Hi from a newbie

[mysydney]

I am a newbie here and just want to have a chat!

I have been lurking in this forum for a few weeks. I was glad I found it by chance. I have learnt a great deal from this forum - thanks to the contributors.

I have 3 pearl necklaces and thought they were real pearls. I have done the "tooth" test on them and discovered that 2 of the 3 were not real!

I am going to the US for a wedding in early April and have been trawling eBay for pearl pendants. I wanted to give them to my American sisters (5 of them) to wear for fun - as I have not seen them for almost 10 years! I ended up buying some cheap pearl pendants on eBay - but don't expect to receive them for another 2 weeks.

I am going to be in Orange County on my birthday and hubby said he would buy me some real pearl for my birthday . I want to make an appointment to see the pearls at Pearl Paradise and choose my birthday gift. I am reluctant to buy things online because I want to see how they would look on me and be able to feel and touch them etc. Also, I am very particular about what I like. However, I was told Pearl Paradise will only make one appointment a day!

I have to ask hubby which day would be best for us, and if he will be able to drive us to Pearl Paradise. We used to live in West LA, so hubby will remember how to drive to Santa Monica where Pearl Paradise is.

[Pearl Dreams]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

It's great that you will be able to visit PearlParadise to select your pearls! What better way to get a strand that complements your skin tone? I hope you will post photos later-- we love to admire one another's pearls!

I have read here that a pearl strand may fail the tooth test if highly polished. It might be a good idea to take your questionable strand along with you when you visit PP and have Jeremy verify whether it is imitation.

[jerin]

Hi mysydney and welcome to our forum.
Pearl_dreams advice is excellent: take with you ALL your pearls (incl the pendants) to get them examined by PP, so you will be able to compare what PP:s got and what You have. Perhaps You will buy new pendants for your sisters, prepare for a battle, if their pendants are not as lovely as your pearls are certain to be, coming from PP,LOL.

[GemGeek]

FYI - Pearl Paradise moved to downtown Los Angeles. Send them an email to ask about the appointment. Good Luck!

[Casey.R]

Hi there! You should totally go there if your in the L.A.

Down town L.A., thats a big change from Santa Monica.

[mysydney]

Hi all, thanks for your welcoming!

Well, I am too embarrased to take my fake pearls to Pearl Paradise for confirmation - I will get laughed out of the shop.

Since we will be flying straight from SYD to LAX then on to DFW for the wedding, so won't be able to show PP the cheap pendants I have bought on eBay for my American sisters. [I was an exchange student to the US many moons ago, and I lived with an American family on a dairy farm. They have 5 girls and 2 boys! So, I am looking forward to seeing all of them again at the wedding, except for one of my American brothers - he cannot get someone to look after the farm. But, I visited the farm 8 years ago.]

On the way home, we will stop over in Orange County for 2 days to see my blood brother and sister. We would love to stay an extra 2 days but we are flying using our frequent flyer points and airline is so strict about seat availability . If PP has moved to LA city, I don't know if hubby will be game enough to drive to LA city. Santa Monica is OK because we used to live in West LA (Westwood). I will have to check PP website again to see where they are. When we lived in West LA, we hardly ever drove into LA city, but we stayed mainly in the Westwood / Santa Monica area.

If I managed to go to PP and bought something I would certainly post the photos.

[jshepherd]

We are located literally on the border of West La and Santa Monica very near the 405. You should definitely come in. Feel free to bring the pearls. We won't laugh!

[mysydney]

Thanks, Jeremy, for your kind words.

I have just looked up your website to find the location of your showroom, and it is in West LA. I showed it to hubby and he said he knew where it is - our old stumping ground! We lived at UCLA married student housing on South Sepulveda Blvd. From the forum I thought you were in the LA City - but you are not which makes it easier for us.

I will phone your office on Monday to make an appointment and to ask a few questions in terms of payment and taxes / charges for non-US residents etc.

[GemGeek]

Sorry, I thought Pearl Paradise had moved to downtown LA. Not sure where that idea came from. West LA is excellent!

[jshepherd]

We did move a year and a half ago, but just a few miles east of the beach. We were fortunate enough to find a space that used to be a bank. It has a huge vault. It required quite a bit of customization to make it work, but it has turned into an incredible asset.

[mysydney]

Jeremy: I did not phone your office today - being Sunday afternoon in LA. I will phone your office tomorrow - Monday LA time, to make an appointment for sure. I hope the day I am after will be available.

Well, one lot of pearls I ordered from ebay arrived today. The delivery by fedex was prompt as promised, but I was disappointed at the quality promised. I am going to send an email to the seller about this. The pearl sizes were 2mm smaller than advertised, they were mostly blemished and scratched and not high lustre as described. Another horrified thing was that the pearls came in a zip-up plastic bag instead of the silk pouch as advertised!

I took a risk buying online and fortunately I did not outlay vast sums of money. Even for a novice like me, I could see that I have been taken for a ride! I will take one or two to PP to show my follies - they will laugh and I will cry.

The second lot of pearls bought from another seller won't be arriving until next week - as I paid express mail and not fedex. I don't expect them to be any better than the first lot. Again I bought these as an experiment to test out ebay.

[Caitlin]

Hi mysydney
It is ok to share your experience and name the seller. We are trying to gather personal experience info to help other buyers. Also, any steps you take to correct it and what happened.

[mysydney]

OK, I have made my appointment with PP - spoke for half hour to the lovely Kirsten and she kindly accommodated us on the day we arrive in LA.

Caitlin: I bought the pearls from apex pearls. I sent him an email to tell him how dissatisfied I was with the products. He replied very promptly in a long email and explained his reasons. He offered to take them back, give me a refund less shipping charges; alternatively if I wanted to keep them, he will give me a small discount. Hubby said I gambled and I lost, so I should not worry about sending the pearls back. He said I should just accept the discount the seller offered. While I was not happy with the quality of the products, I do want to say that Jerry has been very prompt in answering emails - I sent him many asking questions before I purchased, and he shipped the goods quickly after payment. Pity the pearls were not what I would expect.

[Hanaleimom]

Hi Mysydney,
Is it too much to ask which item(s) you purchased? I was watching a few of the items myself. I also emailed Jerry; and he was very prompt in answering my questions. I went back and forth debating whether I should go through with it. Finally, I decided to forgo those listings to make purchases from vendors here instead. I am sorry it did not work out for you. Thank you for sharing your experience. Regards, C.

[mysydney]

Hi Mysydney,
Is it too much to ask which item(s) you purchased? I was watching a few of the items myself. I also emailed Jerry; and he was very prompt in answering my questions. I went back and forth debating whether I should go through with it. Finally, I decided to forgo those listings to make purchases from vendors here instead. I am sorry it did not work out for you. Thank you for sharing your experience. Regards, C.

I bought the multicolour pendants, multicolour necklace and black tahitian necklace. I viewed the items many times before purchasing. I only wanted them for gifts to my American sisters - there are 5 of them and I did not want to spend a fortune, or spend too little. Like you said Jerry has been very prompt in answering questions - I tested him on the communications to make sure his customer service was good before purchasing. But, I guess when we buy on ebay we have to take some risk in terms of product quality.