The fading star of Gems.

[missmarple]

Hello, i am a newbie to the forum,so i should introduce myself.I live in Seville province in Spain and have been a gems customer for two years,so i can give a little perspective from a european perspective.Firstly, gems told us we couldnt leave any feefo reviews,only usa and uk,we contacted feefo ourselves and they were eager to do so but they wanted our bank details,so we declined.Whilst i have some nice pieces of jewellery,we have also had our fair share of problems with gems and have found to get your rights you really have to stand your ground with them and be firm,otherwise they will deny,ignore and fob you off.Secondly 5-7 days shipping is a joke,over the years i have ordered items from many countries, including usa and china and from other companies in the uk and all have been faster than gems,normally within 9 days,gems has always taken much longer and that is excluding weekends.I also noticed a big change in the sales technique just before Scott left to the harder sell,shouting presenters,which is a real turn off for me.I watched less and mostly without volume.The recent changes have brought a deluge of complaints from customers and viewers,i know steve bennet went onto gems to explain about cut backs,closure of rocks etc,i only saw the end of it so i dont know if he mentioned his opening of tv studios in jaipur, india,or the closure of his other website nowseen.com which was aimed at young girls,most of the merchandise still being sold on the Lounge.The recent changes to the lounge have been awful with the presenters from rocks not even using customers names,instead saying,customer from derbyshire wants to see no 26,you might as well be at the deli counter in Tesco with your no26 ticket for your ham,really awful and customers,including myself waiting up to twenty minutes to be shown the item they have asked to see or, on several occasions being told they are not taking any codes,come back in the next hour,which never happened before,customer complaints about messages not being read or being ignored,so not good.I have noticed a pattern on the feefo reviews of people returning goods that dont seem to be the right colour or lack of colour in the stones,chipped,cracked stone,thin gold bands etc.The final straw is an email we received from a courier company via ptp saying my item would be delivered either today or tomorrow,which we couldnt fathom, we phoned the call centre,which after the operator dithering on,finally spoke to the supervisor and we were told the postal policy had changed recently and all goods outside of the uk would be sent courier,we knew nothing of this,we dont have anything delivered via courier as they are truly awful here.The postal service here is excellent, the courier system is truly terrible,they dont deliver unless you live in a town,city or village,we live outside of the town and have a post office secure box within the post office for which we pay yearly,only ourselves and the postmaster has a key,its an excellent service,couriers dont deliver to the post office,if you can arrange a meeting point you could be waiting hours,or they dont turn up at all,or one occasion the courier signed it himself and stated as delivered on their web page which he hadnt done,so you end up driving around,once on and off for two days trying to track down the goods,its terrible,they dont answer emails and sometimes cut you off whilst your on the phone,they get paid peanuts so they dont give a hoot.So we have cancelled our orders and will close our accounts with gems.Good customer service would tell their customers before making these changes,you shouldnt have to find out after the fact.Its a shame to a good company that was known for better quality being diminished bit by bit,no wonder so much money is being pumped into advertising and concession stands in House of Frazer to the detriment of the tv studios and their customers.Apologies for the rant,just had to get it off my chest.

 

[historymystery]

missmarple, Firstly, welcome to the forum, good to hear from you. Living in England, I can't comment on your experience regarding the switch from postal to courier, but I agree with your comments that Gems are not the company they were, and have changed for the worst, certainly since Christmas. I used to buy from them for myself and for gifts, but these days I rarely buy from them, and totally agree that since the departure of really good presenters - such as Fiona Egan, Scott Worsfold, Matt McNamara and Liv Edmonds - they have gone downhill fast. And what's happened to Charis Kettridge, who used to present the loose gemstones? She's disappeared, and Alex McKay (excellent presenter who also used to present the loose gemstones) appears only a couple of times a week! Why in heaven's name would you take off your best presenter? And where is Alex - he certainly doesn't appear on the other Gems channels on his days off, so is he concentrating on other work, getting ready to leave? The rot started to set in about a year ago, in my view. I think you are right when you imply that they have over-stretched themselves, and the current "hard sell" tactic is the result. I had to turn off Angeline Davis the other day, she was shouting so much, really aggressive selling. Steve Bennett should have concentrated on what he'd got - which was a decent business with some (not all!) good presenters - the current crop of newer presenters (with perhaps the exception of Rosie Wells and Mark Gould) have little or no charisma, and talk to the customers as though they are superior to them and doing them a favour by just being there. The other BIG mistake has been the channel known as The Diamond Room, IMO. Highly-priced diamonds, the presenter having to keep bobbing up and down to pick out the ring/pendant - it's amateur, the show doesn't "flow" properly and it appeals to a very limited market because of the prices. There are also other companies out there who offer better specification diamond rings, set in 18K gold or platinum, for less money, so Gems need to be aware of this. I think their current business model isn't working, and unless Steve Bennett pulls back and has a serious re-think, I don't give this channel much longer. It will either be closed down altogether or sold-off, IMO.

Hello, i am a newbie to the forum,so i should introduce myself.I live in Seville province in Spain and have been a gems customer for two years,so i can give a little perspective from a european perspective.Firstly, gems told us we couldnt leave any feefo reviews,only usa and uk,we contacted feefo ourselves and they were eager to do so but they wanted our bank details,so we declined.Whilst i have some nice pieces of jewellery,we have also had our fair share of problems with gems and have found to get your rights you really have to stand your ground with them and be firm,otherwise they will deny,ignore and fob you off.Secondly 5-7 days shipping is a joke,over the years i have ordered items from many countries, including usa and china and from other companies in the uk and all have been faster than gems,normally within 9 days,gems has always taken much longer and that is excluding weekends.I also noticed a big change in the sales technique just before Scott left to the harder sell,shouting presenters,which is a real turn off for me.I watched less and mostly without volume.The recent changes have brought a deluge of complaints from customers and viewers,i know steve bennet went onto gems to explain about cut backs,closure of rocks etc,i only saw the end of it so i dont know if he mentioned his opening of tv studios in jaipur, india,or the closure of his other website nowseen.com which was aimed at young girls,most of the merchandise still being sold on the Lounge.The recent changes to the lounge have been awful with the presenters from rocks not even using customers names,instead saying,customer from derbyshire wants to see no 26,you might as well be at the deli counter in Tesco with your no26 ticket for your ham,really awful and customers,including myself waiting up to twenty minutes to be shown the item they have asked to see or, on several occasions being told they are not taking any codes,come back in the next hour,which never happened before,customer complaints about messages not being read or being ignored,so not good.I have noticed a pattern on the feefo reviews of people returning goods that dont seem to be the right colour or lack of colour in the stones,chipped,cracked stone,thin gold bands etc.The final straw is an email we received from a courier company via ptp saying my item would be delivered either today or tomorrow,which we couldnt fathom, we phoned the call centre,which after the operator dithering on,finally spoke to the supervisor and we were told the postal policy had changed recently and all goods outside of the uk would be sent courier,we knew nothing of this,we dont have anything delivered via courier as they are truly awful here.The postal service here is excellent, the courier system is truly terrible,they dont deliver unless you live in a town,city or village,we live outside of the town and have a post office secure box within the post office for which we pay yearly,only ourselves and the postmaster has a key,its an excellent service,couriers dont deliver to the post office,if you can arrange a meeting point you could be waiting hours,or they dont turn up at all,or one occasion the courier signed it himself and stated as delivered on their web page which he hadnt done,so you end up driving around,once on and off for two days trying to track down the goods,its terrible,they dont answer emails and sometimes cut you off whilst your on the phone,they get paid peanuts so they dont give a hoot.So we have cancelled our orders and will close our accounts with gems.Good customer service would tell their customers before making these changes,you shouldnt have to find out after the fact.Its a shame to a good company that was known for better quality being diminished bit by bit,no wonder so much money is being pumped into advertising and concession stands in House of Frazer to the detriment of the tv studios and their customers.Apologies for the rant,just had to get it off my chest.

 

[puffin48]

I don't buy alot from gems but generally what I have bought Ive been quite pleased with. I must agree with both of you about the desperation of most of the presenters. Ive noticed that Angeline goes for the hard sell now so I avoid her shows. Vicky Carr annoys me more since she has been back. They have obviously been on recent training courses because we get the stock phrases - its going to be on and gone, we under promise and over deliver etc etc. They are also very shouty which I hate - Im not deaf or stupid. I suppose they have pressure put on them but they would sell more if they just calmed down and didn't patronise us viewers.

 

[historymystery]

agree, puffin48. Angeline has really changed a lot, and Vicky irritates me no end, as she tells you long-winded and irrelevant family stories that I find somewhat embarrassing, to be honest. The other day, in the space of 5 minutes, we had a story about her grandmother's family being so poor, they had to wait for an aunt to turn up with a sausage for each of the children, as her father didn't get paid until a few days later. Now, I'm not mocking the poverty of 60 plus years ago in any way, times were dreadfully hard for many families, especially where men worked in certain industries or were sick or unemployed, and this was a total disgrace, but please! Is it appropriate to make anything but a passing reference to her Nan not owning much jewellery because they didn't have much money? I turn off both of these presenters now and don't watch Gems much at all - look at it online with the sound muted. I'll carry on doing this until they change their ways or close down, whatever. We aren't stupid - we can see this channel is changing for the worst.

I don't buy alot from gems but generally what I have bought Ive been quite pleased with. I must agree with both of you about the desperation of most of the presenters. Ive noticed that Angeline goes for the hard sell now so I avoid her shows. Vicky Carr annoys me more since she has been back. They have obviously been on recent training courses because we get the stock phrases - its going to be on and gone, we under promise and over deliver etc etc. They are also very shouty which I hate - Im not deaf or stupid. I suppose they have pressure put on them but they would sell more if they just calmed down and didn't patronise us viewers.

 

[Anna]

I have quite a few pieces from Gems over the years, but yes I agree I can't stand all the shouty, over the top presentation, gasps of surprise, pointy fingers at the back screen with looks of amazement. Angeline used to be a favourite of mine but lately I can't really watch her - her voice just gets too high pitched for me, and her way of selling has changed. I can't take to Mark Gould he just reminds me of Adina who never finishes her sentences. I do like Steve and like his shows, but he needs to realise that the selling techniques, for me anyway, are just annoying and make me turn off, which is the opposite of what he wants.

 

[historymystery]

Anna, the trouble is I don't think Steve Bennett is listening or learning from previous mistakes. He's supposedly an astute businessman, and 18 months or so ago he employs Peter Simon after Bid went belly-up. I ask you - how would anyone even remotely think that was going to work out? And of course it was a disaster, and didn't work out, as anyone of us could have told him and just made the Channel look stupid. Now, loads of the well-established and well-respected presenters have walked - and I find it hard to believe they were all amicable partings of the ways. He's replaced them with female presenters who have little or no charisma, and IMO, talk down to the public. The original presenters remaining (and there aren't very many) have obviously been told to get on the hard sell tactics and shout at us. Like you, I'm switching Angeline off - she is so irritating and loud now. Steve, if you are reading this, you are not on the right track at present. Have a re-think - and also do something about The Diamond Room Channel, before viewers fall asleep with boredom. It's flippin' dire.

I have quite a few pieces from Gems over the years, but yes I agree I can't stand all the shouty, over the top presentation, gasps of surprise, pointy fingers at the back screen with looks of amazement. Angeline used to be a favourite of mine but lately I can't really watch her - her voice just gets too high pitched for me, and her way of selling has changed. I can't take to Mark Gould he just reminds me of Adina who never finishes her sentences. I do like Steve and like his shows, but he needs to realise that the selling techniques, for me anyway, are just annoying and make me turn off, which is the opposite of what he wants.

 

[puffin48]

Has Rachel Hatton gone. I havent seen her recently and it looks like Kate McCarthy has taken over her slot. I quite like her so will be sorry if shes gone. She may be on at a different time but Ive not seen her. It would be good if Steve did read this because we cant be the only ones who feel things have changed for the worse. To be honest I cant say I really like any of them much - Ellis isnt too bad and neither is Rae but she seems to be on early when I dont watch. Another phrase to add to my list that annoys me is - this really shouldnt be in this hour - which r they trying to kid.

 

[Sazza]

Has Rachel Hatton gone. I havent seen her recently and it looks like Kate McCarthy has taken over her slot. I quite like her so will be sorry if shes gone. She may be on at a different time but Ive not seen her. It would be good if Steve did read this because we cant be the only ones who feel things have changed for the worse. To be honest I cant say I really like any of them much - Ellis isnt too bad and neither is Rae but she seems to be on early when I dont watch. Another phrase to add to my list that annoys me is - this really shouldnt be in this hour - which r they trying to kid.

Yes Rachel has left, as has Mark Gould, both left last week. Kate and Lynn have taken over the time slots.

 

[madmax]

I think that they like ALL of the shopping channels are finding life much harder than in previous years as more and more of us (especially the older generation) are checking online before we buy.
I have brought rings from them but I ONLY buy what I like and know I will wear, not because I am being told to "rush to the phone".
To me if I will wear it it matters not if it costs £20.00 or £ 200.00, there is no point in buying as an investment because the chance of the value going up are next to nill.
I watch far far more now that Q are replaying the TSV throughout the night,because as someone who struggles to sleep having a real live person talking in the background makes me feel less alone! (sad I know)

 

[donna255]

I haven't bought from Gems in years, a friend does and another friends seem to like watching she never had bought anything. First friend never shopped with them until last year and is dazzled by her buys, she loves silver so 99% of her collection is that. Her style is not my style so all the white topaz accents do nothing for me. In fact I wore an old diamonique ring I bought as a TSV long ago in 14ct white gold solitaire, she was shocked at the difference. She had never seen diamonique in real life. My old diamonique as good as her diamond engagement ring.

So sitting with first friend is like watch panto shock face, gurning(sp) to the screen at the quality and how rare it is and then the price. You get this long winded story of the how they find the gems etc. Angeline starts her shows shouting to customers who sent her biscuits etc and the female producer in the woolie hats comes on to join it. If she worked in a shop she would be sacked! Friend and I guess the price of items and complain at the white topaz accents, not even using ziron at least.

I have a thing about the gold weight. Long ago on this forum many knowledgable people who bought from Gems and knew their stuff. Remember 1.90 was the min they recommended for a ring. I notice many many times no gold weight is shown on screen, or I have even seen 1.48 for a ring!!! That would bend so easily.

I actually stopped buying when the put the postage up to £10+ for Northern Ireland, the courier was a pain as you had to be in to sign. Now it seems in the UK they just use royal mail, but reading the first post wouldn't surprise me if they went back to courier for the UK.

 

[Anna]

Yes Rachel has left, as has Mark Gould, both left last week. Kate and Lynn have taken over the time slots.

I did not know they had left - I quite liked Rachael. I do like Ellis - she seems a bit calmer in her selling approach. The rest are quite manic.

 

[Anna]

Anna, the trouble is I don't think Steve Bennett is listening or learning from previous mistakes. He's supposedly an astute businessman, and 18 months or so ago he employs Peter Simon after Bid went belly-up. I ask you - how would anyone even remotely think that was going to work out? And of course it was a disaster, and didn't work out, as anyone of us could have told him and just made the Channel look stupid. Now, loads of the well-established and well-respected presenters have walked - and I find it hard to believe they were all amicable partings of the ways. He's replaced them with female presenters who have little or no charisma, and IMO, talk down to the public. The original presenters remaining (and there aren't very many) have obviously been told to get on the hard sell tactics and shout at us. Like you, I'm switching Angeline off - she is so irritating and loud now. Steve, if you are reading this, you are not on the right track at present. Have a re-think - and also do something about The Diamond Room Channel, before viewers fall asleep with boredom. It's flippin' dire.

Peter Simon was a disaster you are quite right. I haven't watched the Diamond Room but I may if I have trouble sleeping!

 

[Anna]

I haven't bought from Gems in years, a friend does and another friends seem to like watching she never had bought anything. First friend never shopped with them until last year and is dazzled by her buys, she loves silver so 99% of her collection is that. Her style is not my style so all the white topaz accents do nothing for me. In fact I wore an old diamonique ring I bought as a TSV long ago in 14ct white gold solitaire, she was shocked at the difference. She had never seen diamonique in real life. My old diamonique as good as her diamond engagement ring.

So sitting with first friend is like watch panto shock face, gurning(sp) to the screen at the quality and how rare it is and then the price. You get this long winded story of the how they find the gems etc. Angeline starts her shows shouting to customers who sent her biscuits etc and the female producer in the woolie hats comes on to join it. If she worked in a shop she would be sacked! Friend and I guess the price of items and complain at the white topaz accents, not even using ziron at least.

I have a thing about the gold weight. Long ago on this forum many knowledgable people who bought from Gems and knew their stuff. Remember 1.90 was the min they recommended for a ring. I notice many many times no gold weight is shown on screen, or I have even seen 1.48 for a ring!!! That would bend so easily.

I actually stopped buying when the put the postage up to £10+ for Northern Ireland, the courier was a pain as you had to be in to sign. Now it seems in the UK they just use royal mail, but reading the first post wouldn't surprise me if they went back to courier for the UK.

I hate the topaz accents too. Not fussed on accents at all. The other day there was a lovely morganite ring in gold that had 4 diamond accents - it just ruined the whole look of the ring. It didn't need it and it ruined it in my view. The woman in the woolly hat is strange - she brought her kids on the other day too.

 

[countrymaid]

Gems is going the way of Rocks and Co. What a dreadful load of presenters they have. Miserable Cherry, who is obviously doing us all a favour by gracing us with her presence. Awful Kim has obviously taken advise from Cherry and Vicky and shouts all the time. By the way, has her hair ever seen a comb? John Scott just looks completely bored these days and who can blame him.

 

[puffin48]

Yes Rachel has left, as has Mark Gould, both left last week. Kate and Lynn have taken over the time slots.

Thanks for that. Did they announce that they were going and where to. Things certainly seem to be going down the tubes losing two experienced presenters. Perhaps they didn't like the hard sell. I notice Angeline never changes her time - I think her and Nick probably wield quite a bit of power there.

 

[historymystery]

The writing seems to be on the wall, then. I'm sure Rachel and Mark weren't to everyone's taste, but they knew their gemstones. Losing presenters like this does not look good, it's sending out bad 'vibes' and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has e-mailed Gems telling them I'm not impressed with their current format. It's not as though they've recruited anyone who can really replace the likes of Scott Worsfold and Liv Edmonds. The good ones - such as Ruth Linnett and Jim Broman - seem to be relegated to the middle of the night or early morning time slots and we're stuck with the screechers and the supercilious ones. Steve Bennett should be bending over backwards to keep good presenters - all his doing is replacing them with inferior ones.

Yes Rachel has left, as has Mark Gould, both left last week. Kate and Lynn have taken over the time slots.

 

[historymystery]

Miserable Cherry with the nose in the air is the daughter of Debby Cavill, so nuff said. Vicky is appalling, IMO. Voice like a chainsaw.

Gems is going the way of Rocks and Co. What a dreadful load of presenters they have. Miserable Cherry, who is obviously doing us all a favour by gracing us with her presence. Awful Kim has obviously taken advise from Cherry and Vicky and shouts all the time. By the way, has her hair ever seen a comb? John Scott just looks completely bored these days and who can blame him.

 

[puffin48]

Lindsey Gunderson seems to have disappeared as there are two new presenters in the 11 pm slot or has she moved to another slot. I didnt particularly like her but if she has gone as well, what is going on.

 

[donna255]

I flicked over the other night and Steve was on presenting. He announced they are opening a studio in Florida. Someone must have asked why and he said straight away it was the best location for them.

 

[historymystery]

Hmm, I wonder if this is going to be another 5 minute wonder? He's made some bad business decisions over the past couple of years, in my opinion, and needs to spend some time doing some hard thinking before he jumps into another 'venture' that ends badly. Lots of not-very-happy viewers and customers at some of the past changes, from what I've read (and me included).

I flicked over the other night and Steve was on presenting. He announced they are opening a studio in Florida. Someone must have asked why and he said straight away it was the best location for them.