pricescopers best customers or worst?

[kcoursolle]

Hey all, I was just wondering if anyone has had jewelers tell them they were great or terrible customers. As pricescopers we are all very educated about what we want and probably spend more money on bling than average customers...but we are very detail oriented and might be irritating because we want everything to be perfect and high quality.


I personally don''t feel bad about being a picky customer...but I did have a local jeweler tell me point blank that I was "wasting his time sizing the ring 1/4 a size lower"...whatever...





I was just wondering if you all knew if jewelers think of us fondly or dread us??? Also, do you have any tips as pricescopers in dealing with jewelers who are not famiiliar with pricescoper standards.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Whether we are the best or worst customer probably depends on the jewler!

I've had people refuse to deal with me when I exhibit even a little bit of knowlege, and the flip side is that I had someone at a local boutique jewler ask me if I would be willing to work weekends in the store when I went in there looking for a stone with specific parameters.

 

[Kaleigh]

I tend to think that most jewelers would welcome someone who is exacting and educated on the details of design, cut, etc... If they get irriated with you then they are not the kind of jewelers you want to work with. Most of my custom work has been done by those that are just as dedicated to the detail of a design as I am.

 

[ladykemma]

I pick my battles, smile sweetly and say nothing. the other day in a jewelry shop, I listened to the young clerk tell a customer that "zales sells crushed moissanite as diamonds and you have to be careful."

in JC penney a month ago the lady clerk didn''t know what moissanite was. she kept saying to a customer "it''s gem quality, it''s a gem ..."

i have been offered jobs by zales and helzberg, but they didn''t want part time.

 

[Mara]

hehe i tend to be pretty detail oriented and i always thought i was very high-maintenance for a customer but i know there are people out there WAY worse than me...hee hee. so i don't feel so bad anymore...i am very detailed down to the smallest items, but i also have high praise for those who are able to pull it off. also i know from experience that the more detailed you are able to be, and the more SPECIFIC your instruction, the easier it is for those who are tasked with creating your dreams or finding you what you want. usually unclear communication aka not ensuring you are both on the same page, is what can cause the issues.

 

[kcoursolle]

Wow, some of you have been offered jobs?! That''s so funny!!! I am always amazed at how little most jewelery store salespeople know about their merchandise, so I guess this makes sense.

I agree that it varies by jeweler, and I am incredibly happy that I''ve found one that is as patient and detail oriented as I am. It makes the process so much fun to have someone who is willing to work with you about every detail, otherwise it''s just a chore.

Mara, I also agree that high praise for the people that do pull off good work is important. It will make them more willing to please you in the future, makes sense. I''d like to think that I have good things to say to people that do very nice work. While, I''m a bargain shopper, I''ve learned my lesson with jeweler and I''m anow more willing to pay a little more to get really good service and quality work.

My engagement ring was made by a local. It is for the most part lovely and was also very very cheap for the setting...but I would call the benchwork ok...it''s pretty good, but the tiny little important details really aren''t there. I got what I paid for I guess.
However, I''m designing a fashion ring by a different place (colored stones forum)...and they are doing a FANTASTIC job with all of the details. I would definitely work with them again and will someday fix up all of those little details on my engagement ring.

 

[monarch64]

Date: 5/26/2006 11:23:47 PM
Author: ladykemma
I pick my battles, smile sweetly and say nothing. the other day in a jewelry shop, I listened to the young clerk tell a customer that ''zales sells crushed moissanite as diamonds and you have to be careful.''

in JC penney a month ago the lady clerk didn''t know what moissanite was. she kept saying to a customer ''it''s gem quality, it''s a gem ...''

i have been offered jobs by zales and helzberg, but they didn''t want part time.

Wow, I don''t know how the JCP lady didn''t know what moissanite was...doesn''t JCP SELL moissanite?!

I used to work for them in their jewelry department as a college student. I am amazed at what they don''t tell you during your training...they really only train you on what they actually sell and make you believe it''s the best. There were several times I was stumped by a customer who knew more than I did, sad to say. I would never be able to work for a maul store after learning what I have here on PS.

My worst customer experience was due to a lack of communication, however. A lady came in with a gold hoop earring that she wished to buy the match for because her daughter had lost one of the pair. That''s honestly all she told me. I had to go off the designer stamp and track it to the actual vendor...I finally was able to find it and called her and left a rather "elated" message stating that I had found the earring vendor and a match was being shipped. She came into the store and spoke to my boss, telling her how rude and insensitive I had been because her daughter had died and I had made light of a bad situation. OUch! I had no idea, and I was devastated to know that I had offended her. I went home and told my mother about my fiasco, and she informed me that the woman''s daughter had been killed 10 years previously, and that I shouldn''t worry about it. I still felt bad, and I got a considerable reprimand from my boss. That was the most difficult customer I ever had to deal with, though. But that''s just from a B&M point of view, and a very immature salesgirl one at that! It''s been 10 years since that happened to me, and I must say it made me much more sensitive to customers whether I knew their situation or not. (I am no longer in retail at this point.)

Sorry to ramble, but I wanted to make the point that Mara is right, sometimes it''s a lack of communication between the customer and vendor that makes for a negative experience.

 

[strmrdr]

I think most vendors think im there worse customer. :}
Locally im pretty good friends with one and some run and hide when I walk in and some totally ignore me but that''s kewl its costing them thousands and thousands of dollars in business so its their lose.

 

[glaucomflecken]

I think the jewelers I have worked with have probably been a bit irritated with me at times because I have been so nit picky about my items, but I paid a good amount of hard earned money for those items and they should be up to the standards that I feel and know they could/should be. When I had issues, and had to send items back several times for fixing and what not, they (several seperate jewelers) have shown me nothing but utter kindness and customer service and have always come through for me. In turn, I was always kind to them, complimenting their service, and have recommended them on several websites including PS and have sent several referrals to them, which to me shows that even though I was a pain I highly respect them and hope to continue business with them.

One benefit of how anal I can be is now my main jeweler knows me and my tastes very well, and wont let me purchase things that are not of the best quality, make suggestions for me, and also hold things aside for me to express interest in.

Tacori was probably the most irritated with me after having to remake my rings 400 times, but in the end they came through and I still respect them with my referrals.

 

[anchor31]

My FF and I just bought our ring at a local B&M store. I talked about my experience here: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-amazing-b-m-buying-experience.45826/

The owner started his business 20 years ago and is a wonderful man who loves his job and loves diamonds. He was pleased to see I knew so much already and bent over backwards to get us the stone that was perfect for us. We definitely will keep doing business with him for our future jewelry purchases!

 

[lizz]

I agree with what some of you have said, that it annoys a lot of jewelry salespeople if we''re more knowledgeable than them (a Helzberg MANAGER told me that IGI is the most respected lab!). But our local B&M has earned my business and respect because they know their stuff and know that I know mine.

On the topic of working there, that''s funny because my husband has said that would be my dream job!