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Yindee Lapidary Scam
Written by tyn   
Wednesday, 21 May 2008

I would like to report a gem scam that i have conned on 19/5/08. I have bought a ring with a gem only to find out that I was cheated by the Shop named Yindee Lapidary Co., Ltd, Bangkok. The ring is valued only at THB5000 in Malaysia where I have paid for THB46830 in Bangkok.

At my last day to bangkok on 19/5/2008, i was trying to do shopping in pratunam center with my wife. at pratunam center, we were approach by one middle aged man and asked to pray to the buddha near the center. As that was Wesak Day on the day, we were then pray at that special day. after that, the con man chat with us and somehow conned us to go to the lucky buddha and the Thai Export - Yindee on one of the tuk tuk with well-uniformed driver at a very cheap rate (50THB). we were ok to go to the lucky buddha temple as it was only 10am. when we reached there, at the second floor of the temple, we met with the 2nd con man with his receipt of purchase and the sam story with other flows.

after that, we just went to Yindee out of curiousity and i truely wanted to buy a ring for my wife.

when we arrived at Yindee, i have some doubt about the place. the place is so quiet and old. and most of all, there is no tight security there as to Thai government control gem factory that i went on the 1st day (which is 17/5).

i should have backed out then. but, those rings showed looks good and i love my wife. thus, we just bought a small ring which still cost me THB46830 with a so-called orange sapphire (it is about MYR4,683 or more).

we were happy as we thought we have got ourselves a good buy.

however, we felt something is not right. once we reached home in KL, we quickly do some research on the outlets and ----- bang. we have been cheated. all the happiness is swept away.

currently, i am going through a lot of reading to find out the chance of getting a full refund from my country. I have wrote to Thai foreign affair website and Malaysia embassy hoping they will help.

 

anyway, people outthere, please do some research on the countries that you are going to travel, especially on the warning sections.

 

 

Comments (12)Add Comment
...
written by CNor, Fri 06 Jun 2008 12:15:38 MDT
Hello there,
I share the exact same exerience with tyn. I bought 2 rings and 1 bracelet from Yindee. to Tyn, if you have figured out how to solve this case, please share with others. I am also busy researching on how to get my money back.

tq
...
written by angeline, Mon 09 Jun 2008 23:22:36 MDT
me n my boyfriend also get conned..pls share with me how to get this things done..thank u
...
written by William, Fri 20 Jun 2008 14:14:31 MDT
Hello Tyn,

I have been conned too by Yindee Lapidary Co. I hope that if you have figured out how to solve the problem, please share it with all of us who got scammed too, so that we can all take action together to nail that bastard. Please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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written by bluemoon, Tue 24 Jun 2008 16:45:11 MDT
hi, i also been conned at bangkok but different store. and i search online and some of the victims get solution. what you have to do is back to bangkok and report to the related government department. if you need further info, you can contact me by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
...
written by Sam D costa, Wed 25 Jun 2008 23:28:32 MDT
Hi,
I am also interested to get my money back..Is there any action we can take collectively to get our hard earned money back
Sam
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
...
written by vanja, Sun 06 Jul 2008 06:20:31 MDT
ohmg
I had a same experiance.
i was just walking the streets of bakgkok and in front of one shopping centre there were like to praying statues where u r to make a wish light up a candle.One thai man approached me and asked few normal questions.appearantly he was waiting for his wife.He asked me if I have been to see 'lucky budha'.I had no intentions of going anywhere else as i have been shopping all day and i had no more money anyway.then I dont even know how but he got a tuk tuk driver for me and off I was to see the lucky budha. I was feeling excited as that temple was opened only once a week.
While in there i made a wish and then there was another man who told me his story.How he bought his wife diamond and blue safire earings.He suggested that I shud go to this expo as it is only opened for public today and that I can find my lucky stone, which will bring me lots of luck.Wow it was like a trail of goos luck for me.I had to go and see it even though I wasnt planing to buy anything, because it was my last day in Thailand and i had no more money left.But I went enyway.
once in the store everything looked decent and I didnt suspect anything.I liked one diamond gold ring witha red ruby, but I honestly didnt have money to buy it.She was giving it to me for about $350 which as ok, but i didnt want max out my credit card completely because all had left on my credit card was $300 which I was saving aside if i need to pay for excess laguage at the airport.I explainedto the lady that i just couldnt afford to buy it, so then she showed me some silver jewelry and i bought a silver ring with a black stone (lucky stone). I paid $130 which wasnt too bad, but Once i came back to sydney i was curious about this company so i looked it up on the nest annd this is what i found! I cant beleive i was such a full.U cant trust anyone.Its such a shame people r sooo cruel.Shame on that guy to scam people in a temple!!1
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written by Caroline, Wed 09 Jul 2008 10:15:58 MDT
Hey guys

Just to share my hb and I were victims as well in feb 08, we have managed to get a full refund in Mar 08 with the help of another fellow victim. He has a blog online. Serach "Yindee Lapidiary"

Basic steps:
U need to report to TAT first.
Need to schedule another visit back to bangkok with your jewels to get the refund.
Get the jewels checked at a reputable gemologist before making your way back.
...
written by Harry Black, Thu 10 Jul 2008 08:54:02 MDT
Just cannot understand why the Thai government close one eye on this shop-Yindee Lapidiary? Is it that they are getting good revenue for the country? Does the tourist department want more people to visit Thailand or allow the con business to carry on -business as usual? Do something and help to protect the tourists interest, they are the REAL people who will bring revenue to your country!
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written by Linda, Thu 10 Jul 2008 09:10:08 MDT
I was also one of the victim in this kinda scam but not in this yindee. I was scammed in another shop named SNP Jewelry. The exact tactics they used on me: the lucky buddha, the tourism week, cheap tuktuk ride etc etc.... I bought a ring priced 30,000Bht which in fact doesnt even valued for 8000Bht. But now i have my problem solved. I reported my problem to the Department of Internal Trade in the Ministry of Commerce in Bangkok. Someone by the name of Mr Suchat helped me and got me a refund of 90%. He is really a very kind, helpful and yet a very powerful man. The whole process only took less than 3 hours and there is no need to go back to the shop and argue with the sales manager for the refund. Mr Suchat will do it all for you. He can be contacted at this email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Good luck to all of you who are in the process of getting the refund.. :)
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written by Ben (Bernard), Thu 10 Jul 2008 21:44:41 MDT
Go to this link if you want to know how to obtain a refund.

http://www.bangkokscams.com/scams-in-bangkok/the-golden-argosy-gem-scam.html

...
written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , Sun 13 Jul 2008 06:27:48 MDT
I have been scammed in this same way...I along with my wife and daughter are here in Bangkok as tourist and were scammed by a jewelry shop in Bangkok named 'The Golden Argosy Factory Export Center Co. Ltd' in a typical way as mentioned at various internet web sites. One well dressed man at the gate of Palace said palace is closed and you can spend time going around to couple of place and then come back. He said about Thai export and that today is the last day. He arranged Tuk-Tuk for us at 40 baht and as we went around we met a very well english spoken man at Lucky Budhha temple and he said about the Tuk-tuk he took for 50bhat and the sapphire he bought for 4975 UK pounds. He said he would make 100% profit and he has done this 5 times earlier. With whatever money we had, we bought Ruby stone earring and ring for my wife for 37,300 bhat. I paid through my visa credit card and feel cheated now. This all happened on July 12, 08 at around 14:00hrs. The sales person name is Wanna.
I have written e-mail to Mr Suchat just now and will wait for response. I am at angkok and will be here for next 15 days(around July 27, 08) and wish I get my money back. Any help and guidance to what I can do would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Sud
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written by Jacinth , Thu 24 Jul 2008 14:08:01 MDT
Looks like I am one of the victims too. I just got back from Bangkok and needless to say, the storyline is the same, met some lady at Pratunam Centre, went to Lucky Buddha, then to the Yindee company. Now, me and my friend have sent the gems to a jeweller for valuation. Pending their reply, I have to say that I might be returning to Bangkok pretty soon.

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