This is round 7 in our Worst Company in America 2008 contest, DeBeers vs 1-800 Flowers.
DeBeers: Controls over 70% of the world’s diamond mining and has been accused of artificially constricting to diamond supply to inflate prices. Their advertising also teaches us that you’re not a man unless you get your wife or lover the biggest rock you can.
1-800 Flowers: Readers have complained about receiving dead or the completely wrong flowers.
This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america/
STILL OPEN FOR VOTING: Starbucks vs United Airlines, Exxon vs Crocs, Google Vs Sony, Ticketmaster vs Wachovia, Facebook vs The American Arbitration Association, Comcast vs Menu Foods
No contest. It’s the 1980′s Mike Tyson vs. the bum of the month.
Oooh, a tough one. I’m still 7/7 with the majority though. Gotta check my brackets.
Gotta say Debeers, mostly b/c they cost more than dead flowers, and I can always hit up my local supermarket and pick up a decent dozen. Not the same as DeBeers though, what with their ever increasing “month’s salary” figure. I pay the governement with my first 4-5 months of salary, and now, if I don’t want to be castrated in my sleep, Debeers says I better spend 3 months salary on her diamond. I remember when it used to be 1 month.
Seriously Debeers vs. 1-800 Flowers? The evil diamond monopoly vs. the company I use to send flowers to my mother?
Screw Debeers, showing the person you love isnt buying them a chunk of carbon, how you treat that person every day of your life together is love, shiny overpriced rocks are epic fail.
DeBeers is a racket. But they probably have the world’s most successful marketing campaign in convincing women that diamonds are valuable and equal Love.
3 month’s is ridiculous – why would anyone pay that? Just have some balls and tell her “no”. If she loves you, she won’t care about what diamond she gets.
What did someone once say – true lovers elope?
DeBeers for sure. I can’t stand what the diamond industry has done to American culture. He doesn’t love you unless he spends $10,000 on a ring? Uh, right.
In any case, my wife’s engagement ring was not a diamond, though she was more insistent about that than I was.
Fortunately, you can buy “artificial” lab-grown diamonds for much less. I’m trying to hint to my bf that I don’t mind having one of those at all especially since I’m a huge geek and find it fascinating how they’re made.
I ignore diamonds. But I have a permanent grudge against 1-800-F’ingIncompetent for practically ruining my engagement when he and I both used them to send flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day a couple years ago, and neither order was delivered.
No, really honey, here’s how this works. I give some crappy monopoly $10,000 and you get this little shiny glittery thing and that proves how much I love you. See, I prove my love for you by giving away all my hard earned cash. Why, you ask? Because the TV said I had to!!
@EBounding:
You guys are all wrong. Speding a quarter of a year’s salary on something an exploited african pulled out of the ground is the only way to show someone you really care.
wait…
@m4ximusprim3: Amen. That’s an additional reason why DeBeers is evil. Blood Diamonds are bad.
Looks like I am in the minority. 1-800-Flowers screwed up my order 2 too many times. I’ll never use them again.
Debeers…well I won’t be dealing with them for a couple months.
Dead people are worse than dead flowers, eh? This is the biggest mismatch yet, Consumerist!
Before I get engaged, I plan to drop hints about my dislike of diamonds by brining up how awful the diamond industry is.
Speaking of DeBeers, when do I get that check from the class action lawsuit?
@SVreader: Might be hard to do that seamlessly, though. I’ll be all, “You know what I would really hate? Wearing a symbol of exploitation and corporate monopolies! By the way, my ring size is…”
@Buran:
Having recently purchased a (much too expensive) engagement ring, and exhausting all of my options, I can tell you that in my search I found that the lab created diamonds were the same price or more expensive than the out-of-the ground sort. Not only that, but getting white stones in sizes over 1 carat is almost impossible. At the end of it I figured if all the money is the same, I might as well buy a rock that will won’t have to be called “lab created”. I wish they had been cheaper though, because I would have gone for the man-made ones in a second.
In the end I bought from Tiffany’s, so not only am I a sucker, I’m a sucker who paid too much just to get a brand name. You’d think I’d never read the consumerist…
Another 1 vs 16 match-up. This isn’t the 18th century. Dead Africans trump dead flowers.
DeBeers without question. First, they have a near monopoly on diamond mining and use it to create an artificial scarcity about diamonds driving the price up. Second, their evil (yet successful) marketing campaigns created the idea of diamond engagement rings as a necessity and are the reason diamonds are almost never resold. Third, the activities of the original founders of DeBeers makes Ford look like Mother Theresa (if she weren’t an anti-semite, as well).
@Buran:
Or do what I did and go with completely different stones altogether. My wife and I met with a jeweler and had a custom ring made with emeralds and aquamarine (our birthstone) for less than $4,000.
If you want a non-blood diamond, you can get yourself a Canadian
diamond. Not only do the miners survive, but Canada has been standing
up to DeBeers for years. Plus, they have micro-engraved maple leaves on
them. Which is neat.
Or, you could save yourself thousands of dollars and get something other than a diamond.
I’m not a huge fan of diamonds, and would prefer an engagement ring that isn’t a diamond, but, a diamond is the best choice for an engagement ring because it is the strongest gem. You can wear the ring everyday and it will not chip, crack, break, scratch, etc. To me, that is the reason (and only reason) to wear a diamond. Especially for an engagement or wedding ring which you will presumably wear all the time. But yeah, DeBeers sucks.
@Git Em SteveDave:
Last I heard it was two months’ salary. I better inform my boyfriend of this news!
@BStu: “Another 1 vs 16 match-up. This isn’t the 18th century. Dead Africans trump dead flowers.”
You’d think that would be the logic, but rembmer that poor internet service beat out dead pets in Comcast vs Pet Food like 5-to-1.
Still, I went with da-beers. I have my pick of flower places, but almost no choice for diamonds. Not that I buy much of either.
@utensil42: And for me, that matters because I am a klutz and would surely destroy what I really want, a pearl ring.
I like diamonds. But I would not want a guy to spend 3 months salary to buy me one. Only spend what you can afford, baby!
@dripdrop: I heard it was 3. But I like your idea better.
Guys you gotta start lying about salary as soon as you meet them.
@freshwater: Because DeBeers doesn’t have any diamond mines in Canada. I’m sure if they did, they wouldn’t call them anything like Snap Lake Mine or Victor Mine.
@utensil42: I got my fiancée a three stone ring (small diamonds on side, large center green sapphire, to match her eyes) for $1,300. A pretty good deal if you ask me, since a 1 1/4 carat diamond would have cost me ten times as much.
In relative terms (regarding consumers): 1-800 Flowers. I read a hell of a lot more stories involving flowers on this blog than I do diamonds. Most of what they get wrong is really more a question of inconvenience than anything else. No one ever died because of 1-800 Flowers.
In absolute terms, no question, DeBeers.
@CRNewsom: Not denying diamonds are ridiculously overpriced and for many people not at all worth it. I’d be terrified of damaging that sapphire if it was my ring though.
I’m sorry but flowers and diamonds are rediculous. If I can ever meet a good geek guy I would never want him to buy me flowers or diamonds because its just plain frivolous.
@utensil42: And they you can sell it off in case of divorce and make money =0
@Buran: After my husband proposed with a beautifully modest diamond ring, he mentioned that he had looked into buying a lab-made diamond because I would think it was cool. Unfortunately, either the technology wasn’t yet commercialized or it was too expensive, as Secret Agent Man said. If you haven’t already read it, [www.wired.com] is a really neat article.
@Secret Agent Man: But at least Tiffany’s diamonds are not blood diamonds and don’t use dirty gold. They also are significant donors to organizations promoting social responsibility and good liberal ideas.
I’ve already informed my SO that she should never expect me to buy her a diamond anything. I’ll get prolly any other gemstone but I dislike diamonds on multiple levels. She’s not very fond of that idea tho.
Although I might be willing to bend a bit on lab grown diamonds.
Don’t forget the debeers class action settlement if you bought between 94-06.
Up to 45% of your $ back. If you don’t claim it, who knows what lawyer will end up with it.
Remember that it’s not an accident that diamonds have very little resale value. Oh and that DeBeers invented the nearly-unquestioned coupling of marriage and diamonds. The plan was brilliant:
Step 1. Buy all the known diamond mines.
Step 2. Convince the huddled masses that “A diamond is forever” along with “it’s mandatory” and “the number of months you go starve to buy it is directly proportional how much you love her.”
Step 3. Profit.
Step 4. Run a few TV ads around Valentine’s day.
Step 5. See step 3.
@cuiusquemodi: Are you suggesting that people shouldn’t die so rich American women can wear sparkley things on their fingers? You disgust me.
In all seriousness, this is one of those, blame the consumer instances. We keep buying this crap and propagating these problems.
Diamond propaganda aside, there are far better reasons to hate DeBeers. 1-800-Flowers.com doesn’t have a “human rights” PR section on its website.
I had heard a while back that due to it’s near monopoly on the diamond industry, DeBeers can’t directly do business in the US. Is that true? If it is, then wouldn’t that disqualify it from the contest?
@utensil42: It’s interesting that you’re worried about scratching a sapphire. They are a 9.0 on the Mohs hardness scale (diamond is 10.0), and Rolex (and a number of other rather pricey watchmakers) use them for their crystals due to their scratch resistant properties.
@Secret Agent Man: You know, if you’re having second thought you can always propose to me. All that talk of Tiffany diamonds…is it hot in here?
When buying a diamond, don’t buy retail! There are wholesalers out there who sell to the public. Find one, and get it there.
@starrion: Oh, I’ve already put in my claim. But where did you come up with the “up to 45%” back?
What is up with all the one-sided fights? Why don’t you pit two companies that require some… thought in the first round?
@starrion: I already put in my claim. But where did you come up with the “up to 45%” back?
They’re off their fucking rockers if they think anybody is actually spending two months’ salary. That would mean I’d be shelling out almost $10,000?
DeBeers: A diamond is forever, but $10,000 is a year’s rent.