Gemporia - struggling financially?

[TheManWithNoName]

Long first post alert...... Sorry!

I have (had) been a Gemporia customer for many years - buying from their main Gems TV channel, Gem Collector, Jewellery Maker and Lifestyle on a regular basis.

They have pretty much lost all of my custom now for various reasons (severe price increases, lower quality stones, incorrect treatments listed on authenticity cards, boring speeches before selling, claims that are bordering on the ridiculous, shrieking annoying presenters and / or presenters that are out of their depth, misleading customers, an out of court settlement in the past - and, the final nail in the coffin - the ludicrously long refund times).

Another massive alarm bell for me is concern as to whether they're going to be around for much longer? I don't want to risk placing orders only to find that they suddenly vanish one day - just like Price Drop TV did years ago.

It is clear that something is going on again at Gemporia at the moment. Lifestyle is closing down - and it looks very much like staff are being made redundant too (it seems that some are voluntary - and the rest 'forced'). There's a lot of other things that have really waved red flags at me over the last couple of years too.

1. Their 'Price Pledge' policy seems to have more and more caveats now. At one point, Price Pledges were granted without hesitation. Even if you phoned up for a price pledge on one item, if another had sold in the same hour at a lower price, but you were unaware, they'd tell you and give you account credit for it - whereas these days, they specifically ask for product codes of items you want to price pledge. If there was a second item in the hour that had sold for cheaper, but you hadn't realised, they no longer 'volunteer' to tell you and give you the credit. There are also too many exclusions now. Specific hours that we're told are 'clearance hours' with no price pledges in play - including one show in January where they sold an item for MORE than it had previously sold for in this supposed 'Clearance Hour'. So they'll happily take more money from you in a 'clearance hour' - but they won't give you any back in the form of a price pledge credit. Sales, etc are also exempt from the price pledge policy now - whereas I'm sure that years ago, the price pledge policy was honoured regardless.

2. Loooooooooong delays with refunds: The law says 14 days - but Gemporia are now taking up to, and in excess of 30 days - to the point where I'd actually completed three split pay payments and paid for an item in full whilst I was waiting for my refund. Despite it being pointed out that they legally have to refund within 14 days, they insist that their T & C's can say otherwise. I have reported this to Trading Standards along with my evidence - so I'll see what the outcome of that is.

3. Reselling returned items before refunding customers: I have seen numerous examples now of items that have been returned, being put back on sale, before they refund the customers that sent those items back. I know for a fact that I bought an item from one of their channels that was a 'one-off' - I literally had the only item available. However, I decided to return it. Within a week of returning it, it was back on sale, on the same channel, for the same price that I bought not for - but it wasn't refunded to me until TWO WEEKS later! This has happened on a few occasions - I've returned items, and they've been re-sold by Gemporia before I've been refunded by Gemporia. I may be sceptical - but this, combined with the amount of time it now takes them to refund, gives the impression that they're trying to re-sell items again (and therefore getting the money in again) before refunding the returnee. That gives me suspicion that they could have cash flow problems (perhaps they spent all their money on Jade?.........)

4. Staff leaving / Redundancies? It seems that Gemporia are making staff redundant - yet again. I think this is the 4th round over the past few years? Its certainly at least three because Katie Ho, Nick Davies (although we still see him, he was made redundant by Gemporia and then re-employed over at Primal Living shortly afterwards), and some of the old 'The Lounge' presenters all left around 4 years ago. Then during Covid, more redundancies were made - with Victoria Norris, Vicky Carr, Rod Jinks, etc leaving. Now Rosie, Ruth, Satnam the camera guy, and a few other producers, etc are leaving too. It seems that Gemporia have ditched their repair and re-sizing departments too - so presumably those staff are going too. I'm sure there was a batch of redundancies before all those though, maybe 5 or so years ago, when the likes of Lara De-Leuw, and some of the old Rocks TV presenters all went at the same time. 3 or 4 lots of redundancies in not far off as many years makes me suspect they were losing money - and continue to lose money.

5. The reduction of Jewellery Maker hours. Gemporia bought the struggling Company back off Immediate Media - and rather than solving the problems that immediate media created, Gemporia added to them and made the channel even worse - to the point where I suspect they lost a lot of customers, which resulted in a loss of broadcasting hours (and, more presenters being made redundant - such as Hannah Stuart, etc).

6. Huge price increases. Gem Collector prices have increased significantly I've noticed. Stones that I could once buy for £10 or so, are now going for around £30 for similar carat weights, etc. Jewellery Maker has gone the same way. They once used to sell affordable strands and cabochons for crafters - now, they're selling VERY expensive strands of pearls and jade - some for £300, £400. Are they seriously expecting jewellery makers / hobbyists to buy those strands at those prices to make jewellery, and expect those jewellery makers to sell their work on at profit? Not a chance. Gems TV are now also selling some silver jewellery that is more expensive than gold jewellery.

7. Lower quality at higher prices. LOTS of "drenched in gold" Silver aka 'gold tone', Midas, etc now - instead of just 925 Sterling Silver on its own. Platinum plating. filled Rubies. dyed Lapis Lazuli, filled Amazonite (seriously? - Amazonite is cheap enough to buy in its 'natural' state - as is Lapis), coated Topaz, etc. It makes me wonder if the 'tone' and 'plating' is possibly because they could be buying and using recycled, melted down, Silver instead of 'new' Silver?

 

[TheManWithNoName]

8. Dubious claims'. "Drenched in gold" - really? "We could sell this to the trade for X thousand pounds a carat, but we're going to do you an amazing deal of just £19.99p - Yeah, righto! If you can sell it for thousands to the trade, then why not do that, then you wouldn't have to close down Lifestyle or get rid of presenters.

9. 'Cheap' presenters replacing 'proper' presenters?: It seems that whenever good, knowledgeable, professional presenters leave or get made redundant, they're replaced with sub-standard presenters that are way out of their depth and / or are really annoying! Scott Worsfold was really knowledgeable, likeable and professional. Gone! Rae Carpenter was really knowledgeable, likeable and professional. Gone! Lara De-Leuw was really knowledgeable, likeable and professional. Gone. Matt Macnamara was really knowledgeable, likeable and professional. Drew Nicholls really knowledgeable, likeable and professional. Gone. Lindsey Vickers was really knowledgeable, likeable and professional. Gone. Ruth Linnett is really knowledgeable, likeable and professional. Going. Rosie Wells is really knowledgeable, likeable and professional. Looks to be going.

Who have we got instead? Out of her depth, Cheralene "The light is dancing out of this" Lavery, repetitive Jess "Absolutely!" Foley, screechy-shout-at-300mph Hattie Houston, giggly Claire Cummins filling in occasionally. It's awful! They've gone from having a really good line-up of presenters to a lot of presenters that, in my opinion, would not get a job as TV presenters elsewhere. Cheralene Lavery and Jess Foley in particular tell us NOTHING about what they're selling - they just use repetitive meaningless lines like "The light is dancing out of this" and "In this design that we can see here" in the case of Cheralene or "Absolutely!", "Good luck to each and every one of you, well done!" and "I've just got to let you know, it's flying out the front door" Jess Foley.

If the TV documentary was correct a few years ago, it said that Gems TV's highest earning presenters were earning £50,000+ a year. As they leave, perhaps they're replacing them with presenters that are on a significantly lower salary?

10. Potential misleading customers with the changing of gemstone names: I've noticed this a lot over the last few years - and it's a tactic I don't like. They once used to sell Kyanite as 'Kyanite' - but now it's a made-up name of 'Nilamani'. To make things worse, Jade Troth and Jade Thompson tend to focus their sales speil on comparing 'Nilamani' to blue Sapphire - and one of their Jewellery Maker presenter genuinely thought that 'Nilamani' was Sapphire - until a couple of viewers pointed out that it was in fact, Kyanite.

'Serenite' (another made-up name) has also been sold under the names of 'Plush Diamond Sunstone', 'Oregon Sunstone', plus another name that I can't think of at the moment.

'Crystal Opal on Ironstone' was previously sold as 'Boulder Opal'.

'Meralani Mint Garnet' was first sold under the name 'UV Colour Change Garnet', and just recently, its been sold again as 'Fluorescent Garnet'.

Their Green Kyanite has been sold as 'Odisha Kyanite', Nuagaon Kyanite' and 'Mint Kyanite'.

'Tulelei' was another gimmicky made up name they used for 'Mandarin Garnet', 'Tangerine Garnet' and 'Spessartite Garnet'.

'Astraolite' was a completely made up name used to describe Galena inclusions in Quartz.

'Strawberry Feldspar' was a name they also used to describe Sunstone.

'Csarite' is actually Colour Change Diaspore.

In my opinion, these various names for one stone could mislead customers into thinking they're getting something that they don't already own - when in reality, they could actually already own that stone under one of its other names.

Then there are names that they're sailing very close to the wind with - such as when they sold 'Bixbite' around 3 or 4 years ago. It wasn't actually 'Bixbite' in its entirety. Bixbite is INCREDIBLE rare. What Gemporia actually sold was 'Bixbite in Rhyolite' - with the majority of the stone being Rhyolite matrix with some small visible red pieces of Bixbite. Personally, I am of the opinion that selling it as 'Bixbite' was a bit naughty - I feel that it should have been called 'Bixbite in Rhyolite'. I'd be intrigued to know whether a gem lab cleared those as 'Bixbite' or 'Bixbite in Rhyolite'. I suspect the latter.

11. Cutting corners / costs: This may seem petty, but the little 'extras' have been taken away or reduced in quality in recent years.
The old useful 'certificates of authenticity' are long gone - they used to display a photo of the gemstone or item of jewellery you had purchased. Great for when you wanted to look up the details of something quickly. They were replaced with boring, useless, plastic cards that did not show a photo of the item you had purchased.

These plastic cards are still in use - but over the last couple of months, I've noticed the cards are around half the thickness. Cheaper plastic?

The old white cardboard boxes that they packed their orders in were replaced with brown cardboard boxes. These brown boxes are a nightmare to open - the tabs to open them constantly snap as you try to open the box. Gemporia seem to be aware of this too - because they ALWAYS put the address labels over the bottom now to reinforce the box - whereas the address labels used to be on top of the white boxes. Cheaper boxes - yet postage and packaging has increased from £2.95 to £3.95 (I know the boxes are cheaper because UK Packaging sell them - and they're much cheaper than the old white boxes).

On Gem Collector, we used to get a free gem pot with every stone - and with every 12 stones purchased, they would give us a black display box, that holds the pots, for free too. This all ended around 2 years ago. We get neither of those any more.

Gemporia also used to sell a Gem Collector binder - and each loose gemstone came with a certificate of authenticity, a sticker for your display pot - and binder stickers. These stickers and certificates of authenticity were scrapped - leaving people that had previously bought the binder with binders that were pretty useless because it was impossible to fil them once the stickers were no longer provided.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

12. Lack of quality control and checking of gemstone treatments for correctness:

I've seen lots of examples of people saying that stones have fallen out of rings. We've had a lot of lifestyle products that have been faulty and had to be returned. Rings with stones that have not been set straight or stones that are noticeably different in size.

Then there are the treatments. Remember that VT they had that said "Our trust and integrity is very important to us?" - well, if that's the case, check and double check that information is correct.

I once bought a rare blue Amblygonite gemstone. The certificate of authenticity said it was 'not enhanced'. The presenter also said that it was 'not enhanced'. The main selling point was based on it being 'not enhanced'. I subsequently found out that it was actually irradiated - one of the harshest treatments available.

I bought a Padparadscha Sapphire that came complete with a GIA certificate of Authenticity along with a Gemporia certificate of authenticity. It was sold on-air as 'not enhanced' (as were all of the Padparadscha sapphires sold on Gemporia at that time). The website description said "not enhanced". The Gemporia certificate of authenticity said "not enhanced". However, the GIA certificate of authenticity stated that the gemstone was 'Heat Treated'. I argued this out with Gemporia - and they were insistent that I was incorrect and they were correct - so I scanned the GIA certificate and sent them a copy. THEN they finally accepted that the stone was in fact heat-treated - and they were wrong. They then agreed to refund me my money - and they said that they were going to "notify all customers that had purchased Padparadscha Sapphires' that they were sold with the incorrect treatment listed. Whether they did or not, I'll never know - however, since that happened, every Padparadscha Sapphire that has since sold on Gemporia has been listed as heat treated.......

Just this week, they've been selling a gemstone called Ceruleite. In their jewellery, the stones have had no treatment listed at all - which is the norm when stones are untreated. However, on Gem Collector, the stones have had TWO treatments listed on the SAME item. For example, the Ceruleite with the product code SCNF36 has the treatment listed as 'I' (which means 'waxing') at the top of the product description, it says "stabilised".

So this week alone, the same stones, from the same parcel, have been listed as untreated, waxed and stabilised (with the loose stones on Gem Collector listing two different treatments on the same authenticity card). So which is it? Natural? Waxed? Stabilised? Who knows........ Do Gemporia even know?

It makes me wonder whether they're getting stones lab tested these days or whether they're just 'guessing' or simply making clumsy mistakes. Either way, us, the customer, should be 100% confident that the stone we are getting is EXACTLY what we're expecting. Untreated stones sell for more than treated stones - so we should not be paying for untreated stones, expecting untreated stones, only to find later on that they're treated.

Jewellery Maker are the worst for mistakes. I have told them numerous times over the years about their irradiated stones. The treatment code for irradiation treatment is 'IR' - however, Jewellery Maker continually keep putting 'I' - which is waxing - a totally different treatment. Despite raising it numerous times over the years, I get the usual "we'll raise it with the team" response - and that's as far as it goes.

The same applies to diffusion treated gemstones. The code for diffusion treatment is 'U' - however, Jewellery Maker keep putting 'D' at the top of the product description - which is the code for dying treatment. Again, two completely different treatments. Again, its been raised numerous times - and the response is "we'll raise it with the team" yet again.

13. Confused business model: I'm struggling to see the logic in Gemporia business model at the moment. They seem very confused - and I think it's alienating customers.

Gem Collector is the channel for loose gemstones - since, forever! But over the past year or so, we've seen strands from Jewellery Maker creeping over onto Gem Collector?

Jewellery Maker is the channel for gem strands and jewellery making products - yet they've had loose gemstones from Gem Collector creeping over to there, and even lotions and potions from Primal Living have been shown on there. I'm not quite sure what jewellery makers can make out of some vitamins and a slim-shot? That will be one weird pendant.......

Lifestyle is for lifestyle products - apart from when they do jewellery on there that could be on Gems TV.

Gems TV is for jewellery - yet they're selling Christmas decorations, candles and wellington boots that should be over on lifestyle.

It seems like they're genuinely confused as to what audience they should be aiming their products at.

Who in their right mind wakes up and thinks "I could really do with losing some weight and taking some vitamins to improve my health - where can I get those from? Ah I know - I'll go and look on a jewellery making / crafting channel - the obvious place to by healthcare products".

or

"I really fancy some nice coffee - some really healthy stuff made from a mushroom. I know just the place - a gemstone jewellery channel! Oh and while I'm there, I could buy some lipstick and a handbag too".

And then who thought it would be a good idea to have Jade Thompson or Jade Troth waffling to us for 40 minutes about a "rarer than rare gemstone that we'll never see again" until tomorrow and every day for the next 11 months? If I walked into a shop and someone behind the counter started waffling to me before I can see the price of something, I'd walk straight out and never go back again - yet when its raised with Gemporia, they tell us they "like to educate their viewers". Bit tough that when they got bored 30 minutes ago and switched channels...........

Anyway, whinge over. Anyone else think that Gemporia are struggling and possibly cautious about buying from them in case they suddenly go the same way as Price Drop TV (on the subject of Price Drop TV, remember when Gemporia thought that employing that idiot, Peter Simon, was a good idea?)

 

[puffin48]

I havent been on here for ages or bought anything from Gems for years but this doesnt surprise me. I will keep an eye on here to see if anything transpires

 

[SnowMoon]

Yes to everything you say. I am currently waiting a couple of refunds - and I hope I get them before the company sinks. In the meantime I will not be buying - or if I get really tempted I will not be buying anything with a price tag of over £39.99. Caveat emptor.

 

[harrytumkins]

very good posts

 

[Anna]

Gosh, what a great post TheManWithNoName. I agree with it all. I've bought over many years, and I think I learned more from your posts than listening to the 'experts' from Gems
I've told them too about how they must refund within 14 days, but they state the same thing about their terms and conditions. I tell them they can say what they like in them, but it doesn't make it legal.
It would be sad for me if they did go bust, as I do love my gems, and I have had such lovely things over the years, but the past year or so I haven't bought as much due to their being less choice, shows that are not gems, and boring long winded convulted drone sessions from Dave and the rest of the 'experts'. God, they are boring the life out of me.

 

[historymystery]

12. Lack of quality control and checking of gemstone treatments for correctness:

I've seen lots of examples of people saying that stones have fallen out of rings. We've had a lot of lifestyle products that have been faulty and had to be returned. Rings with stones that have not been set straight or stones that are noticeably different in size.

Then there are the treatments. Remember that VT they had that said "Our trust and integrity is very important to us?" - well, if that's the case, check and double check that information is correct.

I once bought a rare blue Amblygonite gemstone. The certificate of authenticity said it was 'not enhanced'. The presenter also said that it was 'not enhanced'. The main selling point was based on it being 'not enhanced'. I subsequently found out that it was actually irradiated - one of the harshest treatments available.

I bought a Padparadscha Sapphire that came complete with a GIA certificate of Authenticity along with a Gemporia certificate of authenticity. It was sold on-air as 'not enhanced' (as were all of the Padparadscha sapphires sold on Gemporia at that time). The website description said "not enhanced". The Gemporia certificate of authenticity said "not enhanced". However, the GIA certificate of authenticity stated that the gemstone was 'Heat Treated'. I argued this out with Gemporia - and they were insistent that I was incorrect and they were correct - so I scanned the GIA certificate and sent them a copy. THEN they finally accepted that the stone was in fact heat-treated - and they were wrong. They then agreed to refund me my money - and they said that they were going to "notify all customers that had purchased Padparadscha Sapphires' that they were sold with the incorrect treatment listed. Whether they did or not, I'll never know - however, since that happened, every Padparadscha Sapphire that has since sold on Gemporia has been listed as heat treated.......

Just this week, they've been selling a gemstone called Ceruleite. In their jewellery, the stones have had no treatment listed at all - which is the norm when stones are untreated. However, on Gem Collector, the stones have had TWO treatments listed on the SAME item. For example, the Ceruleite with the product code SCNF36 has the treatment listed as 'I' (which means 'waxing') at the top of the product description, it says "stabilised".

So this week alone, the same stones, from the same parcel, have been listed as untreated, waxed and stabilised (with the loose stones on Gem Collector listing two different treatments on the same authenticity card). So which is it? Natural? Waxed? Stabilised? Who knows........ Do Gemporia even know?

It makes me wonder whether they're getting stones lab tested these days or whether they're just 'guessing' or simply making clumsy mistakes. Either way, us, the customer, should be 100% confident that the stone we are getting is EXACTLY what we're expecting. Untreated stones sell for more than treated stones - so we should not be paying for untreated stones, expecting untreated stones, only to find later on that they're treated.

Jewellery Maker are the worst for mistakes. I have told them numerous times over the years about their irradiated stones. The treatment code for irradiation treatment is 'IR' - however, Jewellery Maker continually keep putting 'I' - which is waxing - a totally different treatment. Despite raising it numerous times over the years, I get the usual "we'll raise it with the team" response - and that's as far as it goes.

The same applies to diffusion treated gemstones. The code for diffusion treatment is 'U' - however, Jewellery Maker keep putting 'D' at the top of the product description - which is the code for dying treatment. Again, two completely different treatments. Again, its been raised numerous times - and the response is "we'll raise it with the team" yet again.

13. Confused business model: I'm struggling to see the logic in Gemporia business model at the moment. They seem very confused - and I think it's alienating customers.

Gem Collector is the channel for loose gemstones - since, forever! But over the past year or so, we've seen strands from Jewellery Maker creeping over onto Gem Collector?

Jewellery Maker is the channel for gem strands and jewellery making products - yet they've had loose gemstones from Gem Collector creeping over to there, and even lotions and potions from Primal Living have been shown on there. I'm not quite sure what jewellery makers can make out of some vitamins and a slim-shot? That will be one weird pendant.......

Lifestyle is for lifestyle products - apart from when they do jewellery on there that could be on Gems TV.

Gems TV is for jewellery - yet they're selling Christmas decorations, candles and wellington boots that should be over on lifestyle.

It seems like they're genuinely confused as to what audience they should be aiming their products at.

Who in their right mind wakes up and thinks "I could really do with losing some weight and taking some vitamins to improve my health - where can I get those from? Ah I know - I'll go and look on a jewellery making / crafting channel - the obvious place to by healthcare products".

or

"I really fancy some nice coffee - some really healthy stuff made from a mushroom. I know just the place - a gemstone jewellery channel! Oh and while I'm there, I could buy some lipstick and a handbag too".

And then who thought it would be a good idea to have Jade Thompson or Jade Troth waffling to us for 40 minutes about a "rarer than rare gemstone that we'll never see again" until tomorrow and every day for the next 11 months? If I walked into a shop and someone behind the counter started waffling to me before I can see the price of something, I'd walk straight out and never go back again - yet when its raised with Gemporia, they tell us they "like to educate their viewers". Bit tough that when they got bored 30 minutes ago and switched channels...........

Anyway, whinge over. Anyone else think that Gemporia are struggling and possibly cautious about buying from them in case they suddenly go the same way as Price Drop TV (on the subject of Price Drop TV, remember when Gemporia thought that employing that idiot, Peter Simon, was a good idea?)

Excellent posts from everyone - so true. I bought quite a bit from them between 2006-2008, when the prices were reasonable and the metal weights very good, both silver and gold. I haven't bought from them in years, as the quality plunged downhill and all the best presenters left, as ManWithNoName says. Cannot STAND Hattie, she talks as though she's flogging from a second-rate market stall yet thinks she's the bees knees (sorry to disillusion you, love, but no..). I think their days are numbered.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Another few thing that have struck me since my post yesterday - Gemporia's morals / ethics seem to have changed over the years - again, a sign that they could be potentially struggling for money?

1. They used to be quite proud in saying "We don't sell brass and glass - unlike other channels". However, they've since sold jewellery with Roman Glass as the 'gemstone' - and Hattie's Destello range has had a few silver-plated brass items too - such as her scarf rings, and at least one brooch design that I've seen.

What happened to the 'no brass and glass' policy?

2. Steve Bennett used to insist that they would only sell genuine gemstones - no synthetics. It was even their slogan at one point - "Always Genuine Gemstones". The company was even called 'The Genuine Gemstone Company'. I remember Steve giving a detailed speech on air once about how synthetic gemstones cost "pennies to make" in laboratories. He used to say "Why buy synthetics when you can buy the real things from us?".

However, when Gemporia bought Jewellery Maker back from Immediate Media, Jade Thompson appeared as a 'guest' on a couple of shows, complete with his 30 minutes lectures, flogging lab-created synthetic diamonds! However, they weren't sold at the "pennies" that Steve Bennett used to say they cost - they were sold in the hundreds of pounds. And of course, despite years of Gemporia ridiculing synthetic stones, Jade Thompson gave us spiel about why we should now buy synthetic diamonds - because we can get cleaner, brighter, bigger carat stones for a "fraction of the price of real diamonds".

Why on earth would they sell lab-created diamonds, and then try to tell us the advantages of them, after telling us for years that lab-created stones are, pretty much, junk? I guess their ethics / morals went out of the window when they saw the opportunity to make profit from lab-created stones they'd previously slated.

3. Steve Bennett also used to distance Gemporia from the Chakra / healing side of things - telling us that it was all unproven and therefore, they wouldn't talk about that side of things.

Now, they're flogging Chakra / healing products and talking, quite 'matter of fact' in style, about how wearing X gemstone round your neck can help prevent X ailment or Y disease. We can now see out of a third eye if we buy a candle with gemstone chips in it, or wear X gemstone around our neck to reduce the chances of an ear falling off. Not only that - but who is actually flogging this stuff? Jainey Bennett - the sister of the bloke that once told us Chakra / healing was unproven! Now Lynn Jinks is also really into the supposed 'healing properties' of gemstones.


It looks like they've chosen money over their old morals in recent years.

 

[rubia]

Great posts agree with all you have said. I'm waiting for a refund which as we all know know takes forever and hoping I do in fact receive it. I have been with Gems since the beginning but after this NO more. The current presenters drive me mad the best ones have left apart from the odd few. The boring introduction to each show has me switching off years ago they were educational now the are time fillers. I could go on and on but then I'd be boring everyone and I'm sure followers of the show already know how it has deteriorated. The quality of the jewellery, the tat Hattie sells as her own designs is galling Not even sure if Primal living will survive!!

 

[Deasmum]

Their standards have also declined considerably. As I write this, Toby Cavill is waxing lyrical about a supposedly pink topaz, when the colour is not natural. It's coated.

 

[SnowMoon]

They very rarely, if ever, say a stone is coated you have to look that up for yourself. They have "processed" one of my refunds now (about three and a half weeks on) just waiting on the second one. Then I am in clear waters if they do go down.

 

[Deasmum]

They very rarely, if ever, say a stone is coated you have to look that up for yourself. They have "processed" one of my refunds now (about three and a half weeks on) just waiting on the second one. Then I am in clear waters if they do go down.

I am glad you got one of your refunds. I hope you get the other one as quickly as possible. Those listening to Toby would think the stone was naturally pink given the way he was phrasing it. For me, it's just shameful. And their supposed gala seems quite poor. Beyond the Charles Winston's diamonds, it's coated stones and stones set in silver, like the black spinel.

 

[rubia]

Their standards have also declined considerably. As I write this, Toby Cavill is waxing lyrical about a supposedly pink topaz, when the colour is not natural. It's coated.

I watched about 5 minutes of it and switched off.

 

[Deasmum]

I watched about 5 minutes of it and switched off.

I should have done the same. It didn't get better with time. Much to the contrary. Boring and misleading, a terrible combination.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Not even sure if Primal living will survive!!

I'm not sure how it ever got off the ground really. They go on about how their supplements are - in particular, I remember one presentation where they said about how strong their probiotics were. However, when you look at the strength, they're actually fairly weak.

They're not particular well priced either - even with all the 3-for-2 deals they do. I bought a tub of 500 vitamin C capsules from Costco, and they cost just short of £15.

I think it's something like £10 for 3 boxes of 30 capsules on Gemporia - which is 3 months worth - compared to Costco's almost 18 month supply.

 

[rubia]

I'm not sure how it ever got off the ground really. They go on about how their supplements are - in particular, I remember one presentation where they said about how strong their probiotics were. However, when you look at the strength, they're actually fairly weak.

They're not particular well priced either - even with all the 3-for-2 deals they do. I bought a tub of 500 vitamin C capsules from Costco, and they cost just short of £15.

I think it's something like £10 for 3 boxes of 30 capsules on Gemporia - which is 3 months worth - compared to Costco's almost 18 month supply.

I checked their web site the other day and was amazed at how little they had on it! Will check out costco

 

[Deleted member 28043]

I'm not sure how it ever got off the ground really. They go on about how their supplements are - in particular, I remember one presentation where they said about how strong their probiotics were. However, when you look at the strength, they're actually fairly weak.

They're not particular well priced either - even with all the 3-for-2 deals they do. I bought a tub of 500 vitamin C capsules from Costco, and they cost just short of £15.

I think it's something like £10 for 3 boxes of 30 capsules on Gemporia - which is 3 months worth - compared to Costco's almost 18 month supply.

You must have a lot of time on your hands for these in-depth comments. Plus, how do you know so much about the company? You seem incredibly bitter and spiteful, have you worked for gemporia before? Why don’t you just concentrate on the next step instead of being so negative, there’s a whole lovely world out there. Afterall, no one is making you watch gems, if you’re not happy, turn it off, you don’t sound like you buy anything, so you won’t be missed. If you have any integrity, you’ll simply ignore this, afterall, you’re a viewer, not an employee (how do you know about margin and diff gemstone names?) so put the kettle on and change channel. Stop with all this negativity

 

[Deleted member 28043]

I'm not sure how it ever got off the ground really. They go on about how their supplements are - in particular, I remember one presentation where they said about how strong their probiotics were. However, when you look at the strength, they're actually fairly weak.

They're not particular well priced either - even with all the 3-for-2 deals they do. I bought a tub of 500 vitamin C capsules from Costco, and they cost just short of £15.

I think it's something like £10 for 3 boxes of 30 capsules on Gemporia - which is 3 months worth - compared to Costco's almost 18 month supply.

Man with no name… put a name up, who are you? You know too many details to simply be a viewer. Give me real examples of costco strength vs primal and I’ll listen. You spout utter hate and rubbish. Show your real self, I’m intrigued to know how you seem so invested in gemporia and no other shopping channel. What happened? Did no one listen to your points? Were you put on an overnight shift due to lack of experience and then kick off in a meeting?

 

[Deleted member 28043]

Long first post alert...... Sorry!

I have (had) been a Gemporia customer for many years - buying from their main Gems TV channel, Gem Collector, Jewellery Maker and Lifestyle on a regular basis.

They have pretty much lost all of my custom now for various reasons (severe price increases, lower quality stones, incorrect treatments listed on authenticity cards, boring speeches before selling, claims that are bordering on the ridiculous, shrieking annoying presenters and / or presenters that are out of their depth, misleading customers, an out of court settlement in the past - and, the final nail in the coffin - the ludicrously long refund times).

Another massive alarm bell for me is concern as to whether they're going to be around for much longer? I don't want to risk placing orders only to find that they suddenly vanish one day - just like Price Drop TV did years ago.

It is clear that something is going on again at Gemporia at the moment. Lifestyle is closing down - and it looks very much like staff are being made redundant too (it seems that some are voluntary - and the rest 'forced'). There's a lot of other things that have really waved red flags at me over the last couple of years too.

1. Their 'Price Pledge' policy seems to have more and more caveats now. At one point, Price Pledges were granted without hesitation. Even if you phoned up for a price pledge on one item, if another had sold in the same hour at a lower price, but you were unaware, they'd tell you and give you account credit for it - whereas these days, they specifically ask for product codes of items you want to price pledge. If there was a second item in the hour that had sold for cheaper, but you hadn't realised, they no longer 'volunteer' to tell you and give you the credit. There are also too many exclusions now. Specific hours that we're told are 'clearance hours' with no price pledges in play - including one show in January where they sold an item for MORE than it had previously sold for in this supposed 'Clearance Hour'. So they'll happily take more money from you in a 'clearance hour' - but they won't give you any back in the form of a price pledge credit. Sales, etc are also exempt from the price pledge policy now - whereas I'm sure that years ago, the price pledge policy was honoured regardless.

2. Loooooooooong delays with refunds: The law says 14 days - but Gemporia are now taking up to, and in excess of 30 days - to the point where I'd actually completed three split pay payments and paid for an item in full whilst I was waiting for my refund. Despite it being pointed out that they legally have to refund within 14 days, they insist that their T & C's can say otherwise. I have reported this to Trading Standards along with my evidence - so I'll see what the outcome of that is.

3. Reselling returned items before refunding customers: I have seen numerous examples now of items that have been returned, being put back on sale, before they refund the customers that sent those items back. I know for a fact that I bought an item from one of their channels that was a 'one-off' - I literally had the only item available. However, I decided to return it. Within a week of returning it, it was back on sale, on the same channel, for the same price that I bought not for - but it wasn't refunded to me until TWO WEEKS later! This has happened on a few occasions - I've returned items, and they've been re-sold by Gemporia before I've been refunded by Gemporia. I may be sceptical - but this, combined with the amount of time it now takes them to refund, gives the impression that they're trying to re-sell items again (and therefore getting the money in again) before refunding the returnee. That gives me suspicion that they could have cash flow problems (perhaps they spent all their money on Jade?.........)

4. Staff leaving / Redundancies? It seems that Gemporia are making staff redundant - yet again. I think this is the 4th round over the past few years? Its certainly at least three because Katie Ho, Nick Davies (although we still see him, he was made redundant by Gemporia and then re-employed over at Primal Living shortly afterwards), and some of the old 'The Lounge' presenters all left around 4 years ago. Then during Covid, more redundancies were made - with Victoria Norris, Vicky Carr, Rod Jinks, etc leaving. Now Rosie, Ruth, Satnam the camera guy, and a few other producers, etc are leaving too. It seems that Gemporia have ditched their repair and re-sizing departments too - so presumably those staff are going too. I'm sure there was a batch of redundancies before all those though, maybe 5 or so years ago, when the likes of Lara De-Leuw, and some of the old Rocks TV presenters all went at the same time. 3 or 4 lots of redundancies in not far off as many years makes me suspect they were losing money - and continue to lose money.

5. The reduction of Jewellery Maker hours. Gemporia bought the struggling Company back off Immediate Media - and rather than solving the problems that immediate media created, Gemporia added to them and made the channel even worse - to the point where I suspect they lost a lot of customers, which resulted in a loss of broadcasting hours (and, more presenters being made redundant - such as Hannah Stuart, etc).

6. Huge price increases. Gem Collector prices have increased significantly I've noticed. Stones that I could once buy for £10 or so, are now going for around £30 for similar carat weights, etc. Jewellery Maker has gone the same way. They once used to sell affordable strands and cabochons for crafters - now, they're selling VERY expensive strands of pearls and jade - some for £300, £400. Are they seriously expecting jewellery makers / hobbyists to buy those strands at those prices to make jewellery, and expect those jewellery makers to sell their work on at profit? Not a chance. Gems TV are now also selling some silver jewellery that is more expensive than gold jewellery.

7. Lower quality at higher prices. LOTS of "drenched in gold" Silver aka 'gold tone', Midas, etc now - instead of just 925 Sterling Silver on its own. Platinum plating. filled Rubies. dyed Lapis Lazuli, filled Amazonite (seriously? - Amazonite is cheap enough to buy in its 'natural' state - as is Lapis), coated Topaz, etc. It makes me wonder if the 'tone' and 'plating' is possibly because they could be buying and using recycled, melted down, Silver instead of 'new' Silver?

Ohhh someone sounds bitter, need a hug? What’s your agenda here?