Groupon offer for My Pacific Pearls

[Ramona]

Here is our little exchange. I don't know what came over me. Black Tahitian pearls make me stampede.


Jordan O Reilly: Hello and welcome to MyPacificPearls.com! How may I be of assistance?

Kunz: Hello, I am a member of the Pearl Police. I received complaints regarding how material on your web site is represented. I noticed in particular that your company is selling cheap, color-treated Chinese freshwater pearls as Tahitian black pearls, making customers believe that these are expensive pearls from Tahiti. Your web site now will be monitored and a civil suit is being discussed.

Jordan O Reilly: I am sorry, if you have read and heard anything negative about our website and the pearls we are selling.

Jordan O Reilly: The pearls in the Maria-Theresa Reef Collection are 100% authentic high quality round AA+ freshwater pearls which are cultured, as are all pearls available in the World today.

Jordan O Reilly: Every necklace comes with a detailed certificate of authenticity and valuation for insurance purposes. Every necklace is made to order and is handmade with the highest attention to detail.

Kunz: You are selling color-treated Chinese Freshwater Pearls. This should be clearly stated in the description. As you may have been aware, your Groupon offers wrongly represented the pearls you are selling. So, this is a warning. Have a nice day.

Jordan O Reilly: The pearls in the Maria-Theresa Reef Collection are 100% authentic and genuine high quality AA+ freshwater pearls from the Pacific region. All the pearls in the collection are entirely natural and are formed in living mussels that naturally create different overtones and colors in pearls. The Chocolate Brown, Golden, Black and Gray pearls however, do not occur naturally in those colors in the freshwater species. All Chocolate Brown, Golden, Black and Gray freshwater pearls available in the world are delicately treated with an organic dye to bring out a natural color tone. Due to the strong demand for these colors, as well as the very high quality available, these colors are just as valuable, if not worth more than entirely naturally colored pearls such as white, peach and lilac. Every necklace comes with a detailed certificate of authenticity and valuation for insurance purposes. For your added peace of mind, we proudly cover every item in our collection by an unconditional Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee. Your patronage is greatly appreciated and we pledge to do our very best to not just meet your product and service expectations, but to exceed them! For more information, do view this stunning collection at our online boutique here: http://www.mypacificpearls.com/shop/...-collection/81

[pattye]

Me, wildly waving pom-poms, GOOOOOOO, RAMONA!!!!!!!!!!

[Caitlin]

Magnificent!!!! Now, when anyone gets stressed or upset about anything, live chat these guys up and let them have it! They should get quite a few calls seeing as it is the stressful season!

[Ramona]

It was a bit malicious. But today I am sending out job applications to cities that were voted the No.1 and No.2 worst places to live in the UK. So I needed to put my baseball bat to work.

[Shnono]

THANK YOU. I was 5 seconds from buying that Groupon for my girlfriend for christmas, no I know better. Only problem, I still want to get her a black pearl necklace.

Any advice on where to get the best bang for my dollar on (most likely) Akoya black Pearls? I am willing to spend about $300-$400

Or if not Akoya can you recommend something, and/or comment on the difference between freshwater and Akoya and others with regards to visual quality.

Thanks!
Sean

[Heidi]

Hi Sean - see this special currently running at PP - it will fit in your budget and is a fantastic value: http://www.pearlparadise.com/18inch-...klace4210.aspx

[lsmcdnc]

Complaining to the MyPacificPearls sales staff is pointless as they are probably just squeezing what they can out of Groupon before shutting down the site to restart under another name.

The target of your wrath should be Groupon. Groupon clearly didn't bother to research the product. They are more than aware by now that there is a major problem with MyPacificPearls, but they continue to run the deals.

I made the mistake of ordering these back when there wasn't much discussion on the web. I wasn't expecting the strand to be worth hundreds, but thought $79 wasn't bad for pearls that size with a gold clasp.

MyPacificPearls advertised the pearls as 9mm to 10mm. The strand I received contained pearls from 7mm to 9mm, mostly smaller pearls. The "peach, lavender and white" strand turned out to be goldish, off-white and white. As noted by others, the clasp wasn't gold, but gold-filled.

Here's their response to a request for an RMA:

We are disappointed to hear that your purchase did not meet your
expectations. Do bear in mind that it is normal for genuine pearls to have
natural surface imperfections due to how each pearl forms within an oyster
or mussel. This does not take away from the fact that these are beautiful,
authentic pearls with an estimated retail price of $1550.

"Estimated retail price" is always inflated, but $1,550 is delusional. A similar strand is available on Amazon for under $30.

On the upside, this deal made me realize that the Groupon model isn't viable - and saved me from a costly investment error.

[jshepherd]

We're very sorry to hear.

[waimeamomi]

Sean, Black akoyas are color treated (dyed) as well, although the quality can be very good depending on where you buy them. If you want to get her black pearls, but can't afford a strand of the quality you would like (380 -400 could be tricky), how about "tin cup" necklace, with Tahitians separated by gold chain. Pearl Paradise has them in your price range. http://www.pearlparadise.com/Pearl-T...klaces179.aspx
That might be a really good start!

[lsmcdnc]

Thanks. I was able to get a refund, after wasting money/time on return postage, a special trip to the post office and several rounds of emails. Groupon has a lot to answer for on this deal!

BTW, I see you are with PP. YOU have never let me down!

[lsmcdnc]

Sean,

I ordered a double strand similar to this for my husband's secretary's Christmas present. We usually give her something from Tiffany's (love that box!) but after over a decade of Christmas, birthdays and Secretary Day's, I was pretty much out of ideas in the <$500 range. I know my pearls and I was very happy with the quality of the pearls. Akoyas are nice, but a good strand of freshwater pearls is a better deal, if you find a quality strand.

Lucy

[ayngel]

Unfortunately I had already purchased my groupon "special" before I researched the company and their background. My necklace has supposedly shipped (or it will tomorrow actually), we shall see how long it actually takes to arrive and what kind of quality I get!

[pattye]

Ayngel,

Welcome and we'll hope for the best for you! Do let us know how you feel about your purchase when it arrives.

[saltyorfresh]

Sean, if you are open to freshwater, i bought a 54 inch rope at PP. the color is just amazing! very lustrous too!

[R&B]

I agree with Wendy from England.
In Australia, if someone is being dodgy in business, you go online to "Fair Trading" and it's sorted for you.
It's like a Taxpayer funded watch dog. We have just used them against the previous owners of our farm as they were falsely advertising.
They are faster and cheaper than Lawyers.
Surely you have the same in America.

The internet is so full of faceless scammers.