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Beware of James Allen

RingBuyer444

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 19, 2012
Messages
10
I bought a ring from James Allen about 6 months ago and was pleased with the outcome. Fast forward 6 months and the band has already broken twice. Both times through the course of normal daily activity nothing extreme. James Allen is willing to fix the band for free but a $66 shipping fee is required each time not to mention my fiancee having to be without her engagement ring for 3 week intervals.

James Allen is claiming that this band is susceptible to breakage from normal wear and tear. This is of course conveniently left out of the item's description on the internet. If I knew that I would need to be returning my item every 3 months at $66 a pop I surely would not have bought it.

The customer service is quite good prior to making your large purchase but is then pretty much dismal after. Unfortunately my initial hesitations, which were partial assuaged by this site, have been confirmed. The quality of the product being offered is inferior. It is too late for me but hopefully this can help some others.
 

tonyjlopez

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 5, 2013
Messages
41
Which band is this? Can you give us a link?
 

Karl_K

Super_Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
14,627
Rings break and some types are not suitable for some people.
Unfortunately the only way to find out for sure is the hard way.
I would talk to them about moving to a different style ring.
 

diamondseeker2006

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
58,547
It really is important that we see the ring. And where exactly is it breaking?
 

04diamond<3

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 31, 2007
Messages
3,672
Have you talked to them about it??? Also, it's always suggested that you check the prongs and make sure they're secure every 6 or so months.
 

YoungPapa

Shiny_Rock
Trade
Joined
Jun 18, 2002
Messages
445
Hi RingBuyer444,

I'm sorry to hear you've had issues with your ring. Your concern was escalated to the Customer Service Manager earlier today and if you check your inbox you'll find that we offered to waive the shipping fee's on this particular repair. We sent that email before you made this post.

The engagement ring style you selected is very sturdy and trouble-free for most customers, but like all pave designs there is a chance that diamonds can become loose or lost completely. That's why we offer to replace those diamonds at no cost to you, other than the shipping charges.

Finally, if you would prefer to simply return the 11042w style and exchange it for an alternate design we will give you full credit for the original purchase.

All the best,
 

diamondseeker2006

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
58,547
Excellent customer service!

I would maybe consider changing rings to a plain solitaire. We really haven't heard of problems with that ring before and I think pave rings just don't work we'll for everyone's lifestyle. And I surely wouldn't want to have to send a ring in a couple of times a year to replace melee.
 

pinkjewel

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Messages
2,362
Well, I would also be upset if diamonds kept falling out of a new ER,too. But it seems to me that they are going out of their way to make this right for you. Since they have offered to give you full value I think you might be happier with a different type of setting
 

isekii

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 18, 2012
Messages
95
Yep seems like James Allen is making it right.
Also what kind of work do you do ?
 

distracts

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
6,131
You say both times through the course of daily activity, but what WAS that daily activity? Pave is unsuited to many daily activities that plain-shank bands are suited for. It is not common practice for the jeweler to warn about this. It is possible it is a defective product; it is also possible it is being subjected to more stress than it should be. Either way, it may behoove you to consider a different setting type to hopefully minimize the chances of this happening again.

Here are a few that offer a similar style but in a design that looks more sturdy:
http://jamesallen.com/#!/engagement-rings/pave/18k-white-gold-double-claw-prong-0.18ct-pave-set-surprise-diamond-engagement-ring-item-1059
http://jamesallen.com/#!/engagement-rings/pave/18k-white-gold-2.6mm-six-prong-pave-diamond-engagement-ring-item-2211
http://jamesallen.com/#!/engagement-rings/side-stones/18k-white-gold-bezel-set-surprise-diamond-engagement-ring-item-488
http://jamesallen.com/#!/engagement-rings/channel-set/18k-white-gold-thin-channel-set-round-shaped-diamond-engagement-ring-item-9011
 

Laila619

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
11,676
Pave is not always a good choice for an everyday ring. I would exchange for a plain solitaire or a different setting.
 

mdmc

Shiny_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 27, 2010
Messages
209
I agree. After researching here,it seems the consensus was pave bands require more care than I wanted to give. I lead an active life and wanted to wear my engagement ring every day, so I chose a plain band. Looks like James Allen wants to work with you. Let us know how it turns out
 

wsblue430

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Nov 13, 2009
Messages
764
Talking about great customer service! Please consider to return the ring and set it into a plain solitaire or at least a brand-new pave ering. Not every ring can be perfect..some can be "lemons". But since you are getting this top notch service deal with the president directly and get what you want.

Very nice of you indeed Mr. Schultz!!
 

Niel

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 23, 2012
Messages
20,044
I am so sorry that it turned out that way. Unfortunately, even pave settings 5 times that price can have the same issue. They are tiny little stones on a ring that you wear every day. its inevitable that if worn a lot during a lot of different activities, that that those little stones can pop.

this is my favorite plain solitaire they have, very lovely and a very sturdy setting
http://jamesallen.com/#!/engagement-rings/solitaire/18k-white-gold-six-prong-royal-crown-engagement-ring-item-7745

OR you could take the opportunity to have it set in a halo. Plain shank of course sense it sounds like shes a little active, so leaving diamonds off the band sounds like a good idea.
http://jamesallen.com/#!/engagement-rings/halo/18k-white-gold-pave-halo-engagement-ring-round-center-item-7912

and then, the halo will really make her stone look even bigger
 

sonnyjane

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 13, 2008
Messages
2,476
I'm glad that James posted, and I'm glad that he made it clear that they offered to waive the shipping PRIOR to this post being created. I feel that as of late, these boards are being used more and more as a tool to speed up the process of resolving issues rather than to give a fair and unbiased review after the entire matter is resolved. To post "BEWARE OF JAMES ALLEN" on a public forum when they are repairing an item for free and had offered to waive the shipping BEFORE any complaint was made public isn't fair to James Allen.
 

04diamond<3

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 31, 2007
Messages
3,672
sonnyjane|1360806535|3379627 said:
I'm glad that James posted, and I'm glad that he made it clear that they offered to waive the shipping PRIOR to this post being created. I feel that as of late, these boards are being used more and more as a tool to speed up the process of resolving issues rather than to give a fair and unbiased review after the entire matter is resolved. To post "BEWARE OF JAMES ALLEN" on a public forum when they are repairing an item for free and had offered to waive the shipping BEFORE any complaint was made public isn't fair to James Allen.

:appl: :appl: :appl: :appl: :appl:
 

CharmyPoo

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
7,007
I wear my pave rings on a daily basis and haven't had issues with pave falling out. Mind you .. I am not very active and take off my rings as soon as I get home.

If you really want to stick with pave, you have to remember NOT to sleep with your rings and don't play sports or workout with the rings on. Even if you don't have pave, sleeping wth rings is a bad idea - I have seen a lot of damaged prongs this way.
 

distracts

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
6,131
04diamond<3|1360806740|3379631 said:
sonnyjane|1360806535|3379627 said:
I'm glad that James posted, and I'm glad that he made it clear that they offered to waive the shipping PRIOR to this post being created. I feel that as of late, these boards are being used more and more as a tool to speed up the process of resolving issues rather than to give a fair and unbiased review after the entire matter is resolved. To post "BEWARE OF JAMES ALLEN" on a public forum when they are repairing an item for free and had offered to waive the shipping BEFORE any complaint was made public isn't fair to James Allen.

:appl: :appl: :appl: :appl: :appl:

I would imagine OP is posting less to tell us about a customer service experience he is dissatisfied with than a product he views as defective. WE all know it COULD be a defective product OR it could be user error, and we've seen enough JA rings to know that defective products are rare (I haven't seen them at a greater rate than I have from any other vendor... I've seen MORE of them, but JA does a much higher volume of sales, too, so if their rate of defective settings is proportionate, it would be numerically higher) and enough pave rings to know that user error is common. To OP, the band has already broken and been fixed, and now it broke again, which must look like they did a shoddy job fixing it. I see his POV. I think he would be benefited by an examination of wear habits and whether they conform to that recommended for pave, and perhaps a total change of settings to a more durable type, but the vast majority of people think all jewelry is built like a tank and should be able to stand 24/7 wear, and anything that can't is a bad product to them.
 

Christina...

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
5,028
OP, I'm thinking that it may make sense for you and your fiance to take advantage of JAs offer of choosing another setting. I actually own the 3/4 eternity version of the ring that your having issues with and haven't had a single problem in two years. I'm wondering if the problem is the your ring is the full eternity version and the back side of our rings get banged around pretty good during the course of a day. Just carrying groceries from the car to the house can put a huge amount of stress on delicate pave and cause damage. Like the other posters have already suggested, I would consider how your finance is wearing her ring, pave takes extra care when wearing, so if she feels that she is being super careful already, then I would strongly consider a different style band.

I'm happy that JA is working with you on this, I've always felt that they go out of their way to assist their clients and make things right. I completely understand why you would be frustrated and would assume that the ring itself is faulty (and of course it may well be) but even if it is a structural issue, we try to caution people about the delicacy of pave type rings and the care and risks involved with owning one. If your fiance still wants the pave shank then I would suggest the .32 version in platinum with the understanding that the ring will have to be removed for many activities including and maybe most importantly sleeping. Good Luck to you!
 

WillyDiamond

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 7, 2004
Messages
1,452
JA has offered a change in the setting at no charge. But why did it take 2 times to do this. That setting looks pretty sturdy to me, I don't think that the pave stones should pop out. I would also be damn mad. Hey OP, will JA give you a refund? I also think that JA should refund your shipping monies of $66 for the first time you had to ship it back to them.
 

lknvrb4

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Messages
3,738
Perhaps a prong set diamond ring is better suited for her?
 
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