I ordered a ring in Sept 2009. It took about 5 weeks to get it. The 14k gold mounting was very thin, the 1.15 of diamonds was more like maybe 50 points. When I returned it Nov 11th, that is when I found out it would be 45 days to get my money back. They also take 10 percent of the purchase price. I shouldn't get docked money because there product was inferior. On the air they do not tell you any of this. Other shopping channels get your product out in a week and you have your money back if your not satisfied with in a week of mailing it back with their shipping label. So I paid $700 plus shipping to get it. Then I paid more to send it back and insured it. Then I lost $70 for their restocking fee. It is Dec 14th and haven't gotten my refund. All I can say is I will never buy from them again. I spend alot of money on line, espcially on jewelry. Direct shoppings loss.

Direct Shopping Network is carried by local cable companies also Direct TV and sattle light dish. I have bought jewelry from them for about 7 months and have found them to be intermittently bad about sending you the item you have bought. They subsitute item of lesser value. Twice I have had earring tags on rings. I have called and complained but get no satisfaction. It takes them weeks to send an item that you have paid for. At times I have waited up to six weeks and then got an inferior product. I am not doing business with this company again. I hope when this complaint is read people take my advice and do business with this company. They are located in Las Angeles California.

Not to mention that their phone reps are rude and not of any help, I have also talked to some who were stoned. The hosts are always talking about parties on the parking lot and all the operators are outside.

They also take forever for delivery.

They say all their stones are natural and that is so untrue. See following article: www.coloredstone.com/

Thursday, September 4, 2008

The Red 2008 Beijing Olympic Andesine Story

NOTE: This is a reprint of the report, without photographs, of the 2008 Beijing Red Andesine sold by DSN. The full story on the Red Andesine can be found in Colored Stone Magazine or on http://www.coloredstone.com/.

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One more report on this gemstone from the ISG based on many consumer's requests...

We are posting this up due to multiple consumer requests. So before anyone writes me to tell me how tired you are of reading about andesine, just know that this is due to a lot of folks asking us to specifically deal with the Direct Shopping Network'sÃ�¢ï¿½Ã�¢ representations of their 2008 Beijing Olympics Andesine. At issue now is a reported episode last night where the owner of Direct Shopping Network came on camera with an unnamed PhD who declared that the DSN andesine was totally different from the Mexican yellow feldspar that has been demonstrated as the source for the bulk diffused material sold by Jewelry Television and others. And DSN is reported to continue their claim that their andesine is all natural and untreated in any way.

Well, we just happen to have four (4) of the Direct Shopping ChannelÃ�¢ï¿½ï¿½s 2008 Beijing Olympic Andesine here in the ISG office. So I thought I would post up some quick images simply to demonstrate the facts. We have obtained these stones either from buying them direct from DSN, or having our students and supporters send them in. And we have DSN 2008 Beijing Olympic Andesines with certificate numbers 1450, 1482, 2086, and 2089.

Since by now everyone who reads our newsletter has a pretty good understanding of the andesine properties, I will simply run through these four stones and demonstrate how they are, in fact, exactly as all of the other bulk diffusion treated andesines that we have inspected to date.

2008 Beijing Olympic Andesine #1450 -- This is an 8x6mm red andesine that shows the laser inscribed 2008 Beijing Olympic logo as licensed to Direct Shopping Channel by the US Olympic Committee. The weight is listed as "1.20 - 1.40 ct" which is actually a deceptive method of weighing a gemstone according to the US Federal Trade Commission. But assuming that DSN either does not own a very good carat scale, or they just don't want to take the time to really give proper carat weights, we move directly to the images of this particular gemstone.

OK, pop quiz time. What are these? Lamella ribbons that look just like every other formation of this type in every other bulk diffusion treated andesine that we have seen to date. These have been seen exactly in this form and format from bulk diffused andesine from just about every seller's andesine that we have tested. And as we move through these four we will see this again. No surprise. And I hate to be redundant, but again, we have seen this same picture on andesine after andesine as the diffused color concentrates along the boundaries of these lamella ribbons. We could line up 50 images like this from other andesine from other sellers of the bulk diffused material. And they all show this same feature time and time and time again. But these are all the official Beijing 2008 Olympic Andesine sold by Direct Shopping Channel. By now I believe you all can decide for yourself whether are not these images look like the myriad of others we have posted up on this subject.

2008 Beijing Olympic Andesine #1482


2008 Beijing Olympic Andesine #2086


2008 Beijing Olympic Andesine #2089


OK, just one comment on #2089. The color diffusion was so thin that when they lasered the Olympic logo into the stone it cut completely through the diffusion color layer. And the logo is actually clear on the top and bottom of the stone due to the very thin diffused color layer being totally penetrated by the laser.

And finally, that famous Raman scan of the Mexican yellow feldspar and the Direct Shopping Channel's Beijing 2008 Olympic Andesine. Bottom line is that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Andesines that we have from the Direct Shopping Network are exactly the same as all of the other andesine sold by the sellers of this bulk diffusion treated gemstone, and DSN is selling it without proper disclosure as required by the US Federal Trade Commission.

If Direct Shopping NetworkÃ�¢ï¿½ï¿½s scientist or staff would like to submit additional stones to us for testing we welcome them to send them in. And if Direct Shopping NetworkÃ�¢ï¿½ï¿½s scientist or staff would like to visit the ISG office and get a first hand look at our collection and evidence on this, we welcome that also.

But in spite of their claims otherwise, the andesine being sold by Direct Shopping Network exactly matches all of the others we have tested that were, in fact, bulk diffused to enhance the color. And if DSN wishes to continue to claim that their material is natural and untreated, we have just two questions: Where is the rough andesine that you are selling? Where is the mine?

With this we are complete with our report on andesine. However, we have found that the bulk diffusion of copper into gemstones is not limited to andesine. Next we move to an investigation of the bulk diffusion of copper into Mozambique Ã�¢ï¿½ï¿½ Paraiba Ã�¢ï¿½ï¿½ Tourmaline. Should be interesting.

Robert James FGA, GGPresident, International School of Gemology

Ã��Ã�©2008 International School of Gemology .

We do urge and support sharing of this information in its entirety, with copyright notices intact, to others who are interested in the study of gemology. JewelerÃ�¢ï¿½ï¿½s Associations are welcome to distribute to your members.

Unfortunately I did not check them out before spending over $6000 on 13 orders from 12/22/06 to 1/13/07 under the impression that false, misleading and misrepresentation is not allowed by the FCC. All of the orders were wrong and I sent back for refunds and/or corrections. It took me making 40+ calls(with 100's of minutes on hold)15 unfulfilled promises to call me back and sending 5 faxes over the period of 12/30/06 to 5/23/07 to get some response. I did get a store credit for shipping only to use it on another order that came wrong. It took my undying persistence to get that and to get any credits that took 2 to 4 months and repairs took just as long. I never received the promised certificates of authenticity and received a couple certificates for products I did not receive. I gave up on that. I would not have gotten my money credited at all or the repairs if I had not been so persistent. The repairs were no good either. I believe that they try to win by wearing you out. Their promises of customer service are totally bogus and they lie,deceive and blatantly misrepresent on the air. I have everything documented but do not know where to go.

Advise will be really appreciated!

Direct Shopping Network
1239 South Glendale Ave
Glendale, Ca 91205, US