GREAT NEWS!!!

[kathio22]

For those of you who know my bad story of my fiance buying my engagement ring from Zales, I have a good ending so far!! Zales gave him a refund, for the entire ring. They knew what they did! I wanted to keep the setting, but the new jeweler we went to suggested the band be a bit thicker, and we agreed, so the entire ring was returned. It stinks that the ring he proposed with is gone, BUT we are both full of smiles that we made this decision. We are mature enough to know that our love is what was important the day he asked me to marry him, not the ring. We may not have the original ring (we just got engaged on the 14th) but we will always have each other, and even a laugh about the situation.

We are getting the same setting made, I just loved it. I''ts a platimun setting with a yellow gold band, center stone is Princess and side stones are baguettes. Here are the specs on the center stone that we are looking at, what do you all think?

Cert: EGL
1.27 ct
6.00 x 5.74 x 4.22

73.5% Depth
75% table width
girdle: med polis

Polish: good t v.good
Symmetry: good

SI2
H

 

[bling]

im soo glad to hear that things turned out for the best..and congrats on your engagement! i dont know much about princess stones, but have you considered looking online for a stone?
good luck!

 

[kathio22]

Thank you! We have considered looking online, but that scares me...

 

[spicolicpa]

Your much braver than I if you willing did battle with the vampires at Zales and lived to tell about it. The pansy I am; went to Barry at SuperCerts.com....:O)

 

[tomatoe]

its so great to hear that u are getting ur money back.

good luck with finding the perfect (for the both of u) princess-shape diamond! and do be careful of where the egl cert is from, usa is ur safest bet

 

[kathio22]

LOL it's funny you say that. My fiance backed down to them...

 

[diamond dazed]

What might be scarier than buying on-line is finding out that you paid twice as much as a stone's worth, or that the actual clarity or color isn't as high as the EGL report states....

It looks like you are within driving distance to Jonathan's store in NY (goodoldgold.com -- but he also has an actual brick & mortar store) -- have you considered going to look at his stones? I hear it's a very educational experience, no pressure, just fun.

Kris

 

[magna2]

Good to hear that Zales gave you full refund - they appear to be more accommodating than my experiences with them. Make sure that you educate yourself on what makes a good princess diamond and your next purchase will be much more pleasant.

 

[aljdewey]

----------------
On 11/20/2003 11:15:38 AM kathio22 wrote:





Thank you! We have considered looking online, but that scares me...
----------------

Why? Your experience with Zales proves that you can get taken just as easily by someone you stand in front of as you can be someone on the net. I'd go a step further and say that it's easier to get taken by someone offline because the online set have to work so much harder to earn your confidence.

There are some terrific vendors here online, just as there are some terrific vendors in the "real" world. There are some vendors to avoid online....just as there are vendors to avoid in the "real" world. If you do your homework, you can find just as good a vendor here, and you can save a bunch of money at the same time. Not only are the prices significantly better online, but in most cases, you also save a bundle on sales tax.....and that savings can help you get a bigger stone!

 

[kathio22]

I was taken by anyone, I didn't know he was buying a ring or proposing.

Thx for the feedback

 

[kathio22]

I meant to say I wasn't...not was lol

 

[spicolicpa]

Its funny but my Fiancee now says "our money"......it takes a while to get used to but for all pracical purposes its true. If he got ripped off...so did you love.

 

[aljdewey]

----------------
On 11/20/2003 11:51:12 AM kathio22 wrote:





I was taken by anyone, I didn't know he was buying a ring or proposing.

Thx for the feedback
----------------

I didn't mean that *you* specifically got taken......I meant that the experience with Zales proves that a consumer (not you or your BF specifically) has to beware of face-to-face vendors as much as (if not more than) online vendors. My point was that it's scary buying on- or off-line, and neither is more or less risky per se.....just that the risks are different.

Sorry if it came out wrong the first time....didn't at all mean to offend.

 

[kathio22]

I have to disagree, no one was ripped off since, I guess WE, got a refund. Had we not been given a refund, then it would have been a rip off. Either way my fiance tried, thinking he was doing something great, and that's all this post was about.

 

[tomatoe]

lol as the old saying goes,

my money is my money,
your money is my money
and our money is my money!!!

u seem to be savvy enough and know what u want kathio, so do ur research throughly and completely before getting ur new princess-shape diamond, i understand they can be very hard to shop for.

 

[kathio22]

Aldjeway,

Very very true!! You didn't offend me at all. Thanks for the advice, well taken!

 

[spicolicpa]

True that!

Seems you are being a bit hard on your loving fiancee who got you this ring though...feeling a lack of something intangible on your part that a bit disturbing...oh well, its early.

Good job on getting those Goons to giveya back "your" money.....now use it the best way you can to maximize return on investment....thats my only point. There are people who get value in the Brick and Dirt world too...get edu'macated first though.

Good luck!

 

[kathio22]

Spi,

Do you really think I am being harsh on him? I don't know what I said that would have anyone think this. Hmm, maybe I should watch my words. He did the best he could and did a great job, we both learned from this. Actually, it has broughten us a bit closer, a reminder of what is TRULY important!!

Thanks again for all the info!

Kathio

 

[spicolicpa]

Cool....being a manly man...*cough* haha I would rather picture myself as the slayer of the Zales dragon....you did very well and got your money back!

I am biased because I tried soo soo hard to get the perfect ring and I remember how nervous I was thinking she might not like it as much as I did. Give him a big kiss for buying what he felt was good is all I meant.

It seems you and your fiancee have a great communication base and he is probably just a bit more "evolved" than I. Some here would whole heartedly agree:O)

Keep hitting the pricescopers up for info and utilize the search function to access a wealth of knowledge.

 

[kathio22]

Did I really say broughten LOL..WHO BAD ENGLISH...

brought
brought
brought

 

[glitterata]

I love "broughten"! Delightful word. Use it with pride (but probably not at job interviews).

 

[Mara]

Actually you did get taken. You both did--his money, your money, whatever....you both were promised something that was not delivered.




However, you were a little smarter than most, and actually followed up on 'why does my diamond look so damn crappy and small' and actually got more information on it, and then went back and confronted Zales.




You noted in your post that 'they knew what they did'. Okay then, HELLO.....where was the phone call from them to TELL YOU that they'd made a mistake?? To me that is unacceptable and I would NEVER give a store like that my business again. Then again, I'd never be a Zales shopper..maybe in another lifetime, but I know enough to know that 90% of the stuff they sell is crap, they are a maul store after all.




Take your $4k and shop online. Saying that online scares you is actually quite hilarious to me because...what scares me is your attitude about shopping with Zales..AGAIN. Afraid of getting taken for a ride? Wait...again? Or if you don't want to shop online, just don't shop with Zales again!! You have tons of other stores to choose from, some of which actually will sell you a nice stone and not rip you off--then hope you don't notice.




Oh and before I forget, I ran your new stone's #'s through the DIY cut grader online at www.gemappraisers.com and it got pretty good scores...all 1A with table being 2B...% crown was not avail but it doesn't look like it'd be a dud! If it looks pretty--could work, but I'd get it independently appraised after the fact so that you DONT get screwed again by this company.




Congrats on going back to Zales and standing up to them. There would have been hell to pay if I had been their customer. But then again, that would never happen!

 

[spicolicpa]

Its cool...Once bitten twice shy....I felt the same way ( Do a search and read my testimonial from Superbcerts...I almost got ripped to) and I can not even begin to tell you how many people said to me (My boss, my brother, my co-workers, my friends....)this is really not a purchase you should make on the internet. Thank god I ignored them.

I think you will not get taken by any vendor at price scope. They expose themselves to people like me and others....they have too much exposure and are making too much money from this exposure to risk it.

There was a case a while back with a vendor who had a quality control problem with a custom ring. Does anyone remember that? It came back on this board and the owner of the company apologized...said he would do everything in his power to fix the issue and seemed very sincere....I wonder how that turned out?

Anyway, if the only reason you fret is security and integrity....I think it is not a problem

 

[diane5006]

Okay just have to chime in here...Mara (or anyone else don't take this the wrong way...

But if her BF was sold a stone of a certain weight, color and clarity and it was the correct weight/color/clarity then they bought what was being sold...

Yes it was badly cut and deep...and it looked small for its carat weight...and overpriced compared to others

Knowledge is power...that why sites like this are great for the consumer to gain the needed info to go into stores like Zales and know that the stone bign offered is not the best...and they can weed out the good from bad...and say no

But I think it is great that they went in and took the time to get their money back...and now have the opportunity to look together...and find the just what they are lookinf for

 

[Mara]

Yes Diane but if someone bit off your foot and then said, oh sorry, I was really hungry...would you hand them your other foot to bite off too?




My point here is that Zales sold them something that was odd, and then said they knew there'd been a mistake! After the fact. Later. What is THAT?! For the customer to say...'oh thats okay! We'll buy from you again, here's our $4k all over again' to me is idiotic. But then again, I don't suffer fools lightly.

 

[canadiangrrl]

I don't think anyone got taken. But you didn't get your money's worth, either. Kudos to Zales for dealing with the matter in a responsive and timely fashion.

You can do far better online. If you're near GOG, check them out - they sell through their store as well as online, which may be an advantage to you if you're wary of making an online purchase. GOG has a solid reputation on this forum and the stones they sell are lovely.

Good luck!

 

[spicolicpa]

Mara you fiesty today....

:O)

I do not think Zales manager said "Opps your right we bent ya over"... but they did refund 100% and customer did not have to pay restock or shipping like Ebay.

I just like kicking Zales around for selling discounted Krap to the masses.

 

[diane5006]

True...I saw that she said they knew what they did...which is really annoying...

But I wonder how much the Zales people really know beyond cut(shape), color, clarity, and weight...

not as much as you I suspect...

I don't suffer fools lightly either...

 

[kathio22]

Mara,

Hold on one second. Where did you assume that I was buying from Zales, again? DEAD wrong. We returned the ring and got a FULL refund, we then both agreed as well as my entire family that none of us will EVER shop there again. My 4K is going to another jeweler..how in the world did you get that jeweler to be Zales?

Sorry if I am coming off harsh but reading is fundamental and in this case you are fiesty for NO reason.

 

[kathio22]

Actually, Zales did the whole "we said it was 1.25 and it is" crap with me. When I started discussing cuts and dimensions they asked if I was a certified gemologist LOL. I responded "no, are you? How do you know if this is good or crap?" at that point there was no argument. A full refund and we left knowing to NEVER EVER shop at a mall jeweler, AND to do a bunch of research first.

Sorry if I offended any of you by my comment about being nervous to buy on the net. You can't blame me for being leary at all, we just found all this "stuff" out yesterday. My hesitation is natural, but after I researched through out the day I am not so worried anymore. Hey, at least I did something about my uncertainty with this purchase. A lot of people do nothing.

Thanks again, everyone...