De Beers Diamond Settlement Explained
| by Jim Wang |  Print Article
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Diamonds are a girl’s best friend! And if you bought into the marketing slogan and got your sweetie a diamond (or anything with a diamond in it), you may be able to recoup some of the cost in a settlement. De Beers was charged with cornering the diamond market between Jan 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006 and recently settled for $295 million. Of the $295 million, $135 million was earmarked for consumers with the balance going to wholesalers. Check out their press release statement on the issue.
How Much Do I Get
Unfortunately, because it’s unclear how many people will make a claim and because the lawyer fees haven’t been published, the table (published on MSN Money) is just a maximum value and not what you’ll likely see. $135M spread across all the diamond purchases over the course of eight years is not going to amount to much. In fact, if your prorated share of the settlement is under $10, they won’t even send it to you because of “prohibitive administrative costs.”
The minimum payout is $10 and the maximum is $640 (the Recognized Claim Amount). If you bought a lot of diamonds, the maximum you can receive is the Recognized Claim Amount of $640.
Should I File?
Considering the $10 rule, you may want to reconsider whether to spend the time to file. This is what they recommend: “As a general guideline, if your total purchases consist of Mixed Stones Jewelry with combined purchase prices of $165 or less, or Diamonds Only Jewelry with combined purchase prices of $95 or less, your claim will not reach the payment minimum amount of $10.00.” Now, is that just the lawyers wanting a bigger piece of the pie? Is it just there so people don’t dilute the pool? Who knows, that’s up to you to decide.
How To File
To file a claim, visit the online claim form or fill out the PDF form and mail it back by may 19th.
If you claim less than $10,000, you don’t need to provide proof right now but you might need it later. If you claim more than $10,000, you have to include a copy of a document that shows the specs of the diamond (what’s essentially in an appraisal). Good luck!
(Photo: salreus)
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Tags: Law, Settlements
Feb 15, 2008 | Read more in Shopping
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Thank you for sharing this with us! I will definitely be filing a claim immediately.
They better pay up. My wife’s engagement and wedding ring purchases both fit into this time frame, so I want some cash.
There are diamonds in rings I have bought from my wife. This was before I saw Blood Diamond and then read a few books about the diamond trade.
It is a dirty dirty business cooked up my some very talented marketers who have convinced us that diamonds “are a girls best friend” and are a right of passage for marriage etc etc. It is all marketing hype. I dare you to try and sell your diamonds back to where you originally bought them, they won’t take them back. No one will pay anywhere near retail to buy back a diamond. The value is based entirely on a manufactured scarcity that De Beers created, they know the rocks are worth far less than they are sold for, but the good marketing has convinced us otherwise. There are several great books (including one that is free to read online cover to cover but I don’t have the link) that everyone should read. Scary stuff. People die over these things.
I’ll stick to well done synthetics and let everyone else marvel at the wonderful rock and never be able to tell the difference.
Definately worth my time – I spent 2 minutes filling out the forms, and even if I get 10 bucks back, its still better than nothing.
Along the lines of adfecto, I have a friend who got an “insider” tour of the Kremlin and other Russian buildings. He was taken to a vault (no, not one of Stalin’s) that contained thousands of diamonds. His Russian guide told him that De Beers was paying Russia to vault the diamonds, rather than sell them on the open market.
These guys are dirty.
i should be in for a good pay off over the next year with the foreign transaction fee class action, the debeers class action, and konica/minolta class action.
That’s amazing! We all knew they were cornering the market, but I never would have thought they would actually be held responsible.
This is interesting. There are two groups in this claim action. The final consumer and the middle man buyers. The middle man buyers pass on their expenses to the final buyer, but they get a piece of the claim and at a higher percentage and greater dollar value than the consumer. The final buyer gets a smaller percentage and is limited in total dollar value. Once again, our justice system looking out for the citizen.
Did anyone ever see a check after filing their claim? I haven’t, and my claim was nothing to sneeze at!
Does anyone know how to check on the status of a claim if one was submitted ? If so please let me know. Thanks!
I recently sent an email to the Settlement Administrator, for a status update on the settlement, and was advised that nothing has been resolved. This was three months ago. I don’t have the email address, because my computer died, and I lost everything, as well as the Administrator email address. My filing was for over $70k in purchases. I have just read, that the maximum will be $640.00. Is this correct, did they change pay out amounts! Because I was not aware of this, and I have documentation that says otherwise. According to my documentation, it reads,
Consumer Diamond Product Table:
Dimonds only jewlery –
1) $200-$999 payment claim will be 27.5% of the retail price.
2) $1k-$5,499. @ 32% of the retail price.
3) $5,500.-$9,999 @ 38.5% of the retail price.
4) $10k or more @ 45% of the retail price.
5) Loose Diamonds any and all will be paid @ 59% of the retail price.
Please advise. Feel free to email me. I will search for the Administrator’s Email Address through my printed documentation. I saved everything on hard copy.
Diane,
I was able to locate the info. Best method, send email, you will get a reply within 2 days, the most!
Good Luck!
Diamonds Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 9432
Minneapolis, MN 55440-9432
Email: Administrator@diamondsclassaction.com
Tel: 1-800-760-5431 or if you are calling from overseas (612)-359-2002