Do these people not want my business?

[Hudson_Hawk]

My husband-to-be proposed to me on Christmas Eve with a gorgeous asscher in a pave cathedral setting. He knew he wanted to reset the stone, and as soon as I saw the stone I knew how I wanted to reset it. I sent out a number of quote requests, understanding that with the holidays there might be delays. I got surprisingly quick responses from Victor, Steven and Leon (even considering Leon is closed until 1/9!), and nothing from the others (BGD and ERD). Not only did I put through requests online, but I called to follow up on Monday. Nothing, nada, zilch from both. I'm frustrated, I really wanted to see where they would come in and was seriously considering them.

Vent over, just had to get it out.

 

[04diamond<3]

Yeah, that's strange. Although I sent BGD a quote request for a custom band and never heard from them so I gave up. They do beautiful work so maybe keep pestering them?

 

[Acinom]

hopefully they will surprise you soon with good quotes.

What setting are you thinking about? Would love to see your beautiful stone. Any pics?

Congrats on your engagement!!!

 

[Abby12]

BGD is very slow I have found....

 

[onyx8]

I also had slow and then no response from ERD. very disappointing, but I had the work done elsewhere.

 

[OreoRosies86]

Everyone is moving like molasses uphill the past few weeks it seems. I have been sending out diamond inquiries myself and so far JBEG has been the quickest response, which is much appreciated. As for the others, no idea. Post holiday proposal backup?

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I haven't started a SMTB thread, because I wanted to wait for the finished product!

Anyway, here are the befores and after inspiration.

The center stone is a square emerald cut,
E
IF
VG cut
69.7% / 66%
6.41x6.29x4.38mm
strong blue flour

 

[momhappy]

I used ERD and had nothing but excellent communication/customer service. They really went above and beyond. Did you actually speak with someone at ERD or just leave a message?

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I spoke with someone who said they'd call me back and I never received a call. This is after I put in a quote request via their online system. And then yesterday I followed up again with an email.

 

[Rhea]

The holiday season has been odd this year because all the days off are in the middle of the week, but most of the NY jewellery district which I would think includes EDR and GOG closes early on Fridays and all weekend. There have been very few working days between Christmas and now so far this year.

 

[m-2-b]

Did you try a live chat w/ BGD? I know I've talked to them in the past even on sundays...

 

[junebug17]

I asked for a quote online from ERD and never heard back…but to be fair, that was my only attempt since I then learned on PS that the setting I was asking about was over my budget, and also that I decided to get a setting locally. I guess you could continue trying to reach them, I can see where you'd be feeling frustrated. Maybe someone at these companies will see your post lol.

Mostly I want to say I'm so happy to hear about your engagement! Your stone is beautiful and will look fabulous in that setting!

eta: just saw Rhea's post, that might be the explanation.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Did you try a live chat w/ BGD? I know I've talked to them in the past even on sundays...

Spoke with someone on the phone, who took the quote request and then never got back to me.

 

[recordaras]

I think it's a combination of pre-holiday rush and people having time off around the holidays - I've never had any issues with BGD and Jamie or Lesley (when Jamie was on vacation) would always get back to me in 24-48 hours at most. And yet this time I sent an email with a quote request on 12/30 and still haven't heard back.
I wouldn't hold it against them though - they're a small business and only human, so things like this will happen every now and then. Heck, I've barely gotten any work done in the last two weeks, and I work for a fairly large company! I'm sure they'll get around to replying once they get back to their normal schedule.

 

[pyramid]

BGD are not in the New York area but the other side of America in Texas, same building as Whiteflash.

 

[iLander]

Are any of these people in the NYC area? The whole area is shut down due to the blizzard. They're telling everyone to stay home and all the schools are closed.

But that only explains the last day or so.

Did you try IDJ? They do custom, but I would be surprised if they're at work today.

 

[Rhea]

BGD are not in the New York area but the other side of America in Texas, same building as Whiteflash.

I just realised I was thinking GOG, not BGD and edited my reply.

ETA: I suppose more than anything I was thinking that it's not terribly uncommon for jewellers to be Jewish, as they often are in London's Hatton Garden, and businesses close early on Fridays in that area. I assume (but you know what they say about assumption) that this is so that they can celebrate the Sabbath. I seem to recall a photo of Brian wearing a yamaka at some point but can't recall where I saw it and could be wrong. So closure on Friday in the afternoon, all day on Saturday, plus the typical closing early on Christmas Eve, all day on Christmas, early on New Years Eve, and all day on the 1st may mean limited working day between the 24th and now.

 

[pyramid]

That's funny Rhea as I was just thinking, 'bet she is thinking about GOG because I knew you were a long time poster'.
I remember seeing Brian with that on when he was BriantheCutter in charge of the diamonds at Whiteflash and he was on that webcam productions we used to see on here. I wish we still had that, they were great.

 

[smn1231]

I'm wondering from your username if you might be a fellow Hudsonite in Ohio? If so, I recently had a custom setting done from a jeweler in Cleveland and was thrilled with the results. I'd be happy to share pics and info if you're interested. I just received the ring New Year's eve, so I haven't gotten around to posting it yet.

 

[Acinom]

What a beautiful stone
It will be amazing in that setting.

 

[tyty333]

That setting looks like something Diamonds by Lauren would be good at. They did a ring
For Yessie that turned out beautiful.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I do think many of these would be taking days off for the holidays, and as someone already said, 47th St kind of shuts down on Friday and is not open on the weekend.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I'm wondering from your username if you might be a fellow Hudsonite in Ohio? If so, I recently had a custom setting done from a jeweler in Cleveland and was thrilled with the results. I'd be happy to share pics and info if you're interested. I just received the ring New Year's eve, so I haven't gotten around to posting it yet.

Thank you, but no, I'm not. Just a fan of Bruce Willis.

 

[ame]

to be fair, TONS of companies and offices are still closed this week, so that might be why. But ERD is in NYC and they're in blizzard conditions so that could be a big part of the lack of response on their end.

 

[SparklyOEC]

My husband-to-be proposed to me on Christmas Eve with a gorgeous asscher in a pave cathedral setting. He knew he wanted to reset the stone, and as soon as I saw the stone I knew how I wanted to reset it. I sent out a number of quote requests, understanding that with the holidays there might be delays. I got surprisingly quick responses from Victor, Steven and Leon (even considering Leon is closed until 1/9!), and nothing from the others (BGD and ERD). Not only did I put through requests online, but I called to follow up on Monday. Nothing, nada, zilch from both. I'm frustrated, I really wanted to see where they would come in and was seriously considering them.

Vent over, just had to get it out.

Did you email JBEG? Those ladies are amazing with communication and their rings are stunning.

 

[wakingdreams53]

Congrats on your engagement! Your ring is beautiful, but I understand if you've both decided a reset was in order. Don't get too discouraged, it's only January 3rd! I know you've been engagement since Xmas, but you'll get the ring of your dreams Try again Monday? The weather in NYC is not getting any better any time soon, unfortunately, but don't give up and be persistent.

 

[distracts]

I used ERD and had nothing but excellent communication/customer service. They really went above and beyond. Did you actually speak with someone at ERD or just leave a message?

I called yesterday and COULDN'T leave a message because the voicemail box was full. *shrug*

 

[lambskin]

Congrats on the engagement. Good things come to those who wait. Enjoy your ring and try to contact the vendors again. Holidays, weekends and bad weather conditions all cause delay. You don't want to shut out any potential vendor-the more quotes and options the better for you.

 

[tuqoa]

Did you try a live chat w/ BGD? I know I've talked to them in the past even on sundays...

+1, try the live-chat! I just spoke with someone at BGD via live-chat on Dec 30th, no problem.

 

[c-k]

The first time I contacted BGD, I had great success, I had a very long talk with Brian, and second time around Leslie failed to call me back several times, even sent 3 emails that went unanswered....they sell FANTASTIC diamonds etc, but customer service fails to impress.

If I ran a company such as any of these, getting back to the customer would be a priority. My husband owned a company where he stressed customer service, both him and all employees...it pays