chat went poof

heres hoping chat is back.........rocks bores me without someone to talk to

Know exactly what you mean loobi. I don't chat anymore (long story ending with OH in constant huff :sad. I rely on chat for measurements etc as don't do volume/headphones (for above same reason lol). I've actually wandered off this evening and done other things as I can't be bothered watching with no chat to keep me updated.

Hope it's back soon.

Althought not a chatter, as has already been said, I will miss chat as well for sizes and lengths of pieces as they are still sadly lacking even with the new website. I won't miss the constant chat about ailments and the one-upmanship of some going on about their lives, families and holidays.

Unfortunately there are one or two people who do monopolise chat when they are there and who think they are above the chat rules and actively encourage others to do the same. One was doing it the other day and when someone warned them that chat would be withdrawn if they keep flouting the rules they cockily predicted it would never happen. It may be a temporary thing and its survival may depend on whether there is any effect on sales.

We will have to just wait and see.....

I wont hold my breath it will be back. - the new website is supposed to entertain us if the marketing email I got is to be believed. I think the 'redevelopment' will continue and you are right I think Janey until the effect is measured against sales - no effect no chat - of course I could be wrong.
Chat has lost its sparkle for me lately but its still a good forum but presumably only if it increases sales figures. Personally if refunds dont improve dramatically chat or no chat it will influence my decision to buy.

As Rocks perpetually fail to keep their customers informed about what they are up to (via global emails) I do think chat is a fairly essential piece of Rocks - additionally its what makes Rocks unique and without it it's a nightmare knowing the measurements of pieces of jewellery sometimes. If like the "new" website" which seems to sell on only one picture most of the time of the item, so you can't judge it from different perspectives and is sadly lacking in measurements I will be one customer lost.

I am tending to agree Anjo - I have also noticed with the exception of a few old Gems silver items the falling auction is nearer old CR prices rather than on line auction prices - and apparently if you request an item and dont bid on it you cannot request it again, if yu request more than 3 without buying you cannot request again that day - so if you are prepared to pay CR prices or somewhere in between - you have no idea of how much the items yu are interested in may fall to - so if you are interested in more than 3 but they dont meet your price expectation....... too complicated for me methinks

Quite like seeing what comes up and the web site is easy to navigate - but too many rules and regulations lol

How on earth do you know that chat came out of the closet?????!!!!!!

Sorry, couldn't resist!

On a sensible note can I say that chat has always been a poison chalice. I'm glad it's gone (if it has). However, perhaps they could keep a version of it i.e. questions can be sent to the presenter - a bit like texting in on TJC but an online real time version - not seen by anybody else so in effect chat isn't there but the facility to get questions answered is? That way, you would be able to ask for dimensions etc and questions could be filtered by Rocks staff so the presenters don't get inundated with "hi, how are you" sort of posts?

Just a thought!

If Chat is gone for ever on Rocks, Mr Bennett is turning his back on the people he went to first when he set up Rocks on the internet. Perhaps he should be a bit more loyal to his grass roots customers.

I know there are as many opinions on chat as there are fleas on my cat....(ok maybe I need to give another of those magic drops) ....I started the thread as a challenge - lets get some thoughts

From me - for what they are worth....chat entertained, infuriated, irritated and downright outraged ....all in equal measures.

Those determined to hassle, fight and aggravate have their platfrom.... but they soon get a response

For me personally, it IS a social place that I can dip in and out of....it keeps me logged and watching when TJC and others dont. I buy things I may have missed that I never would have known were essential to my life. I laugh, i chat and I move on.

If there is no chat - I will still dip in an out but I will be there for a nano second and if you dont capture my attention then I will be off - my bank manager will thank you and so will the man in my life

Rocks needs to remember however where its roots lie and where its life began

loobi said:

Rocks needs to remember however where its roots lie and where its life began

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You've put it in a nutshell loobi :happy:

loobi said:

I know there are as many opinions on chat as there are fleas on my cat....(ok maybe I need to give another of those magic drops) ....I started the thread as a challenge - lets get some thoughts

From me - for what they are worth....chat entertained, infuriated, irritated and downright outraged ....all in equal measures.

Those determined to hassle, fight and aggravate have their platfrom.... but they soon get a response

For me personally, it IS a social place that I can dip in and out of....it keeps me logged and watching when TJC and others dont. I buy things I may have missed that I never would have known were essential to my life. I laugh, i chat and I move on.

If there is no chat - I will still dip in an out but I will be there for a nano second and if you dont capture my attention then I will be off - my bank manager will thank you and so will the man in my life

Rocks needs to remember however where its roots lie and where its life began

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Not a hope in my opinion. Rocks is a business and no matter how much they give the impression that they are the customers' friends, they need what's in your wallet, along with your recommendations, far more than your friendship. It has already been made quite clear that they are only interested in the smarmy cow-towing lovefest that goes on in chat at times. People making the most ridiculous claims on Rocks behalf like it was their own business, and everyone's an expert on gemmology and pricing. Brilliant when you do this as Rocks don't have to take any responsibility. Say anything derogatory, even if true, your post will be removed if spotted. Once upon a time, chat gave the atmosphere of a sales party at home, when you could discuss what was on offer and have a laugh at the same time. That real laugh out loud fun has gone right out of it, and oldies are often not welcome and frequently totally ignored.

It's no good having good aftercare, if the frontline is poor. Bad workmanship, damages, the slowest refunds in the trade. I'm always astonished by how grateful folk are when Rocks do their job over a matter that should never have arisen in the first place.

You'll have figured that I am totally disenchanted, and have been for some months now. Although a company can never be about one person, for me the loss of Katherine was the beginning of the downfall. xxxxxxxx

I to rarely chat now but at one time I did, sometimes I see others from the old days and may pop in to say hi to them and I am happy to look at the chat and though I dont usually join in I do like the option to ask the odd question etc,I will be sorry to see it go and I will not watch as often or as long if its not there.

The vast majority of the original grassroots no longer post in Chat, so there is no need to keep it for them. I haven't been on for a really long time, but funnily enough I had a look in yesterday just before it closed down.
There was a little bit about the jewellery, but quite a lot about jobs and someone's cat that had been ill. Also quite a few complaints about the new presenter using the word 'guys' and Sarah Bennett asking people to be patient with them as they still had to learn.
I bid on an item along with someone who obviously does chat (there were only 2 of said item) and that person was congratulated in Chat and I was ignored. Obviously they don't know me as I no longer chat, but I remember the last time I did post, I was also ignored, so I certainly won't miss it.
I do agree that Rocks/Gems on-screen information is woeful, and why on earth don't they let us know on the Sky info thingy what the hours are for the upcoming day? :down:

Chatroom went poof!

I thought I saw, briefly, last night a message on the Rocks website that the chatroom was closed for re-development.
But it was brief, so I could be wrong!

Good idea Jacqualina re the SKY EPG details, they should have more info on there as all the other channels do.....
its a good marketing strategy and am surprised its being ignored!

Grass roots and RocksTV's initial customer base was almost solely from GemsTV!

I would much prefer that the Bennett's concentrated on the real grass roots which was GemsTV in the early days. Nobody could touch them for range of products, quality, customer service and pricing. Unfortunately now it's all just a poor imitation of the same thing and not nearly as good.

I do hope that the changes made bring back some of the good old days but grass roots for me is definitely NOT chat - that was the main reason why I stopped watching/shopping with RocksTV after initially buying a fair amount. I understand those who like it but it's not for everybody and the content is normally so far removed from buying/talking about jewellery that quite frankly, the chat is almost like a realtime version of Facebook.

Sacha said:

I thought I saw, briefly, last night a message on the Rocks website that the chatroom was closed for re-development.
But it was brief, so I could be wrong!

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I popped into Live Help yesterday to ask what the story is with chat and was told it was "under new development and would be back up and running again shortly." When I asked if they could define "shortly", I was told "hopefully in a couple of days."

I wonder what the 're development' is - good job the falling auctions are pricier than presented auctions - or I would be spending way too much - altho getting bored of samey stuff now.

Also saw a thread that Emma is back - in which case with the greatest respect to other presenters I can watch with the sound on

Actually that was harsh - Barry, Rod, Sarah C, Rae and Ali are all very watchable with the sound on for the simple reason they are quiet, calm professional and generally know their stuff - Sarah C has the drollest sense of humour - and no disrespect ot the other presenters who simply have a style that does not appeal to me quite so much - that said they all seem like very nice people.

Klosblue said:

What gets me about the Chat is the bunch of newbies who came along and now believe they were there from the beginning and have the divine right to rule the roost! The people who really were there from the beginning, long before the 'newbies', never go into the chatroom now and I for one haven't been in there for a very long time. I remember back at the start when it was a bunch of us from here and nobody else. We had fun, genuine friendship, a good laugh and a great time. I remember rushing home from work to get on to the site to speak to everyone. Sadly now it has become a platform for a few people who think when it comes to gemstones they know it all but when they post it quite obvious they know nothing. Oh well, you know what they say - All good things must come to an end!

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I was their almost at the beginning and although I look I rarely chat at all, I am sick and tired of the way Rocks treat the chatters and am sick and tired of the rubbish that is talked about, only about 1 in 10 chats are about the jewellery. As for getting rid of chat, we were warned some time ago that it would happen. Rocks claims to be a family company and count its customers as part of the family--although it did, I don't think is does any more as they are getting to big and find it hard to meet demand on time, ie deliveries. The chat room was used a lot by people telling other that things did not come when Rocks said they would, this was bad publicity and put me off a little. This for me is one of the reasons chat has gone, Rock just do not like the critics. Lets just see what happens shall we.