Blue Nile - hmmmmmm!

[pyramid]

Any idea why a customer who was buying a diamond from blue nile with a credit card which was approved by the bank, then had his order cancelled by Blue Nile. The customer services is nil and the only explanation was 'its a business decision and we are not at liberty to discuss it with you' He is left not knowing anything other than that he would not go there again.

I can't understand why they would cancel it, I could understand if it was the credit card company though.

 

[pyramid]

Re: Blue Nile

Also when he told them he wanted to type as he was deaf, he got an email back saying they would hold the diamond for 24 hours only but they wanted to talk to him. They wrote if they could not talk on the phone they would have to cancel the order. This was before the order was cancelled. He was then able to phone them with difficulty and was told 'it was a business decision'. They then told him
multiple times he could still get the diamond if he paid with a wire transfer and could they send him an invoice. After the first time he said he wanted to pay by credit card as this was a different type of payment until his money was transferred, they still told him afterwards twice he could pay by bank wire. When he questioned why on their site it said you could pay with credit card, they just repeated it was a business decision but he could pay by wire transfer.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Is he located in the US?

 

[proto]

theres a lot of fraud by creditcard.

much harder to bankwire fruadulent payment.

that is their business decision.

 

[yasssss]

was it a chase card?

you should definitely have him contact the credit card company and see what they say.

 

[jillianfl]

They should check with their own credit card company maybe they know something or can help... I have actually read on forums and even reviews of this happening to people, I have read it about BlueNile and B2C as well (I happened to have bought from both places without a problem, once with a credit card, once with a wire transfer) but I have read others who have complained about that so your friend is not the only one it's happened to though it seems pretty rare...

If I were to take a complete random guess, mayyybe they contact the bank and find out the credit limit of the person, and maybe if the purchase price is too close to the credit limit they think that it's more likely to be returned?? Again just a random guess with no evidence but it does sound crazy.... I would be very pissed if that happened to me and they gave NO explanation like that. Your friend should contact them ask to speak to a manager and let them know he (or she) will post as many negative reviews on them unless they reveal why... Or they should just post the reviews anyway

But BlueNile is not worth it in my opinion and I have bought there, yes, I got a nice diamond from them, but now that I have found by comparing that B2C Jewels (the cheapest IMO) and even Brilliance.com (sometimes cheaper than B2C but not always) are both cheaper than BlueNile, I wouldn't but from Blue Nile again, b/c I know I can get more for my money elsewhere. Why pay more for the same thing, they all have access to the same diamonds even if it's not showing on there lists (which many times they may show the same diamond and you can compare the price) and if they found a diamond they liked at Blue Nile, just give either of the other companies the GIA number and they can access it and it can be purchased through one of them instead of Blue Nile! These vendors generally don't have in house diamonds I think, (but I'm not sure on that), but I know that if it was something that was found on Blue Nile, these other two vendors could get it for your friend and they could buy from one of them instead, likely at a better price (though they both pricematch anyway)... Good luck to them in solving the mystery, I can imagine that was incredibly frustrating!

** Ok I didn't see you had posted more info above before I posted this... That is too bad they did that after he told them he was def, maybe they didn't believe that and they thought it was fraud? But that's still too bad and weird... But yeah as another poster said there is a lot of fraud, too... But that is too bad. Can you help your friend and be at his house the next time he tries to make a purchase and literally pretend to be him on the phone and give them all the info while he is right there next to you? Or you could be the one who calls and asks all the questions he has about whatever stone he's interested in and then he should just be able to complete his purchase online without any problem or by calling anyone... They all have click to purchase inventory just like any other online store's checkout where you just click and type in your credit card info.

 

[Sunstorm]

Well, it is shocking if indeed they told a deaf person that he would have to call, how on Earth would a deaf person be able to do that? We do not know the entire story and I would hate to judge anyone here, what seems a bit contradicting here is that the deaf person did indeed call and with difficulty but managed the phone call, how? A completely deaf person would not be able to hear obviously. OTOH, my sister is hearing impaired, very seriously; 100 % in one ear and has very limited hearing in the other so she can make a phone call, could this have been the case? Very hard to form an opinion here because discrimination based on a disability would be horrible but like I said what has happened exactly is something we are not aware of here. We would need more information to be able to form a solid opinion.

 

[Sunstorm]

Sorry OP, I am still trying to guess here but does your friend have an aid to help him make phonecalls? I am not aware of this type of technology so excuse me if it exists. If it was indeed discrimination then I wonder if your friend even had a legal case, it even makes me very angry if this happens to a disabled person for no reason. It is a shocking story. I wonder why Bluenile does not just say that only wire transfers are accepted; it would be a clear policy that protects them and also a customer would not have to go through this.

 

[MollyMalone]

They should check with their own credit card company maybe they know something or can help... I have actually read on forums and even reviews of this happening to people, I have read it about BlueNile and B2C as well (I happened to have bought from both places without a problem, once with a credit card, once with a wire transfer) but I have read others who have complained about that so your friend is not the only one it's happened to though it seems pretty rare...

I've not seen complaints about "this" happening to people. The complaints I've seen about Blue Nile arose from the fact that BN is largely a "drop shipper" of "virtual inventory" & either 1 of 2 scenarios happened: (1) the diamond had already been sold -- at the time the would-be customer's credit card transaction was processed via BN's site -- by another vendor, or (2) the price was actually higher than listed on the site & BN wasn't willing to "eat" the difference in price + credit card fee that merchants have to pay, but was willing to do the transaction via wire transfer.

BN's Product Availability and Pricing paragraphs do advise you that they may not be able to deliver the stone or at the price you saw on their web site, but not everyone reads the Terms and Conditions before "pulling the trigger" and so, some are disappointed:
http://www.bluenile.com/product_policies.jsp

If it was indeed discrimination then I wonder if your friend even had a legal case, it even makes me very angry if this happens to a disabled person for no reason. It is a shocking story. I wonder why Bluenile does not just say that only wire transfers are accepted; it would be a clear policy that protects them and also a customer would not have to go through this.

Were Blue Nile to limit the form of payment to wire transfers, that would obviously eliminate quite a few potential customers who either don't have the ca$h at hand to purchase a diamond or simply prefer, for sundry reasons, to use a credit card.

It's a "shocking story" only if discrimination, in fact, drove BN's handling of the matter. Pyramid has bold-faced the text in her post that underscores her friend's hearing disability. But her emphasis doesn't mean BN IS guilty of discrimination on that basis & it seems waaaay more likely that something has gotten "lost in translation" than BN canceled the transaction because of his hearing disability.

 

[Niel]

Well, it is shocking if indeed they told a deaf person that he would have to call, how on Earth would a deaf person be able to do that? We do not know the entire story and I would hate to judge anyone here, what seems a bit contradicting here is that the deaf person did indeed call and with difficulty but managed the phone call, how? A completely deaf person would not be able to hear obviously. OTOH, my sister is hearing impaired, very seriously; 100 % in one ear and has very limited hearing in the other so she can make a phone call, could this have been the case? Very hard to form an opinion here because discrimination based on a disability would be horrible but like I said what has happened exactly is something we are not aware of here. We would need more information to be able to form a solid opinion.

To your question about a deaf person on the phone.

I work in a call center. People have translators. They type to the translator and the translator speaks for them, then types back. So it is possible to have a phone call.

I feel bad if this didn't work out for the purchaser but if I was someone trying to use a fraudulent credit card, being deaf might be a good excuse to get out of having to actually talk to someone. I am NOT saying that's the case here. But BN is a big company that probably has had its share of fraudulent attempts, it may be something they are extra careful with. "Better safe than sorry type of thing.

 

[jillianfl]

It has happened, hey I loved B2C I'd buy from them again in a heartbeat but it does happen... http://www.resellerratings.com/store/B2C_Jewels

Below is post from someone describing their experience in similar situation have transaction cancelled after approval. Again, I have seen similar situations posted from other companies as well this is only one example that happens to be from B2C (who I would happily use again I thought they were great) but I don't feel like spending hours trying to scour the different review sites trying to find them all b/c it is rare, but does happen and not totally unheard of.

"No Avatar
Robert5824
Rating 2/10
1/5
modified review posted 2014-05-05
"I had an awful experience with B2C Jewels. I purchased a diamond, and later that night, I received an e-mail saying that I had been flagged by their risk management team, and they could not complete the purchase. I did not understand why because my bank had already authorized the purchase. Thus B2C Jewels accepted my money but did not allow me to make the purchase. It took me more than a week and 24 phone calls to B2C jewels to get my money back. If you are not going to allow me to purchase something, you should not take my money. "

B2C wrote back to this review and said it was address mismatch but I'd be surprised they didn't just and get it corrected immediately and that the whole thing got cancelled but my point was it has happened elsewhere and not just B2C either... They are a great company IMO and score 9.4 out of 10 on reseller ratings website out of 91 reviews, BlueNile scored 4.5 out of 10 on the same site based on 25 reviews and Brilliance scores 9.8 out of 10 on 557 reviews.

 

[MollyMalone]

Thanks for the follow-up, Jillian -- and to Niel, for sharing your first-hand info-explanations.

 

[Sunstorm]

Thanks posters, this was why I was trying not to judge as I said we do not know a whole lot in this case. True that claiming one is deaf is a good excuse, I have thought of that as well and I was thinking that a deaf person can use a translator after I posted but I was not quite aware of the technology, thanks for letting me know. I simply did not want to suggest that the person in question did anything wrong as we do not know that either. At this point anything would be only guessing, that was my instant reaction but I tried to address this issue.

As to credit, certainly understandable but I have a credit line linked to my bank account as well so I can use wire transfer and credit at the same time. I think this may be a primarily European thing though as here this the most common form of credit and yes a credit card comes with it as well but in the US if I remember correctly people mainly use credit cards from companies other than the bank where they have their primary accounts. Thanks again for the good points everyone.

 

[KenD]

I've had problems with smaller transactions, with computer equipment vendors, when my "bill to:" and my "ship to:" addresses did not match.
I was, subsequently, able to get my work address added as an authorized "ship to:' address with my credit card.

 

[pyramid]

Thanks for all your replies and good to see he is not alone here.

He has decided to go elsewhere. All the responses are just to give us a call and he is hearing impaired, sorry I said deaf, but was
not thinking about that as being different and would have read it different myself if I had read it too right enough.

He has contacted his bank who said the money was approved and that he should contact his merchandiser. After he wrote a lengthy email to them explaining this he got the same standard email to give us a call. The problem is as he has told them when they are open he is at work and when he is home and able to try to call they are closed. He had also selected the part about how do you want us to contact you to state by email. It is a british bank and not an unusual name over here.

It is as if the people do not care really and as I told him, if you are spending that kind of money with them, they should work a bit for your money, although I realise at internet prices it is not going to be like a visit to a high class jeweller such as Cartier etc.

Anyway the worst part is his bank still shows the money as not available which hardly seems fair as nothing is being sent or has been sent to him.

Onwards and upwards. Can't get much worse than Blue Nile customer service is our opinion.

 

[pyramid]

I've had problems with smaller transactions, with computer equipment vendors, when my "bill to:" and my "ship to:" addresses did not match.
I was, subsequently, able to get my work address added as an authorized "ship to:' address with my credit card.

Someone said about mismatched addresses to me, but both his addresses are the same.

 

[Sunstorm]

Ooh, well I am glad that he will be buying elsewhere. I am sorry but I am very sensitive to people not being treated right especially when this concerns a disabled person. Totally wrong in my opinion but it would be wrong either way, it is just that it makes it worse that this person told them he was hearing impaired and they kept telling him to call. Imagine yourselves in that situation, it would be like a slap in the face. Sure it could be a good excuse too but why think the worst of people? Yes, I have been burnt too but I still prefer to treat people the way I would like to be treated. I am glad that he has a good friend like you Pyramid.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Pyramid, is he in the US? I do know that some US retailers will not accept credit cards from other countries.

 

[Niel]

I've had problems with smaller transactions, with computer equipment vendors, when my "bill to:" and my "ship to:" addresses did not match.
I was, subsequently, able to get my work address added as an authorized "ship to:' address with my credit card.

This happened to me. When I bought my husband's wedding band they said they would not run the transaction unless the billing and shipping address was the same. My old bank account still had my parents address on it. So off to my parents house it got shipped lol.

 

[MollyMalone]

He has contacted his bank who said the money was approved and that he should contact his merchandiser. After he wrote a lengthy email to them explaining this he got the same standard email to give us a call. The problem is as he has told them when they are open he is at work and when he is home and able to try to call they are closed. .

Blue Nile's Contact Us pages -- on both their UK and US web sites -- state that phone customer service is available 24/7; the UK 0800 206 1160 number is toll-free, as is the US 800-242-2728 (I called them last month when it was 12 midnight in NYC):
http://www.bluenile.com/uk/contact-blue-nile
http://www.bluenile.com/contact-blue-nile

 

[ame]

they're just coming up with reasons to not take his money, so I'd give someone else the money.