Jewelry Appraisal Center

Special Message from Resident Gemologist and Founder of the Jewelry Appraisal Center:

G'day - my name is David Foard, and I wanted to bring you this timely clarification of a nagging little problem that has grown in recent years.

That of Insurance Company Acceptance to our revolutionary Jewelry Appraisals ONLINE system.

It seems the more we become accepted by the population, the less our competition like it, even to the point of abuse. Now personally I understand this, but the subject need addressing - so I have taken the extraordinary step of including a transcript from one client - who for the sake of anonymity - we shall call Jeff.

This conversation was instigated on the 12th of December by Jeff contacting our Live Support Staff Member Dan.

It went something like this...

Question: are your service recognized like GIA

Dan : How may I help You?
jeff : are you gem appriasal service recognised by GIA or similar
Dan : Our services are part of the world wide systems affiliated to the GIA
Dan : We use the same formulas and techniques to arrive at an appraisal
jeff : David Foard F.G.A.A who is this? is he one of your affliates
Dan : David is a Member of the Fellowship of Gemological Association of Australia
jeff : Will his online value be recognised word wide and will GIA be mentions in his cert?
Dan : David does NOT do the appraisal - You do using the software program incorporating the GIA formulas
jeff : My point is that what I do this valuation with the software would the certifcate inlude the word GIA? and will it be accepted world wide
Dan : We have been using this system all over the world over the past 3 years without problem. We do NOT use the GIA abbreviation
Dan : Sorry Jeff - No because we are based in AUSTRALIA
Dan : There is a full money back warranty
jeff : CAN i SPEAK TO A PERSON BEOFRE i START SPENDING MONEY ONLINE TO DO TIS APPRISAL USING YOUR SOFTWARE? can you recammed a telephone number? So what Abbreviation do you used then does it have the same strength. I do not mind making international calls I am not lloking for money back
Dan : The System is based on International GIA formulas. We have never had a problem but you should check with your Insurance company as they (NOT the GIA) are the ones who have to accept the Certificate
jeff : ALL INSURERS I SPOKE TO, SO FAR 44 WANTS A COPY OF GIA CERT THEY DO NOT RECOGNISE YOUR CERT
Dan : Then we can't help you? Thousands of others in the States have used the system without problem
jeff : May be you can tell WHihci Insurer will accpt ithen bcos I can not find any?
Dan : Again as we are in Australia - you will have to check in your country. We have been using this service for THOUSANDS throughout the World - no problems
jeff : Your location does not matter it will be in safe keeping in the country where the insuere is
Dan : I don't know what you mean - please explain
jeff : Which insurer accept your certificates? it will help alot
jeff : I would not be here asking you if I have not already spoken to my cmpnay> As you said of people have used you certicate to get insurance without problem but I can not find one insuere with your certifcate. Surely you can give me the name of one insurance company? ??
Dan : We are unable to do that. As an independent company we cannot show favor for one over another. It is a personal thing between you and your company
jeff : I am a client holiding your certicate all I need is to get an insurer STOP beating around the BUSH. I think I just wasted my money on a useless paper certicate
Dan : Then please contact us for a refund (FULL warranty) remember. The Certificate was to get an appraisal - NOT get Insurance
jeff : which is insurer acccpet your certificate
Dan : Sorry Jeff - already answered that. We can't help you
jeff : I am not asking you to give me insurance. I am asking for the name of an insurance company any insurance that will accept your certificate. LIKE try to get blood from a stone NO YOU HAVE NOT ANSWERED MY QUESTION. I need to knwo who to contact for money back
Dan : Jeff - there are THOUSANDS of insurance companies all around the world. Please check your own country - else we can't help
Dan : Please provide me details and we will start the refund submission
jeff : Try USA EUROPE AND AUSTRALIA. i NEED TO E-MAIL THE PEROSN WHO MAKE THE DECISION
Dan : I have that authority
Dan : Please provide details for the refund process
jeff : I am sending a copy of the e-mail to WATCHDOG so they can tell people not to waste their money with your certificate bcos you do not help you customer
jeff : What is the e-mail????
Dan : The Certificate provided you with a Valuation
Dan : Use the Contact Us form available on the website
Dan : Please provide us with the details of purchase and we will refund you today
jeff : Yes certicate provide with valuation BUT no insurance company wants to accept of recognised it as a worthy certificate
Dan : The CONTACT US form is available from the top menu
Dan : If there is nothing else I can help you with, you can close this window

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Now Jeff started off saying he wanted details BEFORE he purchased - which is great, and we recommend that - but later seemed to change his point of view and demanding a refund? Just by way of clarification - Jeff has NOT purchased our service (as far as we can tell there is NO Jeff in our database listed over the past couple of weeks).

Our support staff member Dan (who has full authority to issue refunds) did exactly what I would have done and tried to help the client and initiate the refund procedure - no luck there - just more abuse.

Now our stance has always been that we, as an independent service, do not get involved between client and Insurance companies. Can you imagine going into your local High Street Shopping Mall and asking the jeweler to give a list of all the insurance companies who would accept their certificates - I don't think so.

But as a follow up to this incident I contacted the LARGEST INSURANCE COMPANY in the USA with the following question - I have printed their reply below....

Will your company accept appraisal Certificates created by online software written by a qualified gemologist and former member of the Valuers council? Each Certificate provides complete details plus photo with value in US Dollars

The insurance company is Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company

Their reply was...

Dear David, Thank you for your inquiry. Yes, we would accept appraisal certificates as long as the certificates show the name of the person who purchased the item and also include the full description of the item and replacement value for
that item in US dollars.

If you have further questions or concerns regarding this matter, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Travis J. Dorn, CSA
Customer Service Representative
Personal Lines Department
Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company

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When we wrote the software we had three very clear objectives in mind.

• To ensure there was a well written description (plus photo) of each item on the Certificate which would MORE than place our service higher than the scribbled letterheads of some retail jewelers.
• To ensure the Value (in any of seven currencies) was updated without the Market spikes as Gold went up and down, to provide the very best and most accurate price on each item, to within GIA recommended limits
• To ensure that there was CONSISTENCY throughout the World, because the old system saw one jeweler in New York give a different price than a jeweler in say - San Francisco.

In fact it is fairly well known that if you asked 10 different jewelers to give you an appraisal - you would most likely get 10 very different prices. Thankfully; for all the jewelers who use our service, they provide a standard value, because they all use the SAME SERVICE calculated with the SAME DATA. That's just logical...

Plus as the system grew - we added one very specific objective - To provide the Safest Storage and retrievals of jewelry and gemstone specifications on the planet. We keep your appraisals on our Secure Server for seven years!

Now there is one very Important saying that I have lived by, and it goes like this...

There ain't No Such Thing as a perfect ___________ (you can fill in the blank) Try Job or House or Education. The only thing which breaks that mold is 'Wife' as mine told me to say that

But seriously - There is no such thing as a perfect system, software, client or program - But we work very hard to get it as close as we possibly can. Our support staff are brilliant and certainly do not deserve harassment. If there is a serious problem, one simple message gets it fixed - or fully refunded - what ever the client (you) requires.

So with that complete - I have decided to survey our clients plus I encourage you to also add a comment as I would really, personally appreciate your feedback.

You can also add a comment which I would really appreciate

Thank you and kind regards. David.