We’ve had a poor custom ring experience and would appreciate any insight from people more experienced with this process/industry on what to do from here.
We ordered a custom e-ring from a well-known, higher-end ring manufacturer through a local jeweler. We got the first CAD, and the ring looked different from what we had ordered so we gave our notes on what needed to be changed. With each version of the CAD, we continuously had concerns about it not looking like what we had ordered (specifically the crown did not look like the right one), and over and over again we were told the CAD just isn’t able to have the same detail as the final ring since a lot of the work is done by hand, but they confirmed in writing before moving forward with making the ring that the crown on the final ring would be the one we ordered.
The ring came in, and the crown did not match what we ordered. It looks more like what we were seeing on the CAD. We held it up side-by-side with the rings they have in store from that same manufacturer, and it's very clear it's not the crown we ordered so we told them it's not what we ordered and needs to be corrected before we go any further. We were then told that they can only do the final details on the crown once they set the diamond which is why it doesn’t look like that yet, but once the diamond is set it will look like the ring we ordered. So we gave them the diamond to set, they set the diamond and sent it back to the jeweler, and it's still not the crown we ordered.
We asked to speak to the manufacturer directly since we thought maybe there’s some disconnect in the communication going through the jeweler (who hasn’t been super helpful and seems to be more concerned with closing out the sale than ensuring the ring is correct). The manufacturer told us that the crown on the engagement ring we ordered is not compatible with the wedding band we ordered (from the same manufacturer at the same time as the custom engagement ring, and we had asked them to make CADs -which they did- of the engagement ring and wedding band together since the look of the wedding set as a whole was important to us as that's how it will be worn majority of the time). The manufacturer said to prevent the rings from rubbing against and damaging each other they put a different crown on the engagement ring that will work with the wedding band. But this was never conveyed to us at any point up until we received a ring that doesn't match what we ordered.
The wedding band is not custom and the (ordered) crown on the e-ring is one used on a lot of their rings, so I would think they would have known if that wedding band and that crown were not compatible before making the e-ring.
If they had told us up front that they weren’t compatible, we would not have moved forward with the custom ring since it definitely wasn't cheap and the only reason we were willing to pay that much was to have our dream ring/set. We were told there are no refunds on custom rings, which I understand in most scenarios, but if they didn't deliver the custom ring we ordered and are only now telling us that the rings we ordered aren’t compatible, it doesn’t feel right. I feel like they told us what we wanted to hear in order to get our money. Only after we paid in full did all of this very important information come out (after a lot of effort on our part to get answers about why the ring keeps getting sent back to us still not matching what we ordered). It seems like a bait and switch tactic. We’re both upset and aren't sure what our options are from here. Any suggestions?
(To address the idea of choosing a different wedding band, the one we picked is somewhat unique looking, and the look of both the rings together is what we really liked. If we knew early on that we would have to choose a different wedding band in order for the custom e-ring to work, we would not have moved forward with the custom ring since the look of that particular “set” of rings is what we really wanted.)
TLDR: We ordered a custom ring and received a ring that doesn’t match what we ordered. We are now being told the custom ring we ordered wouldn’t be compatible with our non-custom wedding band from the same manufacturer (ordered at the same time and CADs had both rings together) so they made this one instead, which isn’t what we wanted, but now they have our money and a no refund policy so we feel like we’ve been trapped into an expensive ring that isn’t what the ring we wanted.
We ordered a custom e-ring from a well-known, higher-end ring manufacturer through a local jeweler. We got the first CAD, and the ring looked different from what we had ordered so we gave our notes on what needed to be changed. With each version of the CAD, we continuously had concerns about it not looking like what we had ordered (specifically the crown did not look like the right one), and over and over again we were told the CAD just isn’t able to have the same detail as the final ring since a lot of the work is done by hand, but they confirmed in writing before moving forward with making the ring that the crown on the final ring would be the one we ordered.
The ring came in, and the crown did not match what we ordered. It looks more like what we were seeing on the CAD. We held it up side-by-side with the rings they have in store from that same manufacturer, and it's very clear it's not the crown we ordered so we told them it's not what we ordered and needs to be corrected before we go any further. We were then told that they can only do the final details on the crown once they set the diamond which is why it doesn’t look like that yet, but once the diamond is set it will look like the ring we ordered. So we gave them the diamond to set, they set the diamond and sent it back to the jeweler, and it's still not the crown we ordered.
We asked to speak to the manufacturer directly since we thought maybe there’s some disconnect in the communication going through the jeweler (who hasn’t been super helpful and seems to be more concerned with closing out the sale than ensuring the ring is correct). The manufacturer told us that the crown on the engagement ring we ordered is not compatible with the wedding band we ordered (from the same manufacturer at the same time as the custom engagement ring, and we had asked them to make CADs -which they did- of the engagement ring and wedding band together since the look of the wedding set as a whole was important to us as that's how it will be worn majority of the time). The manufacturer said to prevent the rings from rubbing against and damaging each other they put a different crown on the engagement ring that will work with the wedding band. But this was never conveyed to us at any point up until we received a ring that doesn't match what we ordered.
The wedding band is not custom and the (ordered) crown on the e-ring is one used on a lot of their rings, so I would think they would have known if that wedding band and that crown were not compatible before making the e-ring.
If they had told us up front that they weren’t compatible, we would not have moved forward with the custom ring since it definitely wasn't cheap and the only reason we were willing to pay that much was to have our dream ring/set. We were told there are no refunds on custom rings, which I understand in most scenarios, but if they didn't deliver the custom ring we ordered and are only now telling us that the rings we ordered aren’t compatible, it doesn’t feel right. I feel like they told us what we wanted to hear in order to get our money. Only after we paid in full did all of this very important information come out (after a lot of effort on our part to get answers about why the ring keeps getting sent back to us still not matching what we ordered). It seems like a bait and switch tactic. We’re both upset and aren't sure what our options are from here. Any suggestions?
(To address the idea of choosing a different wedding band, the one we picked is somewhat unique looking, and the look of both the rings together is what we really liked. If we knew early on that we would have to choose a different wedding band in order for the custom e-ring to work, we would not have moved forward with the custom ring since the look of that particular “set” of rings is what we really wanted.)
TLDR: We ordered a custom ring and received a ring that doesn’t match what we ordered. We are now being told the custom ring we ordered wouldn’t be compatible with our non-custom wedding band from the same manufacturer (ordered at the same time and CADs had both rings together) so they made this one instead, which isn’t what we wanted, but now they have our money and a no refund policy so we feel like we’ve been trapped into an expensive ring that isn’t what the ring we wanted.
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