Zales Diamond Store, Aka Zales Jewelers, Aka Zales Corp., Aka Zales diamond fell out & then band broke within 4 mos., rude & horrible customer service, still unhappy Aiea Oahu Hawaii
My fiance bought me a beautiful engagement ring from Zales thinking that they are a popular store and that their prices are very reasonable. There's a reason behind the reasonable prices...
Please keep in mind that I live in Hawaii and on a different island from this store. So the only way to get there is a $200 airplane ride.
My ring was given to me on Christmas Day 2004. It had 3 large diamonds in prongs with 3 smaller diamonds set in the band on each side of those on the outside and the inside consisted of 2 more smaller diamonds set in the band and the word Past, Present, Future engraved in between.
The first problem happened only within a month. A diamond fell out from the inside of the band. Now tell me how a diamond that is set in the band falls out? Not because of a prong. But falls out of the band. It couldn't get caught on something because it's was against my skin. So I take the $200 flight to bring my ring in and get the diamond replaced. They tell me it'll take a week. A week without my ring I've only had for a month?
Within 3 mos. of that the bottom of the band splits in half. Which means now I have to take another $200 flight to get the band fixed. I am already very unhappy with this. When I get in the store I ask if there is any way that they could reimburse me for my flight. This is getting a little out of hand. I am told by the Asst. Manager that there is no way they can help me with that and that the band splitting is a very common problem they have and it happens all the time. You read that right! Even the manager said their jewelrey breaks all the time. So I am without my ring for a week again.
I get a call from the Asst. Manager and he tells me that he just got the ring back and it looks great and he's going to send it right out to me. I recieve my ring and it looks worse then when I handed it over to them with the split band. Now the band is no longer split but its crooked and bent and the word Future has been scratched off with whatever clamp they used on the ring. I call them right away and am told that they already helped by not charging for repairing the band (my ring has a 2 year warranty that takes care of all repairs) so they'll have to charge for the repair on the engraving and the band. Now I can understand if I wrecked the ring but they did it.
We called numerous times for days and were told every time the manager is not in. Does Zales have managers? Finally we get in touch with the Zales Corp and they tell us they'll replace the ring. Why would I want a replacement of the same broken ring they sold to us. After spending $400 in flights I think we deserve a little better then that. We are told that they are unable to upgrade the ring or refund us any money on it. After everything we went through I think we deserve something.
Finally we just don't even want to deal with them anymore and fight to have the ring fully refunded. They grant that to us and I take another $200 flight and $600 later the whole situation is now out of our hair. Please do not ever buy anything from this company. Their merchandise obviously is not worth any money and there isn't a single person in the whole corporation willing to help you when there is a problem. Save yourself the time!!! Go anywhere else.
It's Not Paradise at Zales
Oahu, Hawaii
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Paul
Rock Hill,South Carolina,
U.S.A.
Understanding the process
#4UPDATE Employee
Fri, December 08, 2006
Hi: Yes it would seam that you have had bad luck. However please let me clairfy some things for you . First the reason the diamond set into the band on the inside could have come out , is because you may have had it sized . If you had it sized down then the stones would tighten up , however if you had it sized up the the stone could come loose . When you size an engagement ring up the ring is cut and a pice of gold is added toi it to make it the correct size. This sometimes allows the gold around the stone to enlarge making the orignal "seat" of the stone larger . Therefore it has a chance of falling out and should have been checked by the jeweler . Most sales people rely on the jewelers to do that at the time it is worked on. Now as far as the engraving comming out as I said because the bottom of the shank is cut either up or down . the soldered area has to be polished at that time if the jeweler is not aware that the engraving is there it can be buffed out . There is no clamp involved in this . Again this would be the bench jeweler's fault . However sometimes these things happen but can corrected . To solve your problem tehy should have ordered the ring in and had it made in the correct size . However I have found in my 35 years of making , desighning and repairing jewelry . The customer wants it fast time and time again I see people say can't I get it done today . Though it may get done it is sometimes best to allow the jeweler time and not rush them. Your problem is two fold one the sales people ( not to well informed it would seem ) are not jewelers they are sales people . Should have inspected the ring more carfully . The jeweler ( the person doing the job should have inspected it as well . The spliting of a shank is rare ! if the repair shop uses the correct solder , and prepairs the ring correctly . 14k,18k what ever the karat of the gold is teh solder should be a plum solder and also what is called hard solder . This only meens that the solder point is as pure as the rest of the ring and will adhear much better .
As far as getting frustrated with the company I do know from working with many jewelry chains , that had you email the corp. office it would have been handled and they would have made sure you were happy . Maybe instead of writing something like this you could have sent the same email to the corp. office and it would have been resolved quickly and to your satisfation . But if you don't make the home office's of any of these companys aware of the problem it won't go away. Keep in mind these companys buy in bulk to help keep cost down and like everyone else mistakes can and will happen we are all just human .
I do not work for any of these companys. I do however on occasion repair some of the jewelry sold at many stores. The biggest problem is they all want ,as do most customers to pay the least amount possible . As the saying goes you get what you pay for it's just sad that some jewelers just do what they need to get by and don't put pride in there work . When this happens let the corp. offices know this would help to correct the problems. And if you want something done to a pice of jewelry the cheapest is most likely just that. Be willing to pay to get it done correctly .I your case call the corp, office and they will resolve this . Good luck
The Jewelers Bench
Paul
Rock Hill,South Carolina,
U.S.A.
Understanding the process
#4UPDATE Employee
Fri, December 08, 2006
Hi: Yes it would seam that you have had bad luck. However please let me clairfy some things for you . First the reason the diamond set into the band on the inside could have come out , is because you may have had it sized . If you had it sized down then the stones would tighten up , however if you had it sized up the the stone could come loose . When you size an engagement ring up the ring is cut and a pice of gold is added toi it to make it the correct size. This sometimes allows the gold around the stone to enlarge making the orignal "seat" of the stone larger . Therefore it has a chance of falling out and should have been checked by the jeweler . Most sales people rely on the jewelers to do that at the time it is worked on. Now as far as the engraving comming out as I said because the bottom of the shank is cut either up or down . the soldered area has to be polished at that time if the jeweler is not aware that the engraving is there it can be buffed out . There is no clamp involved in this . Again this would be the bench jeweler's fault . However sometimes these things happen but can corrected . To solve your problem tehy should have ordered the ring in and had it made in the correct size . However I have found in my 35 years of making , desighning and repairing jewelry . The customer wants it fast time and time again I see people say can't I get it done today . Though it may get done it is sometimes best to allow the jeweler time and not rush them. Your problem is two fold one the sales people ( not to well informed it would seem ) are not jewelers they are sales people . Should have inspected the ring more carfully . The jeweler ( the person doing the job should have inspected it as well . The spliting of a shank is rare ! if the repair shop uses the correct solder , and prepairs the ring correctly . 14k,18k what ever the karat of the gold is teh solder should be a plum solder and also what is called hard solder . This only meens that the solder point is as pure as the rest of the ring and will adhear much better .
As far as getting frustrated with the company I do know from working with many jewelry chains , that had you email the corp. office it would have been handled and they would have made sure you were happy . Maybe instead of writing something like this you could have sent the same email to the corp. office and it would have been resolved quickly and to your satisfation . But if you don't make the home office's of any of these companys aware of the problem it won't go away. Keep in mind these companys buy in bulk to help keep cost down and like everyone else mistakes can and will happen we are all just human .
I do not work for any of these companys. I do however on occasion repair some of the jewelry sold at many stores. The biggest problem is they all want ,as do most customers to pay the least amount possible . As the saying goes you get what you pay for it's just sad that some jewelers just do what they need to get by and don't put pride in there work . When this happens let the corp. offices know this would help to correct the problems. And if you want something done to a pice of jewelry the cheapest is most likely just that. Be willing to pay to get it done correctly .I your case call the corp, office and they will resolve this . Good luck
The Jewelers Bench
Cory
San Antonio,Texas,
U.S.A.
I Understand know the kind of crap the try and pass off as "quality" jewelry.
#4Consumer Suggestion
Sat, April 30, 2005
I understand about the rings. Afterall, I use to work for Zales and know the kind of crap the try and pass off as "quality" jewelry. A diamond that's Zales's 50% off for $5000, I sell for $2000. But why didn't you just mail it back to them? Insure it and hope the US Postal Service loses it? You would have been $600 richer.