A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".
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A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".
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Novus Spiritus - Followup to "Jewelry With a 'Quality Issue'"Is Sylvia Browne making a "good faith effort" to replace fake diamonds? You decide. 
Non-descript notice to customers (I have drawn the red box around it). BackgroundOn April 21 2007, the article Novus Spiritus - Some Jewelry With a "Quality Issue" appeared on this site, detailing how Sylvia Browne and Novus Spiritus were dealing with (or not dealing with) the revelation that some of the "diamond" jewelry they had sold was made not with diamonds, but with cubic zirconia, an inexpensive "fake" diamond. This jewelry was sold on Browne's web site, as well as through the mail, at NS church services and at Sylvia Browne personal appearances. When questioned as to why there had been no notification about this in their newsletter or on their web site, Novus Spiritus board member Michael McClellan stated in an email (on March 21 2007) that a notice would be included in "our upcoming newsletter as well as in the jewelry section of the website." This article examines the notice which finally went up on their web site earlier this week. The Newsletter
May 2007 "Novus Connections" newsletter. As mentioned in the original article, after McClellan assured me that notice about the jewelry "quality issue" would be included in "our upcoming newsletter", both the April 2007 issue of the Novus Spiritus newsletter and the March/April 2007 issue of the Sylvia Browne newsletter went out with no such notice. I have since seen the May 2007 issue of the Novus Spiritus newsletter (see above), and again, the jewelry situation is not mentioned. This went out nearly two months after McClellan's assurance, and at least six months after McClellan says they first learned of the problem (others assert that McClellan has known for more than a year). The Web SiteSome time during the week of May 6 2007, the following unobtrusive notice was placed in the middle of the Sylvia's Spiritual Jewelry page on her web site:
Here are some excerpts from that letter:
The letter goes on to explain how to return the jewelry in question to ITC International, after which it will be examined and replaced if it is one of the pieces which is not up to ITC's "exacting expectations" (meaning it has fake diamonds instead of real ones). The letter continues (emphasis mine):
AnalysisThe undated "letter" from ITC is written as though it was intended to be sent out to members who had purchased the jewelry. Was it sent out? I don't know. Also, the fact that the letter is disingenuous about the problem makes it less likely that someone who reads the letter will act upon it. I believe that if it was honest and forthcoming about the actual problem - that there may in fact be no real diamonds on the jewelry - those who read the letter would be much more inclined to act on it, whether they received the letter in the mail, or were fortunate enough to happen upon it on the web site. The undated letter, apparently posted on Browne's web site in early May 2007, states that the offer to replace the "inferior quality" pieces expires on June 1 2007 - less than a month after the letter was posted. I do not believe this is sufficient time for the word to get out, people to read the notice, and act upon it. It should be noted that McClellan stated in an email to me dated March 21 2007:
I certainly hope this is true, but if so, it would have been appropriate for it to be mentioned on the web site. As of this writing, it is not. ConclusionFor Browne and company to bury this notice in non-descript text on the site's jewelry page - where it will only be seen if someone who has already bought jewelry happens to go back to that page, and then only if they read through the text to get to it - seems at best to be a half-hearted attempt at notifying their customers. The failure to include a notice about the problem in the Novus newsletter looks even worse. Combine that with the fact that the letter - posted on the site in May 2007 - says that the jewelry must be returned to ITC before June 1 2007, and to me, it shows an obvious disregard for those people who have paid Sylvia Browne way too much for phony diamonds. Related LinksClicking on any of these links will load a separate browser window for viewing the linked page. StopSylviaBrowne.com is not responsible for the content of any of these linked pages.
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