Strange WhiteFlash Experience

[FunkyMike]

First of all I''d like to thank all the posters here for educating me before I purchased my fiancé’s engagement ring. I bought a princess cut from Good Old Gold and had the band custom made and set by WhiteFlash. My fiancé absolutely loves her e-ring, and I owe much of that to this site and forum.

Unfortunately, my experience with WhiteFlash since I purchased the e-ring from them has been less than stellar. Please don''t misunderstand, I don’t mean to post this as a "bash whiteflash" post, but I just thought I''d share what happened. Even the very best of companies have unhappy customers, and unfortunately I happen to be one of whiteflash''s few unhappy customers.

WhiteFlash custom made our e-ring in mid-september (shipped 9/16). I proposed to my lovely fiancé a few weeks later and she gets compliments on all the time on how pretty her ring is! It was a little big on her, so we had WhiteFlash resize it for us, which they did for $80. My fiancé currently lives in Houston (I''m in Dallas right now) so she dropped it off and picked it up a few days later on October 6’th. She had to wait for a while in WhiteFlash’s office while they finished it up (they called saying they needed a little more time but she didn''t get the message until she got back to work).

I saw my fiancé a few weeks later and noticed the resized ring was oval shaped. She said it was like that when she got it back from being resized. The band has 3 pointers 3/4 of the way around, so we thought maybe they had to resize it that way, or perhaps it was going to be a lot more expensive to resize it into a perfect circle because of the side diamonds. It wasn''t a huge deal to us either way because you couldn''t tell when it was on her finger and the ring was now a perfect fit.

I contacted WhiteFlash again on 12/21 about a matching wedding band. Being around Christmas time things didn''t really get rolling until early-mid January. My fiancé dropped the e-ring off at WhiteFlash so they could match it up with the wedding. I got a call from Bob the next day saying the engagement ring was oval shaped (I never mentioned it to him) and that the center diamond was a little loose, but that they could fix it for $100. I told him it was that way when we got it back from resizing, but Bob told me about how platinum rings bend all the time and it was not unusual for them to get bent out of shape. He said that she may have bent it when going up some stairs. I responded that my fiancé was a very petite young lady who couldn''t possible have bent it in the few months she had it, but told Bob to go ahead and fix it and I would check with her to be 100% certain about when she first noticed that it was oval.

I called her that evening and she said she noticed it was oval as soon as she picked it up from resizing. I asked if she was certain and she said "yes", but we both agreed that we were so happy with the job WhiteFlash''s did on the engagement ring that we would go ahead and pay them to fix the oval ring and make the wedding band. The next day Bob said the ring had been fixed and sent me some pictures that were supposedly taken right after the resizing showing that the ring was perfectly round after resizing (even though it was still being resized when my fiancé got there to pick it up and she got it "hot off the press"). I emailed the pictures to my fiancé and, after discussion, we decided to pay WhiteFlash for the work they had done but not have the wedding band done by WhiteFlash. This was not an easy decision to come to, because we loved how the e-ring looked and would now have to find someplace else to make her wedding band, but she KNEW it was oval when she got it back and we felt like we were being taken advantage of (even if it wasn’t on purpose).

When my fiancé went to pick it up the next day they tried to convince her that they couldn''t possibly have messed up the ring. They got out my file to show her the picture that was dated and showed how the ring was round after resizing, but to their surprise the picture wasn’t there. Finally someone found a disk with the pictures somewhere (with no date), but by that time my fiancé was just ready to pay and leave. To WhiteFlash’s credit they didn’t charge us for the work they had done.

I’m really not sure how this could have happened. I do not think that Bob was trying to “scam” us, but I do think someone at WhiteFlash made a mistake. Does anyone know when WhiteFlash started putting the WF logo as a watermark in the lower-right hand corner of the pictures they send out? There was no watermark in any of the pictures of the e-ring I got while it was being made (9/16), but there was one in the pictures that were supposedly taken right after resizing (10/6).

What’s kind of ironic is that if Bob never would have sent those pictures then we would have paid them for fixing the e-ring and they would have kept our business for the wedding band.

Thanks for listening. I’m sure most people have a great experience with WhiteFlash, and the e-ring they made really is beautiful. I''ve attached the pictures in case anyone wants to see it.

 

[Patty]

Hmmm. I''m not sure I follow all of it with the photos and when they were taken. But it does seem unlikely that they would have had time to take photos after sizing it if your fiance was sitting there waiting for it.

It''s too bad that you now have to go elsewhere for a wedding band but I don''t blame you. If you feel like they were not upfront with you, then you are doing the right thing.

 

[AndyRosse]

Hi Mike.

First I just wanted to say that I am very impressed in the way that you presented your experience with WF. Your post was obviously not done out of spite, anger, or revenge, and for that I just wanted to say thank you.

Second, I must say, you did a fantastic job with the e-ring! Beautiful!

Finally, I''m so sorry about what happened, and I really hope that you and your fiance end up with a gorgeous wedding band to match the stunning e-ring!

 

[mrssalvo]

Thanks Mike for sharing your experience. You did a fabulous job on the e-ring and i''m sorry that the sizing process did not run smoothly. I''m sure you''ll be able to find a matching eternity band and she will have a beautiful set.

 

[noobie]

Nice looking ring Mike. Sorry about the experience. The only thing I might say is that you may wish to develop a relationship with a good local jeweler.

I had my rings made at Quest. My wife was pregnant gave birth and subsequently lost weight. They resized the rings a few times, tighten up loose prongs, replate them and clean and check them every time we go in. No charge. All while we wait.

Good luck with the wedding band.

 

[sluke]

Gorgeous ring! And you were very professional in presenting your experience. I hope you have (or had) better experience in finding a wedding band.

 

[msdarlinjoy]

Hey FunkyMike!

First ... Congratulations! Looks like someone special is very happy in your advatar!!

Pretty ring too!

I understand where you are coming from with this. I too had a situation very similar to yours, only it was a different jeweler in my home town. Very pricey, very upscale ... the main difference is that the secomd time I went back to complain, the jewelers son happened to step in unanounced asked what was wrong, and I showed him the rings and explained as I tried to hold back tears of frustration and disappointment that the rings were oblong, not round and the sizing fit now, but looked thinner on the sides and bottom of the ring.

To him, it did not matter how much we had spent, I can tell you this much it wasn''t much! He appologized till he was blue in the face ... asked if he could inconveinence me one more time, and leave the rings with him, and if I gave him one more chance, he would make sure that the rings would be fixed to the original weight and thickness, and make it round shaped, that I would this time be pleasantly surprised and thrilled when I got them back, in perfect condition!

Of course, I said yes ... he then asked me to wait at the counter, and there I watched him with the rings on his pinky go to the sales woman, he talked with her for a few minutes, and then went to the bench area where he went to one of three benchman and showed him my rings, pointing and talking, the benchman smiled and nodded, and then he came back to me with the sales woman in tow.

He thanked me for letting him fix a problem that should have never been, and looked forward to seeing me again and if I needed anything in the future to please call and ask for him. He smiled and steped a few feet away to a side counter, and then the sales lady, humbled down and appologized for her unprofessional, unempathetic greater than thou attitude and expressed that this was not the type of behavior this showroom promoted, and then asked if I could find it within myself to forgive her for her actions!

I looked at her, glanced a few feet away, and the owners son just smiled, winked and slowly started to walk towards the door, I looked back at the lady and said yes, I can forgive you for how you treated me, but it will take many years for me to forget how you made me feel, and this experience that was to be so happy, feels somewhat misserable. At that precise moment I heard the son say, ok ... Miss. Jones, I guess we will see you tomorrow.

I later found out when I picked up my rings, that if I had not forgiven her, she would have been looking for a new job, at least that is what the other sales lady told me that day I picked up the finished product, perfect like it was promised. I still remember the details to this day, as if it were yesterday. (This happend in the 80''s) The one thing that I think about is that the son didn''t care how thick or thin or how mishapen the ring was or wasn''t, what he did care about is that he wanted to make whatever was not quite right ... prefectly correct, and to make a customer happy. ) I was not asked to pay to fix their wrong doing either.

Like you said, I think no one is perfect, and there will be some things go wrong, but it is how the situation could have been handled to give a different feeling in the end. Instead of pressing for who was right and who is wrong, the ring could have just been fixed without the dialogue of it couldn''t have etc... Feelings would have been more at ease, and in the end the wedding band prob. would have been done by the same vendor.

Best wishes to you and your lovely future Mrs!

My your situation greatly improve, and happy memories to fill the void.

Take care,

 

[Jelly]

I''m sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience with Whiteflash. Sounds very strange, especially about the pictures taken while she was waiting.

Nonethess, it''s a gorgeous ring and I urge you to post more shots for us diamond obsessed PS''ers around here. I love that head. Very pretty.

What wedding band will you go with?

 

[blodthecat]

Hi Mike,

The ring is absolutely beautiful!

Very disappointing customer service though. Yep...mistakes do happen, but to suggest that your girlfriend could have damaged it, making it oblong shaped is just ridiculous!

They should have fixed it free of charge (with out question). People will always go back to where they have received good customer service.

I think you have been very kind to them in your post....I would have been ''as mad as a wasp''

Blod

 

[MiniMouse]

Hi Mike, Thank you for giving the account of your experience with Whiteflash. It was obviously relayed without any intent of malice or to discredit a vendor. It is always good to hear positive and negative feedback about vendors, because it allows people to get a balanced view and consider which vendor to use based on good and bad experiences. Truthful accounts are always welcomed on Pricescope.

I have been fortunate enough to have a wonderful experience with Whiteflash, but I am mindful that it is not possible for a vendor to receive a 100% satisfaction rating, there will always be someone who hasn''t had a top notch experience (whether it be the customer or the vendor''s fault). I''m really sorry you were disappointed and have chosen to take your wedding ring custom elsewhere. In your shoes I think I would have done the same. However, I do have to say your fiance''s engagement ring is beautiful and I''m glad it has been sorted out to your satisfaction. I hope the joy you both get from the ring is not marred by this unfortunate experience. I wish you the best.

 

[sevens one]

I''m surprised that they charged you $80 to have a custom ring re-sized. How much of a jump in size was it?
That seems odd.

 

[Kaleigh]

It's a beautiful ring, I love it. I am sorry for your experience with WF. I thought you presented your story very fairly. I second Quest, they made a lovely asscher ring for me.

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 2/2/2006 2:06:13 PM
Author: sevens one
I'm surprised that they charged you $80 to have a custom ring re-sized. How much of a jump in size was it?

That seems odd.

me too, maybe we're missing some of the story

ETA: i have also heard when jewelers will resize an e-ring for free b/c many times the exact size is not known.

 

[XChick03]

I''m sorry you had a bad experience, but the e-ring is gorgeous! You picked a gorgeous stone and setting.

I was curious about the $80 re-sizing also. It seems a little high, especially since you said it was only a little big on her, which makes me think it was only downsized a size or so. Most places I know charge a lot less for downsizing than upsizing.

Very strange about the pictures also. Maybe those are pictures they took of the ring after they originally made it and later mistaken them for the resizing pictures? Since they couldn''t have taken them because she was waiting on the ring, that''s the only explanation I can think of.

Either way, I don''t blame you for going with someone different for the wedding ring. I''m sure you''ll find a gorgeous one to match.

 

[jaz464]

I don''t see anything wrong with WF charging to resize a ring. I mean its not their fault if customers order the wrong size. Of course, if they somehow do a bad job of it, the customer shouldn''t be charged to fix it.

I was charged when I sent mine back to WF.

 

[Rod]

Sorry, but I don''t think a jeweler should charge for a resize within a reasonable time period. It''s likely that even knowing someone''s exact finger size, some settings fit better than others. A resizing for a high quality ($$$) piece should be free. Not for life of course. A jeweler can''t be held resposible for someone eating too many "Twinkies" and gaining too much weight, or for someone becoming more healthy and losing a lot of weight. But, within a few months of getting a ring and it just doesn''t fit correctly, there should be no charge for resizing.

Just my .02 worth........

 

[noobie]

Date: 2/2/2006 3:30:35 PM
Author: Rod
Sorry, but I don''t think a jeweler should charge for a resize within a reasonable time period. It''s likely that even knowing someone''s exact finger size, some settings fit better than others. A resizing for a high quality ($$$) piece should be free. Not for life of course. A jeweler can''t be held resposible for someone eating too many ''Twinkies'' and gaining too much weight, or for someone becoming more healthy and losing a lot of weight. But, within a few months of getting a ring and it just doesn''t fit correctly, there should be no charge for resizing.

Just my .02 worth........

Quest offers free lifetime sizing and cleaning and tightening of any stones. If you bring it in for inspections, they''ll even replace any lost sidestones less than 0.25C. Pretty Cool

 

[Lynn B]

ckquote>Date: 2/2/2006 5:56:53 PM
Author: noobie


Quest offers free lifetime sizing and cleaning and tightening of any stones. If you bring it in for inspections, they'll even replace any lost sidestones less than 0.25C. Pretty Cool

I had heard that. WOW, that's AWESOME!

 

[sevens one]

Date: 2/2/2006 5:56:53 PM
Author: noobie

Date: 2/2/2006 3:30:35 PM
Author: Rod
Sorry, but I don''t think a jeweler should charge for a resize within a reasonable time period. It''s likely that even knowing someone''s exact finger size, some settings fit better than others. A resizing for a high quality ($$$) piece should be free. Not for life of course. A jeweler can''t be held resposible for someone eating too many ''Twinkies'' and gaining too much weight, or for someone becoming more healthy and losing a lot of weight. But, within a few months of getting a ring and it just doesn''t fit correctly, there should be no charge for resizing.

Just my .02 worth........

Quest offers free lifetime sizing and cleaning and tightening of any stones. If you bring it in for inspections, they''ll even replace any lost sidestones less than 0.25C. Pretty Cool

exactly my point. That''s why the $80 charge was a question for me.

 

[Rod]

Actually, my independent jeweler offers the same service as Quest and I think it''s a really fantastic policy. While I appreciate it though, I wouldn''t be upset if in 5 years I ate myself into needing to have my ring resized, there was a nominal resizing fee. But, I would absolutely be angry if someone tried to charge me early on because the ring didn''t fit. Seem''s pretty low to me.........

 

[ame]

I know a few people will jump on here and totally praise WF and try to come to WF's aid, but the other end of the spectrum has to be posted for things to be fair. Seems like anything negative is immediately removed or dispelled by the ones who just adore WF...which isn't fair. Gotta show it all.

This is unfortunately not an uncommon whiteflash experience, at least not compared to what's happened over the last at least 1 year. There's at the very least, my experiences and Icekid's, satriani...so many others. It took a while to get all of my problems straightened out, and they have been, but not without completely ruining my opinion of them. Their stones are great, but their workmanship and customer service needs MAJOR overhauling. Specifically with a few particular employees. Bob's name comes up a lot when issues arise as does Jamie, Im sure a few others have other names to raise but it seems that these two names are continually being complained about. Having them accuse you of something like this and try to create proof from mid-air to make a buck...sorry...not going to fly. ABSOLUTELY REPREHENSABLE.

 

[Mara]

I wouldn't want to be accused of jumping to WF's aid....

...but there ARE two sides to every story, with every customer and every experience...period. I can tell you in my own industry that some of my customers are just plain psycho! Others are a joy to work with and I wish I could clone them. That is the way it is in every industry.

I don't have an opinion one way or the other on Jamie or Bob, never having worked with them, and it does seem odd to charge for resize a few months after the purchase...but did you ever approach WF or ask about policies or try to find out why you were being charged? I would have at least asked about it, if not asked if it could be waived.

Personally I'm a pretty vocal customer and I tend to think that when people don't go back to the vendor and are up front and honest about what they REALLY feel inside about their experience and positives and negatives, rather than posting about an experience or going behind the scenes to complain about an experience or a vendor, then they are not doing ANYONE a positive service...because everything just tends to get around anyway and it's never good if it is not brought out into public! And if I were a vendor and a customer gave me lip service about how happy they were and then I heard later that they were complaining about something but never said a thing to me...I'd be really upset just because we were never given the opportunity to fix the problem or at least apologize for what went wrong. I run into this with my own job...if my customers are not honest with me about how they feel then I can't read their minds.

So I really think that people should air their laundry to the vendor and even if it's not satisfactory, to the public here on PS and help everyone see both positives and negatives to every vendor and experience. Otherwise it's really hard to stand on a soapbox. My two cents!

 

[XChick03]

Date: 2/2/2006 7:40:36 PM
Author: Mara

And if I were a vendor and a customer gave me lip service about how happy they were and then I heard later that they were complaining about something but never said a thing to me...I''d be really upset just because we were never given the opportunity to fix the problem or at least apologize for what went wrong. I run into this with my own job...if my customers are not honest with me about how they feel then I can''t read their minds.

I''ve never used WF...or at least not yet, so I have no opinion of them, but I think what they did in this instance is pretty bad. He did complain, but they just produced pictures that they claim were taken after the re-sizing and accused his fiance of bending it, which is just awful.

 

[Mara]

Date: 2/2/2006 7:52:03 PM
Author: XChick03

Date: 2/2/2006 7:40:36 PM
Author: Mara

And if I were a vendor and a customer gave me lip service about how happy they were and then I heard later that they were complaining about something but never said a thing to me...I'd be really upset just because we were never given the opportunity to fix the problem or at least apologize for what went wrong. I run into this with my own job...if my customers are not honest with me about how they feel then I can't read their minds.

I've never used WF...or at least not yet, so I have no opinion of them, but I think what they did in this instance is pretty bad. He did complain, but they just produced pictures that they claim were taken after the re-sizing and accused his fiance of bending it, which is just awful.

Actually I wasn't speaking just to this poster...but rather anyone who has had custom work done, and said they were happy when in fact they were not.

The squeaky wheel always gets the oil! Personally I would not have paid that resizing fee.

 

[FunkyMike]

Sevens one, to answer your question, the ring was resized from a 5.0 to a 4.5, and I contacted them about the resizing approximately 2 weeks after we got the ring, which was just a few days after I proposed. She had gotten her finger sizes by a chain store just a few weeks before I first contact WhiteFlash. Although, that really wasn''t the point I was trying to make. WhiteFlash is a business trying to make a profit and can have whatever policy they wish on resizing custom jewelry.

Just to make sure I''m completely honest and am not misleading anyone here, my fiancé did not actually watch them resize the ring, but she was simply told that they needed a few more minutes before it would be ready. They could have been taking pictures during that time.

Mara, I''m not sure how much of your comments were meant for my situation and how much was simply said in general. Let me just say that I talked to Bob at length about this, told him why I didn’t think we should pay for it many times, and he always said it was my fiancé who bent the ring, not them. In fact, we were actually going to go ahead and pay the EXTRA $100 to have them fix the bend and the loose diamond until we got those pictures. That was really the tipping point. Up until then it was an our-word-their-word situation. After the pictures we felt like we were being lied to. I talked it over with my fiancé that evening and we decided we just couldn’t do business with WhiteFlash anymore.

In this case it was not about the squeaky wheel getting oil, it was about the principal of the matter. $100 is not that much money when talking about an expensive ring set.

The next morning I called Bob and told him that we would pay for the work that had already been done but they had lost our business for the wedding band. I may not know a lot of things, but I know when to stand up for the woman that I love, and I believe that was one of those times. I want her to always have good memories when she looks at her e-ring and wedding band, and if that means doing some more legwork and getting the band somewhere else, then that’s what I’ll do.

The whole time I got the impression that Bob sincerely believed that WhiteFlash was not at fault. While at their office my fiancé said she got the same impression from Leon. What I think probably happened (I have absolutely no proof, just my opinion) is that whoever did the resizing was trying to cover their butt. I think that if Bob truly thought it was their fault then he wouldn’t have charged us. Being a computer guy, if I was there that day you can bet I would’ve checked the timestamp of those photos on the disk!

Anyways, if anyone has done business with WhiteFlash lately, did you have the WF symbol in the lower-right corner of the pictures they sent you? It looks to me like they may have recently updated their template. I think that may be a decent way to figure out when those pictures were taken.

Thanks,
-Mike

 

[Mara]

Mike..if you really felt as though something was not right, just talking to Bob the whole time IMO was not the way to go, there are other people who can assist over there at WF...travel up the chain of command til you speak to someone who is actually hearing you.

Then again this is advice from the gal who once spent 2 hours on the phone climbing the ladder at a credit card company to get someone to agree to remove two 30-day late notations...I finally got to speak to someone in the actual corporate office after about 10 other people turned me down, and got them removed.

I agree it wasn't about the $$ but principle, but even if I paid the $100 I still would have climbed the ladder to complain bout the service.

 

[XChick03]

Sorry Mara, I just misunderstood what you said.

I completely agree with you, though. I mean, I can't even get my boyfriend to tell people "no mayonaise" when he orders a burger even though he absolutely hates it!

I am definitely for speaking up in situations when you feel like you are being wronged.

And Mike, it sounds like you handled yourself well in the situation and I probably would've done exactly what you did. And I definitely agree that your fiance should have good memories of her e-ring and wedding band, not think about getting the run-around from the jewelers who made it. I wouldn't use them for the wedding ring either.

 

[XChick03]

As far as the WF logo, I just found this thread that shows the wax of Matatora''s ring from 1/27 and it has the logo. Not sure if that helps or not.

 

[ame]

I had to go up the chain to Lesley and Brian to get anywhere 8 out of 10 times when I didn't feel I was getting the right info from Denise/John. Not that Denise and JohnQ weren't cool about things most of the time, but there were a LOT of times I was getting run around and felt I was being played. I do give them credit for fixing everything and then some, not to mention being rushed out by a hurricane... but to get to that point should not be that hard.

I just cannot get over that whole issue with the ring being misshapen and them accusing his fiance of it. Give me a break!

 

[mrssalvo]

It may be a he said she said at this point. WF says the ring was bent. You guys say it wasn''t. WF might need to come up with a system (if they don''t have one) that would have identified the characteristics of the ring before they sized it. The customer would have to sign off noting what is wrong. Kind of like when you rent a car. You sign and agree to what the car looks like if you bring it back dented it''s your fault. If WF would have made note of the ring before sizing this would not be an issue. I honestly don''t know who is right but tend to side with the customer. I don''t know how a ring bent that much and if it did why did WF agree to size it and not suggest fixing it? Once again, i am probably missing something. My hubby and I were recently in a similar "he said" situation with our car insurance. hubby''s was in an accident and the car was totaled. We have 30 day rental coverage. We closed out the car and got a call 14 days into the rental and got a call that the coverage ended 7 days after we cashed out. NO one told us that or we would have had the car back. The rep said she did tell us. He said, she said. I was absolutely not going to pay for and extra 7 days when I was not told. I called up the ladder until I got to the manager. The insurance company will be paying. If they hadn''t, i''d be looking for new car insurance. A little customer service goes a long way, even if the customer isn''t always right