Visiting Korea to see my S.O and planned to propose. James Allen - shipping delay. Should I cancel?

[Plee5192]

Hello, this is my first post but I have lurked some times during my proposal phase.

Anyways, some background information; My significant other is currently in Korea teaching and I will be going to visit next week 12/19, which I had planned to propose during this time.

I have purchased my diamond and setting from James Allen, which had an estimate ship date of 12/13. As you can see today is the 14th and there has been a delay hence my worrisome. Prior to my confirmation of my payment the service team was in constant communication and seemed very active and once payment was confirmed I had not heard from them until I reached out. Fast forward couple days prior to my original estimated shipping date, I had a general question for customer service about my diamond. Prior to purchase I was told they would send me an idealscope of the image because I had requested it and another confirmation email, this never came along. After prying for information long story short the rep mentioned that they did not have any information in their system about the diamond, which she mentioned that it probably meant the diamond is not yet in NY at their facility (3days before est ship date!). She was very rude but bluntly honest which I did appreciate. Yesterday on the 13th after more digging I was able to figure out that the diamond was shipped on the 6th, passed customes in India on the 7th but today they still did not even have the diamond (mind you today is the expected delivery date). 12/14 today I reached out and they say they “have” the diamond and with a generic response they are tracking it to be delivered by the end of the day. Today I spoke to somebody who was very helpful (could be blowing smoke my way) but he was even able to tell me they have a “hard-deadline” of today set on my ring so they can get the ring prior to 12/18. With all that has happened, I have already taken this in and set my expectations that I will not be receiving the ring before my departure. Should I still have hope?

In the case,
I have thought of many options.
1.) if the ring is delivered relatively soon after my departure (have my sister go to my house while tracking and retrieve ring) - if she is able to sign off on it with out showing ID. (Most deliveries just require last name and signature) and if she is able to she would internationally ship me the ring while I am there for 2 weeks.
2.) if the ring is unable to be picked up due to no ID, the ring would only stay at Fedex facility for 5 days it seems to say on site? So what happens to the ring since I will not be able to retrieve it?

So my question is, should I cancel the ring?
I plan on waiting til Monday since that is the absolute latest, but wondering if anybody has experience with such a time sensitive issue and elaborate on what they think.

I apolgoize this is a fully loaded post and if it is all over the place. As you can see my emotions are left and right at the moment.

I am not exactly sure if I am in the right there for this but if I am breaking any of the rules please let me know and I will edit.


Thank you everyone!

 

[kmoro]

Hmmm. I had an order that I followed up on twio times before the estimated ship date ... each time,
I was told there was no change to estimated ship date, and I would be notified immediately if there was any change. Ship date came and went without a word. Another contact - told my order now had a “hard”’ship date of the following Monday, and if there was a change, I would be notified immediately. Hard ship date came and went, did not hear a word. Called and left message ...about six hours later had an unfriendly caller (everyone else had been extremely pleasant) tell me that they didn’t actually know where my order was but they would get back to me the next day. Towards the end of the next day, I got a call that they located it - was with the jeweler and would be completed for QA in about three more days.
I cancelled the order.

So you know what my advice would be, lol.

 

[flyingpig]

1.) if the ring is delivered relatively soon after my departure (have my sister go to my house while tracking and retrieve ring) - if she is able to sign off on it with out showing ID. (Most deliveries just require last name and signature) and if she is able to she would internationally ship me the ring while I am there for 2 weeks.

Be careful. Diamonds and diamond rings are subject to sales taxes, duties, and special luxury good taxes in South Korea.

 

[sledge]

Wow, sorry to hear you are in this situation.

I think the easiest solution is to request JA ship the ring to you in Korea while you are visiting. It buys you some time and helps ease the stress of the situation, plus it puts the liability on JA to insure the ring in transit to Korea instead of you (or your sister). Things do get lost, especially around Christmas so it's nice to have some protection.

If you are frustrated with JA and want to switch vendors, then you need to consider someone that has stones and settings in-stock. WF, HPD and BGD come to mind. They are all super ideal vendors, will have all images, etc so you can make a quick decision. All have excellent customer service and can ship overseas. However, there may be a cost premium to switch depending on the specifics of your stone and setting.

Prior to canceling anything, you need to have a contingency plan in-place. So if you go with one of these alternate vendors, talk to them first and ensure they too can meet your date. Having the stones in their vault is a good thing, but their bench may be swamped as this is a busy time of the year and you have very little time to make it all happen.

 

[sledge]

Be careful. Diamonds and diamond rings are subject to sales taxes, duties, and special luxury good taxes in South Korea.

Excellent point. This may be helpful in determining any additional costs for taxes & duties.

https://www.jamesallen.com/tax-calculator/

I don't know all the specifics of your deal, but if JA promised a ring by X date and is failing to meet that then I would push back on them rather hard and demand they eat the cost of the international shipping along with any additional duties & taxes that you may incur. It's not fair you incur additional costs because of their mess up. Mistakes happen, no doubt. But how they choose to handle them makes all the difference in the world.

 

[jamesallenrings]

Hi @Plee5192 ,

Shelly here from James Allen. First off, I would like to apologize for the delay and lack of consistent information on our end. Please feel free to call or email our office and request to speak directly with a manager.

I also wanted to let you know that we have received the diamond and are in the process of getting it set into the ring, with a goal of shipping tonight. This is possible, since we begin manufacture of a ring as soon as the order is placed. Although it often takes 3-5 days for us to receive diamonds from overseas, much of the ring production is complete by the time the diamond arrives.

 

[Indylady]

Hi @Plee5192 ,

Shelly here from James Allen. First off, I would like to apologize for the delay and lack of consistent information on our end. Please feel free to call or email our office and request to speak directly with a manager.

I also wanted to let you know that we have received the diamond and are in the process of getting it set into the ring, with a goal of shipping tonight. This is possible, since we begin manufacture of a ring as soon as the order is placed. Although it often takes 3-5 days for us to receive diamonds from overseas, much of the ring production is complete by the time the diamond arrives.

Nice, glad to hear and see the feedback from you Shelly. I'm sure OP really appreciates it, and gives me a vote of confidence too. OP, good luck on your proposal! I hope its wonderful

 

[Bron357]

Hi @Plee5192 ,

Shelly here from James Allen. First off, I would like to apologize for the delay and lack of consistent information on our end. Please feel free to call or email our office and request to speak directly with a manager.

I also wanted to let you know that we have received the diamond and are in the process of getting it set into the ring, with a goal of shipping tonight. This is possible, since we begin manufacture of a ring as soon as the order is placed. Although it often takes 3-5 days for us to receive diamonds from overseas, much of the ring production is complete by the time the diamond arrives.

Well done James Allen (Shelly) Thank you for understanding the importance of the ring being received in a timely manner. We all understand how things can get delayed etc etc but when it’s an engagement ring for a holiday proposal the pressure and worry is really on!

 

[sledge]

Hi @Plee5192 ,

Shelly here from James Allen. First off, I would like to apologize for the delay and lack of consistent information on our end. Please feel free to call or email our office and request to speak directly with a manager.

I also wanted to let you know that we have received the diamond and are in the process of getting it set into the ring, with a goal of shipping tonight. This is possible, since we begin manufacture of a ring as soon as the order is placed. Although it often takes 3-5 days for us to receive diamonds from overseas, much of the ring production is complete by the time the diamond arrives.

Glad to hear this. @Plee5192, be sure to post back and let us know how it all went, and also with some hand shots of your new shiny diamond.

 

[jamesallenrings]

Update: Ring is finished, but arrived too late for QC, appraisal and shipment. Our office is working all weekend, however, and the ring is marked to ship Saturday for Monday delivery.

As soon as the ring is in a FedEx box, customer service will email you tracking info.

 

[sledge]

Update: Ring is finished, but arrived too late for QC, appraisal and shipment. Our office is working all weekend, however, and the ring is marked to ship Saturday for Monday delivery.

As soon as the ring is in a FedEx box, customer service will email you tracking info.

Excellent job. Thanks for jumping in Shelly.

 

[jamesallenrings]

My pleasure.

 

[tyty333]

Hi @Plee5192 ,

Shelly here from James Allen. First off, I would like to apologize for the delay and lack of consistent information on our end. Please feel free to call or email our office and request to speak directly with a manager.

I also wanted to let you know that we have received the diamond and are in the process of getting it set into the ring, with a goal of shipping tonight. This is
possible, since we begin manufacture of a ring as soon as the order is placed. Although it often takes 3-5 days for us to receive diamonds from overseas, much of the ring production is complete by the time the diamond arrives.

Hi Shelly @jamesallenrings,
Pricescopers, including myself, recommend James Allen stones all the time. I really like the James Allen user interface and the ability to see stones
rotating at an angle. Big thumbs up there. However, the lack of feedback from James Allen once deadlines have been missed is really concerning.
This is not the first time we have heard this issue. I know you have software that shows the buyer at what stage their ring is at. Do you have
software that notifies a/the Sales Associated when an order has missed a deadline? Are the SA obligated to contact the customer? Seems like JA is
missing some critical steps in its process. As you can see, it is costing you customers/money. Is this just a loss that JA is willing to accept? Can you address
these issues (or tell me to pound sand ). Could you please raise these issues up to a higher level of management and let them know it would
be beneficial if they fixed the "missed deadline/lack of feedback" issue.

Sincerely,
tyty

 

[Plee5192]

Hello OP here,

WOW! I am speechless. First of all I want to thank all the active members of Price Scope that took the time to reply and raise this thread.

In all honesty, I was told last night by the rep that told me that their was a “hard-deadline” set for my ring that I would receive a call on confirming the status and if it was going to ship. Just as expected there was no contact and as of last night as I kept repeatedly refreshing the tracking page like a maniac to see if anything had changed, but ultimately the only thing that changed was the estimated shipping date again and to 12/15. I gave up for the night.

I for certain did not know how much activity was on this thread because I received 2 emails of notification about the post, which the first 1 was Kmoro explaining their experience and another by jamesallenrings, which stated “my pleasure “. As I hadn’t seen any other replies I literally thought somebody created a username as jamesallenrings and was ultimately trolling.

Fast forward to this morning, although I say I gave up I still clinged on to the most minimal amount of hope (as I did not see any of the replies on PS till now). I woke up and saw the status switched to Quality assurance over night. I first called my sister to tell her I might have hope but read reviews that people have received status of QA and ultimately delayed again because of it did not pass (I thought this was just another example of how they buy more time and since I was told prodcution was M-F, I figured it was an auto update) but then as I refreshed the page all of a sudden I had a tracking number and BAM! received a confirmation email this morning at 11:06am that the ring has shipped with Fed-Ex.

Wow! My emotions are through the roof and can not express how much gratitude I have at the moment. I believe joining this thread was the best thing I have ever done. The PS Gods were watching over me, and as an Online retailer like Ja, I imagine word of mouth and reviews are the bread and butter of their business leads. Having said so, I don’t want to take away credit from JA as they may have intended to get the ring prior to my post, but I am sure this definitely had an influence and still think this was the best decision I have made.

I do just want to reply to a couple of the messages left just in case in the future, somebody who possibly might be in the same position as me (specifically for Korea) would have some insight.
A.) The idea of having my sister pick up and send to me internationally (taking all the risk) was because although JA does ship to Asia, Korea is not one of the countries. Unless I was able to raise this to higher level up and have them figure something ouut (assuming anything is possible).
B.) I hadn’t thought of the taxes as mentioned, I think at the moment my biggest goal was to have the ring actually in hand. I will do my due dilligence for bringing it to Korea. Thank you for the reminder.

Lastly, again I want to thank the members of PS as I was reassured the power of the internet .
Also instead of talking about the reps that were unhelpful or rude, I think it is much proper to thank the reps that had gone out of their way to provide great support. So thank you Denise P,Rodney H and Shelly!

Sorry for the very long post again.
I will definitely post pictures once the ring arrives and when (or if ) she replies “Yes” and the ring is on her finger in Korea haha.

Thank you and please stay tuned!

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Glad things worked out for you in the end! What nerve wrecking experience!!

will do my due dilligence for bringing it to Korea. T

I'm not an expert on Korea, but for the countries I checked you can personally bring in whatever you need for your own personal use as a resident of another country. You've already paid your taxes on your ring at home. Having stuff shipped to you is always different. I guess because it's impossible for tax authorities to monitor who will benefit from the goods.

 

[jamesallenrings]

Hi Shelly @jamesallenrings,
Pricescopers, including myself, recommend James Allen stones all the time. I really like the James Allen user interface and the ability to see stones
rotating at an angle. Big thumbs up there. However, the lack of feedback from James Allen once deadlines have been missed is really concerning.
This is not the first time we have heard this issue. I know you have software that shows the buyer at what stage their ring is at. Do you have
software that notifies a/the Sales Associated when an order has missed a deadline? Are the SA obligated to contact the customer? Seems like JA is
missing some critical steps in its process. As you can see, it is costing you customers/money. Is this just a loss that JA is willing to accept? Can you address
these issues (or tell me to pound sand ). Could you please raise these issues up to a higher level of management and let them know it would
be beneficial if they fixed the "missed deadline/lack of feedback" issue.

Sincerely,
tyty

Hi @tyty333 ,

Thank you for your feedback. In an effort to be transparent, I’d like to share the following information with you:

We are currently making several important changes to address the issue of late shipments - for example, making strategic investments in inventory, a major expansion of our New York manufacturing facilities, and a more streamlined fulfillment process. These investments have cut the number of 'late' shipments by almost 80% in the last two years. Our ultimate goal, of course, is not just a better notification system for late shipments but to eliminate late shipments entirely.

With that said, there will always be some things that are out of our control, and I appreciate the questions you raised about how we notify our customer service center and our customers.

If we know a ring is going to take longer than expected (say, for example, we need to do a custom basket that requires CAD), we reach out to the customer and let them know. This usually happens within 1-2 days after an order is placed, and in those instances the date that the customer sees in their account is updated to reflect the later date.

In many instances, however, we don't know a ring might be late until the day before it's scheduled to ship. This can happen for a variety of reasons, but is usually caused by a minor QC fail. Often times, we’re able to fix the issue and keep the scheduled delivery, but sometimes we need more time. Unfortunately, this means that our system shows everything is tracking on time, right up until it isn't. During peak sales events (like now), that schedule gets even more compressed. This is a difficult problem to solve, but one we take seriously and will continue to try and improve.

Regarding notifications: we are currently working on an automated notification system for early next year.

Finally, please know that I'm already sharing this feedback with upper management. We very much appreciate the support of the Pricescope community and look forward to our continued collaboration.

 

[jamesallenrings]

Hello OP here,

WOW! I am speechless. First of all I want to thank all the active members of Price Scope that took the time to reply and raise this thread.

In all honesty, I was told last night by the rep that told me that their was a “hard-deadline” set for my ring that I would receive a call on confirming the status and if it was going to ship. Just as expected there was no contact and as of last night as I kept repeatedly refreshing the tracking page like a maniac to see if anything had changed, but ultimately the only thing that changed was the estimated shipping date again and to 12/15. I gave up for the night.

I for certain did not know how much activity was on this thread because I received 2 emails of notification about the post, which the first 1 was Kmoro explaining their experience and another by jamesallenrings, which stated “my pleasure “. As I hadn’t seen any other replies I literally thought somebody created a username as jamesallenrings and was ultimately trolling.

Fast forward to this morning, although I say I gave up I still clinged on to the most minimal amount of hope (as I did not see any of the replies on PS till now). I woke up and saw the status switched to Quality assurance over night. I first called my sister to tell her I might have hope but read reviews that people have received status of QA and ultimately delayed again because of it did not pass (I thought this was just another example of how they buy more time and since I was told prodcution was M-F, I figured it was an auto update) but then as I refreshed the page all of a sudden I had a tracking number and BAM! received a confirmation email this morning at 11:06am that the ring has shipped with Fed-Ex.

Wow! My emotions are through the roof and can not express how much gratitude I have at the moment. I believe joining this thread was the best thing I have ever done. The PS Gods were watching over me, and as an Online retailer like Ja, I imagine word of mouth and reviews are the bread and butter of their business leads. Having said so, I don’t want to take away credit from JA as they may have intended to get the ring prior to my post, but I am sure this definitely had an influence and still think this was the best decision I have made.

I do just want to reply to a couple of the messages left just in case in the future, somebody who possibly might be in the same position as me (specifically for Korea) would have some insight.
A.) The idea of having my sister pick up and send to me internationally (taking all the risk) was because although JA does ship to Asia, Korea is not one of the countries. Unless I was able to raise this to higher level up and have them figure something ouut (assuming anything is possible).
B.) I hadn’t thought of the taxes as mentioned, I think at the moment my biggest goal was to have the ring actually in hand. I will do my due dilligence for bringing it to Korea. Thank you for the reminder.

Lastly, again I want to thank the members of PS as I was reassured the power of the internet .
Also instead of talking about the reps that were unhelpful or rude, I think it is much proper to thank the reps that had gone out of their way to provide great support. So thank you Denise P,Rodney H and Shelly!

Sorry for the very long post again.
I will definitely post pictures once the ring arrives and when (or if ) she replies “Yes” and the ring is on her finger in Korea haha.

Thank you and please stay tuned!

Thank you so much for your feedback. I apologize that you didn't receive a call - we incorrectly assumed that you were following the thread and will definitely not make that assumption again. I look forward to seeing the picture of your soon-to-be fiancée.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

This appears to be a happy ending story! Good job by JA to get this done on time and replying here!

And @Plee5192, when you post here, you'd better be checking back here often! This is a very active board! Good luck with your proposal!

 

[Plee5192]

haha yes, in the future I will definitely be checking up more often!

Also, in regards to taxes; the ring is of value so should be declared at customs..

Thank you everybody for the support and help.

Next step: pictures will be provided!

 

[tyty333]

Thank you @jamesallenrings for your feedback. Looks like JA is working on improving their notification process. It is understandable that unforeseen
delays may occur but its how (and when) that information gets transmitted to the customer that can make or break the deal. I'm glad to hear that
lots of positive changes are currently in the works for JA and look forward to their implementation!

Come back with lots of pictures when you get it on her finger @Plee5192!

 

[kmoro]

Thank you @jamesallenrings for your feedback. Looks like JA is working on improving their notification process. It is understandable that unforeseen
delays may occur but its how (and when) that information gets transmitted to the customer that can make or break the deal. I'm glad to hear that
lots of positive changes are currently in the works for JA and look forward to their implementation!

Come back with lots of pictures when you get it on her finger @Plee5192!

Exactly. In the end, the customer just wants to feel valued and receive what they expect. Usually issues are caused by misunderstandings, and everyone makes mistakes. It’s about how the mistakes are handled, imo.

 

[Plee5192]

Hi @jamesallenrings

I am currently tracking and the item is set to arrive on Monday. As the ring is in NJ and I live in RI I am almost certain the ring will be in RI by tomorrow And the reason for the delivery of Monday is because Fedex actually does not have delivery trucks on Sunday. So my question is, if the ring is actually in Rhode Island tomorrow, because Fedex offices are open but just do not deliver, would I be able to go there and pick it up myself?

Usually this is made possible on their webpage by “managing delivery” options. However, on this package it states that this has been made unavailable as the shipper has made restrictions to this feat, and I must contact the shipper. I am wondering if and only the ring is actually in RI and ready that I would be able to do this, as Monday I will not be home due to work and would have to pick up after work from the facility anyways.

Regards,
Peter

 

[WillyDiamond]

Peter
Although you know where your ring is physically, your package is sitting in a container with hundreds of other packages and until they go through the sorter, your package cannot be individually retrieved. You cannot pickup a package at a midpoint, unless FEDEX is notified but that will slow your delivery down at least a day.

In the future, if you are not going to be home for a FEDEX delivery, tell a shipper to send to the nearest FEDEX depot near you, this way you will be notified when the package arrives, and at your convenience during the day, pick up the package. All you need is the tracking number and ID.

 

[Plee5192]

Thank you for the quick response.

I definitely did think that the package would be with 100’s of others and that it would be set aside ready to be loaded on to the delivery trucks for Monday. I had just read something about Fedex interceptor, so I did not know if that was the option. As losing any time on a delivery would be risky I would just plan to work from home during the hours of anticipated drop off then head in after receiving the ring. That sounds like the safest bet.

I will proceed with the original shipment procedure and wait until Monday as originally planned.

Thank you,

 

[kmoro]

Thank you for the quick response.

I definitely did think that the package would be with 100’s of others and that it would be set aside ready to be loaded on to the delivery trucks for Monday. I had just read something about Fedex interceptor, so I did not know if that was the option. As losing any time on a delivery would be risky I would just plan to work from home during the hours of anticipated drop off then head in after receiving the ring. That sounds like the safest bet.

I will proceed with the original shipment procedure and wait until Monday as originally planned.

Thank you,

Have you contacted FedEx by phone? Maybe once the package is in NJ and sorted, they can hold it at the facility instead of loading it on the truck. I’ve called them and had them do this before ... I didn’t have to worry about missing the delivery and picked it up during the day, before the truck would have returned it after a missed delivery.
I realize you wanted to pick it up in RI, but if you don’t want to work from home, maybe give them a call. And you never know what they may say about RI ... it can’t hurt to ask.

 

[sledge]

I know this doesn't help your package get there any sooner, but I went through a similar experience. Bought a stone. Had it shipped to elsewhere for a custom setting. And then it was to be sent to me for the proposal.

Of course, nothing goes perfect and the creative/design process took a little longer than expected. Also, I was going out of town for the proposal (but not out of country) on a Saturday morning. The plan was for the package to ship to my work by that Friday at the latest.

Long story short, the whole process was going to run a day longer with a Saturday delivery. The issue further complicated by the fact I had to leave early that Saturday morning. With the extra notice I was able to think through some alternate options.

One option was to ship to the nearest drop off location and pick up myself. After placing some calls, I wasn't convinced this would work with my time constraints. The final and best option in my case was to have the package shipped to my future inlaw's house, which is the town we were headed anyways. Of course they were thrilled to oblige so I called and made the arrangements.

Overall this was a pretty good plan and worked out for me. Some things I didn't anticipate was her brother being there, receiving the package and opening it and checking out the stone ahead of time to ensure "it was good enough" for his sister. Luckily I passed the test, lol. Nor did I think through getting it from the parents to me and back to the car and finally back to the hotel. The box I got was rather large and hard to stuff in my pocket.

But like any determined person, I found a way to make it work and now those are just mere details we laugh about.

I say this to give you hope that you will get through this. I would echo the thought to call the FedEx facility and see if they can hold for pickup. There's a 50/50 shot it may happen. But if not, then don't sweat it. Work from home and take the delivery as expected. It's nice you have such flexibility in your schedule.

Above all else, remember you are at the 1 yard line and about to step into the pay dirt. Just remain calm and have some faith. You're going to make it!

 

[LinSF]

@sledge OMG. Your BIL opened it?! That would have caused a ruckus in my family! Lol.

 

[Plee5192]

@kmoro I kive in RI and work in RI so I wouldn’t want them to hold it in NJ haha, I will for certain call once it has nearly arrived to see if I can arrange something.

@sledge you are absolutely right, and I am almost at the final stretch. Do not want to make any mistakes and cause a fumble haha. I for certain will have faith, and having the package delivered as the original plan of Monday is perfectly okay. I think I am just being greedy and wanted it earlier haha. Also the fact that your brother in law opened it before you?! Hmmmm I don’t know if that would of flbeen okay with me. More respect to ya!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I wish I could hold fedex packages for pick up because my fedex guy for some reason never rings my doorbell so I get the “missed” slip even when I’m home. It’s infuriating!

Hope you have better luck signing for your package. Might be worth a little mail box stalking. I once literally sat in the lobby of my condo building waiting for them.

 

[Plee5192]

@MakingTheGrade I feel your pain and know exactly what you mean. They tend to have ninja senses and somehow manage to leave the slip as if you weren’t home even when you are haha. As I have a large and steep driveway, I tend to realize that sometimes they dont wan’t to come all the way to the door so end up trying to stuff the package in the mailbox or leave a slip! I will for certain be hawking out my window anticipating the drop tomorrow.