omg! horrible exp at this jewelry shop to resize my ring!!

[civictypesi]

3 hours wasted (plus all that I put off till tomorrow to have this ring resized) and i almost had a heart attack today!!

I had 2 platinum rings from UD. I wanted them resized down but didn''t want to mail them to UD b/c they''re in GA and I''m in TX. I wanted to find a jewelry store in TX that would resize in front of me b/c i''m really worried ab someone switching my diamonds - plus, i figured if we built good rapoort, I could also go in every 6 mo for polishing and check-ups. I wanted it all local b/c if i ever have to mail my rings off to someone, i will have it reappraised each time to ensure that none of my diamonds were switched out to something cheap.

i brought my two platinum rings in to Minh Tri for resizing (down) ''cuz someone on here recommended them and the jerks placed some cheap metal on the inner part but i hate that ''cuz it''s not smooth!!! i wanted it to be cut smaller! as a consequence of putting the slab of metal on, it covered/ruined my engraving!!!!!!!!! sure, it can be reengraved but it''s not the same when he proposed to me!!! so i asked them to remove the metal on both rings and that i''d send both back to UD for engraving AND reinspection of the entire ring. Now my wedding band no longer feels smooth (poor polishing) prob b/c the dropped my wedding band on the counter!!

the guy gave me his business card and said he''d pay for the re-engraving. I told him I will let UD inspect my entire rings and if there''s anything wrong with either of them, I will be bringing them receipts for payment to restore my ring to its original condition. I told him it''s nto just my time wasted but that you COMRPOMISED my original w-band and e-ring that he proposed with! and you failed to communicate with me upfront that you could not do the job (cut metal and make smaller) without putting a slab of metal on.

in the end, i not only have to mail it back to UD (for engraving & inspection) but with my heart broken. It looks okay to a non-expert but does not feel great.

I am super paranoid and heartbroken.

Given how complicated this is now, is there anything else you recommend I do at this point to make sure I cover my bases?

**Edited by Moderator for Language**

 

[4ever]

I''d put it all in writing just to be sure. As in email the company/jewler what has happend, what was said between yourselves in regard to what the jewler intends to do about it etc and ask for a reply confirming what you have said is what has happened.

Then, tada! writen, dated, trackable proof if you need to take their sorry asses to court.

And I''m sorry this has happened, people should be more carefull when dealing with objects with such emotional significance.

 

[yssie]

I''m sorry, I hope things work out

 

[tonyc2387]

so sorry to hear this civicty... any jeweler worth their salt should realize that each and every piece has TONS of value to the owner, and there''s no way they''d be able to get away with shoddy work to make a quick buck

i totally agree... was it so hard to just say "can''t do it the way you''d like, sorry"? i''d be

if i were in your shoes too.

the one saving grace is that at least he offered to make it right, i''m assuming above and beyond the fact that he refunded you for work you weren''t satisfied with?? seems like a large gesture of good faith... or at least CYA... to me. in either case... ditto 4ever, get everything in writing.

 

[shine4me]

I agree put it all in writing what you discussed with the jeweler in TX. I feel your pain because I hate sending my rings away. When I was engaged and we had just found my wedding band we had to send them both off to CALIFORNIA from ALABAMA for my band to be hand engraved to match my ER but they came back safe and sound just like yours will

 

[Michael_E]

I very much doubt that there''s anything wrong with your ring that a little smoothing, polishing and re-engraving won''t fix. The big problem here is that many jewelers don''t work in platinum and so are limited in their ability to do even simple work to it. Platinum requires extreme heat in order to do proper work on it and this can put any stones, even diamonds, in these rings at risk if the proper precautions are not taken to shield them. This heat also comes with very bright torch work, which will prohibit you from viewing anyone doing this, (unless you''re wearing a good sunglasses). In the future if you''re going to have a jeweler do any work on your platinum pieces it would be best to have a very clear discussion with whoever is actually doing the work to make sure that they are capable of doing it well. These sort of things can really mess up your day, but in this case I''m sure that you''ll be fine and the repair will be easy and fast.

 

[civictypesi]

guys, I tried going to the post office today to mail it via registered mail. I read on here that you are not to tell anyone at the post office, not even the employees, that you have diamonds in them. i became so paranoid that i left without mailing it off today. here's why:

I wanted to confirm that I can put my items in a priority mail box and mail it via registered mail. this postal lady was extremely annoying/suspicious and kept asking me "why do you want to go registered mail?" (uh, it's none of your business, lady!!) and then she asks "what's the value of it?" and then she asked "what's in it?" (uh, leave me alone!). And then after staring at my recipient's mailing address for a good 5 seconds (it doesn't say diamonds; i got a special mailing address from UD), she goes "ohhhh" (wouldn't you be freakin out b/c she probably figured out what's in the box???) Consequently, after I sealed everything up, I left that post office - I didn't feel comfortable leaving my w-band & e-ring with those suspicious postal workers.

I got an estimated shipping time of 3-5 days. Does anyone know if this includes Sat/Sun? If not, I think it's best to just mail it Mon morning and use all the weekdays for it to transit b/c I really don't feel safe leaving my w-band & e-ring sitting in a box inside a post office at God knows where Sat/Sun. Do you agree it's best to mail this stuff at the beginning of the week?

Honestly, I don't know who to trust and be careful. I have in writing the reimbursement stuff from the jewelry shop that butchered my engraving but once it arrives at UD, they said they'll inspect it. What if I am informed there is something wrong ( either true or false)? We don't even have insurance yet. Is it too late to buy one?
mid July - received ring
mid Aug - appraisal (perfect)
Jan - resize (it's been so cold lately that my ring is toooooo loose; like it comes off w/ no effort)

my problems:
1 - ring resize (w-band &e-ring) & polishing!
2 - fix engraving (both w-band & e-ring; even the platinum stamp on the w-band is gone) - MinhTri said they'll pay for this (plus shipping)
3 - POSSIBLE stone resetting (depending on the cost: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/what-is-the-cost-of-resetting.134367/ I don't know if they can reset it for free or reduced cost since it came to me like this in July)

4 - it's very nerve-wrecking to mail diamonds via Registered Mail and them hand them off to a postal worker and not know if you can trust them (that's why I went to a local place initially to have my rings resized to avoid mailing them back to UD!!). Yeahn it'll be insured but replacing the rings isn't the same b/c the originals have sentimental value.

My independent appraiser, Judge Ben Gordon, said he can resize it for me. QUESTIONS:
1 - Should I just ask if Judge Ben Gorden can resize it properly!!? (i.e. cutting the platinum instead of placing an extra band inside my ring) And if so, should I proceed w/ asking him to resize, polish, and reinspect/appraise the rings ($150) and call it quits?
2 - Option #2 would be just to pay $150 to have him reinspect and reappraise the ring and before sending it off to UD (who will then reinspect it before re-engraving, repolishing, and resizing). I honestly don't think there's anything wrong w/ the rings (except noted above) but I want to have that peace of mind that my rings are perfect and my inspection from UD is fair (I'm thinking of those horror stories of women bringing their cars in for repair if you get my drift). UD has been an excellent company to work with and the staff are very great but when it comes to hot commodities like diamonds, it's sometimes hard to know whom to trust.

I just want to be focused on planning my wedding with a peace of mind..and eternally happy with my fiance.

 

[HVVS]

If the shank is engraved with a design all the way around, soldering something (a strip of metal, a horseshoe, some oval sizing beads, whatever) inside rather than cutting would have been to way to resize. If it is a polished shank w/o engraving or if it has a blank sizing bar at the bottom, then they could cut it. Sidestones or pave' in the shank might be another reason to shim up the inside rather than cut and bend it smaller.

Registered mail is pretty secure. I'd still never volunteer what it is that I am mailing. The only legit question they can ask is if it's fragile, liquid, perishable, or flammable, lol. And I'd tend to mail it at the start of the week, rather than at the end.

 

[Sizzle]

Date: 1/20/2010 8:28:28 PM
Author: civictypesi
guys, I tried going to the post office today to mail it via registered mail. I read on here that you are not to tell anyone at the post office, not even the employees, that you have diamonds in them. i became so paranoid that i left without mailing it off today. here''s why:

I wanted to confirm that I can put my items in a priority mail box and mail it via registered mail. this postal lady was extremely annoying/suspicious and kept asking me ''why do you want to go registered mail?'' (uh, it''s none of your business, lady!!) and then she asks ''what''s the value of it?'' and then she asked ''what''s in it?'' (uh, leave me alone!). And then after staring at my recipient''s mailing address for a good 5 seconds (it doesn''t say diamonds; i got a special mailing address from UD), she goes ''ohhhh'' (wouldn''t you be freakin out b/c she probably figured out what''s in the box???) Consequently, after I sealed everything up, I left that post office - I didn''t feel comfortable leaving my w-band & e-ring with those suspicious postal workers.

I got an estimated shipping time of 3-5 days. Does anyone know if this includes Sat/Sun? If not, I think it''s best to just mail it Mon morning and use all the weekdays for it to transit b/c I really don''t feel safe leaving my w-band & e-ring sitting in a box inside a post office at God knows where Sat/Sun. Do you agree it''s best to mail this stuff at the beginning of the week?

Honestly, I don''t know who to trust and be careful. I have in writing the reimbursement stuff from the jewelry shop that butchered my engraving but once it arrives at UD, they said they''ll inspect it. What if I am informed there is something wrong ( either true or false)? We don''t even have insurance yet. Is it too late to buy one?
mid July - received ring
mid Aug - appraisal (perfect)
Jan - resize (it''s been so cold lately that my ring is toooooo loose; like it comes off w/ no effort)

my problems:
1 - ring resize (w-band &e-ring) & polishing!
2 - fix engraving (both w-band & e-ring; even the platinum stamp on the w-band is gone) - MinhTri said they''ll pay for this (plus shipping)
3 - POSSIBLE stone resetting (depending on the cost: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/what-is-the-cost-of-resetting.134367/ I don''t know if they can reset it for free or reduced cost since it came to me like this in July)

4 - it''s very nerve-wrecking to mail diamonds via Registered Mail and them hand them off to a postal worker and not know if you can trust them (that''s why I went to a local place initially to have my rings resized to avoid mailing them back to UD!!). Yeahn it''ll be insured but replacing the rings isn''t the same b/c the originals have sentimental value.

My independent appraiser, Judge Ben Gordon, said he can resize it for me. QUESTIONS:
1 - Should I just ask if Judge Ben Gorden can resize it properly!!? (i.e. cutting the platinum instead of placing an extra band inside my ring) And if so, should I proceed w/ asking him to resize, polish, and reinspect/appraise the rings ($150) and call it quits?
2 - Option #2 would be just to pay $150 to have him reinspect and reappraise the ring and before sending it off to UD (who will then reinspect it before re-engraving, repolishing, and resizing). I honestly don''t think there''s anything wrong w/ the rings (except noted above) but I want to have that peace of mind that my rings are perfect and my inspection from UD is fair (I''m thinking of those horror stories of women bringing their cars in for repair if you get my drift). UD has been an excellent company to work with and the staff are very great but when it comes to hot commodities like diamonds, it''s sometimes hard to know whom to trust.

I just want to be focused on planning my wedding with a peace of mind..and eternally happy with my fiance.

You cannot buy insurance AFTER something goes wrong if you want that problem to be covered, but you should DEFIANTELY get insurance on the rings once they are fixed.

 

[richdor]

I really resent your lambasting of the postal empoyees as I happen to be one of them! The Postal Service takes great care in handling registered parcels. They are kept under lock and key in a registery pouch in an area that only the registry clerks have access to. Everything is signed in and singned out and meticulous records of the items are logged onto a sheet for reference. Since the major anthrax scare several years back, the Postal Service has adopted quite stringent policies on items that are mailed. The clerk that was waiting on you at the counter may have been overly loud in discussing your mailing but she was doing her job and following procedure. You are definitely overly paranoid about mailing your rings. It is done every day , all day, by very important jewelry houses all over the coutry. I don''t know if you have ever traveled to Europe but try to mail items to yourself from over there and see if they arrive to your home! My mother used to buy things and subsequently ship her purchases home to the states and half the time they never arriived. Believe me , the US Postal Service has the honesty and integrity to deliver your most precious rings.

 

[cinnamon013]

Part of the reason the post office asked you for the value of the package is that the insurance fee is based on the value. The higher the amount you insure something, the more it is going to cost you for the insurance.

Registered mail is a very thorough process at the post office.