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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 1, 2016 12:53:05 GMT -5
I had an interesting sales experience with an Indian fellow in India. Sometimes, in order to get good labs and moonstone, you have to buy Indian. Not that I have ever had a good experience with it. This last one, is the last time I do business in India and probably with a Indian. I don't know if it is cultural or what, but they try everything possible to get the upper hand. They don't know the meaning of customer first or customer service.
First, I go to his etsy shop and pick out some stones which were priced a little more than the average, but seemed nice. He has a coupon code on his banner, but when I go to use it, it's no good. I messaged him. Right away, in good English, he says he'll fix it. So, I try again. This time, it says I need a min purchase of 100.00 which was NOT stated with the coupon. So, I message him again and say- thanks, but no thanks. Well, he talked me into one more try - in perfect English. Mind you, all of these messages were timely and well written in easy English.
I got the stones in good time, but was a little concerned that they were covered with oil, probably mineral oil. Yes, I know what that means, so I was troubled. But, I wiped them down good and sat them under a lamp and they seem good. But, I was still not happy about it. One of the stones, a purple lab, did not meet my expectation of quality. It was extremely directional and would not orient well for a pendant. I contacted him right away to politely and professionally tell him that I needed to return it. Then I waited. I waited 3 days for him to write that he didn't understand me and that his English wasn't good. I reiterated and asked for his return address. I waited again. I began to think he would run out the return period! Again, he says he doesn't understand. A few more exchanges with me trying to be patient. Finally, he comes back and says he will take the return (it is in his policies!!). He cleverly intimates that the shipping to India is not that safe and if I send it back he will not refund me, if he doesn't receive it. I point blank asked him if shipping to India is safe after his veiled attempts to dissuade me. He says, yes, but I need to send him tracking because sometimes parcels are not safe. All of these later messages with him were broken English. So weirdly broken that I don't believe he doesn't have a handle on business English.
At this point, I am convinced that should I return this 40.00 stone, it will go "missing" and I will be out 40.00.
Sorry for the novel. Needed to vent, I guess.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2016 14:00:44 GMT -5
Sad. I have had similar bad experience on India Mart eBay and alibaba. I do have an Indian I buy some stuff from regularly. He is great. Sadly my corner c-store sold from Indian to Pakistani and the new guy is an ass. Can't you buy lab from carleton? |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 1, 2016 14:11:02 GMT -5
Sad. I have had similar bad experience on India Mart eBay and alibaba. I do have an Indian I buy some stuff from regularly. He is great. Sadly my corner c-store sold from Indian to Pakistani and the new guy is an ass. Can't you buy lab from carleton ? I went to buy moonstones and the lab was an afterthought. It had a very nice purple flash. However, I don't know how I would use it the way it orients the color. If I am in the market for labs, I will have to remember Carleton, for sure. |
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Jul 1, 2016 17:41:07 GMT -5
Vendors from India are just like those from anywhere else: some are good, some are bad. I've had excellent trade relationships with Indian vendors for years. But...I'd strongly advise not buying anything from there you might even think about returning. And thereby hangs a tale. A few years ago an Indian company I'd been doing business with out of the blue sent me a 16-carat gem-grade cat's-eye chrysoberyl and asked me to show it for possible sale to several U.S. gem dealers I work with. It was an EXPENSIVE stone -- for comparison have a look at this slightly larger one: www.ebay.com/itm/like/221273888693?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=trueLong story short, I showed it around but no one wanted to spend the cash to put it into inventory at the supplier's -- very firm -- price. So I was faced with the problem of sending it back to India. I was familiar with the routine pilfering that makes sending packages there very unsafe so I checked out a number of other possible shipping methods including air freight but for one reason or another none would guarantee safe delivery. At that point I became really disgusted since I hadn't requested the stone in the first place. I had a small plywood box I'd made for another purpose and I packed the stone inside then got long wood screws and reinforced every joint with several of them. I wrapped it in strong paper and covered it with tape. Then I stuck it inside a USPS International Priority Mail envelope and shipped it off. I told the supplier what I'd done and told him I wouldn't be responsible for any loss because I hadn't ordered or requested the stone. He was unhappy but so was I. Finally, after about 6 weeks, I got an email from the dealer telling me with surprise he he'd received the package "intect." I heaved a sigh of relief and decided to follow the advice I gave above. I still do business with that dealer with the clear understanding that if he ships me something unsolicited it's automatically mine to keep, no returns. |
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 1, 2016 22:13:11 GMT -5
Interesting story. I tend to think it is a bit cultural in that part of the world. I used to be an ardent collector of antique edged weapons and one time I met some fellers at the Rose Bowl. They had a wonderful collection of swords from the Khyber Pass region of India and I was very interested in a several unusual examples. No prices on anything and it was plain they wanted to negotiate a sale. At first it was amusing but it soon became clear that they felt it was more important to beat me in the dickering than it was to get a fair price for their antiques. I was very experienced in pricing such items and knew what the ballpark prices should be but after an extremely long time it became apparent to me that it was a matter of pride to them to argue over every dime. It just flat became tiresome so I walked away and they lost a big sale. Culturally us Americans are, I believe , more used to seeing a price, and maybe arguing it down a bit based on purchasing multiple pieces so that both sides wind up satisfied. Culturally, for Indians and Pakistanis it seems it's all about the back and forth and winning by giving the other guy the shaft. Oddly enough, I used to by a lot of African stuff too and they bargained much more American style and as a result, used to sell me a lot of stuff. Guess there's just such a thing as negotiating too much to the point of where one side exhausts the other and results in loss of business ...Mel
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Post by orrum on Jul 2, 2016 3:21:31 GMT -5
Tela I have a friend that buys huge amounts of expensive gemstone from overseas. He pays with paypal and there is no problem with service issues because paypal takes care of quality etc issues by refunding you.
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metalsmith
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Post by metalsmith on Jul 2, 2016 6:42:08 GMT -5
Tela I have a friend that buys huge amounts of expensive gemstone from overseas. He pays with paypal and there is no problem with service issues because paypal takes care of quality etc issues by refunding you. ^^ Just that Lab can be fickle, but I have good experiences and return; those guys know me as a good customer and keep things straight & I'll return. I've had some good lab at pretty low cost - it must be quite a chunk or extremely good |
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Post by catmandewe on Jul 2, 2016 15:43:44 GMT -5
Vendors from India are just like those from anywhere else: some are good, some are bad. I've had excellent trade relationships with Indian vendors for years. But...I'd strongly advise not buying anything from there you might even think about returning. And thereby hangs a tale. A few years ago an Indian company I'd been doing business with out of the blue sent me a 16-carat gem-grade cat's-eye chrysoberyl and asked me to show it for possible sale to several U.S. gem dealers I work with. It was an EXPENSIVE stone -- for comparison have a look at this slightly larger one: www.ebay.com/itm/like/221273888693?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=trueLong story short, I showed it around but no one wanted to spend the cash to put it into inventory at the supplier's -- very firm -- price. So I was faced with the problem of sending it back to India. I was familiar with the routine pilfering that makes sending packages there very unsafe so I checked out a number of other possible shipping methods including air freight but for one reason or another none would guarantee safe delivery. At that point I became really disgusted since I hadn't requested the stone in the first place. I had a small plywood box I'd made for another purpose and I packed the stone inside then got long wood screws and reinforced every joint with several of them. I wrapped it in strong paper and covered it with tape. Then I stuck it inside a USPS International Priority Mail envelope and shipped it off. I told the supplier what I'd done and told him I wouldn't be responsible for any loss because I hadn't ordered or requested the stone. He was unhappy but so was I. Finally, after about 6 weeks, I got an email from the dealer telling me with surprise he he'd received the package "intect." I heaved a sigh of relief and decided to follow the advice I gave above. I still do business with that dealer with the clear understanding that if he ships me something unsolicited it's automatically mine to keep, no returns. Federal law says that if they mail you an unsolicited item that it is your to keep free of charge. If you want to return it to them, which you are under no obligation to do so, then they must pay for the shipping. www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0181-unordered-merchandiseTony |
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Jul 2, 2016 16:48:51 GMT -5
I know Tony. But this supplier has provided me with great stuff and continues to. Up to a point it was sort've a self-serving kind of thing on my part. I wanted to do a favor hoping to develop a stronger business relationship. But no one foresaw the problems I ran into and it turned into an unpleasant situation.
I haven't fully checked it out but there seems to be some sort of private mail system from India to the U.S. that appears quite secure. I received a package from there a couple of weeks ago. It was prepaid (quite slow, a couple of weeks) but it arrived in good shape. I've had the same experience with a number of prior shipments. It's returning stuff there that can be a problem in my experience.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2016 17:35:24 GMT -5
The only way to ship from india and china is using EMS. Its fast and just works.
As for the other way?
I Never buy overseas unless i can eat the goods received and funds payed.
returns? Never
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Jul 2, 2016 18:09:22 GMT -5
I haven't used EMS recently but I'm planning to soon. Is it the same as what looks to be the new USPS Priority Express Mail?
I agree with your other points for those two countries but I've used Priority International to lots of other global destinations with no problems...so far (knocking on head vigorously). The problem is you can't insure it, or track it once it leaves the U.S.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2016 22:36:13 GMT -5
I have two words for EMS.
Affordable
Reliable
I bought a kilogram of a special tea from China. Postage was $10 and the seller likely profited. Got here in a week.
I recently bought a USB charge controller from China. $2.99 postage included. 5 days to my door. Used it to successfully make a solar panel battery charger for my phone.
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