Royal Gems, Basseterre

Crooks ! purchased a watch and found out it was used once I got home. They asked for $3,600.00 more to ship a new watch to me and then called a few days later to say they couldn't exchange it and never issued a credit !!! I have a dispute with the credit card company over this. I don't need the headache.... Don't let them take you to the back room to complete the purchase. They have a bunch of people come in to talk and distract you. The bate and switch happens there. They just want your money no matter what. They originally wanted the money from my debit card...ha ! They should have been my red flag.

The owner of this store has no morals and won't lose a second of sleep after ripping you off. The classic Royal Gems experience is that they ply you with alcohol, they make you feel at home, they call you on your birthday, and they do everything right on the customer service side- to a degree. When you get home, however, and you get your jewelry appraised or you get a chip in a stone and bring it somewhere to get it fixed, you find out what you bought was an expensive piece of glass. After my friend had spent thousands of dollars there and brought her friends back with her to buy jewelry, proving to be a loyal customer, they sold her a synthetic emerald and then refused to do anything when she confronted them. Well, they did do something. They asked her to pay more money so they could get her a genuine emerald. After a year of negotiating and having to engage an attorney, she was offered an 80% refund and 20% store credit. I bought the store credit from her and went in person to pick out earrings for my mother. Vinnie helped me pick them out. They got a chip in them when I returned. Turns out they were glass not tanzanite and only worth $5. I should also mention that my friend was with me. That warm welcoming feeling that you get when you are first introduced to the store was not there for this visit. Instead, my friend was greeted with 'you should be grateful we are doing anything.' There are a lot of great reviews on tripadvisor and I think that is because half of them are fake. Several great reviews popped up the same day I posted my review- quite a coincidence. The other half are likely because those people haven't gotten their gems appraised. As I said in the beginning, it is a fun experience and they do customer service right- in certain respects. That is what draws people in. Then, when people dare post true reviews that are negative, they try to bully them into removing them. I think people deserve to know what Royal Gems is about. So, I'm sharing my story.