I have a slightly different take on DI. Last week my wife and I entered their St Maartin store as we had several others of their shops, that is, with no intention to buy anything. We looked at diamond solitaires in the 3 carat range as a possible replacement for my wife's 2 carat GIA certified ring. We were shown 2 four carat stones which were M color and clearly not a consideration. We were set to leave when miraculously a 3 carat stone appeared, E in color and clearly better quality than the first two. The price was $29,500, a lot of money. The list was $41000 and the appraisal was for $45,000. We asked for a loupe but it didn't come. Nor did a copy of the EGL USA certifiacate. I suggested we leave to see at least if the price came down. But we didn't leave and I could see my wife was very interested. She picked out a setting and I knew this was now more than just a browsing session. As she stepped outside with another salesman, I said to the main guy, give me your best price cause I am ready to leave. He said $29,000. I asked to see pendant setting for the 2 carat stone I had given my wife years ago. She picked one out and I said you can throw that in, right? He did. Next thing I know I've paid for it, never having been given a loupe, though my wife had used it briefly. As we were waiting for the credit card approval, he casually said "By the way, this has been laser drilled." I don't have a clue about laser drilling and when he explains it, I said it sounds similar to heating stones which is controversial. But that's all I said and the deal went through. In short that night I had terrible misgivings about the purchase. I couldn't believe I had just dropped $29000 in a foreign country and in a shop I had little knowledge of. Worse, I hadn't really tried to get the price down. When I came home and read this site, I really began to sweat, so today I had it appraised by a very reputable local appraiser. She said $37,200. I stopped sweating. But let me warn you: be very careful with all these shops that are recommended on board ship. DI's return policy is virtually useless as others have shown. Don't be stupid like me and purchase a big ticket item unless the terms are much more in your favor, the price is rock bottom, and you have seen the stone with a loupe or even better, a scope. Bargain hard and walk out if necessary. We had spent 3 hours there and now I really believe if we had done what I originally suggested and walked out of the shop, he would have lowered the price more rather than to lose a sale. We are not kids and we knew better than to do this, but we got caught up in things. Don't let it happen to you. We were lucky, very lucky. Don't count on luck when you're spending thousands. Incidentally, the EGL USA subsidiary which provides apparisals said it was worth $45,000, 20% more than what the local appraiser said. Caveat emptor. Believe me, it is better to lie in bed thinking "Darn, I wish I had bought that ring" than it is to be thinking "Oh, my God, what did I do? How stupid could I be"
