Should I feel bad? Wedding Band Drama

[amcgookin]

Hi Everyone,

Well I have to go see my jeweler today to talk about my wedding bands and I was hoping I could get some perspective on here. I am a little anxious and let me tell you why. Some of you many remember me as I got engaged in July 08 and posted a pic of my ring and bands here (I''ll attach a pic). I was/am super excited about the whole set. Love, love, love my engagement ring, but I have had nothing but trouble with my bands. So here is the story:

I got my ring custom made by a designer here in CA and she did a wonderful job. I have zero to compain about my engagement ring. I love it! However when the order to make my ring was put it there was also another note about my making my wedding bands, but at a later date. Well the bench jeweler who physically made my ring misread the order and made my bands at the same time as my engagement ring. The problem is that he made the bands the same size as my engagement ring and they shouldn''t have been. I had not finalized what size I wanted those bands as I thought they were going to be made a little bit later. Long story short she gave us a smoking deal on the two eternity bands which and told me if we needed to have them sized it shouldn''t be a problem. Fast forward a couple of months and I decided that it felt like my rings were getting the circuation cut off with all three bands together so I went back in. She said no problem we will make them larger. She told me we would need to add in 3 diamonds to each ring (one on top and then 1 on each side) and they could make the rings larger and I would never know. Unfortunately when I picked them up I knew... I could totally see the laser mark where the cut was made on top of the fact that they were now way too big. I ended up paying an additional $300 for the new diamonds and she said she didn''t wouldn''t charge me for the labor. I took the rings home and was strugging for two weeks with what to do.

Well I decided two weeks ago that with how much we paid for these bands we should have them made right. I went back to my jeweler and she told me she would really look at them and get back to me with the options. I talked to her last Thursday and she said that she could see where I was unhappy about them and said that she is just going to have to re-make the mold and make me entirely new bands (using the same diamonds I would imagine) I told her I was sorry, but she said she wanted to make me happy and that she would just end up taking a loss on them. I have to go in today to get sized again to make sure we get the right ring size, but I am feeling bad about the whole thing. I felt bad about the whole taking a loss thing. I don''t know if this is true or not.

So should I feel bad that she had to re-make the rings? Or is this just part of the process sometimes when you go custom?

Thanks for your thoghts!

 

[amcgookin]

Here is the ring set

 

[motownmama]

It doesn''t seem like any of this is your fault. That having been said, it seemed you were willing for pay a higher price (later when the bands were supposed to be made) b/f she gave you "the smkoin'' deal." Since she''s making them over and perfectly correct this time, perhaps you should pay the diff b/t the deal and the original price b/f things got messed up. Ya think? I wouldn''t go beyond that, but that seems fair to me.

 

[kcoursolle]

Nope, I wouldn''t feel bad. It was her fault or her benchman''s fault in the first place for making them too soon and in the wrong size. Then she tried to put a bandaid on the fix instead of doing it the right way. I would, however, thank her for all of the effort she has gone through and how thankful you are that she is willing to do this. Once you have the rings I would thank her again for being so helpful and making it right and let her know how much you like them.

 

[trishy]

if it was their error... i say no you shouldnt feel bad. the lady said she ''sees'' the problem. again this isnt something you are making up to be difficult, or get anything free.
i think they realize you are a wonderful customer, and dont want to lose your business... [present or future] as well as, all the possible referrals they may get from you raving about how wonderful they are to work with. a good referral to several people is worth a lot more then any loss on this project compared to an unhappy customer and possible business loss from them not taking care of their side of the issue.

i say, let them be a good company to work with, and you be the happy customer that refers more business, for a job well done
snags in the road happen, be thankful you are with such nice people to work with. and tell them so, too.

good luck

 

[pyramid]

No, they made the bands before you finalised the size, they should have had it noted on the orders, that the bands were to be made later or told you to come back later about them. Not your fault, you have already paid for extra diamonds and they did give you a good deal due to their mistake so they are playing fair too I would say. Saying that, you could have refused the bands if you had no money to pay at the time as not your error.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 2/4/2009 3:26:17 PM
Author: kcoursolle
Nope, I wouldn''t feel bad. It was her fault or her benchman''s fault in the first place for making them too soon and in the wrong size. Then she tried to put a bandaid on the fix instead of doing it the right way. I would, however, thank her for all of the effort she has gone through and how thankful you are that she is willing to do this. Once you have the rings I would thank her again for being so helpful and making it right and let her know how much you like them.

Ditto. It was their error in the first place. Get your bands, enjoy them, thank her, and continue to be a good customer.

 

[AprilBaby]

She sounds like she is doing all she can for you so good for her! Don''t feel bad!

 

[amcgookin]

Thank you everyone for your opinions. Kcoursolle you explained the situation perfectly! Knowing what I know now in some ways I wish I had just refused the bands when they were first made. At the time though I was put on the spot/felt a little akward and just went for it. I am soooo glad that she is willing to make the situation right... my FI thought that she wouldn''t but I thought it doesn''t hurt to ask and have hopeful thinking.

I am off to go see her now so I will post how the meeting went when I get back.

 

[amcgookin]

Just got back from meeting with my jeweler and she was very gracious about the whole thing. Phew! She said that she wants to make sure 100% that we get it right this time. She explained to me that my finger is a little different than most in that the part where my engagement ring lays is a little bit thinner than where my bands will lay above and below. She said normally people''s finger are a little bit straighter so she thinks that is what is throwing off the size of my bands. I guess I have cruvy finger to match my curvy shape!

My engagement ring is a 5.5 (I think) but she is going to make my bands 5.75 to account for the shape of my finger. (The first set was 5.25 & 5.5 to match the engagement ring/The second set was 6.0 & 6.25). Normally this different size combo works for people wearing rings on either side... guess I just had to be outside the norm like ususal

She also warned me that because of this size difference they may not be in 100% alingment. I am ok with since it''s my finger shape what can I really do.

Thanks for making me feel less guilty when I went in there. I think it helped me be A LOT more comfortable!