Luvallgems
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2013
- Messages
- 705
I second that@MamabeanI will never buy from them again. That is the most ridiculous move on their part! It’s all downhill from there. They had such a good reputation..It’s a shame..
I second that@MamabeanI will never buy from them again. That is the most ridiculous move on their part! It’s all downhill from there. They had such a good reputation..It’s a shame..
Mamabean, I just cut up my JA CC. It seems they thrive onI second that@Mamabean
To start (and as unbelievable as it may sound), many people don't even look at the certificate. Seriously. And for those who do, most don't really understand what they're seeing. They might think 'Polish' is what makes a diamond beautiful, all lab reports are equal, fluorescence is always bad, or 50 other myths and misinterpretations.
In this day and age, and from a business perspective, having more info online for consumers to digest is a greater lure than having CS attendants standing by to answer questions, IMHO.
What I don’t understand is if most consumers don’t look at the certificate and other specs, then why even remove it? What is JA trying to achieve by making it difficult for those people who do care about the certificate/details? It kinda sounds like they want to drive away the subset of consumers who have done their research and/or know what they want. I personally would never buy from a company that doesn’t value transparency and customer experience, but I guess I’m not JA’s target market.
Precisely. But I think the essence of what Mr. Schultz' is trying to convey with this new schema is that they are willing to forego (temporarily perhaps) the preferences of the more educated consumer in order to reel in the exponentially greater mass of less educated potential buyers. How many times do people come to PS stating they want to buy a stone from JA only because a friend had a great experience there? What happens to all those potential JA clients if they are now directed elsewhere to legitimate super-ideal vendors? This could be really good for all the other fish in the pond....BINGO! I am not a “hold my hand while I shop” kind of person ... whether it’s for a car, a house, or a diamond. I don’t want a salesperson breathing down my neck, email or chat window. I much prefer to take my time, see what’s out there, what I think about it, make my own assessments based on my own research, etc. And when I make a decision and am ready to buy, that’s when I want to contact a sales person.
Here you go, how to find the certificate of a stone on James Allen without contacting support:
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...ames-allen-without-contacting-support.248214/
Hopefully this can reduce the frustration in the meantime
I couldn't agree more. There is something different about JA that other vendors do not have. Their website is easy to navigate and intuitive. I can compare diamonds and pick ones that I like literally 10x faster than using other sites, mainly because of HD photos, layout, and responsiveness. It is a brilliant design overall.We are an innovative company that literally 'invented' diamond photography and visualiziaton (at scale), and we have more to come.
I couldn't agree more. There is something different about JA that other vendors do not have. Their website is easy to navigate and intuitive. I can compare diamonds and pick ones that I like literally 10x faster than using other sites.
For me, JA is a tech company with smart people. I am sure @YoungPapa and JA will find a more elegant solution.
Well said. You and I are JA's target customers. We like see all specs and details without going thru customer service and hassle, and conduct our own research online. We do not contact Amazon's customer service to find out more details on a product. JA should know this better than anyone else. As I said, I see JA as a tech and logistic company. They are just trying different things for now.Not to mention I am born for internet shopping ... if I can do my shopping and educate myself, the last thing I want is to go through customer service. I am an online shopper. I want to shop online by myself, not with an agent.
Hi folks,
No need to tag me - I saw this coming from a mile away.
So yeah, we removed the certificates from the website and are asking folks to request a copy from our CS team. I'll admit it's sorta crazy, but we've never been afraid to push the envelope and this is no exception.
At James Allen, we have a pretty good business. We sell hundreds of millions of dollars each year in diamonds, and have assisted something close to 500,000 young couples make a diamond purchase. In all that time, we've learned a few things about our customers. To start (and as unbelievable as it may sound), many people don't even look at the certificate. Seriously. And for those who do, most don't really understand what they're seeing. They might think 'Polish' is what makes a diamond beautiful, all lab reports are equal, fluorescence is always bad, or 50 other myths and misinterpretations. I'm not suggesting any of these people are dumb - they are engineers, medical students, and every other walk of life - they just aren't diamond experts (and often aren't that interested in becoming one). They have a budget, a preferred shape, and want to get the best diamond they can. For those folks, removing the reports is a nonevent, and we don't expect to tilt that needle one way or another.
Another thing that we know about our customers, however, is if they interact with our Customer Service staff, they are 10x more likely to make a purchase than someone who just browses the website unassisted. They are also 50% less likely to return or exchange their diamond because it didn't meet their expectations, and some other multiple more likely to highly recommend us to friends and family. While our CS team may not be perfect, they are still very, very good at what they do and enjoy finding great diamonds and sharing them with customers more than any other part of their job.
So put those two things together, and where do you land? Yes, I admit - 100% - this is bad for PS. But it's worth a test, which is all we're doing right now. If it works, great. If not, we can flip a switch and go back. While i don't have a crystal ball, my bet is that we'll land somewhere in the middle. Maybe the reports will be missing unless you register. Maybe we'll create an advanced filter that is hidden most of the time, but available for 'super users' like people on PS. I really don't know yet, but need a couple weeks of data to figure it out.
In the meantime, I understand that we have made it overly difficult for PS influencers to recommend us, and for that I am sorry. If history tells me anything though, it's that you guys will chastice us when we make a mistake, but cheer us when we do things right.
A few other points that I want to make clear.
We - myself, my partners and cofounders, are running the show. If you don't like the decisions we're making, you can direct that heat on me - not on Zales, Jared, or any of the other banners under the Signet umbrella. If you want to see the impact of that acquisition you won't find it at JA, but walk into a Jared and you'll find better pricing, better cuts, and a movement towards GIA reports as the new standard.
We are no longer redacting any information from the certificate copies, and any requested reports will contain all of the information - including certificate number.
We uploaded a change today that removed a bit more info than we intended. Measurements, for example, will be back online soon.
Our staff is and will continue to be noncommissioned.
We are an innovative company that literally 'invented' diamond photography and visualiziaton (at scale), and we have more to come. Emphasizing the value of our diamond imagery and expert Customer Service is part of a larger strategy that dovetails with new technology we intend to bring to market this summer.
Finally, we're not static, we value feedback, and we really do want to be the best online diamond retailer in the world. Even when we act like the opposite.
b/c you guys are too picky. PITB..Excellent point. If they didn’t look anyway, why the need to remove it?doesnt make a lick of sense.
I agree with this.My main problem is that most consumers cannot recognise a well cut diamond from a video alone. Many will purchase poorly cut GIA XXX, without a second thought and this reverses the progress towards consumer education and achieving a higher demand for better cut diamonds. Business is business and I do hope this solution is not the one that helps JA financially as it would further validate the flaws with how consumers continue to trivialize diamond purchases compared to other big buys.
In the words of the great and wise Ariana grande, "thank you, next!"
I believe that all click-throughs to JA from links posted on the forum will show as a redirect from PS.If JA has any ability at all to extract sales data correlative to PSers/PS influence-
That tells you all what you need to know about what they think and why they do what they do.
YoungPapa saw this response from PS coming from a mile away, after all.