.

 

Don't let it drop. You'll always think of that incident when you remember your cruise!

 

Personally, I bought a diamond bracelet at DI in Nassau. When I took it to have it appraised for my insurance rider, it appraised $2500 more than I paid for it. That was my one and only transaction with them!

[hermang]

Isn't it Omni Media that does all the shopping stuff for most of the cruise lines? Look on the back of one of the 'Discover Shopping' guides for their info and contact numbers in Miami or FLL (I forget which). They should be able to help you.

 

Don't let it drop. You'll always think of that incident when you remember your cruise!

 

Personally, I bought a diamond bracelet at DI in Nassau. When I took it to have it appraised for my insurance rider, it appraised $2500 more than I paid for it. That was my one and only transaction with them!

I believe you are right that Omni Media are the people who handle the shopping issues. Celebrity / RCCL and all of the other cruise lines will stand by the recommended shops in case of fraud or mis-representation NOT buyers remorse. We thought we had a problem with a Tanzanite ring we purchased from DI - ( thanks to a friend of ours who purchased a piece of junk from a schlock merchant). She claimed she was ripped off and we were too. Took it to our local jeweler and he appraised it for about what we paid for it. Called Omni Media and they said take it to an independent appraiser and it they sai it is below the appraisal they will refund our money. Turns out the closet appriser was 90 miles away - they gave us 90% refund - which was fair in our mind. PS we bought a Tanzanite ring locally - No where as nice as the one we returned to DI and my wife is po'd at our friend for sowing the seeds of doubt. We have since purchased several things from DI with no problems

[cruiseyguy]

canderson-"The Gad family from NY is going to be surprised to hear that." Hear what?

[canderson]

canderson-"The Gad family from NY is going to be surprised to hear that." Hear what?

That their company is owned by the cruise lines ;). They own DI.

[tbelian]

After we got home we went to the the Mont Blanc web site and they do make the pens we wanted and of course the cartridge pens.

 

Ot, but, if you can't get satisfaction from the store, or any help from Celebrity, how much would you take for the pen you don't want, and what model is it?

[Host Karen]

Sorry to hear you had a problem, but we've purchased a number of pieces of jewelry at DI and been very pleased with their service and prices. We were loyal Columbian Emeralds customers until they refused to help us with a problem in their Grand Cayman store. Now all of our Caribbean jewelry shopping begins at the local DI store.

[chessbriar]

We have had only one experience with DI and it was handled very professionally.

 

In St Maarten, we purchased a ring late in the day. During the resizing, they cracked the gold. The salesman headed back to the repairs department to resolve the issue. When he returned, I noticed another small problem. My wife has small fingers, so I was not surprised. Well, there was not enough time to remedy the problem, so he called ahead to St Thomas and let them know I was coming. They fixed the problem without issue or charge. That's the customer service, I like to see.

[psychboss]

We took the pen to a Mont Blanc dealer in Washington DC and after talking with them DH decided to keep the pen. We will still never shop at DI again. Their tone of voice and the words they choose to use while dealing with us, and especially their attitude were totally unacceptable. If I cannot trust what they tell me about a pen I sure would not trust what they say about a gem. Celebrity could probably have gotten us a store credit which we did not want. But they were very professional and pleasant to deal with and very apologetic for the problem with had with DI.

[GottaLuvCruising]

I'm glad your situation is resolved in any case. But I hope that your experience was with one person who is not representative of the company.

 

I had a very good Diamond's International experience. My husband and I picked out a diamond ring (for me) for our 30th anniversary (he got a ball cap!) I had been looking for one locally so I knew what I wanted and how much it should cost. We negotiated with DI until we were satisfied with the agreement. They sized my new ring as well as the diamond band I received on our 15th anniversary (so I could wear it on my pinkie).

 

After returning home, I went into a panic upon reading some negative reviews of DI on Cruise Critic. So, while still able to use the ship's guarantee, I got a certified appraisal of the ring...at more than twice what I paid.

[dogsrule]

They sold me a defective diamond about 15 years ago-then would not take it back or exchange for a decent diamond. That left a very bad taste in my mouth-haven't been back and go to the Caribbean to shop every winter. I am sure that there are many more unhappy campers..:(

[superjerryw]

Just another in a long line of complaints on these boards about DI. People really need to do a lot of research before buying jewelry on a cruise. You need to know what you want and what it would cost back home before being persuaded that you getting a bargain. All of this stuff about tax free and duty free is nonsense. As for appraisal values, that's more nonsense concocted by the jewelry industry. A diamond that appraises for $10,000 will routinely sell for half that price. Diamonds have several artificial values such as the wholesale price, retail price and appraised value. If you buy a diamond and it appraises for what you paid for it you paid way too much. Unfortunately, many of the storesprey on tourists that have no knowledge of what they are buying and are only in port for a few hours.

[tuggers]

Well, jerry, aren't you just a little ray of sunshine!:D

I bought a diamond bracelet in Nassau. Not something I usually do but it was very different and I liked it. Paid a little under $3,000 for it. Two years later I had an insurance appraisel done. It came in at $9,100. So according to you I did get a pretty good deal?

[hermang]

Well, jerry, aren't you just a little ray of sunshine!:D

I bought a diamond bracelet in Nassau. Not something I usually do but it was very different and I liked it. Paid a little under $3,000 for it. Two years later I had an insurance appraisel done. It came in at $9,100. So according to you I did get a pretty good deal?

Just got back from our March 11 cruise on the Connie. Mid cruise my better half's diamond ring broke while in the t-pool. Fortunately only a chunk of gold was lost and not the diamond. Next day we were in St.Kitts and we visited the new DI store to look for a new setting. We had planned on doing this last year but - well thats another story. At any rate we found a gorgeous setting and after "negotiating" a price - the salesman said he could not mount it there as there was no jeweler ( store opened 3 months ago) and we should either take it to St. Thomas or NYC. There would be an approximate $200 charge for mounting ( seemed strange) but he said he would take that off the negotiated price. If we didn't like the setting we could get our money back in St.Thomas or get another setting. OK next day we went to DI in St. Thomas and spoke to the manager at one of the stores.

 

The guy in St.Kitts was new so he forgot a few things like letting the folks on ST.Thomas know we were coming and a few other things like they never charge for mounting a setting they sold. Net net - in 2 hrs they resized and remounted my wife's diamond and fixed a bracelet that had broken ( $30 for a new Lobster claw). We continue to get raves. Customer service was great.

[cruisinmamma]

I've also had good luck with DI. I was shopping for a new diamond for our 25th anniversary in 2002. I found one comparable to what I was looking at in the US for about $2500 less. I had it appraised at home for more than 3 x what I paid for it. I was impressed:)

 

However, I have read of many unfortunate experiences with DI on CC.

It makes me wonder if I was just lucky.

[grandsix]

It is time for D.I. headquarters to acknowledge that there are many unprofessional people working at their stores. If they do not take a stand on ethics they will lose big time. We thought it was just us who felt car salesmen pressure to buy as well as what at times seemed to be misrepresentation. ALL OF THE CRUISE LINES NEED TO WAKE UP SINCE THEIR NAMES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH COMPANIES SUCH AS DIAMONDS INTERNATIONAL.

[etoile]

I agree with those who have said virtually all fountain pens are cartridge pens these days. I have two that are cartridge and one glass pen that still requires an inkwell.

 

Something that might help you out, though, is a converter. You fill the converter with ink from the inkwell and then attach it to the cartridge post on the pen. Works quite well.

 

Of course this doesn't change anything about DI, but I figured I'd toss it out there.