TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

Posted on 04/15/2016 | About Miami, Florida

In 2013 a passenger found a large, loose diamond in a shop on Holland America’s Eurodam cruise ship. He asked for the price of the jewel upon which the manager sent an email inquiry to the retailer’s corporate office. He came back saying that it was priced at $235,000. The passenger knew it to be drastically under-valued so he purchased it on a credit card for a special mail purchase order and waited for delivery; that never happened.

The diamond was supposed to be delivered to the Gemological Institute of America laboratory in New York so that a neutral gemologist could verify that the diamond that was shipped was the same one specified in the sales agreement. 

The delivery never took place. The retail operator Starboard Cruise Services realized that their quoted price on the diamond reflected the per carat cost, not the overall cost, which was in fact $4.8 million. 

They called DePrince, explained the error, and offered him discounted future cruise rates for his inconvenience. He demanded that the sale go through, so Starboard cancelled the sale and refunded his purchase on his credit card. 

DePrince filed a lawsuit in Miami Dade Circuit court alleging a breach of contract, but the court ruled in favour of Starboard and threw out the case. 

Then an appeals panel ruled in his favour and sent it back to trial but last week the court sided with the original verdict. 

Judge Michael Hanzman, wrote that the court said that DePrince had “significant experience in buying and selling fine jewelry.” 

Before making the purchase he had consulted with his partner and sister, both gemologists. They apparently advised DePrince against the purchase, suggesting that the price was “too good to be true.” 

“Starboard Cruise Services is very pleased that the jury agreed with the trial judge’s original decision that the plaintiff’s claim has no merit,” said Eric Isicoff, the attorney who represented Starboard.