Mall Jeweler "fingered" my diamond - Aak

[Gothgrrl]

I would think they should know better. If Im at a store looking and trying on rings, I put my rings on my right hand. Or I hang on to it. I made the mistake of putting them on the counter, and before I could say anything, the SA took them and cleaned it. Then they proceeded to loupe it. She didn't think it was a real diamond. SA got one of those diamond testers and put it to my stone. When I got home I inspected it to see how clean it was. What I found was a scratch on the side. I was shocked.

 

[yssie]

Okay - dropping the i live in china thing *again* cause I just have to tell a couple stories when I read about the label on the waistband.

First of all I know *enough* chinese to not have people grab money out of my hands but yes, they do that. I've had it done to me a dozen times, maybe more. People will reach into your WALLET if they think you are too inept to figure out how much you owe them. And no, I never let them get away with it. I know all of my numbers up to 99,999 so if you say the bill is 31 rmb and I hand you a 50 I DO understand when you ask if I have 1rmb. And yeah maybe you see one in my wallet but that doesn't mean I want to use it! So keep your filthy (and I do mean that oh so literally) hands off my stuff!

I had a woman with an open mouth sore who kept touching it and then swatting at my arm when she laughed. I finally told her that it was contagious. Ugh! Nasty!!!

I went to go look at a coat for my daughter and the sales lady comes to me and says no those don't fit you and I said I know and she said come over here (this is all in chinese) and I said no I want to look at these and she said but you're too big and I said I know, I'm looking for my daughter, and then she lifts her shirt, exposes her jelly belly, puts her hands on it and shakes it wobbly up and down while saying, "is your daughter fat like you?"

The BEST place I've found to buy chicken, I try to just send my ayi to buy from there now because it's just gross. All of the chicken is laid out (it's ridiculously fresh so I'm not worried about room temp), and random people will paw through it and look at it then use the communal dirty rag to wipe their fingers then the butcher lady will get what they ask for, use the rag, then run her fingers through her hair, count money, hand it to the person then go back into the food. Chinese money is the dirtiest stuff on the planet, I'm certain. I'd rather LICK a toilet seat at disneyland than lick a 1rmb bill here. I have no doubt in my mind the toilet is far cleaner.

Germs and rudeness just run rampant here. I have so many more stories I could tell, but this is enough of a threadjack. What living here has done is that it has made me appreciate just how good we have it in the USA.

I'm something of a germophobe as it is... I could not live there. Simply couldn't do it.

 

[Gypsy]

It's so funny. I know so many people who when we talk about vacation destinations say China. Never been on my list of places to visit. But then again, one of my oldest friends lived there for 3 years and used to send us weekly stories of life there.

 

[centralsquare]

Okay - dropping the i live in china thing *again* cause I just have to tell a couple stories when I read about the label on the waistband.

First of all I know *enough* chinese to not have people grab money out of my hands but yes, they do that. I've had it done to me a dozen times, maybe more. People will reach into your WALLET if they think you are too inept to figure out how much you owe them. And no, I never let them get away with it. I know all of my numbers up to 99,999 so if you say the bill is 31 rmb and I hand you a 50 I DO understand when you ask if I have 1rmb. And yeah maybe you see one in my wallet but that doesn't mean I want to use it! So keep your filthy (and I do mean that oh so literally) hands off my stuff!

I had a woman with an open mouth sore who kept touching it and then swatting at my arm when she laughed. I finally told her that it was contagious. Ugh! Nasty!!!

I went to go look at a coat for my daughter and the sales lady comes to me and says no those don't fit you and I said I know and she said come over here (this is all in chinese) and I said no I want to look at these and she said but you're too big and I said I know, I'm looking for my daughter, and then she lifts her shirt, exposes her jelly belly, puts her hands on it and shakes it wobbly up and down while saying, "is your daughter fat like you?"

The BEST place I've found to buy chicken, I try to just send my ayi to buy from there now because it's just gross. All of the chicken is laid out (it's ridiculously fresh so I'm not worried about room temp), and random people will paw through it and look at it then use the communal dirty rag to wipe their fingers then the butcher lady will get what they ask for, use the rag, then run her fingers through her hair, count money, hand it to the person then go back into the food. Chinese money is the dirtiest stuff on the planet, I'm certain. I'd rather LICK a toilet seat at disneyland than lick a 1rmb bill here. I have no doubt in my mind the toilet is far cleaner.

Germs and rudeness just run rampant here. I have so many more stories I could tell, but this is enough of a threadjack. What living here has done is that it has made me appreciate just how good we have it in the USA.

You must have a lot of patience!

 

[Cehrabehra]

It's so funny. I know so many people who when we talk about vacation destinations say China. Never been on my list of places to visit. But then again, one of my oldest friends lived there for 3 years and used to send us weekly stories of life there.

If you stick to the tourist spots (shanghai, beijing, hong kong) you can get by pretty well. It's not like you HAVE to eat the centipedes they have on sticks lol But living here and getting into the real day to day grunge - yeah, it's not pretty. Europe is more relaxed than the USA too so I'm glad I got to live there before living here. It was an adjustment to live in Europe - living there before here made it easier to adjust. It's not bad like this in EU but it's not quite like the usa.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Awesome stories Sara. You know what is the most interesting part? I bet chinese who first come to the US are just as appalled at our day-to-day normal behavior too.

hmm... my experience is they think america is kinda like a pinnacle of clean options lol (and it really is). I think they are more perplexed that their normal behaviors are so scorned when they arrive - I think they're more used to seeing us and how we are from movies. I imagine they feel culture shock, but from what I hear they all LOVE it and most of it is just language and not fitting in because of their old habits from home.

 

[Cehrabehra]

I would think they should know better. If Im at a store looking and trying on rings, I put my rings on my right hand. Or I hang on to it. I made the mistake of putting them on the counter, and before I could say anything, the SA took them and cleaned it. Then they proceeded to loupe it. She didn't think it was a real diamond. SA got one of those diamond testers and put it to my stone. When I got home I inspected it to see how clean it was. What I found was a scratch on the side. I was shocked.

when I took my diamond in for a prong check last month in the states the guy went nutso on it... thought it was awesome, had to look at it under magnification even lol But I did notice he took out the diamond tester just to check it out... pfft it's real. Go ahead. You look like an ass checking it when it doesn't even matter to you or your business if it's *real* lol

but a scratch? bu hao!

 

[Pandora II]

Sara, I spent a month in China in 1997 and you have just brought back a number of gruesome memories. I'm the furthest thing from a germophobe and grew up in the developing world but China managed to make me squeamish. The spitting was the worst! And OMG the banknotes - they smell like dead duck.

I wanted to buy a dress out there and of the four shops I went into, 3 of them had SA's who told me that they had nothing for me because I was 'too fat'. At the time I was 25, 5ft 10" and a size 4-6 US. I came back to the UK feeling like an elephant.

It also took a while to get used to being quizzed on trains and buses as to how much I earned, how much my house cost and any other personal question that those asking felt interested in.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Sara, I spent a month in China in 1997 and you have just brought back a number of gruesome memories. I'm the furthest thing from a germophobe and grew up in the developing world but China managed to make me squeamish. The spitting was the worst! And OMG the banknotes - they smell like dead duck.

I wanted to buy a dress out there and of the four shops I went into, 3 of them had SA's who told me that they had nothing for me because I was 'too fat'. At the time I was 25, 5ft 10" and a size 4-6 US. I came back to the UK feeling like an elephant.

It also took a while to get used to being quizzed on trains and buses as to how much I earned, how much my house cost and any other personal question that those asking felt interested in.

I have a friend here (well she just moved back) who is 5'3" and runs all the time and has an amazing bikini body (athletic build) at 47 years old. They tell her her butt is too fat and she doesn't even have a big butt!! It's perfect haha. They just have no butts!!

On the spitting thing, when I moved here the sound made me gag, literally. I find now it's equally distasteful but doesn't make me retch anymore. ::sigh:: My ayi asked me how much money my husband earned and I told her I didn't know. I'm not private about that stuff, but there is NO WAY she needs to know that.

And your banknote description cracked me up lol You're deadon. You should have had a dress made though - that could have worked out well for you! In a couple weeks when the kids get back to school I'm going to see if I can find someone who can make me bras. They have people who can make shoes from scratch to fit your feet... I need a strapless bra for this amazing dress I bought in the states!

 

[Pandora II]

I would have done but due to it being pre-internet and so being unable to book train tickets or hotels on-line I had no idea how long I was in any one place for. Booking a train ticket was a NIGHTMARE. Filling in the wretched forms in chinese characters, queueing for ages only to hear that I couldn't go where I wanted until the next week and so having to go and fill another form in for another date place and queue again and rinse and repeat...

The great thing was how nice all the chinese people I met were - they were very concerned about me travelling alone and I got endlessly 'adopted' by people! Also felt like a filmstar with all the people wanting to have their photo taken with me - does that still go on? And everyone wanting to talk politics and criticise the government - that was an unexpected suprise.

I did enjoy Shanghai - but still felt somewhat relieved when I got to HK!

 

[marcy]

Gothgrrl, I rarely would take off my ering so I guess I didn’t think about just setting it down. That is too funny the SA grabbed yours, cleaned it and louped it. I can’t believe she used a diamond tester on it. DId she scratch your ring or your diamond?

Yssie, I’m with you. I would have problems living somewhere that wouldn’t be conducive to my germophobia. DH was in Hong Kong quite a bit last year, he told me I’d struggle over there.

Cehrabehra, you wonder what a SA thinks when they realize they don’t have a single diamond in their store that is as nice as yours.

The discussion on China is interesting. As I mentioned DH was in Hong Kong quite a bit recently and he says everyone there is miniature. He’s 6’4” so I am sure he stuck out in the many crowds.

 

[Gothgrrl]

Marcy, she put the diamond tester to my diamond. This was when I was first engaged and was looking for a wedding band. All that happened and I just stood there in shock, not saying a word. I told R what had happened. I said I didn't say anything, but will NOT ever go back. Well, he went down there and more or less gave them the riot act. They apologized profusely, and that they will be happy to inspect it and maybe can polish it out. Yeah, sure, I'll be right down. It wasn't a real expensive diamond and the size was small so I just learned to live with it.

 

[marcy]

Gothgrrl, I don't blame you. I don't think I'd take it back to them to polish out either. I am glad R at least went and told them what they did.

 

[jewelerman]

you would think its starange that a sales person is using a diamond tester on your stone before cleaning it...many stores now expect their sales staff to test all diamonds before walking away from the customer because of fraud.Scammers seek out a new sales person and ask for their one carat plus diamond to be cleaned and when the inexperianced sales persaon returns they ask that the stone be tested in front of them and then claim a switch when the stone proves to be cz.Other sales people may be workinbg on certifications and they may not have high clarity stone in the store so they take an oppertunity to use all the toys like loupe,tester, or microscopes to learn from customers stones that are really high in clarity or color.

 

[marcy]

Thanks for a different perspective of why a SA would act that way, Jewelerman.

 

[jewelerman]

I guess im always thinking about the posts on the forum from both sides of the counter and usually one perspective wins out. I used to hate to train newbees on the diamond tester because the tips are easily bent and so all it takes is a lighter touch before pressing the point down on the table of the clean stone.Most newbees want to attack the stone and press down hard on the table which bends the tip and ruins the tester in some cases. i think its interesting that people have a perseption that jewelry is un-damage-able because its made of stone and metal.

 

[marcy]

Jewelerman, that is too bad the diamond tester can be bent so easily because I am sure it's not a cheap piece of equipment. Of course really pressing on the diamond (or cz as the case may be) isn't a good call on your customer's jewelry either. I know people think a diamond can't be hurt or scratched because it's so hard - wrong! I about died when I dropped my newly upgraded diamond on a concrete floor. I came home and louped that baby ASAP. That is the day I decided if there isn't a good spot to take off my ring and put it safely away in a ring box I might just have to wash my hands with that ring on and clean it up later. It's not worth cracking, breaking or scratching my diamond just because I want to keep it clean. I do feel sorry for the poor unsuspecting person who finds out their precious diamond jewelry is cz though. I am sure that's made for some interesting stories around a jewelry store.

 

[jewelerman]

Marcy,
been there with dropping jewelry on the floor!you would have thought i dropped on of the children or something like that! I learned to always put on or take off any of my own jewelry(i am a butter fingers with bracelet clasps...not so good for a jeweler ) over a carpeted area!
i remember a young pretty female client in the late 1980s who brought in a one carat sized pear shape engagement ring for cleaning which her fiece said was from the jewelers i worked at.We always had to test any white stone over 1/2 carat before going to the back room to put it in the ultrasonic cleaner... the stone was a cz.The lady went Ballistic!!!Telling us she was going to kill the $%& of a %^$#@ for lying to her and stormed out!We learned a few days later from the manager that the same customer had shot her boyfriend in the stomach...he survived!Let that be a lesson to the guys that try to pull that trick! Also let the ladies who switch out diamonds for cz when breaking up with guys before giving the ring back...had a few of those ladies in the past who have freely admitted to this when coming in the stores ive worked at!

 

[princesss]

Dreamer, you're so right! There are stories of an Indian singer refusing to tour in the US because people here are so unhygenic - we only wipe after using the toilet, we don't wash.

 

[marcy]

Jewelerman, I always take off my earrings, pendants and bracelets over my bed so if they fail I can see them easily. The day I dropped my ring I was in a ladies room that had big open sinks with no counters. I should have just left my ring on. I can't believe that lady shot her boyfriend. Obviously he wasn't very honest but shooting someone isn't the answer either. I am so naive - I never thought of someone swapping out their diamond for a cz before giving the ring back to their ex. I can't say I am surprised though. Some people, huh?

 

[pregcurious]

I would have made her clean it. Twice.

Right after I had my SK reset I was in a local store trying on plain 2mm platinum bands. Jeweler (who was the owner!) picked up my setting and louped the pave and then complimented it... I swear you to you all I could think was "GET YOUR HANDS OFF THE TABLE OF MY FREAKING DIAMOND"... I thanked him for the compliment then asked him to clean it.

He said they don't clean outside pave in house.

So I looked at him and said, " Then you probably shouldn't go around touching other people's jewelry without their permission. You put your finger right on my diamond and now you are refusing to clean it? Really? "

He cleaned it (in the steam cleaner NOT the ultrasonic that he was first headed for). I think he was scared of me. And I was happy about that and even made him give me his loupe so I could make sure it was clean enough when he gave it back to me.

Man, this story is too good.

 

[pregcurious]

Awesome stories Sara. You know what is the most interesting part? I bet chinese who first come to the US are just as appalled at our day-to-day normal behavior too.

Wearing shoes and allowing pets inside the house are only the first 2 things that come to mind. I don't wear shoes in my house, but I have 2 cats, and I have to say that they make the house pretty dirty.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Awesome stories Sara. You know what is the most interesting part? I bet chinese who first come to the US are just as appalled at our day-to-day normal behavior too.

Wearing shoes and allowing pets inside the house are only the first 2 things that come to mind. I don't wear shoes in my house, but I have 2 cats, and I have to say that they make the house pretty dirty.

I don't know anyone with cats but small dogs are popular right now and those are let in the house. You should SEE the get ups they put them in lol Like Kenny