My mall experience

[LadyJ]

My sister and I went to the mall to look at rings. I already know that I do not really want to but from a mall store because I feel they are always over eager to sell you something, lack knowledge or are not always very happy to awnswer questions. But most important I feel they are usually over priced.

Anyway.... the first store we went in because I know they have loose stones. We went inside and we were the only two people we must have been looking in the cases for a good five minutes before I got annoyed that we were not even greeted so I walked over to the counter and asked if they had loose stones even though I know they do. The man said yes and I said that''s what I thought and walked away.

Finally about a minute later he came over and asked us what we were looking for. I explained to him that I was mainly looking to get inspiration and that I did not want to buy a stone already set. I told him that I have been doing my homework online and that I was comparison shopping. I asked about certified stones and he told me that not all the stones they have are. I told him that I am considering buying from an online vendor. He did not seem to know much about this. After he realized that I was actually in the market to buy he was more interested in helping me.

I can''t help but wonder if the fact that I look young and dress young did not have something to do with this. To look at me you would probably not think I have any money but I certainly do and even if I was planning on buying there they would not have gotten my business after that.

lol Maybe it was my lepoard print beanie that threw him off. I just can''t help but think that if I walked in there in a suit that he would have been all over me. lol anyway...

I went to another store where they were just too eagar and I told her I was just looking but she seemed so excited to see me she must have asked me 20 questions in about 2 minutes. The next place I went was definitely better than the first two but I think that what they had in a 1ct stone was way over priced sompared to what I could get online. I don''t remember the exact numbers but I remember that based on my knowledge they were pretty good for the cut. The color was f and it was an si2. Med flour. Polish and sym were excellent. They had certified and non-cert stones. The cert stones were very high. The 1 ct stone I looked at was almost 9,000!! It was set in a white gold Tiffany style with a very thin band. I thought this was way to high. Am I right?? The sales girl was pushing the color of the stone and the pol/sym telling me that was why it was so much and what made it so nice. I didn''t bother to argue.

I was not really considering the mall before but now it''s definitely out! Oh another thing that bothers me is that they all kept asking me where my faince was... I told them that he told me to pick it out and he would just pay for it. Which is the truth. I don''t know why they think I need my man there to pick out MY ring.

 

[pqcollectibles]

Yeah, the ring was definitely over priced. You can buy a comparable stone on PS for $4K to $4500 or so. You can get a H&A for $4800-$5K or so. That setting must be real expensive!

I always tell them when I am looking that I am shopping for Hubby. That way I can find exactly what I want and tell him where to go to get it for me. Then they get real nice. Maybe because they think I'm making him pay for something. I dunno. But that really gets jewelers to be VERY helpful!!

 

[phoenixgirl]

Once my dad asked me to buy him four pairs of Rockport shoes since there aren't any stores near where he lives. I walked over to some mall jewelry store with my four boxes of new shoes, and the saleslady actually abandoned this couple that was looking at engagement rings to help me. I felt really bad for them.

But then, once I went to this upscale B&M store in a posh shopping district to get my ring appraised, and even though I was a college kid wearing sneakers, they let me try on their rings (even a 3 carat!). That was really fun, and I appreciated their taking me seriously even though I obviously wasn't going to buy anything that day.

 

[Buena Girl]

Deja vu! I went to some malls in December to try to buy a pair of diamond earrings. I was ignored in the first store, pounced on in another store as soon as I walked in the door, and browsed in many others. Unless you know a specific store is highly recommended, definitely avoid the mall.
I had discovered Pricescope and did a little research. I knew I wanted to purchase D, E, or F color stones with a VS2 or better clarity, and in every store the salespeople tried to talk me into H and lower color, and S1, S2, and lower clarity diamonds

I also look young for my age, so maybe that's why every salesperson I talked to insisted they knew better how I should spend or "invest" my money.
Good luck with your purchasing! Pricescope seems like a good place to search. Lots of links to gorgeous rings and you can get feedback on good vendors to deal with.

 

[Nicrez]

Wow that happens to me SO often. I have modes of dress that just totally clash with shopping habits sometimes. Some days, honestly, I do not feel like doing my hair all pretty and dressing all professional, but worse yet I LOOK young, and when I went diamond shopping without my guy Tiffany's was SO bad with customer service...Ignoring me, suggesting I "come back with my guy", all sorts of irritateing things.




Hee heeat one store I was shopping at, I came in looking particularly yucky. I didn't care. They were SO snotty. I asked at first for a 1ct or so, rincess cut (my original search), "good color and clarity" and they were totally dismissing me. I also had come in with my girlfriend. They probably figured I was window shopping.




A week later, I walked in full business attire and professional as hell. The woman actually recognized me, and I strode in, plunked down my requirements sheet for the stone. 1.75ct-2.10ct, colorless, VS1 or better and she was sure as hell attentive. Funny thing is, she showed me a stone in G, VS2 (the best she had at the time), and I looked at it for a split second, and told her actually, it was a waste of my time, to call me when she had something better...WOW what a Pretty Woman moment! Hee hee...

 

[pulp_princess]

Nicrez, I did the same thing and went into Birks to look at the engagement rings. The lady at the counter suggested I come back with my fiance. I thought that was so rude! Do they want to see the guy so they can mentally assess how much you're going to spend? I left, but a few months ago, my guy went in and bought a sapphire necklace from that exact lady. She got the commission! Darn!

I was pleasantly surprised once in a mall jewellers. I had gone in just to get my ring size and one lady immediately came over and asked me if I wanted to try on a seven carat diamond. (Pardon?!!?

) Well, I tried it on and seven carats is too big for me! It wasn't a nice RB so it resembled a cheap cz, but I thought it was very nice of her. She said that too few women ever get to wear seven carats so she wanted everyone to try it on. Too true!

 

[LadyJ]

Pulp_princess, I think that they DO want to see the guy so they can mentally asses how much you are going to spend. lol Which I find funny because appearances can be VERY misleading. My fiance has tattoos that look like he got them in jail.

lol I remember one time we were at the eye doctor and when we were paying for my glasses he whipped out his credit card and the lady looked almost surprised. That annoyed me but I found it funny at the same time. We are not the most conservative looking couple so I am sure people make plenty of judgments about us based on the way we look. But that's fine I will take my business where I am treated well.

I think a lot of times people have old fashioned ideas about what a person with money looks like. I know that older man in the first store ignored us because to him we appeared to be kids that just wandered in to window shop and he probably thought we could never afford anything in the place.

I even asked him if they had designer settings and he replied in a very snotty tone that "they are Allll designers settings." I asked because I was looking for a setting by Vatche and wondered if they had it. I don't know if I phrased my question wrong but they way he awnswered was rude. I ment to inquire if they had a book of settings to pick from since they had loose stones. Funny though he could not tell me the names of the designers of any of the settings of the pre-set rings I looked at.