What's going on with DanielM?

[jstarfireb]

Kelli, sorry to hear you're having such problems getting your project done.

As a repeat customer of theirs (I've done maybe 5-6 projects with them), but not a close personal friend, here's my take on the situation. It's awful to hear they're having health problems, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Of course they're human beings like anyone else and have to take care of themselves and their family above all. But I think the ethical thing to do as a businessperson is this: try to finish all the current orders in a timely fashion if they can, stop taking orders for a bit until things calm down, and put a notice up on their website that they're having delays (or send individual emails to customers who are affected - a notice on the storefront is much easier, though). To me, it doesn't matter whether it's the primary job or a side business. If you can't get the work done in the expected time frame, communicate with customers and stop taking additional orders until the situation improves.

But again, I'm a little out of the loop, and these are just my thoughts based on hearing all of this second/third-hand information. At any rate, I hope the health problems get resolved quickly, for their sake of course, and so they can get back on track and restore their reputation.

 

[deskjockey]

Yeah… I guess I'm starting to lose hope. I'm just glad I didn't send them any of my stones!! And I feel bad for those that have.

This is making me a little nervous :/ Granted the stone I sent him is pretty inexpensive and small, but it actually took me a really long time to find, everything I found in the color range I wanted was badly cut and/or too large. He was so quick with the little jobs (and more valuable stuff, truth be told) that I'm still giving some benefit of the doubt, but the non-response to kelli is disheartening.

 

[megthered]

I have no dog in this hunt but I had looked at his shop and had planned to make some purchases, but I will wait and see what happens. It's too bad, but if they are having problems that should be communicated to customers. If he had my money and stones, I wouldn't be as nice as you all are.

 

[katharath]

Kelli, it's actually been over six solid months now, correct? Ouch!! (I think I posted this very early on in this thread, but I've never used DanielM - I was planning on it in the past, and I had gotten some very reasonable quotes from Caren, but ended up just using my regular jeweler as that was easier for me). My point is that I've never had a negative experience with them in the past and like meg, I have no dog in this hunt either . I've admired DanielM's work many many times.

But I have to say that Kelli, I think you've been unbelievably patient. I really feel for you, I just don't think you've been treated well at all. I would be beyond placating at this point, personally. You've been very kind and understanding, but this is just not okay. I hope they can make things right for you somehow.

 

[JewelFreak]

Desk Jockey, I hope you hear something soon. That is very worrying. I've forgotten where the health problem idea came from, but if that's it, the only reason i can think of for long silence is that it's something severe enough to overwhelm both family & business. I sincerely hope not.

At the least, ethics would require the return of stones & payments on projects that haven't been done. What can you do now? Contact etsy? Would they do anything? What about Paypal?

--- Laurie

 

[GregS]

It would only take a few seconds to reply to an email. There's no excuse for them not replying for months. If it's not too late, and you paid with PayPal open up a dispute. Or leave them negative feedback if possible.

They should also be removed from the recommended vendors list.

 

[Kelli]

Thanks for the support, guys. I think I'd be far less patient if they also had stones I really cherished. Luckily for me the only thing they have is my deposit, and although I'll be irritated to lose it, it's not enough to be a real tragedy. The most annoying part for me is that these pieces were presents, and they were also kind of "follow up" presents to ones I had already given. It's not something I can have made anywhere, so I guess I'm out of luck on that. One was to commemorate the death of (well, the LIFE of, really) a beloved family pet. Given that the pet died in January shortly before I placed the order, the best time to give the present has kind of passed. Oh well.

In any case, I really hope they stop taking orders and that you guys get your stones back!!!

​

 

[pregcurious]

Kelli, I hope they return your deposit and your stones.

 

[Laila619]

Kelli, keep being the squeaky wheel. I would not accept them keeping my deposit. That just is not right.

 

[eastjavaman]

How do we actually go and sue any vendor or proof our case. For example, I sent a 20ct unheated Burmese Ruby(okay, I am exaggerating) to one of the cutter(or sending stone to a lab) and the cutter claims that they only receive a 20ct pebble, how do we actually prove that it is ruby that we sent and not anything else (heated, BE stone) and what can we do if the cutter denies any knowledge, or returns us the same stone in the end?
I guess what I am asking is how do we prevent all of these issues and what can we do if it does happen?

Any advice would be appreciated for a noob like myself.

 

[JewelFreak]

That's one reason we have the Recommended Vendor list, EJM. They are people with whom PSers have had enough good experiences to merit putting them on the list. I doubt very much that such a scenario -- plain theft -- would happen with any of the sellers there.

Nothing is ever certain, however -- as we see with Daniel M. Years of good service & excellent work for many on PS behind them & they aren't looking too good right now. I can only guess something has gone terribly wrong for them because they were reliable & great to work with all that time.

Since no one has heard from them, the decision now is whether to take them off the list to keep it free of undependable vendors. On one hand, we could wait a bit to see if anything comes of some of our members' contacting etsy or Paypal; on the other, they are holding customers' stones and money & not responding to inquiries over about 6 months. If they were a company where so many didn't feel personally connected to them, they would have be removed about now.

--- Laurie

 

[Niel]

That's one reason we have the Recommended Vendor list, EJM. They are people with whom PSers have had enough good experiences to merit putting them on the list. I doubt very much that such a scenario -- plain theft -- would happen with any of the sellers there.

Nothing is ever certain, however -- as we see with Daniel M. Years of good service & excellent work for many on PS behind them & they aren't looking too good right now. I can only guess something has gone terribly wrong for them because they were reliable & great to work with all that time.

Since no one has heard from them, the decision now is whether to take them off the list to keep it free of undependable vendors. On one hand, we could wait a bit to see if anything comes of some of our members' contacting etsy or Paypal; on the other, they are holding customers' stones and money & not responding to inquiries over about 6 months. If they were a company where so many didn't feel personally connected to them, they would have be removed about now.

--- Laurie

I say remove him. He's done (or not done) plenty To warrent the removal. I mean, right now if somebody opened a thread asking for setting advise, would anyone actually post in that thread that the OP should work with him??

Plus the list is fluid. If somehow he redeems himself, I'm sure people wouldn't hesitate to put him back on.

 

[kgizo]

I agree to remove him from the list, and that he can get added back if/when customer service improves. It is a living document and should reflect current info. We frequently tell newbies "check the list", it would be terrible if they did and selected a vendor they had a bad experience with only to later find a long thread about problems with said vendor.

 

[deskjockey]

Desk Jockey, I hope you hear something soon. That is very worrying.

I'll probably send a message at the end of the week. It's not anything I'm in a huge hurry for or anything, and they've been great with my other stuff, so I very much want to give them benefit of the doubt, but I am getting a little nervous.

 

[T L]

I removed him, enough is enough. He can always redeem himself and be returned back to the list.

 

[chrono]

How do we actually go and sue any vendor or proof our case. For example, I sent a 20ct unheated Burmese Ruby(okay, I am exaggerating) to one of the cutter(or sending stone to a lab) and the cutter claims that they only receive a 20ct pebble, how do we actually prove that it is ruby that we sent and not anything else (heated, BE stone) and what can we do if the cutter denies any knowledge, or returns us the same stone in the end?
I guess what I am asking is how do we prevent all of these issues and what can we do if it does happen?

Any advice would be appreciated for a noob like myself.

This is why many posters agreed to create the list, which lessens the risk significantly. Of course, if I actually owned a 20 ct unheated Burmese ruby rough, I would fly down to meet with the lapidary personally. I think some labs will do a preliminary report on rough, then you can resend the stone after it is cut for a finalized report.

 

[chrono]

To all posters who have their deposits and stones held, I would continue to email Daniel M every 2 weeks or so and keep the trail of what has transpired. Although I do not know what else you can do, there HAS to be something that can be done to get your money and items back.

 

[JewelFreak]

I think it's a good move to take them off. As TL says, they can get back on if things turn around, but at this point, I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. I say that with regret & hopes that things improve for them.

--- Laurie

 

[distracts]

Yeah, I also don't understand why, if they have serious stuff going on, they don't return the stones and deposits and shut down the shop until they are able to deal with it again. PLENTY of Etsy shops on my favorites list shut down for a while when they go on vacation, have a baby, have health issues, whatever. I really don't understand why they don't do this. I've had several things made by them and they had great customer service and excellent communication, so I don't understand why they wouldn't take these basic steps. Plus taking those steps would make any pressure they feel from the Etsy shop go away which would surely help in dealing with whatever they are dealing with.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,


This doesn't sound like a health issue. It sounds more like a divorce. Things get very crazy then. Sorry for all who are waiting. I'm not as forgiving as many of you are. I would never use them again.


Annette

 

[Kelli]

I emailed again yesterday, sounding a little less patient. I got a response this morning saying the pieces would be done by the end of the week and I'd have pictures no later than Friday. I've been hearing such tales since April, so I'm not feeling real confident. But I guess we will see...

 

[koolchicken]

Okay, now I'm really scared. I too sent out a large number of different stones and a diamond setting. I've paid more than $500 so far (half the fee, and they were going to bill me separately for another item but thankfully they never sent the invoice).

Conversations with them had been spotty from the beginning. That was back in February. I didn't think much of it cause I travel a lot so sometimes I'm a bit tardy in my replies as well. But they were acting odd in hindsight, beyond the wait in replies. I must have told them what I wanted done several times.

All I know now is that I sent out my stones and paid the first week of May. I've had exactly one email from them since then and it was (after prompting) to say that they had indeed received my stones. I emailed them again Sunday night, still haven't heard anything. I really hope they don't just take off with my stones. I don't care about the deposit, but if they take my stones I'll be heartbroken.

 

[Kelli]

Ugh… Good luck.

 

[koolchicken]

I only came on here cause I was starting to get worried. I thought I'd actually have to sift for a while to find someone who was having similar issues. If I even found anyone else. I thought he just forgot about me alone.

I really, really hope he sends my stuff back. I mean if my stones are just sitting on the bottom of their "To Be Completed" pile completely untouched fine. Then send them back and refund the deposit. If he's just taken the money and can't pay it back I get that. People do all manner of bad things thinking they can eventually dig themselves out of whatever hold they've dug for themselves. But don't hold my stones ransom while figuring out your next move. And at least respond to my emails. I would keep waiting for them to finish my stuff if I thought it was going to get done. But (and not to offend anyone) after reading this thread I'm starting to feel like this couple is getting ready to vanish after building a nice nest egg for themselves.

How could they?

 

[the_mother_thing]

No dog in this fight (thankfully) but my heart really aches for those of you waiting on word back for your projects to be either completed or returned. I know, jewelry is a first work problem ... I get that. But to think about the sacrifices those waiting on their stuff might have had to make to buy those stones, save for their project deposits, etc. it's really just not fair and completely inexcusable after so much time has passed. I hope you all get your deposits and gems back, or DM makes things right with some fantastic pieces (hopefully with some discount given the poor customer experience).

 

[koolchicken]

Just a quick update. I contacted Daniel M this afternoon and basically said I'd seen the thread here and as three months have passed with no contact he had until Friday to respond. Otherwise I was going straight to Esty and Paypal. He says I'll have photos by Friday and that everything is finished and should ship out next week. I am still concerned. One of the things I was having made was a pendant. It has one large center stone and a number of smaller ones around it. I did not pay a deposit on that as they were going to quote me a separate price on it (so the $580 I'd already paid did not include this piece but they have the stones). So I don't know how they have everything done. Unless they built the pendant without contacting me during any part of the process (I do have confidence in his work, but still). So who knows. Maybe it is all done and it's just been sitting, or maybe he's just trying to keep me from reporting him for another week. I can't know. But he has responded and so I'm going to give him until Friday. There will either be photos or there won't. But I'm not a second chance type, so if they aren't there I fully intend to follow through with reporting them and it hurts me to do it so I hope it doesn't come to that. Fingers crossed!

 

[missy]

Just read this thread and maybe I am being a bit harsh but I would never put them back on the list. If I understand what is happening here is they are still taking on new work and clients??? I am the first one to be empathetic when someone is going through a difficult time. However why would they be taking people's stones and money if they are going through some crisis that is preventing them from fulfilling all existing orders in a timely fashion. If that is what is occurring then it is reprehensible and I would never want to take a chance and deal with this vendor again. Unprofessional and unethical if I am understanding the situation correctly.

I am so sorry for those who have their precious stones with this vendor and hope everyone gets their projects completed ASAP or their stones and money back soon.

 

[Andelain]

Just a quick update. I contacted Daniel M this afternoon and basically said I'd seen the thread here and as three months have passed with no contact he had until Friday to respond. Otherwise I was going straight to Esty and Paypal. He says I'll have photos by Friday and that everything is finished and should ship out next week. I am still concerned. One of the things I was having made was a pendant. It has one large center stone and a number of smaller ones around it. I did not pay a deposit on that as they were going to quote me a separate price on it (so the $580 I'd already paid did not include this piece but they have the stones). So I don't know how they have everything done. Unless they built the pendant without contacting me during any part of the process (I do have confidence in his work, but still). So who knows. Maybe it is all done and it's just been sitting, or maybe he's just trying to keep me from reporting him for another week. I can't know. But he has responded and so I'm going to give him until Friday. There will either be photos or there won't. But I'm not a second chance type, so if they aren't there I fully intend to follow through with reporting them and it hurts me to do it so I hope it doesn't come to that. Fingers crossed!

"everything is finished" and "should ship out next week" don't go together. If it's really finished, there's no reason he can't get it out THIS week.

 

[chrono]

He's been saying the same thing to many customers since April...

 

[digdeep]

I don't know if this may be another alternative to the 'who do you contact' question...........but I thought internet businesses still need a state license to be recognized as a business, don't they? So, in this case there would be the possibility of contacting the Attorney General for the state that they reside in. (I don't know where they are.........) and that could be added to the list with Paypal and Etsy for business complaints.