Apparently diamond specs are not important in Canada!

[Cathers]

lol thanks! total child of the 80''s! I think your ring is absolutely STUNNING!! I showed it to my BF several times at work today. The diamond is out of this world! I love the setting as well. I want something fairly flush as I work with my hands all day, and also have a 10 month old who I dont want to scratch up with prongs.

I went to Birks in S''toon, and was quoted 2600.00 for an 18k white gold .29 f si1. I was really really torn because I associate the name Birks with excellent quality, but, if I can get basically the same thing(only wider band, which I prefer) plus a way bigger stone for approx. the same price...we are on a fairly strict budget! Going to S''toon again next week, and going to stop back in at Birks, but, at this point, I am fairly certain I will NOT be purchasing my ring thru them. Take care!

~Cathers

 

[Sundial]

I''m so glad that you are feeling better about your ring, because it is absolutely STUNNING!!! Thanks for adding more pics for us to drool over.

 

[Shawna13]

Well folks... here''s an update on the situation!!!

I finally came to my senses and took another close look at the ring. While it was rhodium plated as requested, the stone does not appear to be reset at all!!! It looks exactly the same as it did before. I was just fooled because the plating on the ring gave it a different shine which made it seem like it looked a bit better.

We did some measuring, and one of the bars was longer than the other bar and was bent out to the side a bit when the stone was set. So when the stone will obviously look crooked. If men who normally don''t notice a big stain on their shirts say "it doesn''t quite look right" then there''s a problem! We talked to a couple other jewellers who were shocked at the service we received and said that I wasn''t demanding perfection and that just because a ring is hand-made, doesn''t mean it can''t look beautiful!! We looked at many other bar-set tension set type rings like this one and they were all perfectly centered (even in the B&M stores in the mall). We shouldn''t have to pay for something that looks cheaply made (even though the stone is amazing).

So, my fiancee took the ring and the certs and receipt back to the store to see if the owner would offer to fix it. Well... he walked in and said hi and told her that we weren''t happy and then she just started talking and calling him down and calling me down and saying that they could fix it 5-6 times and we wouldn''t be happy and that it wasn''t worth their while since they put in SO much work into it already, etc, etc... then my fiancee mentioned that it looked like the stone wasn''t even reset last time, and she didn''t say anything. Long story short... she told him that this is the first time in 32 years they''ve done this, but they will give him a full refund. He didn''t even ask for it, she just said she''s doing it and didn''t offer to ACTUALLY reset the stone this time.

How horrible is that???? Wow, is this ever a lesson in how not to choose a jeweller. I see now why people always go with someone that they''ve been referred to by someone else. You see why so many people use the PS vendors.

Now we get to have a new engagement ring made!!! It''s sad that this one''s gone, but I think we''ll really take our time finding a new sparkly for me! And this time I can use some of my PS knowledge plus really take our time deciding where to buy the ring from. Do we get it from a jeweller in town (the only one who includes a 4-page appraisal and FULL diamond specs), or do we purchase online without seeing the stone? I think this time around we''ll skip out on the F, VS2, Canadian diamond and perhaps go to an ethical stone (Belgium perhaps?) with an H colour, SI1 clarity so that I can get a bigger stone size.

I had to come to this site and post an update so I could look at everyone else''s rings cause I''m in a bit of a diamond withdrawal since mine is gone now!!! I almost gave my mother a heart attack when I called her to tell her that the ring was returned and I wasn''t engaged anymore (as a joke). She did NOT find it funny at all.

I will post pictures of potential new e-rings once we start looking! We''ll probably be going to a 3-stone or some kind of solitaire with side stones and matching band. Exciting!!!

 

[firebirdgold]

Are you keeping the diamond? It looks very pretty.

 

[kevinyonker]

Horrible that the jeweler gave you a 100% refund on a custom designed ring? You weren''t happy, he didn''t think he could make you happy and gives you a full refund.


I wonder what percentage of stores would do that?

Kevin

 

[Shawna13]

Date: 3/24/2006 1:39:11 PM
Author: Wren
Are you keeping the diamond? It looks very pretty.

No... the whole thing was returned. Hopefully I can find another beautiful diamond. Just need to decide which route we''ll take to find another beautiful stone. The whole experience is not something you want to go through for your engagement ring -your most important piece of jewellery, so it''ll be nice just to start over fresh with a more positive experience.

 

[Shawna13]

Date: 3/24/2006 2:41:51 PM
Author: kevinyonker
Horrible that the jeweler gave you a 100% refund on a custom designed ring? You weren''t happy, he didn''t think he could make you happy and gives you a full refund.


I wonder what percentage of stores would do that?

Kevin

I''m not sure why I''m replying to such an impolite comment, but I am!

The ring was not made properly. They were given a chance to fix it, and they didn''t even try to (and it could be reset properly if they would have just tried to). And then when my fiance went back a 2nd time, they had the chance to fix it again, but didn''t even want to try (and who doesn''t want to repair a flaw or better yet, a blatant ERROR in your own workmanship?) and just offered a refund.

I didn''t want a refund, I wanted it to be fixed so that there was no more flaw! Any other jeweller would be able to tell that the diamond was not properly set. Why couldn''t they just reset it? No good reason, that''s why.

If you bought a shirt from the store and realized it had a hole in it, you would return it. This is a $7K ring with tax. If the setting is crooked (and therefore the stone sits crooked) then I''m pretty sure that they should make it right, not just give you your money back. Worst customer service ever!

Could you imagine if the PS vendors started doing that? Could you imagine if Whiteflash just started giving people their money back instead of fixing things? They would lose so much business through word of mouth.

 

[kevinyonker]

I offer a sincere apology for coming across impolite. When ring shopping I always check each store''s return policy. I''m not saying you didn''t deserve a full refund on your custom designed ring. I just feel you''re fortunate and not all stores would be so liberal with a full 100% refund.

Kevin

 

[Shawna13]

Date: 3/24/2006 3:25:44 PM
Author: kevinyonker
I offer a sincere apology for coming across impolite. When ring shopping I always check each store''s return policy. I''m not saying you didn''t deserve a full refund on your custom designed ring. I just feel you''re fortunate and not all stores would be so liberal with a full 100% refund.

Kevin

Thanks Kevin! They did have a policy of no refunds for custom made jewellery. My fiancee took over ordering the ring after the mold was made and diamond picked. He wanted to take care of everything and find out about all policies. He found out they had a no refund policy and went ahead with the purchase anyways. He advised me of this once I got the ring. So when they didn''t seem to want to fix the ring, I was surprised, cause I figured that if you don''t offer refunds then you''d probably want to fix the ring if it''s not made right (to keep the customer from going to Better Business Bureau and filing a formal complaint against their business practices).

Now let''s just hope we do all we can to prevent getting "screwed over" the 2nd time around!!!

 

[Rod]

Shawna, I hope this works out for you. Personally, I'm bummed that you let that stunning diamond go. I'm sure anyone can second guess the situation, but had it been me, I would have just likely taken the ring to someone else and had them realign the stone in the setting.

Of course, I'm not in your shoes and I don't know how personally attached you were to the ring and stone.

I hope you have much success with your new ring.

 

[chrono]

Shawna,
I am also sorry to see the beautiful diamond and setting go. I think the diamond is gorgeous and the setting is so fluid and unique. I hope your experience with the new ring will be better.

 

[BigToque]

Hi Shawna,

I''m not sure who you talked to at Epsilon, but the guy I spoke to was quite eager to talk about Diamonds and didn''t smell like smoke.

Anyway, I actually just learned of this Diamond Gallery place on Corydon. I''d love to check it out as well now that you''ve given it a thumbs up

It''s unfortunate how your situation turned out, but on the bright side, you get to look for an even better stone

 

[AlliBaba]

Hi Shawna,

I''m so sorry you had such a bad experience; I''ve been there and it''s not fun. But it''s REALLY nice they gave you a full refund. Now you can put the whole experience behind you and NEVER SEE THAT JEWLER AGAIN! AND know that you didn''t lose $.01

Seriously, why are some jewelers (not all!) so RUDE, customer-unfriendly, pushy, bossy, and full of lies? You''d think they would realize that a customer deserves some bum-kissing for a $10,000 purchase!

Regarding whether or not to buy from the internet... I personally am a tad scared to do that. I never have a good idea of what a setting will look like on my hand, based on the picture online. And as regards the diamond... it''s SO hard to know which one is best! I''ve looked at diamonds with almost identical stats in person, and preferred one on the other based on... well, my own eyes!