Are you one of those PITB hard to please customer?

[Dancing Fire]

the kind of customer that vendors wanna shoot over the phone and want no part of?
the kind of customer who would scrutinize every little detail (ring/setting) under a microscope and can never be satisfied?

 

[srke]

With PS i am learning to be

 

[lissyflo]

It’s funny you raised this now! I didn’t think I was and I’m usually firm once I’ve made a decision, but I’m trying to do a moonstone pendant at the moment and think I might be irritating the designer as I’ve just changed my mind. I’ve just started a thread in the coloured stone forum if anyone cares to help find inspiration pictures!

 

[AV_]

I am the one with flowers, cookies & a thank you note.

 

[Lykame]

I am a total PITB. I irritate myself let alone the lovely people doing my ring for me. I was so relaxed the last time I had a ring made, I didn't micromanage at all, and it all went not so great. That along with Pricescope giving me lots of very useful knowledge and I suspect I'm a bit of a very polite nightmare.

How about you? What drove this question? Anything we should know?

 

[ringbling17]

In a nutshell, yes but it also depends on the vendor and also it depends on the cost.
For example if I’m shelling out $5000 on a setting it better be exactly what I want and I will scrutinize every detail. But if I’m buying a setting for $1000 then I’m not going to expect it to be perfect. I will
be more forgiving.
If I’m buying from Harry Winston I expect a product to be far superior to a product I purchase from Zales.

 

[cflutist]

Yeah @Dancing Fire
Which CBI did you finally end up with. There are some juicy ones out there right now.

Btw, I am not a pita customer. But then it is easy not to be one. The jewelry that HPD makes with CBI diamonds and Lux Melee make it easy to be a satisfied client.

 

[missy]

No I am not. I try dealing with vendors who I know are skilled and nice as well so there are no issues and I stay away from PITA vendors. That is the key IMO. And it isn't about mistakes not happening because let's face it mistakes can and will happen no matter how great the vendor is or how easy going (or difficult) the consumer is. But instead it is how one deals with those mistakes and corrects them. That is what matters.


And I second @kayla17. One should not expect champagne results on a beer budget. I watch House Hunter shows and am blown away by the unrealistic expectations the first time (and sometimes not first time lol) buyers have. They want it all and want it perfectly all on a crazy low budget. Keep expectations realistic for the amount you are spending.

And yes to @AV_ be appreciative and thankful for how hard they work to make your bling dreams come true. Your appreciation and respect go a long way.

 

[AprilBaby]

Not at all, I’m usually way too nice.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Generally not.

I love coloured stones and use a lot of "off the shelf" settings from china that I buy at my Chinatown jewellers for a good price so I just pick a setting I like, have the stone set, enjoy it and move on. That said whilst these settings are not high end, they are well made and don't look skimpy.

I do not have an eye or endless patience for CADs. The few times I have gone custom I have sent the vendor a few pics and said "Can you pretty please make it like this. Thank you so much! Bye!" I expect the rings to be finished well and not bent or have crooked prongs etc but I am not one to fuss that the double prongs need to be curved or whatever. In fact it all kinda looks the same after a while. As long as they get it to look good overall I'm happy.

My "quirk" is my hawk eye for inclusions which I have kinda learned to chilled out a bit ever since becoming obsessed with coloured stones and jade. I just bought a splotchy lavender jade ring (I know it is splotchy but bought it anyway). Inclusions in diamonds bother me though. I can see them in the bigger SI diamonds and they really bother me.

 

[Lykame]

Now with all the comments here I feel I need to say that I would like to think I am actually an okay human being and not an a-hole. Certainly if I were being an actual PITB I would hope someone would point that out to me so that I could have an opportunity to reflect on it and improve. I'm all about self-reflection and insight into how I can be better, but that means I'm tough on myself and quick to think others must view me as a nuisance. I like to think I'm very lovely to my chosen vendor, I think they are amazing and I make that very clear to them. Good communication is key to everything.

 

[Johnbt]

Am I ??? Of course not, but I do own a microscope.

 

[Dancing Fire]

are.

How about you? What drove this question? Anything we should know?

I'm not that picky. I realize the stones are set my hand and I don't expect every prong to be perfect. As long as the stone is safely mounted in the the setting then I'm fine.

 

[Lykame]

I'm not that picky. I realize the stones are set my hand and I don't expect every prong to be perfect. As long as the stone is safely mounted in the the setting then I'm fine.

I meant more... are you asking this question because you're going down the process of a custom setting for a diamond that you might be obtaining...?

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I’m pretty low key but I also work with a jeweler open to feedback. I bring up complaints, she’ll fix them if she can or tell me the result is the best she can do and I’m also ok with that answer as everyone has limits to their abilities and as long as I don’t feel like I was deceived then I’m ok with a little asymmetry here or there. Most times she can fix it,so I’m a happy camper. As said above, I’ve learned to go to more skilled benches if I need a setting that will require a high degree of finesse.

 

[LLJsmom]

Totally depends on the person I am working with. If I trust them I am completely hands off except asking about progress. If I have never worked with them, I will be more anxious and may micromanage more.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Yeah @Dancing Fire
Which CBI did you finally end up with. There are some juicy ones out there right now.

Btw, I am not a pita customer. But then it is easy not to be one. The jewelry that HPD makes with CBI diamonds and Lux Melee make it easy to be a satisfied client.

As of now I'm sticking with the 2.35ct H VS1, but may upgrade in the future.

 

[MissGotRocks]

As of now I'm sticking with the 2.35ct H VS1, but may upgrade in the future.

Then we need pictures DF! We've been waiting to hear about which stone you ended up with!!

 

[cflutist]

There is a really nice 2.60 H-VS1, 34.5, 48.0, 55 table, 15.1 crown that I would buy myself if I didn't have the 2.79 F-VS1. @Dancing Fire

 

[Dancing Fire]

I meant more... are you asking this question because you're going down the process of a custom setting for a diamond that you might be obtaining...?

Nahhh, I wouldn't do a custom setting b/c I might upgrade in the future. To me a setting is just a picture frame I prefer to put most of the money into the stone. My stone will be set into a $450 titanium tension setting.

 

[HappyNewLife]

nope. I didn't even adjust the CAD when DK sent me one. I'm pretty chill

 

[Dancing Fire]

There is a really nice 2.60 H-VS1, 34.5, 48.0, 55 table, 15.1 crown that I would buy myself if I didn't have the 2.79 F-VS1. @Dancing Fire

Yes a very nice stone but if I were to upgrade I would like a stone closer to 3ct. . I know, I know, a near 3ct CBI will be almost impossible to find with the specs I have in mind. but you'll never know.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Then we need pictures DF! We've been waiting to hear about which stone you ended up with!!

The stone is a 2.35ct H VS1 from Wink. I need to get my finger measure before I can order the tension setting from Boone.

 

[Dee*Jay]

I think I'm pretty reasonable -- at this point in my life anyway, although that wasn't always the case.

In the last ring I had made a few months ago I had requests that resulted in a second CAD, which was the final one. In a ring I'm having made now I've made requests resulting in two additional CADs and I'm pretty sure the next (third) one will be the last.

And frankly I've also stopped louping my jewelry (unless there's a good reason, like I think I've damaged a prong and a stone is not safe, or something like that). Why stress myself out over something I can only see with a specialty eye piece?

Could I obsess some more? Sure! But... whyyyyy?

 

[RosieR]

To be honest, I’m starting to think that vendors are the problem not me. Last weekend I was in London searching for antique diamond earrings. I asked the sales associate what the estimated carat weight, colour and clarity of the diamonds was. Not only did she not know, but didn’t understand why I would want to. These earrings cost the better part of £10,000

 

[bludiva]

To be honest, I’m starting to think that vendors are the problem not me. Last weekend I was in London searching for antique diamond earrings. I asked the sales associate what the estimated carat weight, colour and clarity of the diamonds was. Not only did she not know, but didn’t understand why I would want to. These earrings cost the better part of £10,000

I find that perplexing with high end purchases...like doing due diligence is a nuisance? Easy way to lose me as a customer.

 

[holeydonut]

Yeah, you know you're the PITB (or PITA) customer when the owner of the jewelry store calls you personally to educate you on why your expectations of his jewelry and products should be lowered.

Apparently my requests (mostly to ensure that my fiance got what she wants/deserves) and questions were getting unreasonable haha. Some PS-ers also thought I was being unreasonable. But then the diamond and ring only cost $30K... apparently I didn't spend enough money to warrant the myriad requests. So I guess it's all relative.

I admit I had a long list of things to check off before buying... but they knew about how specific I was entering the transaction. And I honestly don't think the list was that outrageous. The only way to make sure you get what you want is to ask right?

 

[Matilda]

I am far too easy a customer, I should up my game. In fact I find myself not wanting to hurt the vendor's feelings. This is about the setting though, I am more demanding when it comes to the stone. This discrepancy is probably more about the fact that I don't care about settings at all. To me they are just a frame (as @Dancing Fire said) which are easily replaceable, so I don't want to spend much on them, in terms of money, energy and time.

I would regret spending more than $1000 on a setting as I always think I should put that into the stone.

 

[Matilda]

@RosieR I find that in London and Europe generally, that retain is quite common!! Had that experience a week ago

 

[Dancing Fire]

I would regret spending more than $1000 on a setting as I always think I should put that into the stone.

Yup, I just want a simple setting and I'm done. After I'm finish upgrading I might go with a PT setting.