Leon Mege "No Soup For You!"

[Blinginator]

I just emailed Leon for a quote. I only spoke to him briefly in December about doing custom work, at that time he told me he would need the diamond first. Sure no problem. I have a diamond now and will report on my experience with him whenever he gets back to me.

If you decide not to go with Leon and wanted an opinion on SingleStone and 23rd St, I personally thought 23rd St''s work was far superior to SS (this is strictly my opinion and not aimed at anyone owning a ring from SS). SS was good and Ari is nothing but helpful but looking at work done from both vendors under a loupe--I personally would go for 23rd St. However, I do still have some reservations in regards to 23rd St, they gave me a much higher quote than SS ($3500 vs $2800, respectively). My other reservation was with my sales rep, Sheila. I was a walk-in customer and Sheila was absolutely kind and helpful to me but she just didn''t seem to get a lot of the information I was conveying to her. The other sales rep in the store seemed more knowledgeable than Sheila (I didn''t get her name) and I knew if I went with Sheila at 23rd St, there would be a need for a lot of hand holding and double-checking her work. I could already see some major miscommunication problems with Sheila.

Having read this thread and other threads about Leon''s poor customer service skills, I still like his work (I haven''t seen it in person but from what I''ve seen on this site and his site, I feel quite reassured of his quality of work) and will most likely be using him depending on his quote.

 

[Rock_of_Love]

Hey Blinginator!

I was wondering what you ended up deciding on. Did you get the 2.01, 1.10 ratio, G, VS2 for Mark at ERD? What setting are you going for with Leon? I did end up getting a quote for that one I was looking at that I posted earlier in the thread (around $2900 - $3500). What did you look at at SS and 23rd St? Curious!!

We must be crossing paths...I''m in SD, and I think you are, too? And, I''m looking for a similar stone...less than your budget!

 

[CharmyPoo]

I have been chatting with Leon and I didn''t have any problems. He was direct and responds very quickly. I was upfront with my situation and he was to point. I have no concerns at this point but I think it is because I trust the quality of his work. I like the fact that he doesn''t "need" my business so there is no BS. He will do it or he won''t - all laid out.

 

[Blinginator]

Date: 2/9/2009 9:34:15 PM
Author: Rock_of_Love
Hey Blinginator!

I was wondering what you ended up deciding on. Did you get the 2.01, 1.10 ratio, G, VS2 for Mark at ERD? What setting are you going for with Leon? I did end up getting a quote for that one I was looking at that I posted earlier in the thread (around $2900 - $3500). What did you look at at SS and 23rd St? Curious!!

We must be crossing paths...I''m in SD, and I think you are, too? And, I''m looking for a similar stone...less than your budget!

Hey Rock of Love! Yes I did get that cushion from ERD and absolutely love it (hope my GF does too). Of course, I have to thank CharmyPoo for her awesome pics that really helped me with my purchasing decision.

Yes I am in SD.

I looked at everything in SS and 23rd St! I spent about an hour in each store and louped about half the rings I came across in both stores.

I''ll eventually revisit one of my old threads to give a more detailed update.

 

[Rock_of_Love]

Date: 2/9/2009 10:21:15 PM
Author: CharmyPoo
I have been chatting with Leon and I didn''t have any problems. He was direct and responds very quickly. I was upfront with my situation and he was to point. I have no concerns at this point but I think it is because I trust the quality of his work. I like the fact that he doesn''t ''need'' my business so there is no BS. He will do it or he won''t - all laid out.

Hi CharmyPoo!
Yes, I do agree with everything you say, and I do trust the quality, too. Who knows what will happen once I have my stone. Maybe I did just catch him on a bad day.

 

[CharmyPoo]

All I am saying is don''t rule him out. The quality of his work may be worth it - I wish I did the first time around.

You should also check out Jean Dousset (http://jeandousset.com/discover/). He made Eva Longoria''s ring.

I also love 23rd Street Jewelers but they don''t respond to emails.

 

[Rock_of_Love]

Date: 2/9/2009 11:10:12 PM
Author: CharmyPoo
All I am saying is don''t rule him out. The quality of his work may be worth it - I wish I did the first time around.

Believe me...I''m not! If he''ll have me back...

I''ll probably do the same route as Blinginator and see where I end up.

 

[kennedy]

Date: 2/9/2009 8:59:13 PM
Author: Blinginator
I just emailed Leon for a quote. I only spoke to him briefly in December about doing custom work, at that time he told me he would need the diamond first. Sure no problem. I have a diamond now and will report on my experience with him whenever he gets back to me.


If you decide not to go with Leon and wanted an opinion on SingleStone and 23rd St, I personally thought 23rd St''s work was far superior to SS (this is strictly my opinion and not aimed at anyone owning a ring from SS). SS was good and Ari is nothing but helpful but looking at work done from both vendors under a loupe--I personally would go for 23rd St. However, I do still have some reservations in regards to 23rd St, they gave me a much higher quote than SS ($3500 vs $2800, respectively). My other reservation was with my sales rep, Sheila. I was a walk-in customer and Sheila was absolutely kind and helpful to me but she just didn''t seem to get a lot of the information I was conveying to her. The other sales rep in the store seemed more knowledgeable than Sheila (I didn''t get her name) and I knew if I went with Sheila at 23rd St, there would be a need for a lot of hand holding and double-checking her work. I could already see some major miscommunication problems with Sheila.


Having read this thread and other threads about Leon''s poor customer service skills, I still like his work (I haven''t seen it in person but from what I''ve seen on this site and his site, I feel quite reassured of his quality of work) and will most likely be using him depending on his quote.

This is so interesting. I had a similar reaction to that same salesperson. That said, I would (and have) used 23rd Street Jewelers for custom work. I simply asked to work with a different salesperson and had a great experience (Janet is great as is Norma and Jessica). I was in just the other day and saw two mountings (one with an OEC and the other an antique cushion) that were absolutely exquisite. I really can''t convey how finely done these settings were -- true works of art down to the finest detail. I''m sure their prices are a bit higher than Leon''s, but I would rather pay a little more and be treated well. I considered going with Leon, but didn''t want to risk being treated badly in the event I had a question or concern about my ring. In my opinion, you are not in any way compromising the quality of your ring by going with 23rd Street over Leon. Who knows -- they might even be better?

 

[Blinginator]

Leon responded early this morning with a quote of $3150.

 

[Rock_of_Love]

Hi Blinginator...
Which setting are you looking at?

kennedy...that is GREAT information about 23rd street. I''m definitely going to make a trip up as soon as I get a chance.

 

[ttank78]

Wow, that''s really crazy. I do not care how much of an "artist" you are, there is no excuse for not having patience with customers, especially ones spending substantial amounts of cash.

I would never do business with someone who does not give me common courtesy. Anyone who does is a sucker.

 

[suchende]

Date: 2/11/2009 8:13:48 AM
Author: ttank78
Wow, that''s really crazy. I do not care how much of an ''artist'' you are, there is no excuse for not having patience with customers, especially ones spending substantial amounts of cash.

I would never do business with someone who does not give me common courtesy. Anyone who does is a sucker.

Slow down there. Some people are just really picky about their soup!

 

[ttank78]

nothing to slow down about.

If someone is rude to me, why would I want to support them?

I wouldn't want to be reminded that I was weak and lacked principle whenever I looked at the ring.

That's just me. If you are okay with it, good for you!

I'm not saying this guy is a bad guy, I have no clue. I'm disagreeing with people who are saying a vendors rudeness is worth it
because his work is so fantastic. No one's work is worth that much to me. Just saying....