Does anyone know about whitehall?

[loosie1982]

Hi, my boyfriend and i went for our first time to look at rings. We went to Whitehall, and they had a lot of gorgeous rings, but the lady said that there was only a 3 year warranty and it was more money. Kays is guaranteed for life. I know Whitehall is a good place , but do all of them really only offer 3 year warranty''s? Also, i saw on their website http://www.whitehalljewellers.com/ that it said "Lifetime Replacement Guarantee on all Diamonds and Gemstones " I''m confused...

 

[icekid]

i''m not sure about these lifetime guarantees? is it something where they are saying they will repair any faulty workmanship?

unrelated to your question, mall retailers are not usually the best place to buy expensive jewelry. the quality is suspect and it''s overpriced for what you get.

 

[loosie1982]

well theres a kay''s jewelry store right under whitehall. Kays guarentees their diamonds for life whether it chips, or if you lose it. Whithall doesnt have that, but their website made it seem like they did. Thanks for replying!

 

[ame]

Don''t by from a maul and you won''t have to buy any warranty. A GOOD jeweler will guarantee for life. Not only that but the quality of mall diamonds is pretty bad and generally really overpriced.

Look at a Brick and mortar jeweler that isnt a chain, and check out the vendors here, Whiteflash is great and I know Good Old Gold is as well. Both get raves. I believe there are a couple others highly touted here too. The quality is much better and y ou can get a better stone for less money than a mall store can EVER give you

 

[Mara]

find out what their guarantee covers. setting flaws, resizing, loose prongs? or something more serious like chips?

we had my e-ring done custom, i bought my stone online, i had my w-ring made online, and i go locally to get the rings cleaned, loose prongs fixed, i had them resized etc. my local jeweler who i have never done a bit of large biz with does this all for free and i offer to pay every time.

so if this is the kind of thing that kay or whitehall guarantees against, there are other jewelers out there who will do that for free or a minimal cost without making you buy their stones.

your stone will get chipped around the girdle most likely over a lifetime if you wear it in an exposed setting like 4 or 6 prong. i doubt that a store would guarantee against something that is normal 'wear and tear'...so be suspicious of lifetime warranties IMO.

don't buy a guarantee or a warranty on a diamond, buy the DIAMOND you really want. and preferrably NOT from a mall store! whitehall and kay are typical maul jewelers with overpriced and mediocre merchandise. my hubby bought me gold earrings from whitehall once but that is the most money we'd ever spend there.

good luck.

 

[Mara]

i would be suspicious of a ''wear and tear'' guarantee, aka go over that thing with a fine tooth comb to make sure that it''s not just phrased as you would like it to be with hidden meaning. i would hate to overspend for a warranty or guarantee and then find out when you need it that your case is an exception or somehow you missed a word that could mean they won''t fix it without a fee!

 

[lostdog]

"Name 1 that guarantees anything and everything for life."

Craftsman hand tools. Wait, you meant diamonds.

Isn't there an issue there that some of these warranties require performing and documenting regular service checks. Has anybody here had experience with making a claim under one of these warranties from a naioanl retailer?

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 5/13/2005 12:06:03 PM
Author: crankydave

Date: 5/12/2005 9:07:50 PM
Author: lostdog
''Name 1 that guarantees anything and everything for life.''

Craftsman hand tools. Wait, you meant diamonds.

Isn''t there an issue there that some of these warranties require performing and documenting regular service checks. Has anybody here had experience with making a claim under one of these warranties from a naioanl retailer?

Not for long. Since the acquisition with K-Mart, that guarantee is going out the window. Too bad.

No way.

That warranty has built one of the most recognized brands in America. They aren''t about to drop it. The merger between Kmart and Sears was about land, not tools. Both companies have large and extremely valuable land holdings that are not being used very effectivelly. There is big big money on the table here in the form of scraping away poorly performing stores and replacing them with strip malls and condominiums but they will NEVER jeoparidize a goldmine like Craftsman tools.

That said, shopping a 3 year warranty isn''t all that hard. Most insurance companies will cover all of the risks inclulded in the warranty and then some. This generally charge about 1%/year although it wil vary with your location, the company chosen and the details of the policy.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[denverappraiser]

It will be very surprised if they mess with the Craftsman guarantee. It's just not that expensive for them to keep it going and they have an enormous amount of goodwill associated with it. They have other brands, like the Sears and Kmart house brands, that are available right next to the Craftsman products that don't have the same program and that are considerably less expensive. Customers who buy Craftsman tools do so because of that guarantee although they are generally pretty good products. Beancounters can be pretty thick but I don't think they’re that stupid.

It's not all that unprecedented. Snap-on also guarantees their tools forever. On your bench you probably have some Lundstrom tools, which have the same offer.

Have you heard if they are going to keep both the Kmart and Sears brands? Surely they will and surely they will have different product mixes between the two chains.

It’s Friday and we’ve hijacked a thread from an otherwise innocent poster. Someone should really post a backhanded attack about Tiffany’s to make the day complete.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[lostdog]

And Snap-on is about 3-4 times Craftsman, it used to seem. Maybe not as much any more. Dumping the lifetime guarantee would be retail suicide. Not that they aren''t capable of it.

Wouldn''t Tiffany do such a thing? I think not. And their profits were up for the quarter while Wal-Mart was off. (Back on topic, sort of, a day late).