An Absolute Disgrace!!

[Klosblue]

At around 9:30 this morning, I witnessed Kay Little totally misleading the viewers with the usual Rocks & Co lies and it has really made my blood boil! I'm sure you'll agree that I have been quieter of late and haven't had one of my Victoria Meldrew moments but I cannot keep it in today!!

She was showing this:-http://www.rocksandco.com/Jewellery/ProductDetail.aspx?SKU=528%20790

Now, it was cut to the usual poor standard of Rocks & Co's gems and I could actually see the pores and lines of her finger through the middle of the stone! However, what has angered me is that she said "This is the top 1% of Tanzanite in the World" - rubbish! She went on to say "Our Gemhunter Tony is paying $1000 a carat for our Tanzanite" - more rubbish! A few minutes later she said "We're struggling to get a carat at £1000" yes £'s not the $'s she said earlier - even more rubbish!!

While she was waffling, the price was dropping from something like £25,000 at a £ at a time. It crashed to £749 and we had the usual histrionics. Allegedly some poor soul actually bought one at the extortionate price. We then had the carp "Ohhh Rachel are you sure? That's too low" and the price dropped to £599 and some time later the last one allegedly sold to another poor soul!

Firstly, why are Rocks starting their auctions at these stupidly high prices? I though the ASA frowned upon this and that is why Gems and TJC now start at more realistic prices instead of these starting prices of £25000 or £42000 etc. Secondly, they must think that their viewers are morons to believe that they are selling Tanzanite or anything for that matter, at a loss. If what Kay Little was saying was true (and it's not) then it would have cost Rocks $1320 (£800.19 at today's exchange rate) for the Tanzanite alone + the diamonds + the gold setting + labour etc and they sold 2 for £549 each. Or, if they pay £1000 per carat as she stated also then they would have paid £1320 for the Tanzanite alone making a loss of £771 on the gemstone alone plus the cost of the setting etc. Oh and that's times 2 because they had 2 in the auction!!

I'm lucky because I have learned a little bit about gemstones and jewellery and a lot of that from my friends on this forum, but what about the viewer at home who doesn't have any knowledge? They are listening to this sh**e that is being spouted and are being deceived into spending their hard earned cash on something which is NOT what they think it is? Absolutely disgusting and time something was done about this.........................................

 

[gemcherub]

Hi Klos i don't even watch this channel due to the rubbish they spout and the hysteria over the price crashes just makes me cringe!

 

[Meeshoo]

Report it to the ASA Klos. That's misleading to the extreme.

Tony Diniz if you're buying Tanzanite at £1000 per carat, you shouldn't be allowed onto our screens as a Gemhunter. GemIdiot more like. The market price for Tanzanite (retail) is around £300 per carat or thereabouts. In fact, the price has been falling. Interestingly, the bigger the Tanzanite, the less you should pay per carat.

As for them being able to get the top 1% of Tanzanite? Crap. They're not a siteholder.

 

[Pinkpussycat]

WooHoo!! :YAY: Meesh if Tony Diniz is really buying tanzy at £1000 per cwt then I'm willing to sell my 11.55 carat top grade AAAA trilliant cut totally eye clean rare rare rare stone to him!! And Tony, if you're reading this you can have it at the sooper dooper knock down price of £750 per carat, now I can't be fairer than that can I?? :SUE: PC:

 

[jacqualina]

I agree entirely on the stupidly high start prices,but I must say all the presenters on TJC are selling their tanzanite with the 'you can expect to pay £1,000 a carat elsewhere' spiel. If it's only £300 a carat, where on earth are they getting these figures from? Although, come to think of it, QVC and Ideal World sell at those sorts of prices as I guess High Street shops do. Every time I see an overpriced tanzanite item being sold on the two main shopping channels, I feel so sorry for the poor folks who are buying them - they obviously haven't discovered TJC!

 

[PandaBear]

I agree totally Klos, don't watch the channel much any more because prices seem to be sky high and the some of the comments that the presenters make are annoying and misleading, they have certainly priced me out from buying from them, I wonder if they are getting much business or just saying that things are selling??? I got some lovely jewellery from them when channel first launched but I think IMHO that they must be one of the dearest jewellery channels on now - anyone else agree:nod:

 

[Sacha]

Yep I do PandaBear, R & C seem to have deliberately turned themselves into a 'luxury' jewellery channel.....
how often is there anything under £100 these days?

The starting prices are ludicrous and for that reason alone, this channel has lost all credibility for me.
I won't even mention some of the facile presenting that goes on! :mysmilie_770.gif:

 

[Klosblue]

Report it to the ASA Klos. That's misleading to the extreme.

Tony Diniz if you're buying Tanzanite at £1000 per carat, you shouldn't be allowed onto our screens as a Gemhunter. GemIdiot more like. The market price for Tanzanite (retail) is around £300 per carat or thereabouts. In fact, the price has been falling. Interestingly, the bigger the Tanzanite, the less you should pay per carat.

As for them being able to get the top 1% of Tanzanite? Crap. They're not a siteholder.

Hi Meeshoo, I've just completed a complaint form online. Hopefully the ASA will act on this as imho it's totally dishonest.

I agree entirely on the stupidly high start prices,but I must say all the presenters on TJC are selling their tanzanite with the 'you can expect to pay £1,000 a carat elsewhere' spiel. If it's only £300 a carat, where on earth are they getting these figures from? Although, come to think of it, QVC and Ideal World sell at those sorts of prices as I guess High Street shops do. Every time I see an overpriced tanzanite item being sold on the two main shopping channels, I feel so sorry for the poor folks who are buying them - they obviously haven't discovered TJC!

Hi Jacqualina, yes I've heard all the presenters saying that but what Kay Little said was different. Had she said the usual "you can expect to pay up to £1000 per carat elsewhere" I wouldn't be bothered as this could be true - Bond Street etc. However what she stated quite categorically was that Tony Diniz paid $1000 per carat for their Tanzanite, then later she said £1000 per carat!! This cannot possibly be true otherwise they would be in liquidation by now considering they never ever sell for these kind of prices! Yes their prices are extortionate but that 1.32 carat ring today would have to have sold for £1320 + diamonds + gold setting + labour just to break even if they paid £1000 per carat for the stone alone. The fact she also blatantly said that their Tanzanite is the top 1% in the World is also a downright lie! As Meeshoo said, they're not siteholders and obviously the siteholders have the best Tanzanite so if she'd said "in our opinion, our Tanzanite is in the top 1% in the World" then that would have been different - stupid but different. Whereas she said it WAS in the top 1% - no ifs or buts or in my opinion.

I have made a formal complaint to the ASA so we'll see what happens.

 

[jacqualina]

Sorry Klos, you did make that quite clear. Of course, because they aren't siteholders, they probably do have to pay a bit more for the rough than TJC, but I'm sure it's not £1,000 a carat! In fact if that is what they are paying, they should start buying from TJC to sell it on!!
I'm not sure what's happening with the prices on Rocks - they still seem to be selling and I do often wonder who out there is buying all these high end pieces.

 

[Mathilda]

It is the repetition, on all channels, that a Tanzanite ring makes a great engagement ring that really winds me up!
Oh, and Flourite, too!! Good grief!

A small aside: the term is "sight-holder" not site-holder : given to those who, literally, are give "sight" of gem parcels.
E.G.: sight holders at De Beers are given parcels of diamonds which they can either buy , as a whole package, or not: they are not able to pick and choose stones out of a parcel.... what they see is what they get!

 

[Meeshoo]

Actually it's "sightholder" if we're splitting hairs!

KB I've also heard them say that Tony pays £1000 per carat. They've said it on numerous occasions. So we're supposed to believe that they sell at a loss????????

 

[Tabs]

IF R&C are buying their Tanzy at £1000 per carat, why on earth are they "letting it go" for the prices they are doing? "We really shouldnt be goin this low" wears very thin after time? Do they think we as customers are really so gullible to believe they would let things go at a loss?

 

[Mathilda]

Actually it's "sightholder" if we're splitting hairs!

Far be it from me to abuse innocent rodents, but all the references I have seen are to either sight-holder or sight holder : save the hares and bunnies, I say!!

 

[Meeshoo]

http://www.tanzaniteone.com/tanzanite_sightholders.htm

No bunnies were harmed in this experiment!

 

[Mathilda]

http://www.tanzaniteone.com/tanzanite_sightholders.htm

No bunnies were harmed in this experiment!

So, we're all correct, then!!

.....Are you sure no bunnies were harmed, Meeshoo.... they are, after all, rare, rare, rare.... and I would worry about their continued existence..... they may die out in only five million years, you know..... that makes 'em VERY rare.... even unique....:cool2::tongue2::tongue2:

 

[argeybargey]

Mmm I love my hare rare <a href="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.smileycentral.com%252F%253Fpartner%253DZSzeb008%255FZNxpt484YYGB%2526i%253D7%252F7%255F2%255F103v%2526feat%253Dprof/page.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/7/7_2_103v.gif" alt="SmileyCentral.com" border="0"><img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D7%252F7_2_103v%2526uiv%253D3.0/image.gif"></a>

 

[argeybargey]

Taken from the Diniz geological dictionary:-

Rare That which has been removed from the earth's crust before completion of its transmutation.

 

[Mathilda]

I thought that was the last Star Trek Movie, Argey!

 

[Ballerina]

Bunnies

http://www.tanzaniteone.com/tanzanite_sightholders.htm

No bunnies were harmed in this experiment!

Well....... Maybe one bunny was harmed - but he's better now :cheeky:

 

[persianglitter]

hi, i love tanzanite, have done for such a very long time, since i first saw it aired on, QVC, with no word of a lie, some 10 years ago now. But just lately, Rocks & Co, Gems and TJC have all been banging on and over emphasising the fact that this is a R A R E stone, and the stone of our generation, one channel states there probably only enought Tanzanite for the next 20 years, and then i was watching another channel, the young male presenter informed the viewers, said that "You had all better hurry and buy our Tanzanite, as there is only 8 years left to buy one its that rare!". And you get the quotes from all three, that they are the ONLY ones who have dibs in the Tanzanite mines, and no one else can get their mitts on them! It left me thinking, no wonder Tanzanite is so blooming rare, if all 3 shooping channels are knocking all the pieces out at a rate of knots! And i agree about the stupid prices, on i cannot watch when Jerilee is on - her squealing amongst other things, and also i saw caroline on the other day, and thought she should get an oscar for overacting, it was so overly cheesy. Why do they have to waffle and act up like this, it really puts me off watching; :headbang::yawn2::flower: