Inna Gem - Buyer Beware

[Indylady]

If you years ago, I try to buy a gem from Inna Gem on Etsy. As soon as I bought it and paid, the seller removed all the items from his shop - I found that strange but waited for the package anyway. He never sent it, or offered a refund, until I complained and asked for a refund. He said he had been sick, which I understand - but a simple note or a refund should have been offered before several weeks passed. I seriously doubt he would have given me a refund if I had not asked. Anyways - I recently saw his stones on LT, and strongly encourage you to buy on a platform with recourse and only deal with refundable payment systems (ie. PayPal Merchant, etc.) when dealing with this seller.

 

[Rfisher]

Reading their listing was quite interesting.

“ Those who have extensive and trustworthy history on Pricescope “


thank you for sharing your experience, again, @Indylady

 

[Indylady]

A few years ago* sorry for the typo, I was posting on the fly.

@Rfisher - weird, I actually hadn’t even noticed the specific Pricescope reference!

An additional note - since the sale was canceled, I was not able to leave feedback on Etsy - so take Etsy feedback with a grain of salt.

 

[Bron357]

Always be careful when buying items online.
While it’s ok to buy “friends and family” PayPal from known and long standing PSers, other transactions on Loupe Troop (and Instagram) with vendors unknown you are taking a risk. There is no feedback or any way of finding out if others buyers have been happy with their purchase.
Even Etsy has to be treated cautiously, again, no way of finding out if all other buyers have been happy because only positive reactions are posted.
Ebay, for all its flaws, is still safest for buyers In my opinion.

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

Reading their listing was quite interesting.

“ Those who have extensive and trustworthy history on Pricescope “


thank you for sharing your experience, again, @Indylady

Where did you find his listings, on LT? I try to pay very close attention to who I shouldn't do business with.

 

[Rfisher]

Where did you find his listings, on LT? I try to pay very close attention to who I shouldn't do business with.

 

[Mreader]

If you years ago, I try to buy a gem from Inna Gem on Etsy. As soon as I bought it and paid, the seller removed all the items from his shop - I found that strange but waited for the package anyway. He never sent it, or offered a refund, until I complained and asked for a refund. He said he had been sick, which I understand - but a simple note or a refund should have been offered before several weeks passed. I seriously doubt he would have given me a refund if I had not asked. Anyways - I recently saw his stones on LT, and strongly encourage you to buy on a platform with recourse and only deal with refundable payment systems (ie. PayPal Merchant, etc.) when dealing with this seller.

Did Etsy issue you a refund or did your credit card company issue refund for the purchase?

 

[Indylady]

@Mreader - neither, the seller Inna Gem issued the refund - I believe he simply cancelled the sale when I asked him for a refund. I never opened a formal case with Etsy.

 

[Mreader]

@Mreader - neither, the seller Inna Gem issued the refund - I believe he simply cancelled the sale when I asked him for a refund. I never opened a formal case with Etsy.

I see. I’m sorry I read your post to quickly and when I reread it I see that. Thank you for the PSA! I recently had a very bad experience from an Etsy seller and posted about it as well.

 

[Indylady]

@Mreader - sorry to hear that! Etsy has TERRIBLE customer service - I actually experienced the same exact thing that you did - Etsy allowed a seller to close her shop on me even though I had a ‘item not delivered’ open, on a $600 gemstone. I finally got the $$ back through my CC company. In my case, though, the seller never even shipped the stone. I have a soft ban on buying from Etsy these days - I may go back on an inexpensive item, but for now I prefer to shop elsewhere.

 

[T L]

@Mreader I finally got the $$ back through my CC company

I ALWAYS use a cc when buying online precisely for this reason, even with PayPal.

 

[musicloveranthony]

I much regret doing a recent friends and family purchase through Instagram and Venmo. Seller has stopped responding after taking my return item and my $3,000.

 

[Rfisher]

I much regret doing a recent friends and family purchase through Instagram and Venmo. Seller has stopped responding after taking my return item and my $3,000.

?!?!?? Yikes.
How long has the vendor/individual/whatever had your return item, and not been responding?
If it’s a small one person/low count operation, would you consider asking if they can refund you half now and half next week or another type plan?
I know it’s not ideal - but sometimes that can be better than nothing and it sets aside the non contact aspect.
I bring this up - because sometimes it just does happen that its necessary. Not ideal for a vendor to not have enough reserves set aside to prepare for such things - but it does happen. Due to poor planning/business sense, not nefarious intents.
I hope you share the deets when it’s all finalized for you, and I hope it’s resolved to your satisfaction soon.

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

I much regret doing a recent friends and family purchase through Instagram and Venmo. Seller has stopped responding after taking my return item and my $3,000.

I am so sorry to read this!! Please start a thread on this. Perhaps it can be used as leverage to get your $ back. If nothing else hopefully to save others from going through the same thing.

 

[musicloveranthony]

Thank you both for concern and empathy. I'm going to message again to say a refund installment plan would be OK with me (I can understand a lump refund is hard for an individual/low volume). If they continue to be non-responsive I'll start a thread and share more info

 

[Inna Gem]

I was just made aware of this thread and I want to first apologize for not refunding you quickly. Customer service is paramount to my business and seeing that I left you unhappy with our transaction means a lot.

I did a quick review of my old Etsy messages and couldn't find anything that matches what you're saying so I'm not exactly sure what happened, and as you said that was some time ago. I do want to let you know that I had so much going on in my life, health, and wholesale business I had to shut down the Etsy store completely after only a few months of being open. It would make sense I was overwhelmed and I neglected your order, which is exactly why I shut the online down. Now that I am slowly opening to several online platforms, I know what workload to expect and have more resources and time to commit 100% of the energy needed and that will not be a problem again.

Best
Mac

 

[Indylady]

For all - Mac reached out to me privately via Etsy to apologize, but did not publicly update this thread to share that he IS aware of the sale I’m referring to. The post above suggests that I might be lying or exaggerating. That’s pretty offensive, especially since he did find the relevant transactions and contacted me privately, but did not update the public post that states he’s unaware what happened - I have been posting on Pricescope since 2008, and I only offer truthful reviews of my experiences - I don’t have anything personal to gain by sharing. Frankly, my initial review was not even that negative (my main point was to just use a CC or quality platform when purchasing from this seller). Here is the relevant documentation of my experience.

 

[Indylady]

 

[Indylady]

 

[Indylady]

 

[minousbijoux]

@Indylady - fwiw, no one would question your credibility.

 

[Indylady]

Thank you @minousbijoux I don’t like airing grievances (and esp don’t like it when things turn into a back and forth between vendor and consumer like this), and am honestly a little embarrassed that I’ve had to defend myself this way. I appreciate your support!