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Beware of Artistic Jewelers in St. Thomas

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Beware of Artistic Jewelers in St. Thomas

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(@twinparents)
Posts: 2
New Member
Topic starter
 

Do not shop at Artistic Jewelers in St. Thomas because they do not stand behind their product. I purchased a yellow diamond ring at their store in January of 2011. When I purchased the ring they told me they had a 30 day guarantee and this was also backed up by the cruise line. I called within one week of purchase to tell them I was not satisfied with the quality and color of the ring. Artistic Jewelers said instead of returning the ring they wanted to find me a better quality/color diamond. In an 18 month period they have not produced one ring that was a deeper yellow color even though I have offered to pay the additional cost. They offered me a $500 cash refund at one point but have now taken back that offer. I went to a jeweler here in the states and in one week they produced 4 diamonds to choose from and I purchased one. I don't understand how Artistic could not produce one better colored diamond in an 18 month period but a jewelry store in Colorado could do it in one week. I feel like Artistic Jewelers purposely strung out this process and now is claiming that too much has time has passed. I purchase a lot of jewelry in St. Thomas and have never felt ripped off except for at Artistic Jewelers. Buying jewelry in St. Thomas is a great experience but be careful who you buy from.

 
Posted : May 22, 2012 10:02 pm
(@toes-in-the-sand)
Posts: 263
Reputable Member
 

I am surprised to read this. We have purchased from Artistic numerous times and we always stop in their shop when we are in STT because we have found them to be the best jeweler in the mall. We have never been disappointed with their jewelry or service. Our last purchase with Artistic was 2010.

 
Posted : May 23, 2012 12:15 pm
(@twinparents)
Posts: 2
New Member
Topic starter
 

Since I posted the review two days ago the store has contacted me and is willing to give me a $250 credit (original purchase $5,850). I was looking for an intense or vivid yellow diamond and all they could produce in that long period of time was fancy or fancy light yellow diamonds. I wish I would have just returned the diamond right away instead of letting them look for a new a diamond. In the end, I paid an additional $10,000 to the jewelry store in the states to get what I wanted. My mother bought a much less expensive piece of jewelry at their store and was happy with the purchase.

 
Posted : May 25, 2012 12:29 am
(@norman-paperman)
Posts: 1
New Member
 

If Sonya doesn't have it, I don't get it.

 
Posted : May 31, 2012 6:41 pm
(@hudg316)
Posts: 1
New Member
 

I also had a bad experience with this jeweler! My husband and I took a cruise in march for our 58Th anniversary and my husband purchased a ring for me at Artistic Jewelers that I loved, but unfortunately with in 2 weeks of purchasing this ring one of the diamonds fell out. I contacted Artistic jewelers immediately and told them of the situation and Max suggested that I claim it on my home-owners insurance, however, I had just received their appraisal for the ring just the day before. I was unable to claim this on my insurance. They do advertise that they guarantee their product for 30 days, but I found that this was not true. They did not stand behind their product and I will never patronize their establishment again and warn any one who might consider them to think twice before they do so!!!

Unhappy patron,
Carlene Huggins,
Norfolk, VA

 
Posted : June 11, 2012 9:17 pm
(@tsr19)
Posts: 1
New Member
 

I was duped by Artistic Jewelers, and they sold me jewelry costing me over $30,000, which wasn't even worth $9,500!!! I took the jewelry to at least 10 jewelers, and the value of all of the pieces couldn't even get to $9,500. I contacted the owners, Max and his brother, and of coarse they refused to do anything about it. The diamonds were supposed to be GIA certified, and they stamped the certificates with GIA and signed the appraisals. I reported Artistic to GIA at the advice of numerous jewelers in the United States. I offered to sell the jewelry back to Artistic at a significant discount, since I was trying to minimize my losses, but both Max and his brother refused to buy back the jewelry on numerous occasions. If the jewelry was worth anything close to what Artistic claimed it was worth, then they would have immediately jumped on the deal. I was recently in St. Thomas, and I stopped by the store to inform people outside of the store to stay away from Artistic. Max and his brother called the police, but I was at lease able to inform some of the people who may have gotten ripped off to stay away from the store. Hopefully, the review on this site and other internet sites will inform people of my unfortunate situation, and they will learn from my mistake and away from Artistic Jewelers.

 
Posted : August 16, 2013 10:13 pm
(@toes-in-the-sand)
Posts: 263
Reputable Member
 

We will visit Artistic on our next visit as we have on every trip that finds us in STT. Our purchases there have always appraised for ( much) more than their purchase price. We always have our jewelry purchases (at home or while traveling) appraised without delay.

 
Posted : August 19, 2013 6:44 pm
(@mtdoramike)
Posts: 38
Eminent Member
 

twinparents wrote:
Do not shop at Artistic Jewelers in St. Thomas because they do not stand behind their product. I purchased a yellow diamond ring at their store in January of 2011. When I purchased the ring they told me they had a 30 day guarantee and this was also backed up by the cruise line. I called within one week of purchase to tell them I was not satisfied with the quality and color of the ring. Artistic Jewelers said instead of returning the ring they wanted to find me a better quality/color diamond. In an 18 month period they have not produced one ring that was a deeper yellow color even though I have offered to pay the additional cost. They offered me a $500 cash refund at one point but have now taken back that offer. I went to a jeweler here in the states and in one week they produced 4 diamonds to choose from and I purchased one. I don't understand how Artistic could not produce one better colored diamond in an 18 month period but a jewelry store in Colorado could do it in one week. I feel like Artistic Jewelers purposely strung out this process and now is claiming that too much has time has passed. I purchase a lot of jewelry in St. Thomas and have never felt ripped off except for at Artistic Jewelers. Buying jewelry in St. Thomas is a great experience but be careful who you buy from.

Didn't you see the color of the ring before leaving the store with it? Didn't you pick out the ring? I don't blame them for not bending over backwards to satisfy you. I believe the one week warranty is if the ring falls apart or you take it to an appraiser and the ring isn't as stated, not just because YOU decided that the yellow wasn't yellow enough. That is something you should have realized before buying the ring. It sounds more like buyers remorse to me. Now, I do fault the store for stringing you along, they should have told you that they would not accept the ring back just because you didn't like the color of the stone. But shame on them for trying to make a customer happy that they just couldn't no matter what they did unless they refunded you your money. Next time, make sure you want to buy the item before leaving the store with it. Most stores aren't like Walmart and just allow you to return an item just because.......

 
Posted : August 21, 2013 12:52 pm
(@vi-lover)
Posts: 519
Honorable Member
 

"Junk Thread".... Everyone is 1-2 posts except for Toes in the Sand.

 
Posted : August 25, 2013 6:53 pm
(@toes-in-the-sand)
Posts: 263
Reputable Member
 

I noticed that vilover. It seems to be a common theme that when someone registers just to rant against "someone who's done me wrong" they never seem to care enough to stay around and contribute anything further.

 
Posted : August 27, 2013 9:56 am
(@got2shop)
Posts: 1
New Member
 

Artistic Jewelers is the place to go when in the Caribbean looking for designer jewelry or diamonds. St. Thomas is our favorite store. Max is wonderful to deal with, and I'm not sure why some reviews blasted them, they 100% stand behind their product aNd the deals you get appraise for much more back home. they create beautiful diamond pieces & the Charriol & Baraka collections they carry are aMaZiNg!

 
Posted : January 2, 2016 4:20 pm
(@viveteran)
Posts: 1
New Member
 

I really hate when people trash hard working honest sincere people because of their own ignorance and lack of acumen.
They want what they want. Don't give them what they want or they trash you.
It's extortion with no money going to the trasher.
Artistic is the victim. They have been defamed with no recourse except they have a multitude of defenders of their reputation.
Max is great, honest and committed to servicing his customers.
If you are in st thomas, give them a try and your disappointment will only be with the original poster.

 
Posted : December 14, 2016 11:06 pm

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