shape
carat
color
clarity

My experience with May Jewelers

Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.

newnewb

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
Messages
1
Hi all,

I discovered Pricescope while searching for an engagement ring. Prior to stumbling across this site, I had done what I thought was reasonably thorough consumer research on rings and stones. I had found several specialist sites and dealers discussing the specific type of stone I was seeking, and had a sense of prices, common issues, questions to ask, etc.

Then I found Pricescope, which has been the gateway to so much more high quality information and discussion. It has certainly given me a *much* better awareness than my previous extensive googling. I found vendors, appraisers, and information that never would have been on my radar. It has been a fascinating and humbling experience. Thank you, Pricescope!!!

I wanted to contribute a review back to the community, so I''m posting about my recent purchase from May Jewelers. They are a brick and mortar store in Tysons Corner, VA. I have not seen many mentions of May on this site or others, and I had a really good experience buying wedding bands and an engagement ring from them.

I visited several B&M stores in the D.C. area, and walked into May sort of on accident as they were across from Tiffany''s. I am a fairly deliberate and careful purchaser and visited their store maybe five times, and I also visited around five other stores in the area. I am not affiliated with anyone in the industry in any way - the following is just my honest opinion as an newbie consumer.

May seems to be a family run store. The only people I''ve seen behind the counter dealing with customers are the mother and her two sons, John and Vincent. Many of the people I saw in the store seemed to be repeat customers. They have a lot of Asian and Indian-style jewelry, which is really cool to look at. They also have "western" style jewelry -- the mix seemed to be about 50/50.

John and Vincent were both fantastic to work with. I am a suspicious person and started with the view that most jewelry salespeople are in the same category as used car salesmen. John and Vincent earned my trust. They were careful, efficient, and did not try to sell me anything I didn''t want. They provided candid judgments about what they thought might and might not work in terms of metals, styles, and stones. They were also very forthright about pricing and made a number of suggestions which helped me come in under budget.

Of the places I visited, May certainly had the best prices for what I was looking for. In my opinion, they also had the most careful and thoughtful service. They were extremely flexible during the whole process, and when I had finally decided they were able to mount the stone in a few hours. Prior to mounting, stone we was appraised by one of the appraisers recommended here on Pricescope. The appraiser''s judgment was very positive and the stone appraised at considerably higher than the sales price. The sales price was apparently substantially closer to "wholesale" than "retail" prince bands. This surprised and impressed me, though I have noticed that several other Pricescope reports have noted similar disparities between actual sales price and appraisal price. For what it is worth, I was not able to find lower pricing in any of the internet stores I searched.

Bottom line: I was deeply impressed by May Jewelers. I did not expect that level of honesty, care, or efficiency. I certainly did not expect such a good price on the bands or the stone. I definitely recommend taking the time to look at multiple stores and feel fortunate that I came across May.
 
Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top