Jared: He went to Jared but was told take it elsewhere...

[NeverEndingUpgrade]

Just to satisfy my curisosity, how often are diamonds damaged in the setting process? I''m guessing it doesn''t happen too often among jewelers that really know what they are doing.

 

[HollyS]

Date: 11/12/2008 8:25:16 PM
Author: neatfreak
I think you are crazy for going to Jared''s in the first place, but not for making sure your stone would be covered...their customer service is pretty awful at a lot of locations. I would write a letter to the manager and then take your business elsewhere.

Never go to Jared''s. Never. That don''t know squat about anything, don''t have the quality in stones that you have, and that is why they cannot promise to replace your stone with exact or similar quality. I wouldn''t trust them to mount anything. Why did you not have your vendor, who sold the setting to you, send it to Tacori with your stone? Mine did. A chain jewelry store would never touch my best jewelry. No way.

 

[KeepItSecret]

The jeweler that set the stone informed me that technically they are not insured in any way in the event something went wrong. He was even upfront and told me that in his 30 years of experience only 2 stones have ever been damaged in the setting process to which he sent them out to be re-cut and polished. The owners wife said that if anything should happen they will do everything possible to repair the stone even though there is technically no insurance. She even stated that "if something happened to your stone, we know that you would be unhappy and it would ruin our image as you told others so you can be sure you would be taken care to your satisfaction".

 

[denverappraiser]

I’m using the term ‘insurance’ to mean an assumption of risk for a fee. It’s correct that no insurance company I know of will insure jewelers against damage done by their employees in the course of the job although they will cover things like theft from the store while in their possession. What I’ve described above is a form of self-insurance by the jeweler. Some of the risks, like theft, are being borne by a 3rd party insurer and some, like damage to the stone are being borne by the jeweler themselves.

For most jewelers the frequency of damage really is pretty low but it’s worthwhile for them to think of the various scenarios and how they will deal with them in advance of having a problem. This is just sensible risk management and it makes it easier to see the numbers clearly. Most jewelers are fairly small and not especially profitable operations and they fear the cash flow ramifications of this whole discussion but when they ‘run the numbers’ they quickly find that it’s not nearly as grim as it seems. Any jeweler who is reading this and considering implementing a policy of offering guaranteed work and who is worried about the costs is welcome to call me and I''ll discuss how it can be a profit center instead of a loss. Everybody wins.

As Wink points out, Jewelers Mutual will agree to assume the whole bundle directly for the consumer if you and the jeweler want.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[strmrdr]

Using JM in these situations is a no brainer I wonder why it isn''t done more.
Is the information being given to the trade outside of PS that the system exists?
If properly sold by the jeweler this can become a profit center and a way to stand out from the crowd.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 11/15/2008 8:28:54 AM
Author: denverappraiser
To me this spells an opportunity here for enterprising and skilled bench people (and/or their employers). I think we would agree that ANY setting job contains an insurance component, no matter who sold the stone, sometimes it’s just buried in the cost of the stone, the mounting or both. It’s a matter of setting the price. If the issue is the liability, jewelers should charge for assuming that risk. As Wink points out, they even have a basis for setting the price. JM will do it for the cost of an appraisal plus roughly 1% of the declared value.

The jeweler is in a better position than anyone else to assess the potential risks associated with a particular job. They get to accept or decline the work after they can see the details, they get to set the price and they get the opportunity to pass the risk off on JM (or someone else) if they don’t want to assume it themselves. This isn’t a no-lose deal but it’s pretty darned close.

I’m getting increasingly frustrated when I hear this complaint coming from consumers because it’s so easily solved and the people who can solve it, meaning the stores with benches and folks who can reasonably assess the risks, stand to be huge beneficiaries and they still refuse to do it. The problem almost never seems to be with the price. The above job was quoted at $59 but I suspect that it would have been just fine at $159 if they had just behaved better on the sales floor.

Let’s see, they were willing to include $5800 worth of free ‘insurance’ in the $59 fee and what the customer wanted was $7200. That’s a desire for $1400 more in risk assumption that killed the deal. The job and the risks of damage remain the same either way. How about charging $100 instead of $59 and taking in the job with a smile? That’s $41 for some ‘insurance’ that the JM formula would value at $14. Add the cost of an appraisal or at least some form of evaluation and documentation, which they probably want and need anyway. Call it an 'upsell' of another $75 or so where you're already going to do at least some of the work. So now we're talking about a $175 high profit sale and it build a customer relationship for the future. Where’s the downside here? You lose a diamond sale? (Hint: You already lost this one, now you're working towards the NEXT diamond sale) She might decline because she thinks the price is too high and the guy down the street who won't take the liability is cheaper? How in the world is that worse than having the guard throw her out of the store?

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

Neil , I have heard your argument before, and I agree with it 110%.
I wonder if there is some avenue that the industry can be lobbied to take up such action ? It just plain makes sense, I don't know why something like doesn't already exist !

Like Strm mentioned, this would actually be a money maker for most - as we all know, with experienced bench the instance of actually damaging a stone is scarce..

On a smaller scale, may I ask have you personally ever introduced this concept to a jeweller who then put it in place? I would love to know (not details of course, just yes or no

).

As always, cheers for the great info.

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 11/16/2008 9:24:47 AM
Author: arjunajane
Neil , I have heard your argument before, and I agree with it 110%.

I wonder if there is some avenue that the industry can be lobbied to take up such action ? It just plain makes sense, I don't know why something like doesn't already exist !

Like Strm mentioned, this would actually be a money maker for most - as we all know, with experienced bench the instance of actually damaging a stone is scarce..

On a smaller scale, may I ask have you personally ever introduced this concept to a jeweller who then put it in place? I would love to know (not details of course, just yes or no

).

As always, cheers for the great info.

I know of quite a few jewelers who do this, including some who have implemented it at my suggestion or who learned it as one of my former employees. I did it for many years in my own stores and for decades as a setter myself.

It’s not an industry issue so there’s no one to really lobby. Each jeweler is a private business and they set their own policies, which is as it should be. The only way the ‘industry’ is involved is by habit.

A lot of jewelers get into this business because they are skilled technicians and/or they love jewelry and they don’t really think of their businesses in this way. Risk management is a long way from learning how to display jewelry, make good ads or doing fabulous custom designs and many just don't think about this whole issue. That said, ‘lobbying’ jewelers is the reason I’ve started talking about it here on Pricescope, a consumer forum. How to profitably run a jewelry store repair department isn't really the focus here. Lots of jewelers are lurkers here, they read about customers bitching about local jewelers, and they read the advice that they should shop online as a solution. Not surprisingly, this pisses them off. The oft recommended companies here are first rate outfits but it’s not their online-ness that’s giving them the edge on this. They treat their customers better and they work really hard at what they're doing. When the jewelers complain that business is down because they are losing customers to the ‘Internet’, they’re missing the issue. It’s their own policies that are driving customers away (or in the case of this thread, they had the guard throw her out of the store

). We need more GOOD local jewelers or this industry is going to evaporate and the first step is for the existing jewelers to stop whining and do something about it. ‘The Internet’ isn’t who is eating their lunch, it’s some top shelf individual businesses who are using the internet as a way of communicating with their customers. Most are actually jewelers themselves who just happen to be in someone else's neighborhood and who are expanding through the internet.

Most shoppers would PREFER to do business locally when they can so the locals start out with an advantage and they throw it away over policies like what we're discussing here. What the 'Internet' folks are doing isn’t magic, it’s just hard work, strong ethics, clever investments and good business. That's who SHOULD be rising to the top.


Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 11/15/2008 8:28:54 AM
Author: denverappraiser
To me this spells an opportunity here for enterprising and skilled bench people (and/or their employers). I think we would agree that ANY setting job contains an insurance component, no matter who sold the stone, sometimes it’s just buried in the cost of the stone, the mounting or both. It’s a matter of setting the price. If the issue is the liability, jewelers should charge for assuming that risk. As Wink points out, they even have a basis for setting the price. JM will do it for the cost of an appraisal plus roughly 1% of the declared value.

The jeweler is in a better position than anyone else to assess the potential risks associated with a particular job. They get to accept or decline the work after they can see the details, they get to set the price and they get the opportunity to pass the risk off on JM (or someone else) if they don’t want to assume it themselves. This isn’t a no-lose deal but it’s pretty darned close.

I’m getting increasingly frustrated when I hear this complaint coming from consumers because it’s so easily solved and the people who can solve it, meaning the stores with benches and folks who can reasonably assess the risks, stand to be huge beneficiaries and they still refuse to do it. The problem almost never seems to be with the price. The above job was quoted at $59 but I suspect that it would have been just fine at $159 if they had just behaved better on the sales floor.

Let’s see, they were willing to include $5800 worth of free ‘insurance’ in the $59 fee and what the customer wanted was $7200. That’s a desire for $1400 more in risk assumption that killed the deal. The job and the risks of damage remain the same either way. How about charging $100 instead of $59 and taking in the job with a smile? That’s $41 for some ‘insurance’ that the JM formula would value at $14. Add the cost of an appraisal or at least some form of evaluation and documentation, which they probably want and need anyway. Call it an ''upsell'' of another $75 or so where you''re already going to do at least some of the work. So now we''re talking about a $175 high profit sale and it build a customer relationship for the future. Where’s the downside here? You lose a diamond sale? (Hint: You already lost this one, now you''re working towards the NEXT diamond sale) She might decline because she thinks the price is too high and the guy down the street who won''t take the liability is cheaper? How in the world is that worse than having the guard throw her out of the store?

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

I know that there are several posts below this one, but I am going to answer this before reading them, sorry if it has already been said.

Brilliant!

Any retailer reading this now has a reason to thank the internet for making this incredible insite available to them.

Just add $100 to your normal price (or more depending on the value), buy them a one year policy with JM for a fraction of that $100, look like an absolute HERO and set the diamond with no personal risk!

Brilliant! Or should I say, GENIOUS!

Wink

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 11/15/2008 2:44:16 PM
Author: NeverEndingUpgrade
Just to satisfy my curisosity, how often are diamonds damaged in the setting process? I''m guessing it doesn''t happen too often among jewelers that really know what they are doing.

VERY rarely, but when it happens it will never be to a cheap diamond, Murphy will be working full time on that!

Wink

(I am referring to Murphy''s law for those who wonder what I am talking about. Something along that line that what ever the worst possible outcome is, is what will happen. Of course there is also the corollary that "Murphy was an optimist.".)

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 11/16/2008 9:18:40 AM
Author: strmrdr
Using JM in these situations is a no brainer I wonder why it isn''t done more.
Is the information being given to the trade outside of PS that the system exists?
If properly sold by the jeweler this can become a profit center and a way to stand out from the crowd.

Karl,

JM does a great job of letting their Insured Jewelers know about this, but so many look to save a few % points on their insurance without knowing what it is really costing them.

There are no licensing requirements to become a jeweler or even a jewelry appraiser, which is why it is so difficult to know who the good ones are.

I have seen many many very nice pieces of jewelry from the local Jarads, much better than the average mall type jewelry that I see. I compete with them here in Boise, and have had only good experiences with those few of my clients who have taken one of my stones to them for mounting because they liked a style that Jarads had. They were told that they had gotten a great stone for a great price and when the rings came back here for appraisal I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the mounting. I was also pleasantly surprised at the great reception they received when sharing my diamond with the sales associate there. Thus I know for a fact that there are some good to great Jarads out there, along with some not so great ones.

Wink

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 11/16/2008 10:07:29 AM
Author: denverappraiser


Most shoppers would PREFER to do business locally when they can so the locals start out with an advantage and they throw it away over policies like what we''re discussing here. What the ''Internet'' folks are doing isn’t magic, it’s just hard work, strong ethics, clever investments and good business. That''s who SHOULD be rising to the top.


Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

Amen!

Wink - who thinks this an appropriate comment for a Sunday post...

 

[LeilaniRL]

Date: 11/13/2008 9:04:03 PM
Author: KeepItSecret
I intend to do a quick write up just to put their name out there since not many jewelers from Jacksonville, Florida seem to be on this site.


$59 which I agree is fairly cheap for the risk being taken but I figured with Jared being as large as it is its all about quantity of jewelry serviced.

HOLY CRAP, KeepItSecret, I had almost the SAME exact experience you did at the Jacksonville, FL store too. I was there to rhodium plate my IF-.80-F-round brilliant in its second setting and I wrote down what my original ring was insured for. I handed the slip in and she questioned my quote ($11,000). "Is this what you bought it for?" I told her yes, "It''s internally flawless and AGS0." She wouldn''t believe me claim and we went back and forth for a while. I "resolved" this problem by basically giving in so they can do the work. I forgot how much we agreed to insure the ring, but it was a PAIN. Was this lady kinda older looking with shoulder length hair? I didn''t get her name. I usually deal with two other associates and have NEVER been treated this way. I also wanted work done on my 4-carat non-lab sapphire which my hubby bought for $12,000 and they said that they had the same ring for $400 and that''s all they could cover me for. WHAT?!

I learned my lesson... ANY time I got get work done on any of my jewels, I''m bringing the certs with me and appraisals so there''s NO confusion.

I just got my e-ring reset again and no troubles.

 

[Pandora II]

The really irritating thing is that JM won''t cover you if you don''t live in the USA. I haven''t found anyone in the UK who will insure a loose stone for setting (if anyone else does know, please let me know) so be thankful that you have the option.

I would willingly pay extra for the jeweller to take out a policy on my behalf if I needed to set a valuable stone.

 

[rparker1998]

Date: 11/14/2008 11:41:36 AM
Author: Thomperchik

KeepingItSecret - Had I known you were in Jacksonville, I would''ve told you not to go into the Jared''s by town center. I had a horrible experience when I was shopping for engagement rings. I was basically blown off because I wasn''t intending on buying anything.

Either way, Beard''s Jewelry by Hendricks Ave has awesome prices comparable to online vendors.

There is one on Atlantic Beach that also has excellent prices, I just can''t think of the name.

Good luck!

I''m in Jax here too and thought dh and I were the only ones who''d received poor service at that particular jareds. We''d gone in there twice when we were looking for an upgrade for my center stone and both times we were completelly ignored. The first time they were busy so we just let it go thinking that was the reason. The second time we sat in front of the engagement ring case for 30 minutes and weren''t once even said hi to or we''ll be with you in a moment. the security guard even pointed us out to one of the associates and she didn''t even come to say helllo. FINALLY we decided to leave and as we were walking out a person finally came up and said hi and we looked at her and said bye, you just lost a sale because we waited for 30 minutes and not one person even acknowledged us and we will never do business here nor will our family and friends.

 

[rparker1998]

Date: 11/14/2008 11:41:36 AM
Author: Thomperchik

KeepingItSecret - Had I known you were in Jacksonville, I would''ve told you not to go into the Jared''s by town center. I had a horrible experience when I was shopping for engagement rings. I was basically blown off because I wasn''t intending on buying anything.

Either way, Beard''s Jewelry by Hendricks Ave has awesome prices comparable to online vendors.

There is one on Atlantic Beach that also has excellent prices, I just can''t think of the name.

Good luck!

I''m looking for a good jewleler here in Jax to design a custom piece. The jeweler on Atlantic, is it Alias or something like that? Some Customers at work told me they went to a jewelers on Atlantic that started with an A

 

[danger350]

I think I may be the only person who had a good experience with Jared. My local store in Raleigh set a diamond that I purchased online in my fiance''s Tacori engagement ring with no troubles. When I went in to order the ring I took the certification paper for the diamond to show them the size/dimensions. The gentleman never asked where I bought it, and I didn''t tell...but I''d have certainly been upset if he''d made a comment to me like the other poster mentioned where the salesman said "I''d never buy a diamond online..." Such arrogance...and I guess envy that he didn''t get to make a sale.

Long story short though, even after my good experience, I''m starting to second guess ordering her Tacori wedding ring from Jared, even if there is no stone setting involved this time. Sounds like a lot of Jared stores are customer service nightmares just waiting to happen - and the gentleman who helped me before isn''t there anymore.

 

[RNgemlover]

It''s getting so bad that I have approached several jewelers with my alexandrite who refuse outright to even attempt to set it for fear of liability! (btw, no outright dangerous looking inclusions, only a slight fingerprint). I personally think that if I take a stone to a jeweler, it is my responsibility to ensure that the stone I present him with is fully insured. I like the idea of having customers just get an appraisal, and insure it after. People are so unrealistic! I have, however had a wretched experience with a ring I had custom made, first 14k gold instead of 18k gold and they chipped 4/12 rubies. I sent it back, they chipped 5 rubies, AND polished the tables flat on 6 of them!!!! After that, I have lost all confidence in the process, but I will say they took full responsibility for their obvious failure, and replaced my rubies. I worked in a store that did wax to casting custom jewelry, and I know the irritation from both sides. But come on folks, we''re dealing with nature here lol! She has a mind of her own. Still would like to get my alexandrite set though lol!

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 1/3/2009 11:18:29 PM
Author: shaunrice
It''s getting so bad that I have approached several jewelers with my alexandrite who refuse outright to even attempt to set it for fear of liability! (btw, no outright dangerous looking inclusions, only a slight fingerprint). I personally think that if I take a stone to a jeweler, it is my responsibility to ensure that the stone I present him with is fully insured. I like the idea of having customers just get an appraisal, and insure it after. People are so unrealistic! I have, however had a wretched experience with a ring I had custom made, first 14k gold instead of 18k gold and they chipped 4/12 rubies. I sent it back, they chipped 5 rubies, AND polished the tables flat on 6 of them!!!! After that, I have lost all confidence in the process, but I will say they took full responsibility for their obvious failure, and replaced my rubies. I worked in a store that did wax to casting custom jewelry, and I know the irritation from both sides. But come on folks, we''re dealing with nature here lol! She has a mind of her own. Still would like to get my alexandrite set though lol!

I''m not sure if I understand your post - are you saying adding the cost for insurance while setting is a good idea or a bad one?

 

[RNgemlover]

as someone who NEVER buys jewelry from a jewelry store, and always has it custom made, I am absolutely FOR insurance, and am perfectly willing to accept the cost of it myself. I do not think the jeweler should accept full liability for a stone he didn''t have anything to do with purchasing. However, polishing a ring with such ferocity as to literally flatten the tables on 6 rubies is obviously the fault of the person doing the polishing, and in that case I really think it is the companies responsibility to replace stones, and set it right.

 

[Imdanny]

Call the manager. And if he doesn't care then he's a lousy manager and does a lousy job. At least you should let him know. This person's behavior is crazy rude.

 

[LeilaniRL]

Date: 1/1/2009 8:07:09 PM
Author: rparker1998

Date: 11/14/2008 11:41:36 AM

Author: Thomperchik


I''m looking for a good jewleler here in Jax to design a custom piece. The jeweler on Atlantic, is it Alias or something like that? Some Customers at work told me they went to a jewelers on Atlantic that started with an A

It''s actually Elias on Atlantic. They worked on my mother''s pieces and did excellent jobs! I would also recommend Beard''s on Hendricks. They customized my friend''s e-ring with French Baguettes and their prices are low. Nice!