James Allen's reliability?

[BeachGirlG]

My bf ordered a diamond & setting yesterday from JA and during the order process, the sales rep assured him that they could meet his timeline. That means having the diamond by thursday 5/16 as we leave for vaca Friday 5/17. They said no problem, it is actually going to ship overnight on Tuesday. Now when he checked the order online, it shows that it is supposed to ship Wednesday...

He emailed them, but I am still so worried that any little slip up will ruin his plans. Does anyone have any experience with how they stick to their timelines????

 

[JulieN]

Overnight shipping on Wednesday means you will have it on Thursday.

 

[BeachGirlG]

I hope so, but they said they can't guarantee it will be ready on Wednesday, but they think it should...

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Well, with no guarantee, I would be a little concerned. Hope it works out, though!

 

[YoungPapa]

Hi Beachgirl,

As a general rule, all of the shipping dates on our website are estimates. While the majority of orders will ship on or before the estimated date, it is not unusual for shipping to be later than originally estimated.

Since we understand that this can be a real problem, one of the first emails that was sent to your fiancee after he placed the order would have been from his Account Manager. In that email, we specifically ask if you have any travel plans or anything else that would dictate placing the order as a higher priority. If your fiancee replied to that email and made us aware of the travel plans, then your order would be notated accordingly and you would be changed over to what we call a "Hard Deadline". In those instances, your shipping date is virtually guaranteed.

I say "virtually", because there are instances where something goes wrong. For example, a ring might come out of casting and look fine, but have an issue with porosity that doesn't become evident until we get to final polishing. This is pretty rare, but is why we have a hard time "guaranteeing" anything with 100% certainty.

As to your other thread about prongs, I'm going to assume your ring uses a die-struck head - not a basket that we cast ourselves. If this is the case, a six prong head might not be available (or be the best choice) for the size diamond you're using. I don't have enough detail about your order to comment further, but as with your shipping date the best thing to do is communicate your concerns directly to your Account Manager.

With all of that said, I think you're going to be fine. We miss very, very few hard deadlines and can hopefully accommodate your six prong request. Just make sure your Account Manager is aware of these issues. If you don't have everything resolved by Monday afternoon, there is no harm in calling and speaking to the manager on duty. The office is open on the weekend, but these types of issues really require feedback from our New York office, which isn't open 24/7 like Customer Service.

All the best,

 

[diamondloveaffair]

Hi Beachgirl,

As a general rule, all of the shipping dates on our website are estimates. While the majority of orders will ship on or before the estimated date, it is not unusual for shipping to be later than originally estimated.

Since we understand that this can be a real problem, one of the first emails that was sent to your fiancee after he placed the order would have been from his Account Manager. In that email, we specifically ask if you have any travel plans or anything else that would dictate placing the order as a higher priority. If your fiancee replied to that email and made us aware of the travel plans, then your order would be notated accordingly and you would be changed over to what we call a "Hard Deadline". In those instances, your shipping date is virtually guaranteed.

I say "virtually", because there are instances where something goes wrong. For example, a ring might come out of casting and look fine, but have an issue with porosity that doesn't become evident until we get to final polishing. This is pretty rare, but is why we have a hard time "guaranteeing" anything with 100% certainty.

As to your other thread about prongs, I'm going to assume your ring uses a die-struck head - not a basket that we cast ourselves. If this is the case, a six prong head might not be available (or be the best choice) for the size diamond you're using. I don't have enough detail about your order to comment further, but as with your shipping date the best thing to do is communicate your concerns directly to your Account Manager.

With all of that said, I think you're going to be fine. We miss very, very few hard deadlines and can hopefully accommodate your six prong request. Just make sure your Account Manager is aware of these issues. If you don't have everything resolved by Monday afternoon, there is no harm in calling and speaking to the manager on duty. The office is open on the weekend, but these types of issues really require feedback from our New York office, which isn't open 24/7 like Customer Service.

All the best,

+ 1

 

[BeachGirlG]

Thank you so much for replying (and so late on a Friday night!!) Yes, the account manager does know about the travel plans.

As for the prongs, I think they just misunderstood what my bf asked for.

The stone is 2.03ct so I think it would look great with the 5 plus v-tip like my pic in the other thread. I think the 4 plus v-tip makes it look squareed off.

My bf just called and the CSR said changing the head might cause a delay. He told them only change it if it doesn't change the date, so we'll see what happens I guess.

 

[BeachGirlG]

Update: The ring arrived today!!
My bf won't let me see it so I can't comment on it, but James Allen finished it when they said they would. And they were able to do the 6 prong head.

 

[Christina...]

Yah! Enjoy your vacation and I'm looking forward to seeing lots and lots of photos when you return!