Gemporia - struggling financially?

[harrytumkins]

Interesting point on another channel this afternoon...

Was particularly quiet and one of the presenters said "We are live btw unlike some channels are these days"

The conversation went onto how much the sales have improved in the late evening slots since the Gems change

You don't just have to consider the short term damage of not being live at those times but also the longer term

 

[Dazzles]

Please if anyone from Gems is reading this, Please ask Jess to cut back on her currently constant theatrically over-the-top gasping and wheezing in "shock". She does it so often it has little value - even for those daft enough to believe it is genuine - I now have to hit the mute button when she is on. Thanks.

HRUHHUr! It's the Gemporia mark of quality. Pure, rare, gold tone 'high end' 'estate' treasures! Well done!

 

[Kit10]

They do still say it occasionally - but they do that knowing full well that EVERY valuation will be far higher than people paid for it.

The valuations that they tell people to get are insurance valuations - in other words, the valuation is high because it takes into consideration the cost to make and source the components to make an identical ring in the event of theft or loss.

For example, anyone that bought an Argyle Diamond ring and took it to be valued will get a high valuations - because the Argyle diamond mine has now closed. If someone was to lose their ring in 5 years time and want to replace it, the cost of sourcing a replacement stone(s) will far higher because the material will be unobtainable from the mine and will have to be bought from a private retailer / individual that has a like for like stone. Finding someone that has it will come at a cost - and then buying the stone will come at a cost. Then there's the price of the Goldsmith's materials and labour to re-create an identical setting.

The Jewellery Valuers Association suggest five types of jewellery valuations - but Gemporia NEVER state this on-air.

If someone had jewellery valued on it's actual worth, regardless of whether its been bought from Gemporia or elsewhere, they'll be given the trade price at best (not the retail price after the seller has added their mark up).

At the end of the day, if you were running a business, and you knew something was "valued" at £2500, would you really be selling it for £300?

In addition, if Gemporia believed that their jewellery was worth the amount that valuations suggest, rather than the amount that they sell them for, obviously customers would be getting a bargain - so we wouldn't need Dave Troth and Jade Thompson giving us a lecture for 30 minutes trying to persuade us to part with our cash. Presenters wouldn't need to use their hard sell tactics on us either. Bargains fly out - so if someone thought they were getting a £2500 ring for £300, they would sell out in seconds of being on-air.



Nothing seems to have changed really. Refunds have got quicker - but that's about all.
When Steve did his announcement on-air 8 days ago, a viewer messaged in to say that the split pay graphic had changed recently and it took too long to show the split pay amounts. Angeline agreed with the viewer and also stressed to Steve that the graphic was rubbish since it had changed. Steve had a Dictaphone in his hand - and he spoke into it saying "We need to change the split pay graphic because the current one is S H 1 T" - Steve's exact words.

8 days on, that graphic remains in place.

Some things will take time - like the Jade going, the plated jewellery being phased out, etc. They'll need to sell their current stock before they bring in new stuff. That's acceptable.

But things like on-screen graphics, ditching the lectures from Laurel & Hardy, etc should be almost instant fixes.

Regarding the valuations, when I last had some pieces valued (none were Gemporia) just before Covid, the Jewellers asked if the valuation was for insurance purposes or with an intent to sell. Gemporia never mentions that the higher valuation will really only apply if you have had the piece lost or stolen. Valuation for resale would be quite different. And of course it costs to have a valuation. £75, per piece at a reputable Jewellers where I live. I did get a very detailed report, with photos, but I’m not in any hurry to spend that on a Gemporia piece.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Please if anyone from Gems is reading this, Please ask Jess to cut back on her currently constant theatrically over-the-top gasping and wheezing in "shock". She does it so often it has little value - even for those daft enough to believe it is genuine - I now have to hit the mute button when she is on. Thanks.

If absolutely anyone from Gems is reading this, please go a step further and absolutely get rid of Jess Foley completely. Absolutely the worst presenter on the channel, by far. Absolutely. Good luck to each and every one of you. Well done.

 

[Dazzles]

If absolutely anyone from Gems is reading this, please go a step further and absolutely get rid of Jess Foley completely. Absolutely the worst presenter on the channel, by far. Absolutely. Good luck to each and every one of you. Well done.

There's no way most of the female presenters are so over the top without it being endorsed by the higher ups. They must be encouraged to behave that way. Jess annoys me the most personally because it's almost lurid, the gasps and groans she does over some pieces. But you don't wind up on the breakfast show gasping and grunting unless upper management really like that style. I'm sure she's nothing like that the minute she leaves the studio.

Frankly, I don't want to hear presenters pretending they're in a clinch with Jason Momoa every time they have to sell a gold tone doodad from Outer Mongolia. The male presenters are generally more liked because they don't do this. But maybe the female presenters are expected to?

 

[SnowMoon]

Interesting point on another channel this afternoon...

Was particularly quiet and one of the presenters said "We are live btw unlike some channels are these days"

The conversation went onto how much the sales have improved in the late evening slots since the Gems change

You don't just have to consider the short term damage of not being live at those times but also the longer term

Before the recent events at Gems I had not bought anything for TJC for years. I've since shopped twice with them. So far it seems okay, they do some nice designs in silver. Gems designs can be a bit samey and mundane and I haven't had time to get bored with TJC yet. I am not sure what getting a refund is like. Years ago it was awful when I tried - took months - and it really put me off. But I'm giving them another go as a lot of folk here have said it is quite a smooth process now. We shall see.

 

[Kit10]

Before the recent events at Gems I had not bought anything for TJC for years. I've since shopped twice with them. So far it seems okay, they do some nice designs in silver. Gems designs can be a bit samey and mundane and I haven't had time to get bored with TJC yet. I am not sure what getting a refund is like. Years ago it was awful when I tried - took months - and it really put me off. But I'm giving them another go as a lot of folk here have said it is quite a smooth process now. We shall see.

Their refund process is very good. I’ve returned an item on Saturday and the money was back in my account on Thursday. Goods returned to Gemporia on the same day took four weeks. I know it’s improved now, but it is still way behind compared to TJC. I’ve have lovely pieces of Iliana and Rhapsody. Gemstone rings with very good gold weight and wonderful gold chains. I only drifted towards Gems again when TJC started bringing in all the electronics and homewares.

 

[Womanwithnoname]

Hello and heartfelt thank you to everyone in this forum who posted and educated me on what has happened to what I believed to be the trustworthy and truly amazing company I stumbled upon and bought so much in the last year.

Very much like another new member joining the forum recently, I was searching for answers as to what is happening on the Internet.

It took me to this Forum….it’s been long Few days of revelations, truly usetting that I have spent much of my savings buying “legacy” for the past year.

very sad indeed!

 

[Womanwithnoname]

If absolutely anyone from Gems is reading this, please go a step further and absolutely get rid of Jess Foley completely. Absolutely the worst presenter on the channel, by far. Absolutely. Good luck to each and every one of you. Well done.

ABSOLUTELY ,

apologies, I do not do social media or forums at all.

You sir, have gone the extra 1000 miles to each and every one of us duped and got very defined answers from CAB an ASA! If only “experts” who convinced me to part with my money had an ounce of integrity you posses.


THANK YOU, truly amazing job…please know it’s appreciated way beyond this forum.

Seldom that I observe a true wish to help others with more than words. I hope my choice of name does not offend you.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

There's no way most of the female presenters are so over the top without it being endorsed by the higher ups. They must be encouraged to behave that way.

The male presenters are generally more liked because they don't do this. But maybe the female presenters are expected to?

I'm not convinced that they're encouraged to do it. I think that is naturally how they are. Rosie Wells is always calm and informative without any hard sell. Ruth Linett would be funny and entertaining - whilst still being professional and informative without any hard sell.

Hattie has always been over-confident, loud and hyper on air. Her Instagram clips would indicate that she's the same outside of work.
Lindsey Carr has always been over-the-top and annoying since the day she joined.
Vicki Carr always loved the sound of her own voice, thought she was hilarious, and loved playing on the fake Geordie accent thing. Cringe!
Jess Foley has always been fake and annoying from the day she joined too.
Then there's that Carol on Jewellery Maker - a whole new level of annoying and erratic.

Gemporia have had some great female presenters that were normal, calm, knowledgeable, had a sense of humour without thinking they're hilarious to the point that they're annoying. Sadly, they either left or were made redundant in previous culls. Lindsey Vickers was an excellent presenter. Katie Ho was a really good presenter. Lara De-Leuw was a good presenters. Lianna Bagley was a good presenter. Chloe Lewis was a good presenter.

All were calm, professional, knowledgeable, witty and likeable. All gone now.

We've been left with presenters with limited repetitive phrases and vocabulary - suck as Jess 'Absolutely' Foley and Cheralene 'The Light Is Dancing Out Of This' Lavery, or hyperactive loud lunatics that drive you made within 2 minutes, such as Hattie and Carol Roache.

 

[rubia]

Hello and heartfelt thank you to everyone in this forum who posted and educated me on what has happened to what I believed to be the trustworthy and truly amazing company I stumbled upon and bought so much in the last year.

Very much like another new member joining the forum recently, I was searching for answers as to what is happening on the Internet.

It took me to this Forum….it’s been long Few days of revelations, truly usetting that I have spent much of my savings buying “legacy” for the past year.

very sad indeed!

It is upsetting. I have shopped with them from day one and in the early days what I bought was and is good quality however it also took me finding this forum to find out how badly we have been stung.. I started to be concerned when the lifestyle channel closed down and also because just about everything I purchased was returned ! Then of course there was and is the mega wait for your refund! I no longer but with them!! I did think I would when Steve returned but so far nothing has changed everything is the same loud presenters hard sell and not good quality items.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

ABSOLUTELY ,

apologies, I do not do social media or forums at all.

You sir, have gone the extra 1000 miles to each and every one of us duped and got very defined answers from CAB an ASA! If only “experts” who convinced me to part with my money had an ounce of integrity you posses.


THANK YOU, truly amazing job…please know it’s appreciated way beyond this forum.

Seldom that I observe a true wish to help others with more than words. I hope my choice of name does not offend you.

Ah thank you, that's very kind!

I've no issues with businesses making money. That's what they're created for. What I do have issue with is businesses misleading customers and treating customers like mugs in order to make money. Even if some of the tactics used are legal, many are immoral. When sales tactics are illegal, I will report them.

I'm by no means in the know at all. Some of my opinions are merely that - opinions. I do have an 'intermediate' range of knowledge when it comes to gemstones though. I am a collector of faceted gems and minerals, I collect rough specimens, I search for rare and unusual stones from other countries that are rare or very hard to obtain from UK sellers. All of my gemstones knowledge is self-taught through research. I don't know everything there is to know - nowhere near - but I know the important things to look out for. I know treatments very well - to the point where I've even corrected Gemporia on a few occasions, despite them supposedly having their stones lab tested and having presenters that are GIA certified. It baffles me how some mistakes with treatments have slipped through the net.

If there's one thing I'm very particular about, it's gemstones treatments. Unless I'm 100% certain that treatment of the stone that I have bought is exactly as described, I won't touch them. If sellers are vague about their treatments, I also won't touch them.

It makes me cross when treatments are purposely not mentioned, for example, when presenters sell diffused or fissure-filled sapphires, they'll not mention the treatment at all - they'll focus on the colour and carat weight instead. But when they sell an untreated stone, they'll make it very well known - because they know that untreated stones are more desirable, and, a lot of the time, worth more than treated stones.

It also annoys me when names of stones are changed to gimmicky marketing names, potentially with the aim of misleading customers. The likes of 'Serenite', 'Plush Diamond Sunstone', 'Cuprian Sunstone', 'Lehrite' and Oregon Sunstone are all the same stone. If the intention isn't to mislead customers, why the need for so many names?

Gemporia often refer to buyers as "collectors" - so is the name changing done to possibly make "collectors" thinking that they're buying a gemstone that they haven't already got? Who knows? But it's certainly possible that buyers could think that a stone is "new" or something that they don't already own, because they've seen it with a different name. A collector could have bought 'Serenite', 'Plush Diamond Sunstone', 'Cuprian Sunstone', 'Lehrite' and Oregon Sunstone jewellery, thinking they have five different stones, without actually realising that they're all the same thing! Legal? Yes, unfortunately. Morally right? Not in my opinion, no.

I can't change the bad things about the industry - but where I can open people's eyes to them and raise awareness, I will do my best.

As for your choice of username - I'm not offended, don't worry!

 

[recoveringgemaholic]

I'm not convinced that they're encouraged to do it. I think that is naturally how they are. Rosie Wells is always calm and informative without any hard sell. Ruth Linett would be funny and entertaining - whilst still being professional and informative without any hard sell.

Hattie has always been over-confident, loud and hyper on air. Her Instagram clips would indicate that she's the same outside of work.
Lindsey Carr has always been over-the-top and annoying since the day she joined.
Vicki Carr always loved the sound of her own voice, thought she was hilarious, and loved playing on the fake Geordie accent thing. Cringe!
Jess Foley has always been fake and annoying from the day she joined too.
Then there's that Carol on Jewellery Maker - a whole new level of annoying and erratic.

Gemporia have had some great female presenters that were normal, calm, knowledgeable, had a sense of humour without thinking they're hilarious to the point that they're annoying. Sadly, they either left or were made redundant in previous culls. Lindsey Vickers was an excellent presenter. Katie Ho was a really good presenter. Lara De-Leuw was a good presenters. Lianna Bagley was a good presenter. Chloe Lewis was a good presenter.

All were calm, professional, knowledgeable, witty and likeable. All gone now.

We've been left with presenters with limited repetitive phrases and vocabulary - suck as Jess 'Absolutely' Foley and Cheralene 'The Light Is Dancing Out Of This' Lavery, or hyperactive loud lunatics that drive you made within 2 minutes, such as Hattie and Carol Roache.

Yes to all these presenters. I just do not understand how they let competent calm experienced presenters go and kept these shrieking disingenuous ones.
Loyalty is not rewarded at Gemporia it seems. Employees like Jeff with a real passion for the company who had been around for over ten years in various roles was placed on the graveyard shift then unceremoniously dumped!

 

[harrytumkins]

Their refund process is very good. I’ve returned an item on Saturday and the money was back in my account on Thursday. Goods returned to Gemporia on the same day took four weeks. I know it’s improved now, but it is still way behind compared to TJC. I’ve have lovely pieces of Iliana and Rhapsody. Gemstone rings with very good gold weight and wonderful gold chains. I only drifted towards Gems again when TJC started bringing in all the electronics and homewares.

MUCH improved since Covid possibly the only company around that improved customer service during and after covid?

The upturn behind the scenes seemed very similar to when Andy Hodgson turned up I know he makes out he doesn't do a lot on air but I think he has had more of an influence on everything there than many might think.

The presenting styles have definitely been toned down (by most) a lot more admittance on air when mistakes have been made (acknowledging texts/emails that are critical directly on air unheard of elsewhere) more honesty on air when things are not selling and possibly why.

Credit as well to Srikant the CEO who whilst a tad awkward when on air (he doesn't do it much he appears to have zero ego) his calm nature appears to have spread nicely.

Going back to refunds my last one was within 3 days of my return which would have been unheard of a few years back.

The channel is not perfect from far but that is unlikely to ever be the case

 

[bluetopaz]

I think Jeff was great. And I liked Derek too. Very sad.

 

[Feisty1]

Completely agree. Get rid of her and Hattie. Bring back nick and Ruth in their place

 

[rubia]

Ah thank you, that's very kind!

I've no issues with businesses making money. That's what they're created for. What I do have issue with is businesses misleading customers and treating customers like mugs in order to make money. Even if some of the tactics used are legal, many are immoral. When sales tactics are illegal, I will report them.

I'm by no means in the know at all. Some of my opinions are merely that - opinions. I do have an 'intermediate' range of knowledge when it comes to gemstones though. I am a collector of faceted gems and minerals, I collect rough specimens, I search for rare and unusual stones from other countries that are rare or very hard to obtain from UK sellers. All of my gemstones knowledge is self-taught through research. I don't know everything there is to know - nowhere near - but I know the important things to look out for. I know treatments very well - to the point where I've even corrected Gemporia on a few occasions, despite them supposedly having their stones lab tested and having presenters that are GIA certified. It baffles me how some mistakes with treatments have slipped through the net.

If there's one thing I'm very particular about, it's gemstones treatments. Unless I'm 100% certain that treatment of the stone that I have bought is exactly as described, I won't touch them. If sellers are vague about their treatments, I also won't touch them.

It makes me cross when treatments are purposely not mentioned, for example, when presenters sell diffused or fissure-filled sapphires, they'll not mention the treatment at all - they'll focus on the colour and carat weight instead. But when they sell an untreated stone, they'll make it very well known - because they know that untreated stones are more desirable, and, a lot of the time, worth more than treated stones.

It also annoys me when names of stones are changed to gimmicky marketing names, potentially with the aim of misleading customers. The likes of 'Serenite', 'Plush Diamond Sunstone', 'Cuprian Sunstone', 'Lehrite' and Oregon Sunstone are all the same stone. If the intention isn't to mislead customers, why the need for so many names?

Gemporia often refer to buyers as "collectors" - so is the name changing done to possibly make "collectors" thinking that they're buying a gemstone that they haven't already got? Who knows? But it's certainly possible that buyers could think that a stone is "new" or something that they don't already own, because they've seen it with a different name. A collector could have bought 'Serenite', 'Plush Diamond Sunstone', 'Cuprian Sunstone', 'Lehrite' and Oregon Sunstone jewellery, thinking they have five different stones, without actually realising that they're all the same thing! Legal? Yes, unfortunately. Morally right? Not in my opinion, no.

I can't change the bad things about the industry - but where I can open people's eyes to them and raise awareness, I will do my best.

As for your choice of username - I'm not offended, don't worry!

It's appreciated

 

[rubia]

MUCH improved since Covid possibly the only company around that improved customer service during and after covid?

The upturn behind the scenes seemed very similar to when Andy Hodgson turned up I know he makes out he doesn't do a lot on air but I think he has had more of an influence on everything there than many might think.

The presenting styles have definitely been toned down (by most) a lot more admittance on air when mistakes have been made (acknowledging texts/emails that are critical directly on air unheard of elsewhere) more honesty on air when things are not selling and possibly why.

Credit as well to Srikant the CEO who whilst a tad awkward when on air (he doesn't do it much he appears to have zero ego) his calm nature appears to have spread nicely.

Going back to refunds my last one was within 3 days of my return which would have been unheard of a few years back.

The channel is not perfect from far but that is unlikely to ever be the case

Totally agree

 

[Imogene9500]

Jess is the one presenter I just cannot listen to at all with the constant repetition of inane, patronising words and phrases. If she's on, I'm gone. I remember a while ago she was on with Hattie for a Destello show and would not shut up interrupting with her wow, absolutely and yeah yeah yeahs. Even Hattie was finding it hard to finish a sentence which is not something you see everyday!

 

[rubia]

Yes to all these presenters. I just do not understand how they let competent calm experienced presenters go and kept these shrieking disingenuous ones.
Loyalty is not rewarded at Gemporia it seems. Employees like Jeff with a real passion for the company who had been around for over ten years in various roles was placed on the graveyard shift then unceremoniously dumped!

I too find it hard to understand, we are left with the worst of them this includes Angelina and Ellis imo