Complaint Review: Kay Jewelers

Almost two years ago, my wife and I were shopping for wedding bands and she fell in love with one at the wonderful KAY Jewelers. My wife happens to be severely allergic to nickel, tree nuts, shellfish, bee stings and injected iodine, so we specifically asked the sales woman, Mary Jo, if they dipped in nickel or magnesium before dipping in the rodium. She was adamant that there was no nickel in their white gold. We had even told her we would just spring for the extra and get platinum, but she actually talked us out of it. So we got married last September and my wife began to wear her new wedding set. All was fine.

Now, fast forward 8 months. My wife's ring finger starts swelling and breaking out in hives. It wasn't like a food reaction though, it was confined to her hand. So, last week, I took her ring to a friend of my families, who happens to have been a manager for a large jewelery store chain for 20+ years, who confirmed that yes, the rodium was starting to deteriorate from wear, which was no big deal, but he also advised the material under the rodium was nickel and that Kay's definitely dips in nickel NOT magnesium as the sales woman had told us. We didn't want to think that the sales woman at Kay's had deliberately misrepresented her product in order to make a sale, so we called Kay's customer support.

Crystal, at customer support was very pleasant and seemed concerned that their sales person had lied to us and caused bodily harm to my wife......at first. She advised that she would gather our sales information and talk to the store to see if it was possible to have it dipped in magnesium/rodium instead of nickel/rodium or possibly upgrade to a platinum band. Now, my wife LOVES her wedding set, she's not looking for an upgrade, she just wants a ring that she can wear without having an allergic reaction.

When Crystal from customer service calls back, she has quite a different attitude. She immediately goes on the offensive telling us that they aren't willing to do anything about it, we're liars, they're sales woman is adamant that she never told us that, etc. Now, my question is, does this sales person even remember a conversation with a customer from 2 years ago? I wouldn't and the only reason I do, is because I was 1) shopping for wedding bands with my soon to be wife and 2) because my wife is ALLERGIC to nickel among other things and we literally have to ask EVERY place we eat to make sure there are no nuts or shellfish in what she intends to order and she ALWAYS has be sure to buy nickel free jewelery. It's a part of our life. Not asking could mean severe health issues for her. The customer service woman then went on to tell us that it's our fault for not knowing they use nickel in their white gold because ALL jewelers do, which is completely false. She suggested we go to our local store on an upcoming sale and trade in her band for a platinum one.

This just seems absolutely ridiculous to me. Why would I go back to a store that has already misrepresented their product and caused bodily harm to my wife with no remorse whatsoever? They also offered to re-dip her ring in rodium to cover the nickel again at no cost to us. THANKS! We had already paid up front for lifetime redipping of the ring. You may say, just keep having it redipped, but you can only do it so many times before the rodium stops sticking to the nickel underneath. This will also take a month to get the ring back. When I advised that these were unacceptable solution and requested to bring the band back to them, she replied that we could bring that ring back, "but no refund will be given", as she kind of laughed when she said it.  At this point, I was fuming and requested to speak to her supervisor. After holding forever he advised that if I wanted to pursue this further, to hire a good attorney and have THEM contact their legal department. He wouldn't even give me their information.

So in total, my wife has worn her ring for approximately 8 months and is now having such severe allergic reactions to her misrepresented ring, that she can't even wear it. I'm at a loss for what to do at this point. She doesn't want a new ring, she just wants to be able to wear hers as advertised. This would all be resolved if they would have it magnesium/rodium dipped, but they are completely unwilling to back up their product and literally laugh at how they ripped off a customer. Because that is what this was, a rip-off. They sold a ring with nickel in it to someone who is severely allergic to nickel, just to make a couple bucks. Nevermind the suffering my wife has gone through, trying to wear her ring for even a day now that the rodium is wearing off or the financial burden it will have caused to pay for this band and now have to go buy a completely new one just so she can wear it.

Shame on you Kay Jewelers. What poor customer service and what a RIP OFF!

I can post photos of my wife's finger to show the severity of this.