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HELP - Center Stone has fallen out of setting

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Good morning,

So what happened to us yesterday tipped this whole nightmare over the edge.....

When I last posted on Wednesday my fiance had received a voicemail from the RM asking him to call the store to have them call him....we did not call as I planned to call HQ again yesterday.

Thursday 3.50pm : I call Corp HQ and ask for Store operations, I get put thorugh to one lady and transferred to another; both vbery polite and concerned about the situation. I explain that I am calling to complain not only about my ring but also the length of time it has taken the RM to contact us. The last lady said I would hear from the RM within the hour.

4.15pm: RM calls me. Tells me he has severely repreimanded the staff at the Lundstromstore that I brought the ring to be cleaned at and the staff at the Whitehall store for the way I was treated. I tell him that the staff at Lundstrom were very nice and I understood their reluctance regarding handling the ring once the stone fell out. I explain the staff at Whitehall were disgraceful. He told me he was going to order some new rings for me, I interjected and said I did not want any more jewellery from their store, I wanted a refund, I had no confidence in their products are my experiences with both of my rings and I was done with them. He questioned me further about each incidence and when we bought the ring. I explained everything and then he mentioned something about resizing a pave band and how the jeweller shoudl have ordered a pve in my exact size....I was confused and told him I did not have either band re-sized. He said that the jeweller said my band was re-sized and I said no. I explained my fiance had asked for the balls to be placed on the inside on my band about 2 months ago and was told this would be about $75 and we did not get it done at the time. He asked if I had it done anywhere else and I said no.
He told me this should have been done for free as their is an extended warranty on the rings.....another faux pas of this store...am i surprised??? NO.
He asked if i would be at my number for the next 10-15 mins and I said yes, he said he would call back.

16.53pm: My fiance calls and said the RM just called him and said the following: He had ordered rings from the manufacturer to be delivered next week to the Whitehall store, we were to come in and view the rings, if we were not happy, the next step would be to call his VP.
I was furious, not only did he call my fiance instead of me, he went ahead and ordered these rings after i told him i did not want them!!

17.06pm: I call the RM and ask him why he did not call me back. He said he had to call my fiance as he was the one who made the original purchase. I told him I did not want the rings and could not believe he was not going to refund the money. He became evry irritated at this stage and said, well your fiance agreed to this and I said no, he agreed to you ordering them, us viewing them, telling you we still wanted a refund and then getting your VP involved because you are giving us no other options. I told him i would be rejecting all rings and there was no point in this. He became very, very irritated at this stage and told me he had the rings overnighted and they would be at the store tomorrow and he felt he had gone above and beyond for us.
i told him we were getting married in 3 months and this was not one of the issues i thought we would be dealing with, how embarrassing it was to have no engagement ring for the last 2 weeks, and how bad the customer service was that we had to wait one week and four days to actaully speak to the person who was supposed to call us within 48 hours of our initial phone call. That''s when he flipped.....he said he did not have to listen to this and he had aleready spoken to his VP and there would be no refund. I told him that was fine, but now i would be contacting the local BBB and the NYS Consumer Affairs department, he said "We have attorneys to protect us" I said that''s great I have an attorney too ......
He then began ranting that "this is my personal, business phone and I don;t need to listen to this" iasked what exactly is a "personal business phone?" and he kept repeating it.....He then said I am going to end thsi convrsation and he hung up.....

I am in complete shock at this stage!
 
Did your fiancee pay with a credit card? You may be able to fight them through the cc company.
 
i don''t know what to say.......i just don''t know what to say. i want to cry or punch a wall for you. what an awful experiece, but you have done great holding your ground. keep it up, and i hope hope hope this is resolved with a refund SOON so you can enjoy this time in your life without this hassle.
 
This is just awful! I would still contact the VP. There is absolutely no reason for all of this..
 
I actually did call the girl who I spoke to before the RM called me and left a voicemail. I then called the Store Operations group again and explained I now wanted to complain about the RM, the girl said there was no one in the office and the VP was out of the office.....i wonder how the RM spoke to him???

I am so frustrated at this point.....and have a bad feeling i will not be getting a refund.

My friend recommended just taking a brand new ring from them anyway and having it re-set at a different jewellers. Has anyone had pave stones re-set? I am also contemplating changing my princess to a radiant so I can have additional prongs put on the setting....I''m totally paranoid about losing the stone now!!

Does anyone have any advice about resetting the paves or exchanging the princess to a radiant?

Rough Rock - he did pay with his card, what would we have to do?
 
This makes me sick !!! I am so sorry for you and this type of customer service or lack there of is what keeps me far away from those mall stores. Good Luck and I am keeping my fingers crossed that you can get a refund and start over.
 
Believe it or not, that’s serious progress.

They have agreed with the fundamental point that the ring provided to you is defective, that this defects are their fault and that they are responsible for addressing them. All that remains is to work out the solution. This is 90% of the way. Now that this has been agreed to, it would be helpful if you returned the defective ring so that you no longer are in possession of it. Immediately would be a good schedule. Get some sort of receipt.

As you point out, neither you or your fiancée has agreed to accept a substitute ring, only that you will allow them to make the offer. OK, so let them make an offer.

I agree with the RM that it was appropriate for him to talk to your fiancée since he was the customer but he was certainly rude in not explaining this position in advance to you. Have your fiancée give specific permission to speak to you as his representative in this matter. Then have him shut up and refer all calls to you or, alternatively, have him do the whole negotiation and you shut up. Either way this prevents them playing you off against one another. Again, keep good notes.

While you’re at it, read and digest the fine print on the sales receipt and any documentation you’ve been given. Look specifically for details about the warranty and how manufacturer’s defects are to be handled. There are lots of laws about this and whether something is ‘suitable for the purpose for which it’s intended’ but the first place to look is at their own words and what they’ve agreed to.

Quit threatening to call the BBB and do it. BBB is something of a toothless tiger but their biggest value is assisting in the mediation of disputes just like this. Let them earn their money.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Jewelry Appraisals in Denver
 
Holy crow lidmndgrl, I just had what I *thought* was a terrible B&M experience, but after reading this thread...I submit. Wow. this is unbelievable and disgraceful. Keep us informed - this is valuable information for us consumers. I just wish you werent'' living through this right before your wedding.

Sending you strong positive vibes!!!
 
I cannot believe these people...now I know why the 2 near me went out of business! I also visit this website that rates different things, stores being one of them and Whitehall is on the list.

That being said, can you open a dispute with your credit card company? Call them and ask them what you should do as far as a dispute. They will tell you when to return the ring, or what to do from there.

I am so sorry about this, what a horrible story!
 
I posted a whole story about what happened yesterday but it did not post correctly, I will re-write it later
 
Sorry, my mistake, I wasn''t looking properly at the page!!
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Thank you all again for your continued support....

Mela Lu - i just read your post and I feel your pain!

Denver Appraiser - Thank you for your valuable advice, I willbe calling the BBB today...it''s hard with work
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If you could pass me on the info, that would be great
 
darn. I hate when that happens!

hang in there!
 
Date: 6/22/2007 10:43:43 AM
Author: lidmndgrl

Rough Rock - he did pay with his card, what would we have to do?

FI can dispute the purchase with the CC he used for payment. The CC will then stop payment to the store. You won''t believe how cooperative the store will become once Visa/MC/AMEX/Discover gets involved.

I''ve disputed a purchase once. Like you. After trying to work with the store myself. Amazing once the CC got involved how easy the store was to work with.
 
Date: 6/22/2007 2:24:59 PM
Author: Finding_Neverland
Date: 6/22/2007 10:43:43 AM

Author: lidmndgrl


Rough Rock - he did pay with his card, what would we have to do?


FI can dispute the purchase with the CC he used for payment. The CC will then stop payment to the store. You won't believe how cooperative the store will become once Visa/MC/AMEX/Discover gets involved.


I've disputed a purchase once. Like you. After trying to work with the store myself. Amazing once the CC got involved how easy the store was to work with.

Your position with the credit card company improves dramatically if the merchant, not you, is in possession of the disputed merchandise.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Jewelry Appraisals in Denver
 
Date: 6/22/2007 2:24:59 PM
Author: Finding_Neverland


Date: 6/22/2007 10:43:43 AM
Author: lidmndgrl

Rough Rock - he did pay with his card, what would we have to do?

FI can dispute the purchase with the CC he used for payment. The CC will then stop payment to the store. You won''t believe how cooperative the store will become once Visa/MC/AMEX/Discover gets involved.

I''ve disputed a purchase once. Like you. After trying to work with the store myself. Amazing once the CC got involved how easy the store was to work with.
I totally agree with FN. I have used this option a couple of times, and it''s amazing how quickly disputes have been settled. How long ago was the purchase made? There may be a time frame involved--check with your cc provider.

I have to disagree with DA on the point of returning your rings. There is no way in h*** I''d leave my rings there after the way they''ve treated you and your fiance.
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We purchased the ring in December
 
I was just wondering what your opinions on this is in case the worst scenario happens:

My friend recommended just taking a brand new ring from them anyway and having it re-set at a different jewellers. Has anyone had pave stones re-set? I am also contemplating changing my princess to a radiant so I can have additional prongs put on the setting....I''m totally paranoid about losing the stone now!!
Does anyone have any advice about resetting the paves or exchanging the princess to a radiant?

Let me know
 
Date: 6/22/2007 3:04:26 PM
Author: lidmndgrl
We purchased the ring in December
OK . I would give them a call today with cc statement in hand as they''ll need details such as the transaction number, etc. Good luck. Please let us know what their comments are.
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My fiance called the Corp HQ again today and they called back and left a voicemail. I am waiting to hear from him
 
Date: 6/22/2007 1:22:15 PM
Author: lidmndgrl
If you could pass me on the info, that would be great
I think that you meant me, maybe not??? Anyway, if this is not allowed, I am so sorry!
This is actually a very helpful website to research anything: www.rateitall.com. Just type whatever you want to research in the search at the top. Good luck to you and FI.
 
God, it''s scary what experiences people have had with Whitehall, I wish my Fiance had known this before purchasing the ring there. I feel bad about showing him the comments, though because he is upset enough about this whole fiasco as it is and Iw ould feel like I was rubbing it in his face.

We never heard back from the Corp HQ on Friday and the manager fo the store contacted my Fiance askign us to come him to see the "new" rings on Saturday; we couldn''t as we had our Pre-cana and said we may come in on Sunday or Monday. Neither of us feltlike wasting Sunday getting upset and we worked late last night, so we are going tonight. Honestly, it''s a joke at this stage, because I am just going to refuse the other rings and keep demanding a refund.
 
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