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Calling all jewelers - is this normal?

Christina...

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
5,028
If by coming here, your intent was to demonstrate how reasonable you have been regarding this situation, then I'd say you've failed. In fact you've very clearly demonstrated momhappy's points. You're rude, demeaning, and unprofessional, and the necklace had obvious workmanships issues beyond simple polishing.

Claiming that she only paid $475 for the necklace therefore shouldn't have complained about the workmanship doesn't fly with me either. YOU set the price of the item not momhappy, and to my knowledge you didn't tell her that since the item was on sale that she was not entitled to the same level of quality, craftsmanship, or professionalism that came with paying full price. :rolleyes: I have no issue with you calling this a 'custom' piece if momhappy asked for the necklace length to be changed, however a certain level of quality should be expected. In this case the diamond wasn't even set straight and there were obvious bezel inconsistencies which put the diamond at risk of falling out completely. Momhappy had the right to expect a well executed design, she didn't get that. I would refer you to Gypsy's above post....'custom doesn't mean that you are stuck with whatever POS they decide to give you.' I'm happy that you remade the piece for momhappy and I'm happier that she seems satisfied. I don't think though, that you are doing yourself any favors by continuing to post here, you'd been better off leting sleeping dogs lie.
 

Tekate

Ideal_Rock
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May 11, 2013
Messages
7,570
My mom always said: "there's three sides to every story 'his side, her side and the right side'.. so obviously there was some communication lag/loss.. angry words etc. passing between you both.. looking at the original necklace, it wasn't very well done, yet I am not a jeweler.. I have had custom work done and while I like it, it's not exactly perfect.. I recognized that some of the baguettes were different sizes (they were my baguettes given to the jeweler).. I decided my piece was unique and well done and that hand work perhaps can be not 'perfect' but all in all my setting is exactly what I wanted.. :) It takes verve to come and give your side of this situation.. If in looking at the first picture of the workmanship I would ask 'would you be satisfied with this if it were your necklace" once a situation turns 'nasty' it's always hard to find a common ground, in anything not just jewelry of course.. I think if it were me I would review you as 'didn't like first piece but did their best in the end to ensure I was satisfied' I think that would be fair... You may want to make sure your quality control is a little bit more on the ball.. because in the end.. you are selling a product, service and we as buyers deserve to be treated well.. btw I no longer use paypal, have not for years as I was hacked years ago..

You might have been better off to give your side to her, and say I wish to have your business again as we are human but that was not the case.. I wish you well in your business, we all get lost in our daily lives trying to make a dollar..
 

momhappy

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Mar 3, 2013
Messages
4,660
Tekate|1379934397|3525585 said:
My mom always said: "there's three sides to every story 'his side, her side and the right side'.. so obviously there was some communication lag/loss.. angry words etc. passing between you both.. looking at the original necklace, it wasn't very well done, yet I am not a jeweler.. I have had custom work done and while I like it, it's not exactly perfect.. I recognized that some of the baguettes were different sizes (they were my baguettes given to the jeweler).. I decided my piece was unique and well done and that hand work perhaps can be not 'perfect' but all in all my setting is exactly what I wanted.. :) It takes verve to come and give your side of this situation.. If in looking at the first picture of the workmanship I would ask 'would you be satisfied with this if it were your necklace" once a situation turns 'nasty' it's always hard to find a common ground, in anything not just jewelry of course.. I think if it were me I would review you as 'didn't like first piece but did their best in the end to ensure I was satisfied' I think that would be fair... You may want to make sure your quality control is a little bit more on the ball.. because in the end.. you are selling a product, service and we as buyers deserve to be treated well.. btw I no longer use paypal, have not for years as I was hacked years ago..

You might have been better off to give your side to her, and say I wish to have your business again as we are human but that was not the case.. I wish you well in your business, we all get lost in our daily lives trying to make a dollar..

Well said and I agree with you. You're spot on when you say that there are actually three sides to every story, which again, is why I'm okay with the seller posting here :)
The breakdown in communication occurred immediately upon my dissatisfaction with the quality of the necklace. The seller became very defensive as though I was personally attacking her. I said in a couple of different emails that I was not addressing her quality as a whole, but I was simply addressing a quality issue on this specific piece of jewelry only. I even complimented her rose gold (it truly is a lovely shade of pink) and I let her know that her diamonds are pretty too. She never once took ownership of the fact that there might indeed be a problem with the necklace. It was a constant argument. As a business owner, customer service issues have to be handled appropriately - even if you hate the customer (and it was pretty clear that she did). Referring to people as "honey" or telling your customers that you are to busy to deal with their petty "quality" issue is just not cool and THAT is exactly why I am an unsatisfied customer. Also, I feel that the seller has punished/blamed me for the opinions of others that have been shared here. I tried to make my very first post as unbiased as possible in an effort to elicit genuine opinions/responses from professionals in the industry. I didn't "trash" the piece, but the commentary that followed, supported my initial thoughts on the matter.
I truly wish that our transaction hadn't turned out this way. It bothers me when two adults can't work together and come to some sort of agreement. In the end, this is an Etsy store and although she has a clearly stated "no return" policy, I felt that my situation warranted a return. I came here on my own to update that the replacement necklace that I received was fine and I also asked for advice on how to handle her feedback. I have shopped Etsy for years and have never left negative feedback because all of my experiences have been exceptional (and I've made a lot of jewelry purchases including a custom set of diamond right hand rings). My gut says that I should be honest about my experience and reflect that in my feedback, but then I feel bad for thinking about leaving negative feedback because it's just not something that I would get any joy out of.
 

Trudii

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 11, 2013
Messages
74
In my experience the absolute best vendors are those who have empathy and humility. I didn't see either here which is why I agreed with the other poster's comment. To the seller perhaps $475 is not a lot of money and doesn't deserve the utmost attention, but what if it took the buyer a year to save that, or longer? When the item arrived damaged - either because of shipping or poor workmanship - this is where empathy and humility come into play. Put pride on the back burner, see the situation from the customer's point of view and make it right.
 

Uniquestyle

Rough_Rock
Trade
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Messages
20
Perhaps I should have clarified what I meant by her paying $475. It was not my intent to imply that it was "only" $475, I'm simply stating that the margin of profit that I make for this piece is very small. If you're in the jewelry business than you know the market for these diamonds. To put it more bluntly, she basically received a beautiful piece near cost. Especially since I upgraded for free.
Furthermore, from the very first email exchange when she sent me her exaggerated photo, I tried my best to manage the situation. Offered 100 times to fix it to make her happy. She is the one who immediately became angry, threatening, "if I don't get a refund I'm posting negative feedback, shutting down your ETSY store and the list goes on. Her payment was 100% used to purchase materials for her necklace.

She claims there's some inconsistency in my story? It's all documented in correspondences. I really do not wish to spend any more time on this topic. I came here to simply state the facts of what happened as she falsely portrays my business as a negative experience however she leaves out the harassing emails that she overloaded me with. I don't want to have to copy and paste all the exchanges as it would simply be time wasted for me., however those are the facts. I
I tried from the very beginning to sort this out and she wanted her money back. Being a small business on the heels of starting out, her exchange was not feasible to refund her custom order. Truthfully I was going to just take this loss and refund but her constant threats and insults were what started this entire debacle.

My business is beyond exploding and the reason is simple. I deliver quality unique jewelry at a small marginal price. If for ANY reason someone is dissatisfied with the craftsmanship, I will ALWAYS fix the issue. Period. Even from 10 years from now.
Full Refunds are in order when it's a stocked item. Custom orders are subject to refunds. Period.

So far that policy has worked amazing for me and I've compiled a contact list of over 100 new friends/buyers in the process.

You all have an opinion of what I should have done/should do, etc. Until you actually have dealt with this person, ran my business, I just don't see any validity in those opinions... But thank u.
 

yssie

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
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27,242
.
 

yssie

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Uniquestyle, are you the same person who posted earlier under that handle? Because the posts couldn't be more different. This one is reasonable, polite, and substantive - precisely the opposite of the condescending defensiveness we've seen thus far.

It does sound like there were a number of breakdowns in communication. And I think it's clear that momhappy was not originally upset because she felt that you were incapable of making satisfactory pieces (she wouldn't have chosen you if she'd felt that way!), but let down because she felt that her piece did not meet the standards your other creations have set. IMO it's an important difference.

But... here's the thing: business isn't always perfectly fair, or perfectly logical, when people are involved! I'm a casual observer who is always interested in hearing about new vendors for my own projects. Momhappy's tale of woe and your prior rebuttals have convinced me, casual observer and prospective client, never to work with you. Why? Because there are many other vendors who do the same sort of work at the same sorts of pricepoints so why would I take the risk? Until this post you have represented yourself and your company very poorly, and that is unfortunate because we're all jewellery enthusiasts who've all done/followed/heard about enough projects to understand that sometimes mistakes do happen, and that how the vendor addresses the situation is what matters most.


I recently had an Etsy vendor who is popular on PS (DanielM) bezel a pear (handmade bezel in 14k rose gold). The first iteration was a disaster. I contacted them with photos magnified 10000000% and they reached out to me within an hour, apologized, and offered to remake it (at their expense of course) and push the job to the front of the line to meet my timeline. Part of me thought "well, if they could do it right they'd have done it right the first time", but... mistakes happen! And I also had the advantage of having worked with them before. I had a number of concerns and was reassured by the way they addressed all of them promptly, thoroughly, and professionally, and they were confident that they understood what I wanted and were capable of executing it... Here's a photo of what I got back, obviously also greatly magnified. Ignore the wonky jump ring sitting on top - that's my fault. They also did a couple of repairs/adjustments on the clasp/chain for me and IIRC I paid ~$200 total so no, re-doing work that you were at fault for at-cost doesn't impress me at all, but excellent customer service can make or break a transaction. Result of my experience: I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them and ask them to take on other projects for me!!

oops.png
yssiejbegdm_2.png


My point: if THAT had been momhappy's review your potential circle of friends/buyers could have expanded to include a forum full of jewellery enthusiasts.
 

momhappy

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Mar 3, 2013
Messages
4,660
Yssie|1379950171|3525679 said:
Uniquestyle, are you the same person who posted earlier under that handle? Because the posts couldn't be more different. This one is reasonable, polite, and substantive - precisely the opposite of the condescending defensiveness we've seen thus far.

It does sound like there were a number of breakdowns in communication. And I think it's clear that momhappy was not originally upset because she felt that you were incapable of making satisfactory pieces (she wouldn't have chosen you if she'd felt that way!), but let down because she felt that her piece did not meet the standards your other creations have set. IMO it's an important difference.

But... here's the thing: business isn't always perfectly fair, or perfectly logical, when people are involved! I'm a casual observer who is always interested in hearing about new vendors for my own projects. Momhappy's tale of woe and your prior rebuttals have convinced me, casual observer and prospective client, never to work with you. Why? Because there are many other vendors who do the same sort of work at the same sorts of pricepoints so why would I take the risk? Until this post you have represented yourself and your company very poorly, and that is unfortunate because we're all jewellery enthusiasts who've all done/followed/heard about enough projects to understand that sometimes mistakes do happen, and that how the vendor addresses the situation is what matters most.


I recently had an Etsy vendor who is popular on PS (DanielM) bezel a pear (handmade bezel in 14k rose gold). The first iteration was a disaster. I contacted them with photos magnified 10000000% and they reached out to me within an hour, apologized, and offered to remake it (at their expense of course) and push the job to the front of the line to meet my timeline. Part of me thought "well, if they could do it right they'd have done it right the first time", but... mistakes happen! And I also had the advantage of having worked with them before. I had a number of concerns and was reassured by the way they addressed all of them promptly, thoroughly, and professionally, and they were confident that they understood what I wanted and were capable of executing it... Here's a photo of what I got back, obviously also greatly magnified. Ignore the wonky jump ring sitting on top - that's my fault. They also did a couple of repairs/adjustments on the clasp/chain for me and IIRC I paid ~$200 total so no, re-doing work that you were at fault for at-cost doesn't impress me at all, but excellent customer service can make or break a transaction. Result of my experience: I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them and ask them to take on other projects for me!!

oops.png
yssiejbegdm_2.png


My point: if THAT had been momhappy's review your potential circle of friends/buyers could have expanded to include a forum full of jewellery enthusiasts.

The bolded is exactly right. I have no doubt that the seller can produce unique, lovely, quality pieces of jewelry (after all, thats what led me to make a purchase in her shop in the first place), but that's not how I felt about the piece that I received.
I had a problem with the quality of my necklace and when I contacted the seller about that problem, I received the same sort of condescending, defensive response that you have all seen here.
And for the record, the "upgrade" that the seller keeps referring to was from a 16" chain to an 18" chain, which by the way, is also the ONLY thing that made my necklace a "custom" item. The seller routinely sells the exact same necklace in her store (at various price points) and could have easily relisted it for sale again. I paid extra for shipping charges and for those of you who shop Etsy, you know that Etsy pricing is almost always negotiable, so I don't consider the original necklace that I received to be an "upgraded" necklace simply because I negotiated a slightly longer chain in the price of the item.
Having said all that, this back-and-forth discussion could go on forever and as I mentioned before, it's not very productive. I believe that I proved my point when the seller began posting here, the seller got to share her perception of the events, and now it's up to the consumers to make their own decisions about who to shop with.
Thanks everyone for your contributions to this thread. It's been a very interesting ride indeed! :razz:
Oh and I almost forgot, Yssie, your necklace is gorgeous and I'm glad that it all worked out for you!
 

MissSunshine

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jun 4, 2014
Messages
7
Cestsla offers poor quality - and the owner Meghan is demeaning, unprofessional and frankly her posts are embarrassing - support those that she has taken advantage off. Sloppy work for a very average product.
 

Uniquestyle

Rough_Rock
Trade
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Messages
20
Embarrassing because I'm defending my business from someone who can't even prove what the issue was with ur purchased jewelry? Stop wasting my time responding because clearly u can't prove anything from a fictitious story.

All ur doing is expressing anger and exercising ur freedom of speech rights as u had to pay your professional jeweler for a repair I offered to do! . I hope he wasn't a friend because I didn't even charge u that and my chain had a little genuine diamond attached!

:appl:
 

Stephny691

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
164
Wow. Just...wow.

Momhappy I'm glad it all worked for you. And Yssie that necklace really is gorgeous!
 

OECsareforLovers

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Messages
254
Momhappy, I'm glad you are happy with the finished product. Thanks for posting your experience. With so many vendors out there it's good to know who to stay clear of and enjoy to buy from.
 

proto

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 9, 2014
Messages
322
TL;DR
Item is of poor quality
Customer complained and didnt get refund
had to deal with stress and poor customer service
Eventually got a replacement item after much stress
Dont buy from this jewllery

To the jeweller

- your workmanship looks shoddy, I dont care if the piece is tiny or not. The pictures speak for themselves

- the price and your margins are your responsibility. People expect work to be done properly, and the fact that you set your margins razor thin are no excuse for sending out substandard products.

- I hope google finds these posts if anyone searches for a review of your shop and steers clear

- you should be ashamed of yourself for posting on here in the manner in which you did. Extremely unprofessional
 

yasssss

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
Messages
250
proto said:
TL;DR
Item is of poor quality
Customer complained and didnt get refund
had to deal with stress and poor customer service
Eventually got a replacement item after much stress
Dont buy from this jewllery

To the jeweller

- your workmanship looks shoddy, I dont care if the piece is tiny or not. The pictures speak for themselves

- the price and your margins are your responsibility. People expect work to be done properly, and the fact that you set your margins razor thin are no excuse for sending out substandard products.

- I hope google finds these posts if anyone searches for a review of your shop and steers clear

- you should be ashamed of yourself for posting on here in the manner in which you did. Extremely unprofessional


DITTO. MomHappy is extremely patient and cut you way too much slack.
 

Stephny691

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
164
yasssss|1402038420|3687567 said:
proto said:
TL;DR
Item is of poor quality
Customer complained and didnt get refund
had to deal with stress and poor customer service
Eventually got a replacement item after much stress
Dont buy from this jewllery

To the jeweller

- your workmanship looks shoddy, I dont care if the piece is tiny or not. The pictures speak for themselves

- the price and your margins are your responsibility. People expect work to be done properly, and the fact that you set your margins razor thin are no excuse for sending out substandard products.

- I hope google finds these posts if anyone searches for a review of your shop and steers clear

- you should be ashamed of yourself for posting on here in the manner in which you did. Extremely unprofessional


DITTO. MomHappy is extremely patient and cut you way too much slack.

Thritto.
 

MarionC

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 9, 2013
Messages
6,246
I know how this feels. When the local jeweler in sizing my Mom's rings damaged one, they first tried to tell me it had been purchased from Tiffany's that way :lol:
Then they wanted to "fix" it. I could not imagine letting them near it again.

The proper response from the vendor would have been short and sweet---- "I am so sorry about this. Please allow me to make it right" for you.
 

arkieb1

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
May 11, 2012
Messages
9,786
Blaming a customer because of low margins is the vendors problem, not the customers. Decent vendors have good return policies- if their customers are not happy with the work for whatever reason, then good vendors offer to replace or redo the work. If you were unable to provide a satisfactory piece in the time require you should have stated this upfront rather than later blaming the customer for the rushed order after the fact...... In the service industry there is a saying - "the customer is always right" I think some vendors could benefit from this expression.
 

Uniquestyle

Rough_Rock
Trade
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Sep 15, 2013
Messages
20
That's exactly what I said, sorry if u missed that. She did to want my help. And regarding the quality of my jewelry, stephny :), Nobody said it was poor. Miss sunny is the only one that said that. Please refer to my reviews and happy Customers. My margin is low because I want to offer a great product, fairly priced, NOT due to quality. It's also good that my best friend is one of top 5 diamond dealers in the world ;-)... Not the US. The world.
So.. Don't assume quality is lacking because margin is low, darling. The prices in the jewelry business are beyond inflated, many reasons for that, many venders, etc, however I get mine direct from the sources and I make it myself - with professional jewelers that have over 35 years behind them in the business. That's why my business is wildly successful. Because I'm not like everyone else.

I'm off to make quality pieces of amazing jewelry that will make my customers happy... Hope u all have a pleasant day!!
 

OoohShiny

Ideal_Rock
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Messages
8,228
Uniquestyle|1402066418|3687805 said:
That's exactly what I said, sorry if u missed that. She did to want my help. And regarding the quality of my jewelry, stephny :), Nobody said it was poor. Miss sunny is the only one that said that. Please refer to my reviews and happy Customers. My margin is low because I want to offer a great product, fairly priced, NOT due to quality. It's also good that my best friend is one of top 5 diamond dealers in the world ;-)... Not the US. The world.
So.. Don't assume quality is lacking because margin is low, darling. The prices in the jewelry business are beyond inflated, many reasons for that, many venders, etc, however I get mine direct from the sources and I make it myself - with professional jewelers that have over 35 years behind them in the business. That's why my business is wildly successful. Because I'm not like everyone else.

I'm off to make quality pieces of amazing jewelry that will make my customers happy... Hope u all have a pleasant day!!
Ahh, condescension and egotism... such attractive traits.


Care to name your best friend?
 

proto

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 9, 2014
Messages
322
Uniquestyle|1402066418|3687805 said:
That's exactly what I said, sorry if u missed that. She did to want my help. And regarding the quality of my jewelry, stephny :), Nobody said it was poor. Miss sunny is the only one that said that. Please refer to my reviews and happy Customers. My margin is low because I want to offer a great product, fairly priced, NOT due to quality. It's also good that my best friend is one of top 5 diamond dealers in the world ;-)... Not the US. The world.
So.. Don't assume quality is lacking because margin is low, darling. The prices in the jewelry business are beyond inflated, many reasons for that, many venders, etc, however I get mine direct from the sources and I make it myself - with professional jewelers that have over 35 years behind them in the business. That's why my business is wildly successful. Because I'm not like everyone else.

I'm off to make quality pieces of amazing jewelry that will make my customers happy... Hope u all have a pleasant day!!

Reddit/4chan etc love people like you.

All you have shown is that:
1) having friends in high places doesnt mean much in the jewellery business, and;
2) notwithstanding these advantages in the market, you still cant seem to get it right.

Ho hum
 

EvangelineG

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Messages
560
Wow. The unprofessional-ism exhibited here is stunning. Thank goodness for places like pricescope where you can thoroughly vet a jeweller before choosing to do business with them.

I am sorry you had such an unpleasant experience MomHappy.
 

lalalex

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jun 6, 2014
Messages
1
Hello,

I'm typically not one to post in any forum, however after reading the thread of responses regarding Megan's pieces, I felt obligated to respond.

I'm actually a customer of Cestsla jewelry who has purchased many pieces. My first purchase was about 6 months ago, and as Megan had commented, I was blown away when I opened the package. Her photos are nice, show every angle of the piece, and provide the consumer with enough information to decide to make the purchase, or not, however when I opened my package, I was literally was blown away with the sparkle of the diamond and the shimmer of the gold. It was more beautiful than I could have imagined. The quality is very good, holding up to jewelry at Tiffanys and the likes. Since then, I've purchased many items from her, all of which hold up to the same amazing quality and truthfully, there hasn't been one day that's gone by that someone has not commented on a piece that I'm wearing. It really is unique and beautifully crafted with exceptional diamonds and gold at very good prices. There is no other place where I can find quality jewelry like this at the prices that I've paid and she should be applauded for this. BTW, she has always been responsive and attentive to all of my emails. I can tell she is truly passionate about her craft and I hope that she continues to make jewelry like this because she is filling a very big void in the jewelry market.

For whatever it's worth, that is my experience and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had a pleasant experience. She is doing a good thing people…She's not running for President, she is making fine jewelry and that's exactly what she offers.
 

OoohShiny

Ideal_Rock
Premium
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Messages
8,228
lalalex|1402073007|3687905 said:
For whatever it's worth, that is my experience and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had a pleasant experience. She is doing a good thing people…She's not running for President, she is making fine jewelry and that's exactly what she offers.
Thank you for your post. The cynic in me wonders how many more delighted customers we may have chime in on this thread, but then I am cynical about most things having been on the internet so long, and I appreciate that cynicism is sometimes misplaced.

IMO the true test of any vendor of any item or service is how they resolve a situation when things go wrong. So far, going from the experiences posted by the OP and the later sarcastic and condescending tone of the vendor, this is one area in which she fails - her tone does not inspire confidence that she will work to resolve a situation or even just say "ok, I'm sorry you don't like it, send it back and I will refund you fully and we can go our separate ways", which would put me off a purchase. I'm sure she does do good work and prices it reasonably, but it's the exceptions that set the standard.
 

Snuffles_Rose

Rough_Rock
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Jan 12, 2014
Messages
56
someone is definitely trolling....
 

ponder

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Mar 5, 2009
Messages
748
Wow! Just wow!

I remembered reading this thread when you received the first necklace. I'm glad you are finally satisfied with the necklace, but I wish I would have made some popcorn for the conclusion. :o Very informative .
 
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