Tan Order, Advice Please

[JewelFreak]

A month ago on 9/21 I ordered a tsavorite from Odyssey. Since an email that day confirming & saying it would be shipped as soon as it was certed, I've heard nothing. Is this time length usual? Tan went into the hospital right around then so things might have gone a little haywire there. PayPal has billed me already.

I emailed today asking what's up. Also told them if they don't still have it, I'd be ok with cancelling the order & issuing me a credit, and I'd be back soon to buy something else. (Since I bought a tourmaline from Wild Fish in the meantime, probably can't keep the garnet anyhow, but I didn't say that. I still would like to see it.)

This is my first transaction with Tan, Ebay & PayPal & I don't want to start off on the wrong foot with any of them. I'm sure Odyssey will respond -- they're reliable & have had tough times in the past month -- but if I'm stuck in some Twilight Zone, what next? Guess i contact PayPal & tell them I didn't receive the merchandise? Do I pay the bill & wait to hear from Tan? It's not millions of bucks, but not an amount I want to blow off, either. Advice appreciated!

--- Laurie

 

[T L]

A month ago on 9/21 I ordered a tsavorite from Odyssey. Since an email that day confirming & saying it would be shipped as soon as it was certed, I've heard nothing. Is this time length usual? Tan went into the hospital right around then so things might have gone a little haywire there. PayPal has billed me already.

I emailed today asking what's up. Also told them if they don't still have it, I'd be ok with cancelling the order & issuing me a credit, and I'd be back soon to buy something else. (Since I bought a tourmaline from Wild Fish in the meantime, probably can't keep the garnet anyhow, but I didn't say that. I still would like to see it.)

This is my first transaction with Tan, Ebay & PayPal & I don't want to start off on the wrong foot with any of them. I'm sure Odyssey will respond -- they're reliable & have had tough times in the past month -- but if I'm stuck in some Twilight Zone, what next? Guess i contact PayPal & tell them I didn't receive the merchandise? Do I pay the bill & wait to hear from Tan? It's not millions of bucks, but not an amount I want to blow off, either. Advice appreciated!

--- Laurie

Tan's representatives are not that good in English. I have found that if I write very simple notes, I get a response better, for example.

"Is stone back from AIGS? When are you shipping?"

Also provide the auction number.

If you give a whole story with lots of words, they might not respond, but that's been my experience. Tan is still recuperating (I hope he gets better soon), so in the meantime, I might reword your response if you don't get one a second time around. Good luck. They're still a reliable company in my opinion, and I think you should be able to resolve your issues with them.

 

[LD]

It can also take 3 weeks to get the stone to the lab, certified and then posted out I'm afraid. Even before Tan went into hospital I had a 3-4 week wait for a sapphire.

 

[cemrn]

I just bought my first Tan stone. I ordered Oct 4th, standard shipping, no certification. I received it yesterday. Hopefully you'll get an answer soon. Remember paypal has a limit on reversing charges.

 

[JewelFreak]

It can also take 3 weeks to get the stone to the lab, certified and then posted out I'm afraid. Even before Tan went into hospital I had a 3-4 week wait for a sapphire.

Thanks, LD, then considering whatever problems they may be having -- don't know if Tan is back yet, kinda doubt it -- I'll assume it will come, maybe with a little prodding on my part. Good advice, TL, to keep language simple. Will do. I'll just pay PayPal; Tan's reliable enough to work with if the stone fell between the cracks.

--- Laurie

 

[Arkteia]

I have purchased several cheaper stones during the month of September and all of them have safely arrived. It may take longer time, but Tan has never lost either of my stones. I am under impression that his staff is the same way. They were probably handling deliveries when Tan was doing well, so nothing has changed.

 

[Largosmom]

I also have several purchases that have not yet arrived. Tan did email saying they were sent, and I hope they arrive in the next couple of days, I'm getting anxious as normally I get them within a couple of weeks. I suspect they backed up and were sent out when he got back, so have my fingers crossed to get all of mine in a single shipment. It's been hard not to go looking for more but I wanted to get all my pending stones in before spending more money. It has been almost two weeks since he messaged me that they would be here "next week" (now this week).

Laura

 

[chrono]

It could be that they are having issues with the lab’s schedule in checking out the stone. Another consideration is that since Tan is away, the language barrier makes it more of a challenge for them to respond. It took them 1 week to respond to my one other inquiry when I wrote in my usual style. When I wrote about a different stone using a 5 year old’s grasp of the English language, I had a response within the day. If it’s the lab holding them up, it can take several weeks for that to be done.

 

[morecarats]

It could be that they are having issues with the lab’s schedule in checking out the stone. Another consideration is that since Tan is away, the language barrier makes it more of a challenge for them to respond. It took them 1 week to respond to my one other inquiry when I wrote in my usual style. When I wrote about a different stone using a 5 year old’s grasp of the English language, I had a response within the day. If it’s the lab holding them up, it can take several weeks for that to be done.

AIGS is routinely turning around test reports in 2 days. Look for another reason for delays.

 

[chrono]

MoreCarats,
Not too long ago, it seemed the turnaround time was at least a week. I’m not sure what was happening then.

 

[morecarats]

It's been 2-3 days turnaround time at AIGS for at least the past year, with the exception of peak times around the biannual Bangkok gem shows. I take gems to that lab several times a week.

 

[JewelFreak]

It's been 2 days since I emailed -- will send another in very simple language. The 12-hr time difference slows things down too, of course. I don't care a lot if it never gets here as long as I get a credit for the price. But it probably is caught up in waiting either at the lab or for paperwork etc., at Odyssey.

--- Laurie

 

[Largosmom]

All of my overdue items arrived today. I think things got a bit backed up while Tan was in the hospital. I was getting a bit nervous, but am happy to see things getting back to a normal pace. I suspect that he's not able to do all the packing himself as much. I'm patient, though and have gotten good deals, so will probably return to shopping his stores again with comfort.

Laura

 

[minousbijoux]

Have his prices come down at all recently? I stopped looking as it seemed they were higher than others.