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GoG and James Allen review

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setell

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
174
Not sure where to post this but I just wanted to voice my unhappiness with James Allen. Sorry if it’s in the wrong forum.

First of all, I just wanted to thank those that come to the forum and provide very insightful information about diamonds! I have learned so much from Price Scope that it’s really changed how I view my future jewellery purchases! I found out there was such a shape as beautiful as a cushion here! Since so many PS’ers have had great experiences with the popular vendors I decided to go with Jon at GoG for my cushion and JA for the setting (had a low budget of ~5k). My diamond experience was great as Jon at GoG was just wonderful to work with. I love his service and just a great guy to work with when you’re living in Canada. The cushion I bought from him is just beautiful! I would highly recommend Jon to people I know and buying from him is very painless.

Now the bad part of my ring purchase. I bought a setting from JA unmounted as I was going to get it mounted locally. Here is the timeline of my order:

June 16th JA ships the setting

June 18th I picked it up after work that day (I am in Canada so had to go through customs to clear)

June 21st I sent an email to inquire about the flaws I noticed the second I opened the box and saw the setting.

June 22nd Got a reply basically stating: return with the 15% restocking fee waived and $25 shipping fee credited OR swallow the flaws as it passed their quality control

July 6th sent an email really early, 7am EST, inquiring if I could exchange the setting for a different one as I couldn’t “swallow the flaw” or if they could “fix” it.

July 7th no response to email by 5pm, called to track down my rep that evening. She said she will look into it and get back to me.

July 8th 5pm EST, I got a call from JA’s sales manager as my order # has landed at his desk. He said in a very accusational (is that a word?) tone of voice asking WHY I had waited so long to respond if something was wrong with the ring. Then I went on to tell him I had emailed them just a few days after receiving the ring about the flaws and I was away last week (our national Canada Day holiday). He kept saying that it’s been a long time since I had received the ring blah blah. After I told him what I thought was WRONG with the setting he was like “oh yeah, I think I remember you”. Then he went through his emails and apparently found the email I had sent to the rep I was dealing with (I sent pictures too). So then he went on to tell me what the email with the decision to my “complaint” was. He then tells me that even if I exchange it there will be flaws with the new setting regardless etc. Mind you, he was really demeaning in the tone of voice he used against me. It was as if it was MY fault I didn’t think the setting was perfect and that I was being difficult. He tells me that his higher up had made a decision to my situation back in June and asked if I received the email (he just read to me). I told him that I receive the top part but not the bottom part about the exchange (my email didn’t have that part). So I asked him to forward me a copy of that email. I had to leave as I had a late meeting yesterday but told him I will call him today about it first thing in the morning. Weird part was, when I was reading the email he forwarded me last night it was the same as the June 22nd one I received (my rep just copied and pasted it to me) without mention of any exchanges or fixing it.

July 9th Sent him a email early today asking if he could provide photo’s of the setting before it gets shipped to me if I exchange it (still at that point willing to give them a second chance). I was in meetings all day so I called him few hours ago as he didn’t get back to me via email if it was possible or not. I have to say I have never had such crappy service EVER from a jeweller!!!! The original ring my fiancée proposed with was purchased at People’s (chain store) and I thought the ladies there were pushy…well they didn’t make me feel like I was an idiot! First word out of his mouth was “Setell, did you not read the email I forward you yesterday? We’re not exchanging the ring!” Mind you, the email he forwarded me didn’t mention they WON’T exchange it or FIX it either. Then he gives me a speech as to how it passed their quality control etc. and that in their standards there is NO flaw with the ring that warrants “fixing” or “exchanging”. For some reason I had envisioned good workmanship when you’re making something as delicate as ring settings. I mean I had expected it to be better quality and it better be near flawless (naked eye can’t see it). If my naked eye can see the flaws on the setting then looking at it under a loupe or magnifying glass is worse! After I heard the first sentence out of his mouth I told him to just send me the paper work so I can return the thing. I want nothing to do with it now as I feel like my purchase from them isn’t important nor them having me as a happy customer. He then went on to say that I am cutting it close to my “deadline” or shall I say 30 day period. He was like we shipped it to you on the 16th of June and it’s the 9th of July right now and if the package doesn’t get here by the 16th I won’t get my refund. He sort of disregarded how LONG it took them to respond to my July 6th email. I was so mad that I told him if he gets me the paperwork emailed to me tonight I can guarantee him the package will be in Fed Ex’s hands tomorrow morning shipped via 24hr service so he’ll get it on Monday! I couldn’t believe it when he “try” to make it sound like I am making a bad decision as I am going to pay a lot more then the $25USD they are paying me to ship it back (even asked if I knew how expensive shipping fees are, as if I didn’t have a vague idea how much shipping internationally cost…..). I wanted to yell at him that I paid $90USD for them to ship me the setting and I am already losing money so the extra shipping fee isn’t going to be much!!!!

I have to say, I have never been spoken to in such a way by any sales person. I do not like to be accused of THEIR mistakes as MY mistakes. This person has given me such a sour taste of JA that I am never going to buy anything from them ever again. Probably wrong of me to judge JA like this but honestly I haven’t seen superior service at all! I am generally a very happy online shopper too. I buy almost everything online now and have always had great service too.

‘sigh’ Am I being unreasonable to ask for a exchange or to have the setting fixed? Also how do the PS vendor’s count their 30 return policy? From the day they ship it to you or the day you sign and receive the package? I wondered if it was wrong of me to sit on what to do with the setting for ~2 weeks from June 22nd. I mean…I thought I had 30 days (technically it still is within the 30 day period). Did he expect me to give up my trip I had booked over 3 months ago to return this setting last week??!!!!! ‘sigh’ If I had found out JA wasn''t consistent with their settings before I ordered I wouldn''t have went with them. I know there are bleeps in service but what I''ve just gone through with JA sucks really bad.

Thanks for listening to me complain by reading my massive post. I was very very angry for the past couple of hours. Now I am just glad I’m going to return the thing and start fresh to find myself a new setting. I am getting paranoid…I might just go to Toronto, Ontario and get a local jeweller to do a custom one so I can complain in person if the need arises. Or buy a Ritani in Toronto(and blow my budget to make me happy!!!) so that I can see it in person to verify there are no flaws my naked eye can see.
 

strmrdr

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 1, 2003
Messages
23,295
I am sorry to hear about your bad experience.
Call JA and ask to speak to Jim and let him know what is going on.

Can you post the pictures here please?
 

Moh 10

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Oct 25, 2008
Messages
1,004
So sorry you had problems, and I hope you get it sorted out to your satisfaction.

Can you post clear pics of what is wrong with the setting?
I''m curious how it passed JA''s inspection but not yours.
 

Ellen

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 13, 2006
Messages
24,433
Sorry to hear things didn''t go well. As far as I know, the return period starts when you receive the package (at least with my purchases it did). And am I correct, you paid the shipping?


Have you considered having GOG do the setting? They carry a huge selection as you may well know, but I can also understand wanting a hands on approach.
 

setell

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
174
Here is a picture of one of the sides. I don''t like the top where the workmanship is just crappy at the top. Couldn''t they have done a better job
40.gif


IMG_3750-2a.JPG
 

setell

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
174
It''s a bad picture but the two sides of the channel setting for the princess cut diamonds aren''t even!!!!!! One side is way thicker then the other!!!!

IMG_3752-2a.jpg
 

setell

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
174
Same side as last picture but the top part or where the diamonds start isn't even. Again, the bad workmanship at the beginning of it. The end of the diamonds isn't much better too but I can "sorta" tolerate it more so than the beginning as those aren't easily seen visually with it hidden most of the time. I don't even know if I'm being picky about it anymore as my inital expecation was that I didn't want to see those flaws without any magnification.

Ellen, I paid $90USD for them to ship me the setting as I was an international customer. Jon charged me $100USD for the shipping which I gladly pay as the product was exactly as described.

IMG_3748-2a.jpg
 

Moh 10

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Oct 25, 2008
Messages
1,004
Setell, for the first pic you wrote, "Here is a picture of one of the sides. I don't like the top where the workmanship is just crappy at the top.".

What exactly about the workmanship is bad?
Is the finish not smooth enough?
Is a prong to long?
Is the head crooked?
Is a prong bent?

By top do you mean where basket where the main diamond goes, or the top of the ring itself?

I'm really trying to understand what your complaint is.


For your third pic you write, "Again, the bad workmanship at the beginning of it."
Can you tell us what exactly about the workmanship is bad?
And what is what you call the "beginning", the top near the main stone?

Is your complaint that the end of the channel cut out for the side diamonds does not have perfect 90 degree square corners, and rather have corners that are a little rounded?
 

strmrdr

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 1, 2003
Messages
23,295
I was expecting much worse by your description but yea I would likely have returned it.
The channel would drive me bonkers its just a bit beyond my tolerance level.
The prongs on the head will be cleaned up when the diamond is set so that part is not a huge issue.

That said there is much worse on the market.
 

setell

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
174
[QUOTE/]Setell, for the first pic you wrote, "Here is a picture of one of the sides. I don''t like the top where the workmanship is just crappy at the top.".

What exactly about the workmanship is bad?
Is the finish not smooth enough?
Is a prong to long?
Is the head crooked?
Is a prong bent?

By top do you mean where basket where the main diamond goes, or the top of the ring itself?

I''m really trying to understand what your complaint is.


For your third pic you write, "Again, the bad workmanship at the beginning of it."
Can you tell us what exactly about the workmanship is bad?
And what is what you call the "beginning", the top near the main stone?

Is your complaint that the end of the channel cut out for the side diamonds does not have perfect 90 degree square corners, and rather have corners that are a little rounded?[/quote]

Sorry, I am not very good at describing things with the setting. I just uploaded the same (third pic) with arrows pointing to where I don''t like. I am unhappy with how the corners of the princess cut diamond aren''t perfect. Both sides are different too! I would have been fine if they fixed it so both sides are even but right now both sides don''t look the same. I was ok with the width difference of the two sides of the diamond too.

strmrdr, I know there are worse workmanship out there but I am just very unhappy with how I am treated. I asked about exchanging or fixing it and I get really bad service. I think I am more mad about the terrible service then the setting right now. Of course I could just be a nasty customer too (I like to think I''m not too picky though
1.gif
)

IMG_3748-2b.jpg
 

decodelighted

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 27, 2005
Messages
11,534
Hmm. I didn't notice the flaws at first glance but now that you've pointed them out I can't NOT see them. Don't think I'd want to just live with that either. Good luck on your new setting hunt. Its probably a good idea to get a designer setting rather than a repro or custom job at this point - now that you've established your tolerance for handmade settings. Many of them have wonkyness, believe it or not ... machine made designer goods are most likely a better fit for your discerning eye.

ETA: And as to "couldn't they just do a better job" -- Probably not. If they could have, they would have. At this point they're not even allowing that anything is "wrong". If one can't even SEE or acknowledge the issues -- its CLEAR they can't *fix* the issue. Time to cut yr. losses.
 

Moh 10

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Oct 25, 2008
Messages
1,004
I agree the metal on the right side is thicker than the metal on the left side.

You wrote, "I am unhappy with how the corners of the princess cut diamond aren't perfect. "
What exactly about the corners of the diamonds are not perfect?
Are the corners of the diamonds chipped?
Are the corners of the diamonds not a true 90 degree angle?
Are they mounted crooked?
Are they not evenly spaced?
Are they loose and moving?

Or is something about the setting not perfect around the princess diamonds?
If so what about the metal is not perfect?
Were you expecting individual prongs on every princess diamond instead of channel set?

I'm not trying to be obstinate.
But if JA is to address your concerns they must be clear.

"Not perfect" is not clear.
 

Moh 10

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Oct 25, 2008
Messages
1,004
Thanks Arj.
That other thread sheds a lot of light on this.
 

D&T

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 27, 2008
Messages
12,502
so sorry you have had a bad exerience. Hope it works out in the end. I do see the flaws you mentioned, its not super noticeable but you still want it to be eye perfect for your FI.
 
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