Chain Store: A Tale of Horror!!!

[MichaelLC]

Well, maybe not outright "horror," more like a vauge uneasiness, or mortal terror, or maybe just a bad tuna salad sandwich... Anyway..

My GF and I were doing some other shopping, so we stopped into a chain place, (ryhmes with ''sales'') to do some general browsing. The woman we spoke with sized her finger, was very nice, didn''t pressure or anything, but what she said was frightening.

She told us "a certified diamond is how you know it''s better quality," showed us some I and SI-grade rocks, some which weren''t ''certified''.

I went myself to another store, (different company), and he told me VVS1,2 were "very rare, very hard to find".

Don''t really have a question, just wanted to share my B&M experiences.

 

[Rod]

Welcome to the B&M Zone......do do do do do do..........It''s sad that these chains (and it''s alright to be specific and say Zales), don''t get it that many consumers are more educated, and they continue to espouse "voodoo diamondonics." But the reality is too many people don''t want to take the time to become better educated and these chain stores can spout hooey and get away with it. But, once people are more educated they don''t typically buy from the larger chain stores because they''ve learned better quality can be had at better prices. Until the chains begin losing more customers (and I have to believe over time they will), they won''t get it. But one day they will. Until then, be glad you have joined the educated side and because of that you and your GF will undoubtedly benefit when it comes time to put a rock on her finger.

Cheers!

 

[MichaelLC]

Date: 8/3/2006 4:52:23 PM
Author: Rod

Until then, be glad you have joined the educated side and because of that you and your GF will undoubtedly benefit when it comes time to put a rock on her finger.

Exactly... It''ll be thanks to way too-much time on-line browsing (sometimes at work!

) this great forum/site: which my mother sent to me, LOL!

 

[galeteia]

Date: 8/3/2006 4:52:23 PM
Author: Rod
Welcome to the B&M Zone......do do do do do do..........It''s sad that these chains (and it''s alright to be specific and say Zales), don''t get it that many consumers are more educated, and they continue to espouse ''voodoo diamondonics.'' But the reality is too many people don''t want to take the time to become better educated and these chain stores can spout hooey and get away with it. But, once people are more educated they don''t typically buy from the larger chain stores because they''ve learned better quality can be had at better prices. Until the chains begin losing more customers (and I have to believe over time they will), they won''t get it. But one day they will. Until then, be glad you have joined the educated side and because of that you and your GF will undoubtedly benefit when it comes time to put a rock on her finger.

Cheers!

Nice!

 

[Ellen]

LOL @ "voodoo diamondonics." I like that.

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Chain stores, in any industry, suffer from huge employee turnover. This affects the educational aspect tremendously. Companies spend alot of money on training but seldom do managers have the time to train "in store." Store managers have to wear so many hats and are under pressure to produce big numbers that training falls by the wayside and becomes a low priority.

Large corporations have training departments and resources at their home offices but not enough trainers in the field. That is part of the problem.

As an example, if you bank at a local branch of a large regional bank, you will seldom see the same tellers day-to-day. The turnover is constant and the consumer is the one who suffers.

www.metrojewelryappraisers.com

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 8/3/2006 4:37:50 PM
Author:MichaelLC


She told us 'a certified diamond is how you know it's better quality

that is true the best stones will have AGS and GIA certs and without them you dont know what your getting

I went myself to another store, (different company), and he told me VVS1,2 were 'very rare, very hard to find'.

this is also true compared to I* and si* goods they are rare. Most chains mostly deal with I* graded diamonds so out of hundreds of diamonds they may not have one vvs* graded diamond

 

[MichaelLC]

Date: 8/4/2006 10:08:45 AM
Author: strmrdr

Date: 8/3/2006 4:37:50 PM
Author:MichaelLC


She told us ''a certified diamond is how you know it''s better quality

that is true the best stones will have AGS and GIA certs and without them you dont know what your getting

I went myself to another store, (different company), and he told me VVS1,2 were ''very rare, very hard to find''.

this is also true compared to I* and si* goods they are rare. Most chains mostly deal with I* graded diamonds so out of hundreds of diamonds they may not have one vvs* graded diamond

Agreed about the "certification," but my feeling was that she was implying that a certified diamond menat it was good quality. Similer to Toyota Used Car Certification. As I understand it, GIA/AGS will simply certify the level of quality, good or bad, not certify it is a good stone.

True, higher quality = rarer, but it was just the way they said it, and as you said, it was more the limitation of what they can carry, vs. a difernent store or an on-line retailer.