How To Avoid a Jewelry Repair Fiasco

You Can Avoid a Jewelry Repair Fiasco 
When they walked into the Jewelry Repair Shop, it never dawned on these men and woman that their fine jewelry would be in a worse state than it was before they stepped through the door. We intentionally edited out the names of the jewelry repair shops for one reason. We want you to grasp the point of finding a Great Jewelry Repair Shop versus focusing your attention on a particular store, national brand or a specific jeweler.
What happened to these individuals happens everyday. However, each one of these jewelry repair fiascos could have been avoided had the people followed our instructions on properly choosing a jeweler.

Jewelry Repair Fiasco #1
For our anniversary my loving husband presented me with a 1.5-carat marquise diamond. It was stunning to say the least. I went to a national jewelry chain to find the perfect setting. After settling on one, I left my precious diamond with the jeweler to be mounted. Upon delivery and inspection, it was obvious that whoever worked on the ring chipped my diamond. They knew this when they presented it to me, but they assured me they would immediately replace it.

Well, immediately turned into eight weeks and counting! The first replacement diamond they presented to me was not GIA certified, as was my original. The next diamond they presented to me was poorly mounted and they took it back to correct that issue.

When I received my supposed replacement diamond for the third time, it was another gem that was not GIA certified. I finally found out what the problem was after searching the Internet and finding the website www.DiamondExperts.biz. Turns out that the onsite jeweler was a recent graduate from a home study jewelry school course! No wonder they couldn’t get anything right. P.S. I finally turned the matter over to our family attorney.

Jewelry Repair Fiasco #2
This is a Must Read! My boyfriend proposed to me with a 2.5-carat diamond ring from a national chain. We were told it would be sized and ready for pick up in 2 or 3 days. Two days later we get a call and were told that the sizing, re-dippings and repairs would take around 10 more days? My fiance and I go to the store to find out what’s happening because he just invested $6500 and now we’re getting the proverbial run around.

The jewelry store manager agrees to speak with us and that’s when he informs us that they outsource all of their jewelry repairs, including something as simple as resizing. They shipped our diamond engagement ring OUT OF STATE, to be resized by a jeweler whom we knew nothing about. To make matters worse, we were informed that the turnaround time would be approximately 21 days because their customers take precedence over outsourced customers. Had I read, “How To Find a Great Jewelry Repair Shop” prior to getting our engagement ring resized, we would have never went through this nightmare.

Jewelry Repair Fiasco #3

I wish I had accessed this site before I took a treasured family heirloom diamond ring that was to be resized at a store that belongs to a national chain, in Dallas, Texas. When I got the ring back, I pointed out that two of the prongs were loose and another one had been bent, making the stone loose and definitely going to fall out of the setting. The sales rep proceeded to treat me like a bumbling fool, adamantly claiming that the prongs were loose and bent when I brought the ring in.

The sales representative who inspected the ring when I brought it in, noted that aside from the sizing issue, it needed no other repairs and had no damage. This startled me? This is a national chain and they treat customers like this?

We went back and forth until it became apparent that they were intent on shrugging responsibility. When I asked to speak with the jeweler or technician that attempted to resize my ring, that’s when the grudgingly informed me that my family heirloom, certified valued at $9000 was sent to another jewelry store that wasn’t even part of that national chain. Talk about furious! Needles to say, I searched and found a great jeweler who corrected their damage and resized my ring properly. Shame on them and their total unprofessional demeanor!

Jewelry Repair Fiasco #4

What is a tooling mark? My fiance bought my engagement ring at well-known national chain store. I had it for about two months and the setting broke. I took it to the store for repair, and they told me it was covered on my warranty and my ring would be ready in 5 days. Five days later I pick up my ring only to find some sort of a mark on the side, I handed it back to the salesperson and asked what it was.

She casually as a matter of fact said, “Its just a tooling mark,” and handed it back to me. I said to her, “What do you mean? This is my engagement ring and I didn’t order a tooling mark!" At that moment, I was befuddled, angry and ready to cry. Her attitude and the way she came off was, “just live with it and move on...”

I demanded to speak to the store manager and he reluctantly agreed to fix the tool mark and waive the fee as if they were doing me a gigantic favor. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate their customer service as a minus seven! I recommend anyone needing jewelry repair, even if its just resizing, to follow the instructions on Finding a Great Jeweler Repair Shop!