J.B. Robinson Shoddy work and overpriced!! Moorestown New Jersey
My boyfriend bought me a 10k gold ring from J.B. Robinson for Christmas 2008. It has a ruby heart in the center with several diamonds along the sides. He had it sized down to a 6.5 before giving it to me. I was so excited to have it, and I wore it very carefully.
Less than two months after receiving the ring, it broke. A straight cut went through the bottom of the ring, obviously where it had been sized. Who knows how long it had been like that! The jeweler at the store said it was not sized to a 6.5, or any particular size for that matter, but the salespeople were very nice, and had it back to me in less than two weeks. They had it properly sized, and shined the entire ring for me, and it has been fine since then.
My boyfriend went back to JBR to buy a matching ruby and diamond 10k gold tennis bracelet for my birthday in May 2009. I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was! I wore it delicately. Exactly two months later, a prong fell off and a ruby was missing. Furious that two pieces in a row had fallen apart so quickly, my boyfriend and I went back to the store.
Again, the very nice salespeople immediately apologized. They said it was still under warranty. They gave me a "new" one from the case and said it had actually gone on sale. I looked over the bracelet before he put it in the case and was pleased to see that the rubies were darker than those of the previous bracelet. A refund of $125 was given, and we decided to buy the $50 protection plan because I really love this bracelet. Along with the new bracelet, we were given a free photo album, worth $35, for our troubles. We were very happy and went on our way.
The next morning, I took the bracelet out and noticed a significant flaw on part of the chain. It looks like the chain fell apart at one point and was sent back for repair, which was not properly done. The links are on the bottom of the chain, and connect one set of stones to the next. They are all flat, except for the flawed one, which is bent sideways, causing a large gap between the stones.
Since this happened, we have been shopping elsewhere. We have found many 14k gold bracelets with much higher quality stones for the same amount of money. I have not been able to find the exact style, which is the only reason we will be returning to J.B. Robinson to hopefully settle this nightmare.
Unless they can pull out a miracle, we will not be shopping there any longer.
Bootsie
Medford, New Jersey
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Bootsie
Medford,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
JB Robinson Update
#2Author of original report
Tue, July 28, 2009
We returned to the store on 6/23 to discuss our options with the bracelet. I explained to a different employee about our troubles with the jewelry and she offered to exchange the defective bracelet for a brand new one. She said she would give us a photo album and a free gemstone. They were out of photo albums (we were given their last one during our previous visit) but she said that she would find a gemstone for us. This employee turned out to be the manager of the store, and she was very nice.
I expressed concern for the quality of my ring, which also broke, and she offered a protection plan for about $40. She said that if I was interested, to bring the ring in with the broken bracelet in about a week when the new bracelet would be arriving and they could set me up with a plan during that visit. She also told me that the jeweler would examine the piece with me when I picked it up to check for loose prongs.
After the new bracelet was ordered, she said that she only had one gemstone left, and it was a very small pear-cut topaz. She gave it to us free, but made sure to mention that they're having an event coming up where they'll help customers pick a setting for their stones..
My bracelet came in three days before promised. We went to pick it up tonight, and it took the employees about ten minutes just to pull up the order in the computer correctly. Eventually she figured it out, and we were patient. On the exchange slip, next to "Reason for return" she wrote "Didn't like it" which was not the reason for returning it at all. IT WAS DEFECTIVE!! The employee also did not inspect the bracelet. She gave ME a jeweler's loop and let ME look it over, as if I know what a loose prong looks like. This was a bit of a let-down, because I feel that the manager would have done the inspection herself.
I purchased the protection plan on my ring, and the employee cleaned both pieces before returning them to me. The protection policy states that just about everything is covered, broken prongs, lost stones, etc, as long as you have the jewelery inspected by them every six months and do not have work done on them by any other jeweler, which I guess is a fair policy. We left feeling good about the new bracelet, and the employee was generally very helpful.
I would like to make it clear that the employees have done everything in their power to make this right for us, and I really appreciate their hard work. I'm not sure that we'll be buying anything else from the company, though. I shouldn't have to worry about the quality of my jewelry.