Set it without me

[downtownfish]

I have been waiting for my Scoot Kay ring to get in that I had ordered 3 weeks ago. The sales women at jewelers told me they would call me second it gets in. Well it came in Saturday, and she had it set and all without even calling me. She e-mailed me after it was done saying that I could pick it up. I did not get my email until this morning when I got to work because I used my work email to hide this from my girlfriend.
I have not seen the ring yet, and they are not open on mondays. So I don''t know how it looks, but I wanted to be there when he or she set the stone. First I wanted to tell them to set it as low as possible, with all the prongs trimmed and rounded nice and smooth. Second I wanted them to verify that it was my diamond going into the ring. It is an old mine cut diamond so it may be harder to switch, but it still makes me nervious. It is also out of round, and felt like they should ask me how I wanted it set. Should I be upset, I was nervous about letting them set it in the first place, and let them know that by asking several times if we should let Scott Kay set the stone.
I am so nervous about the ring, because I have had nothing but bad experiences so far with this jeweler.

 

[Lorelei]

I am sure it will be fine! I take it that was the final arrangement that the jewellers would set this diamond?

 

[neatfreak]

I'm sure it's fine. Unless you told them that you didn't want it set before you saw it, then the expectation would be that they would set it once it comes in. And don't worry, it would be nearly impossible to switch out an old mine-they are so unique.

As for the prongs, if they are wrong they can be tweaked pretty easily usually.

But can I ask why the heck you are dealing with them if your experience has been bad? Seems like a no brainer to me to let someone else do the work if you were worried...

 

[Ellen]

Did you tell them all this beforehand? And you''re right, an OMC isn''t as easily switchable.

And lastly, I just have to ask, if you had nothing but a bad experience, why did you continue with them?

 

[downtownfish]

I know it sounds weird that I had a bad experience, but continue to deal with the same company. I first went in and bought a ring with out doing a ton of research. I knew I wanted SK but did not know about him using palladium. I bought a ring that I thought was platinum, and the jeweler told me it was platinum. It was going to be set the next day. After I had paid for it expecting to pick it up the following morning, I reliezed I just bought a palladium ring based on the prices I was seeing online. The jeweler told me all about platinum and what I would have to do to care for it and the whole nine yards. Then come to find out the ring was really palladium. Now being a little more educated there is now way a jeweler could mistake platinum and palladium, based on the weight and feel of it in your hand. So I really felt like he was pulling a fast one, but he refunded the money back to me.
Now I really wanted a SK ring and they are the only retailers in Fort Lauderdale that carries them. So I went to thier other store and delt with a different person. I wanted to get it from someone local so my girlfriend could have it cleaned and what not, at the place I bought it.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 3/2/2009 10:53:39 AM
Author: downtownfish
I know it sounds weird that I had a bad experience, but continue to deal with the same company. I first went in and bought a ring with out doing a ton of research. I knew I wanted SK but did not know about him using palladium. I bought a ring that I thought was platinum, and the jeweler told me it was platinum. It was going to be set the next day. After I had paid for it expecting to pick it up the following morning, I reliezed I just bought a palladium ring based on the prices I was seeing online. The jeweler told me all about platinum and what I would have to do to care for it and the whole nine yards. Then come to find out the ring was really palladium. Now being a little more educated there is now way a jeweler could mistake platinum and palladium, based on the weight and feel of it in your hand. So I really felt like he was pulling a fast one, but he refunded the money back to me.
Now I really wanted a SK ring and they are the only retailers in Fort Lauderdale that carries them. So I went to thier other store and delt with a different person. I wanted to get it from someone local so my girlfriend could have it cleaned and what not, at the place I bought it.

Just curious, what was his excuse/reason for the mix up?

And for future reference, any jeweler will clean a ring and check prongs, whether you bought it from them or not, for free.

 

[downtownfish]

He said it was an honest mistake on his part. He said that the discription in the computer and on the reciept discribed it as pall/plat. I did not notice this until I got home after I paid for it. When I went back in the store pretty furious he helped me for a second and I told him what the problem was, he then sent another lady to help me and refund the money. He did not even come back to help or say sorry. The lady said he told her that he was really embarresed that he could have mixed the rings up like that.

I spoke to the gen manager yesterday about it, and told him what happened and he said the mix up happened from how the ring was labeled. He said that the Scott Kay palladium rings are coated in platinum, and thats why it said pall/plat on the ticket. I do not think SCott Kay dips his palladium rings in platinum. I don''t know if he adds platinum to the palladium to make it an alloy, but I don''t see why they would considering platinum is softer than palladium which sounds like it would not make a good alloy choice. So now I feel that the gen manager was even lying to me to cover up whan his employee did. I don''t know why I am having so many problems with this jeweler, it is very reputable, and one of the more expensive places down here.

Also, about the ring getting there on saturday is also a little odd. I had called last tuesday to see if the ring had come in, and she said it had not, but she would call Scott Kay and see what the status is and call me back. I never heard anything back from her, so I called again on friday. She again said she would call me back. This time she called back 5 mins later and told me that they need whole extra week to get the ring and Scott Kay is taking longer than expected. Sure enough she emails me the next day which was saturday telling me the ring is here and it is set and done. This really makes me think that she blew me off again and just called me back and told me it was going to be another week just to get me off her back.

Anyway the owner is supposed to give me the ring personally when I pick it up today.

 

[downtownfish]

Does anyone know if SK palladium rings are pure palladium, palladium alloyed with platinum, or palladium dipped in platinum?

 

[tyty333]

I went to a jeweler today and the tag on the ring said pall/plat and when I asked what the ring actually was
they said that the head (prongs) were in plat and the ring part (forget what its called) was in pallidium.

Could it have been something like that?

 

[downtownfish]

I have seen that before also, but what the manager said is that the ring is dipped in platinum, which I don''t believe is the case. It doesn''t make sense to me, to dip a palladium ring in platinum being that it is a softer metal.

 

[oldmancoyote]

Alloy properties are difficult to determine from the properties of their components (e.g. copper and tin are both softer than brass), however what this jeweller has been telling you is UTE (utter taurine excrement). Palladium is an alternative to white gold or platinum and has no need of plating. I think tyty333's explanation that the prongs or the head are platinum and the shank is palladium makes sense, or possibly the same model is made in both palladium and platinum.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

That''s so shifty on the jeweler''s part, about the plat/palladium!

But since the ring''s already set, I would just relax for the time being. If the ring comes out the way you want it, just let that first experience go and chalk it up to learning curve.

If, however, the ring was set and it really isn''t according to the directions you specified, then I think that store really does have some issues that need to be addressed, and I would totally not blame you for being unhappy about it.

 

[jet2ks]

I don't care what the jeweler's reputation is, this is ridiculous. Even if this was a real mistake, they should at least be willing to stand in front of you and apologize and then do what they can to make it right. But to top that off with excuses that make no real sense and not being honest with you on the phone?!?!?!

You might consider going on Scott Kay's website and contact them directly about this jeweler. I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't like someone messing with their good name.

I hope everything works out for the best for you, but at some point aren't you thinking "Why do I want to give money to these people?"