What would you guys do in the following situation:
My girlfriend and I have both looked at various settings and we both absolutely loved a particular Ritani setting sold at a local jeweler. Only three jewelers in Atlanta sell Ritani and, upon our request, they've all confirmed that it would take no more than three weeks to get it in. I then placed the order with Solomon Brothers on May 1 and told them that it had to be in by June 3 (tomorrow), which is the date I wanted to propose (Solomon Brothers has been very courteous and professional throughout the whole process). I was assured that Ritani was told about the timeline and would have no problem with it.
I checked on the status of the setting on May 22 and was told that Ritani was having some problems adhering to the timeline but that it would be done by the second week of June (!!!). I protested and Ritani then proceeded to set and then miss new deadlines, until I set the drop dead deadline of June 2nd (today).
Well, the setting did arrive today. Instead of white gold, which is what we had requested, it's in yellow gold and the size is wrong. I had Solomon Brothers get in touch with Ritani, which acknowledged the mistake (no kidding) but said that it would take them another two weeks to make another setting for us.
I then felt that I had no choice but to get in touch with Ritani myself. I barely got through to Steve White, Ritani's production manager, who was rather unapologetic and whose response to me essentially was "well, mistakes happen."
I told him that I would be able to postpone the proposal until Tuesday, June 6th, but that the setting absolutely has to be done by then (I also gave them the option of doing it in platinum at no additional cost to me (it's otherwise about $300 more expensive in platinum), which they refused to do). Steve rudely responded once again by saying that mistakes happen, that he would not be able to accommodate my timeline and then refused to get in touch with Ritani's higher ups regarding the situation (they're all apparently at the industry trade show in Las Vegas). Upon being informed that it would be either Steve getting in touch with Ritani's CFO or a newspaper reporter, Steve finally called Joe, Ritani's CFO, and was apparently told to do his best to accommodate the timeline.
Even after that conversation, instead of attempting to immediately rectify the mistake, Steve called Solomon Brothers to ask them whether I was a "good customer" and whether it was worth coming in on Saturday to cast the setting (he received an affirmative response). After all these back and forth conversations where Ritani has been extremely unapologetic and confrontational (sticking to its mantra that mistakes happen and that it's not a big deal), they finally said that they would do their best to overnight the correct setting to Solomon Brothers on Tuesday.
Please let me know if I am overreacting here, but I find it absolutely incredible that a luxury goods manufacturer, such as Ritani, is able to stay in business while, at least in my case, failing to adhere to its own deadlines, using the wrong metal, the wrong size and then finding the audacity to be rude to the customer to calls them to convey my profound disappointment over Ritani's service (or the lack thereof).
Not only am I absolutely furious with Ritani, but I am now quite concerned that they will once again screw up the setting/fail to adhere to the timeline, which will wreak havoc in my engagement plans. Do any of you have any recommendations at this point? Would you stay with Ritani and hope for the best (my gf just looooooved their setting) or would you try to cut your losses and try to find another setting that can be done before the 6th? Is there anything you think I can do to minimize the chance that this will happen again? Is this an industry-wide problem?
My girlfriend and I have both looked at various settings and we both absolutely loved a particular Ritani setting sold at a local jeweler. Only three jewelers in Atlanta sell Ritani and, upon our request, they've all confirmed that it would take no more than three weeks to get it in. I then placed the order with Solomon Brothers on May 1 and told them that it had to be in by June 3 (tomorrow), which is the date I wanted to propose (Solomon Brothers has been very courteous and professional throughout the whole process). I was assured that Ritani was told about the timeline and would have no problem with it.
I checked on the status of the setting on May 22 and was told that Ritani was having some problems adhering to the timeline but that it would be done by the second week of June (!!!). I protested and Ritani then proceeded to set and then miss new deadlines, until I set the drop dead deadline of June 2nd (today).
Well, the setting did arrive today. Instead of white gold, which is what we had requested, it's in yellow gold and the size is wrong. I had Solomon Brothers get in touch with Ritani, which acknowledged the mistake (no kidding) but said that it would take them another two weeks to make another setting for us.
I then felt that I had no choice but to get in touch with Ritani myself. I barely got through to Steve White, Ritani's production manager, who was rather unapologetic and whose response to me essentially was "well, mistakes happen."
I told him that I would be able to postpone the proposal until Tuesday, June 6th, but that the setting absolutely has to be done by then (I also gave them the option of doing it in platinum at no additional cost to me (it's otherwise about $300 more expensive in platinum), which they refused to do). Steve rudely responded once again by saying that mistakes happen, that he would not be able to accommodate my timeline and then refused to get in touch with Ritani's higher ups regarding the situation (they're all apparently at the industry trade show in Las Vegas). Upon being informed that it would be either Steve getting in touch with Ritani's CFO or a newspaper reporter, Steve finally called Joe, Ritani's CFO, and was apparently told to do his best to accommodate the timeline.
Even after that conversation, instead of attempting to immediately rectify the mistake, Steve called Solomon Brothers to ask them whether I was a "good customer" and whether it was worth coming in on Saturday to cast the setting (he received an affirmative response). After all these back and forth conversations where Ritani has been extremely unapologetic and confrontational (sticking to its mantra that mistakes happen and that it's not a big deal), they finally said that they would do their best to overnight the correct setting to Solomon Brothers on Tuesday.
Please let me know if I am overreacting here, but I find it absolutely incredible that a luxury goods manufacturer, such as Ritani, is able to stay in business while, at least in my case, failing to adhere to its own deadlines, using the wrong metal, the wrong size and then finding the audacity to be rude to the customer to calls them to convey my profound disappointment over Ritani's service (or the lack thereof).
Not only am I absolutely furious with Ritani, but I am now quite concerned that they will once again screw up the setting/fail to adhere to the timeline, which will wreak havoc in my engagement plans. Do any of you have any recommendations at this point? Would you stay with Ritani and hope for the best (my gf just looooooved their setting) or would you try to cut your losses and try to find another setting that can be done before the 6th? Is there anything you think I can do to minimize the chance that this will happen again? Is this an industry-wide problem?
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