Trouble with JA... What should I do?

[Steve6716]

Hey all. I''ve only posted on here a few times, but have read about online vendors and how everyone really seems to respect and recommend JA. Well, back on the 11th I inquired about an ideal scope pic for a stone on JA''s website and got a prompt response. Not only did the service rep get back to me immediately, she sent me a list of other stones I may be interested in. She said the pic would take a few days, which was no big deal for me. However, I''ve still not heard back from her. I even sent a follow up e-mail a few days ago but still nothing.

Anyway, I continued my search and found another great stone. (For the record I started with about 30, but narrowed my list down to 2 or 3 that I wanted ideal scope pics for.) Again the customer service rep was very prompt in their initial response, but told me I should expect the pic by the 17th. Again, no pic, no response. I sent a follow up early this morning but haven''t gotten anything back yet and I don''t really expect to.

Has anyone else had this kind of trouble? I understand that a request like that sometimes takes a little longer, but is it really that difficult to follow up with a customer if the request is going to be late? I''ve found the perfect setting for the stone on their site too, which is really frustrating b/c I''m not sure I even want to mess with them anymore if this is how they do business. Does anyone have a particular sales rep they could recommend I work with?

Thanks in advance

 

[b5s4]

I would recommend contacting darin. I had an initial difficulty getting an IS image for the diamond I''m interested from them but after awhile, I called him and that worked better than requesting it online.

 

[Stephan]

I worked with Darin and everything was fine.

 

[stone-cold11]

Call them. Emails can get loss in the mail server or filtered out as spam.

 

[Lula]

I agree with the other posters:
Call them rather than e-mail
Ask for Darin

 

[neatfreak]

Emails get lost, go to spam, etc...BEFORE posting about how a vendor isn''t responding I would pick up the phone and call them. THEN if they don''t resolve your issues then post away. But give them a chance first.

 

[Lula]

Date: 8/18/2009 10:43:28 AM
Author: neatfreak
Emails get lost, go to spam, etc...BEFORE posting about how a vendor isn't responding I would pick up the phone and call them. THEN if they don't resolve your issues then post away. But give them a chance first.

I agree, threads like this can look like criticism of a vendor when none is warranted; however, when I was first starting my diamond search, I too was uncertain about how to go about contacting an online vendor.

I remember being very nervous about picking up the phone and calling vendors. E-mail feels a lot safer at first.

Threads like these give vendors a chance to learn about difficulties consumers may be having in reaching them -- lots of times the vendors don't know about these potential problems (spam filter issues, problems with websites) unless someone tells them.

I use a Mac and I had trouble with several vendors' websites. I let them know and they were very happy to learn about my problems so they could take care of it.

Had I been a newbie when this Mac problem happened, I would have likely posted here first before taking the initative to contact them on my own.

 

[setell]

I think with JA you have to track the reps down as I find emails don’t get through to them that well. That is from my experience (I am probably a bleep consider how many people rave about JA). I remember from way back in May when I wanted ideal scope images for the princess cuts I was interested in that it took them a week when I was told I’ll get it in 24hrs. It really didn’t matter then as I had changed my mind that I went from wanting a princess cut to a cushion so by the time I got the images it wasn’t useful. I should have been smarter then as hindsight should have told me how they deal with you but oh well. You live and learn. If you are busy like me and email is the best and phone calls aren’t that convenient (I work in a small area where people can hear everything I say so I don’t use my phones to call anybody unless it’s really important) then I will take that level of service into consideration. I consider emails as a form of communication and vendors should have a spam filter that won’t delete client emails randomly. If GoG, ID Jewelery and others can respond super quick via email then I am going to assume JA can too.

 

[setell]

I agree, threads like this can look like criticism of a vendor when none is warranted; however, when I was first starting my diamond search, I too was uncertain about how to go about contacting an online vendor.

The thing is though he has followed up and still no response. How is this not a warranted criticism? The plain fact here is JA isn’t very prompt with their emails! If he follows up I consider him doing his part and now it’s up to JA to do their part. Does he have to first email, call to track down the rep, if he can’t track the rep down go higher to get what he wanted done? I would consider that to be too much of a hassle and be done with a vendor. If JA can’t service folks in the clients desired communication method then JA needs to address this problem.

On a side track, do people at work really ignore the spam box? I open it up every other day to make sure nothing important gets filtered there as it won’t look good if a client gets mad that they don’t get a response.

 

[Steve6716]

Date: 8/18/2009 10:43:28 AM
Author: neatfreak
Emails get lost, go to spam, etc...BEFORE posting about how a vendor isn''t responding I would pick up the phone and call them. THEN if they don''t resolve your issues then post away. But give them a chance first.

I''m not trying to bash JA, but I am curious to see if others have shared my experience. I also don''t buy the whole "spam filtering" excuse. E-mail worked perfectly fine for my initial inquiries, with both questions receiving responses in less than 1 hour. However, when I requested the IS pics the other end went silent. Like setell, e-mail is also my main line of communication. I don''t think it''s unreasonable to expect that as a viable means of speaking with a sales rep. I know if I "lost" an e-mail from a client regarding a document I promised to deliver by a certain date, I''d definitely hear about it... loudly.

I''ll take the other''s advice and try to work with Darin. I really love the stone and setting I found, just disappointed by the lack of communication so far.

 

[stone-cold11]

Can you guess how the size of your spam mail (private work email) compared to that of a an advertised email? Probably a least 1 order of magnitude difference.

And how would the client know and make his wrath known to you? By another email that might get filtered or called you and scream at you?

 

[less_confused]

Had the same experience with JA. Actually, a bit worse.
Have had a better experience with Whiteflash.

Not sure what to make of it.

I am PC oriented - I am on calls all day and being able to use email and other online tools is critical.
Perhaps JA needs to consider an online sales team that fields the online inquiries and responds in kind.
Or perhaps JA monitors response time to initial inquiries but ignores follow-up?

 

[stone-cold11]

They have an online chat function if you didn''t notice it.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 8/18/2009 11:09:54 AM
Author: Steve6716

Date: 8/18/2009 10:43:28 AM

Author: neatfreak

Emails get lost, go to spam, etc...BEFORE posting about how a vendor isn''t responding I would pick up the phone and call them. THEN if they don''t resolve your issues then post away. But give them a chance first.

I''m not trying to bash JA, but I am curious to see if others have shared my experience. I also don''t buy the whole ''spam filtering'' excuse. E-mail worked perfectly fine for my initial inquiries, with both questions receiving responses in less than 1 hour. However, when I requested the IS pics the other end went silent. Like setell, e-mail is also my main line of communication. I don''t think it''s unreasonable to expect that as a viable means of speaking with a sales rep. I know if I ''lost'' an e-mail from a client regarding a document I promised to deliver by a certain date, I''d definitely hear about it... loudly.


I''ll take the other''s advice and try to work with Darin. I really love the stone and setting I found, just disappointed by the lack of communication so far.

And they WILL hear about it. But would you prefer that your client CALL YOU and speak to you directly about it? Or blabber it all over the internet before you have a chance to fix it?

I''m just sayin...

 

[Steve6716]

Date: 8/18/2009 11:26:49 AM
Author: neatfreak

Date: 8/18/2009 11:09:54 AM
Author: Steve6716

Date: 8/18/2009 10:43:28 AM

Author: neatfreak

Emails get lost, go to spam, etc...BEFORE posting about how a vendor isn''t responding I would pick up the phone and call them. THEN if they don''t resolve your issues then post away. But give them a chance first.

I''m not trying to bash JA, but I am curious to see if others have shared my experience. I also don''t buy the whole ''spam filtering'' excuse. E-mail worked perfectly fine for my initial inquiries, with both questions receiving responses in less than 1 hour. However, when I requested the IS pics the other end went silent. Like setell, e-mail is also my main line of communication. I don''t think it''s unreasonable to expect that as a viable means of speaking with a sales rep. I know if I ''lost'' an e-mail from a client regarding a document I promised to deliver by a certain date, I''d definitely hear about it... loudly.


I''ll take the other''s advice and try to work with Darin. I really love the stone and setting I found, just disappointed by the lack of communication so far.

And they WILL hear about it. But would you prefer that your client CALL YOU and speak to you directly about it? Or blabber it all over the internet before you have a chance to fix it?

I''m just sayin...

You are missing the point completely. If it''s my client, I work for them. Whichever means of communication they prefer, I respond in that fashion. Again I''m not sure why you are taking offense to this. I''m not trying to slam them and I still intend on purchasing from JA. I was only curious to see if others shared my problem, and it seems some have.

Stone cold:

I may be mistaken, but I don''t think the actual sales rep''s email addresses are advertised. On that note, once a client has made contact with a sales rep, wouldn''t it make sense to add that persons address to your address book so it wouldn''t go to spam? Also, it wouldn''t be the client making their wrath known, it''d be my boss. The worst thing a client can do is go somewhere else, which is far worse than getting yelled at.

 

[YoungPapa]

Folks,

A few points, just to clarify:

- Sometimes we screw up and lose/delete emails. We''re sorry. It happens. We''re building new systems *now* to make some of our email communications more efficient and reduce those errors.

- Idealscope images take time. If I''m correct Steve''s request came in Friday and will be completed today. That''s within the 1-2 business days that we average for these images. Occasionally there are delays getting the diamond into our office, so some idealscopes will take longer.

- Most of the spam problems aren''t on *our* end, they''re on the clients end. I can''t tell you how many people say they never got our emails when we''ve got records showing they were sent. Not placing blame or saying this was the case today, but it is a very common problem. Spam filtering can occur at the corporate, ISP or pc level, so checking a spam folder is not always the solution.

- I''ve asked the staff to start sending daily "updates" to clients awaiting images just so they know we''ve not forgotten them. My bet is Steve just got an email from his SA!

- As has been said before, don''t be afraid to call or chat with us online. We''re open until 10pm EST and will soon be open until midnight, as well as Saturday''s and Sunday''s.

 

[stone-cold11]

I just don''t get the point of worrying my pants off if a SA receive or reply my email when I can just call them to confirm something especially if it is something urgent/important to me.

 

[elle_chris]

While I do like JA (alot) and have and will continue to purchase from them, they do have an email option for customers for a reason. I know that a phone call isn't always possible. Especially if you're pressed for time, or working. I kow if it were me,
I wouldn't bother contacting the vendor after they've responded to my intital inquiry, but never followed up with what they promised. It looks bad and it's not about spam in this case.

I also don't get that if you can't deliver by the date you stated, email me, or call and let me know. Why do I, a paying customer have to chase a vendor around..
Maybe I'm too harsh, but I honestly have no patience for this type of stuff.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

I had a missed email communication with another great vendor on here and didn''t take it to mean that the whole company was defunct.

I just wanted the info., not in a hurry either, but thought that multiple requests from me left unanswered strange.

Then I asked the forum the questions I had posted to vendor and got fast responses from those in the know especially the vendor himself!

Some companys do better w/ a call others with either form of communication. Apparently emails can and do get lost in the process.

No big deal.

If I had been more in a hurry I would have just picked up the phone

 

[rainwood]

Steve6716 -

I''m guessing you''re a lawyer under the age of 35. Am I right?

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 8/18/2009 12:00:14 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
I just don't get the point of worrying my pants off if a SA receive or reply my email when I can just call them to confirm something especially if it is something urgent/important to me.

Agreed. I also prefer email. But sometimes things get lost and it seems stupid to me to come onto a forum to complain about it rather than going to the VENDOR and complaining about it.

I am not disagreeing that JA should communicate in a client's choice of mode-simply that before you get your panties in a twist about it you call the vendor to see if there is some issue. That's it.

Again, I am not missing the point. YOU are missing my point. Answer my question. If you had a client who wanted to communicate by email, and sent you one, and didn't receive a response for one reason or another. Would you prefer that the client CALL YOU to clear up the matter? Or post on a forum about whatever product you sell calling your company into question?

FWIW- I always think the same thing regardless of who the vendor is. I just think that it's polite to the vendor to give them a chance to make it right first.

And something worth noting about spam filters-just because an email got to you/them before doesn't mean that the spam filter won't catch it a different time. Just happened to me yesterday that a few emails from a trusted place were sent to spam. Who knows why-but this was after hundreds of emails from this same address. It happens.

 

[caesarsalad]

Yes, I have the same experience... I asked them for idealscope image, sarin report and J. Allen could not provide me. It has been a week.. and I am getting impatient and started to look around for another stone..

caesarsalad

 

[setell]

I think more people should voice their displeasures about their experiences with vendors. Of course you will always have the camp that strongly think it’s the client that isn’t doing enough to “reach out” too which I think at times is hog wash to me if you’ve done your part as a client, especially when I am paying a lot of cash!.

OP, what I can offer in advice is that if email is your main method of communication for you then man…if you got problems with your product it might mean you’re going to have to chase them down for service as the clock starts ticking for their 30 day return/exchange policy the day it leaves their hands. Like, less_confused I had a bad experience with JA and a great experience with GoG. I bought a diamond through emails so it is possible!!!! I value service and convenience more so than the little bit of savings JA offers now. Also one thing I do not like about the JA structure is that you’re put on hold for a lot of the little things too. The rep can’t do anything but a middleman and to fend off wrath that may come their way too. I will say Eileen is really nice too

 

[arcticcatmatt]

I just ordered my ring from JA to propose to my girlfriend with. The image request thing kinda gets old but they got them too me. I screwed up and was dealing with Darin then he went on vacation so I delt with Illene, then darin when he came back haha.

It is all figured out now and I just placed my order with confidence that this will be everything I expect it to be!

 

[Lula]

JA's prices are very competitive.

And their business model is different from GOG, WF, HPD, Brian Gavin, and some of the other vendors listed on here, who offer more in the way of images, personalized service, branded cuts, etc.

I think if you want the gold-plated service, you should expect to pay a bit more for it.

 

[Steve6716]

Date: 8/18/2009 12:39:04 PM
Author: neatfreak

Date: 8/18/2009 12:00:14 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
I just don''t get the point of worrying my pants off if a SA receive or reply my email when I can just call them to confirm something especially if it is something urgent/important to me.

Agreed. I also prefer email. But sometimes things get lost and it seems stupid to me to come onto a forum to complain about it rather than going to the VENDOR and complaining about it.

I am not disagreeing that JA should communicate in a client''s choice of mode-simply that before you get your panties in a twist about it you call the vendor to see if there is some issue. That''s it.

Again, I am not missing the point. YOU are missing my point. Answer my question. If you had a client who wanted to communicate by email, and sent you one, and didn''t receive a response for one reason or another. Would you prefer that the client CALL YOU to clear up the matter? Or post on a forum about whatever product you sell calling your company into question?

FWIW- I always think the same thing regardless of who the vendor is. I just think that it''s polite to the vendor to give them a chance to make it right first.

And something worth noting about spam filters-just because an email got to you/them before doesn''t mean that the spam filter won''t catch it a different time. Just happened to me yesterday that a few emails from a trusted place were sent to spam. Who knows why-but this was after hundreds of emails from this same address. It happens.

Ok, you seriously need to relax. To answer your question, of course I would want a customer to contact me however they could if they were somehow unhappy about my performance. If that is by e-mail, then that is what I would expect. You act like e-mail is some sort of archaic method of communication where a message maybe has a 50/50 shot of getting through.

Secondly, I NEVER called JA into question. I''ve even stated numerous times that I still intend to purchase from there, although I had my doubts. Given this was the second time I was expecting an answer and didn''t get one, I was concerned. Knowing that many people on here have worked with JA and had great success, I wanted to ask if anyone had experienced something similar. I never called them into question or said they were a bad vendor. I think the fact that I''m still hoping to purchase from them despite the miscommunication speaks for my respect for the company. If anyone is getting their "panties in a twist" over this whole thing it is you! Why do you act like I''m attacking them? I''m not! I was just curious if anyone had experienced this. For all I knew it just took longer than expected to get the IS and maybe I was just not patient enough. Go take a vallium and find something else to develop an ulcer over.

For the record, my JA sales rep got back to me not too long ago. They explained everything and were apparently shorthanded, thus causing the delayed response. I''m fine with it and can''t wait to get the IS. I''ll be sure to post on here as soon as I get it so you all can all review and give opinions.

Hey Rainwood... why do you ask? I''m a numbers guy...

 

[D&T]

Date: 8/18/2009 1:38:13 PM
Author: Steve6716

Ok, you seriously need to relax. To answer your question, of course I would want a customer to contact me however they could if they were somehow unhappy about my performance. If that is by e-mail, then that is what I would expect. You act like e-mail is some sort of archaic method of communication where a message maybe has a 50/50 shot of getting through.

Secondly, I NEVER called JA into question. I''ve even stated numerous times that I still intend to purchase from there, although I had my doubts. Given this was the second time I was expecting an answer and didn''t get one, I was concerned. Knowing that many people on here have worked with JA and had great success, I wanted to ask if anyone had experienced something similar. I never called them into question or said they were a bad vendor. I think the fact that I''m still hoping to purchase from them despite the miscommunication speaks for my respect for the company. If anyone is getting their ''panties in a twist'' over this whole thing it is you! Why do you act like I''m attacking them? I''m not! I was just curious if anyone had experienced this. For all I knew it just took longer than expected to get the IS and maybe I was just not patient enough. Go take a vallium and find something else to develop an ulcer over.

For the record, my JA sales rep got back to me not too long ago. They explained everything and were apparently shorthanded, thus causing the delayed response. I''m fine with it and can''t wait to get the IS. I''ll be sure to post on here as soon as I get it so you all can all review and give opinions.

Hey Rainwood... why do you ask? I''m a numbers guy...

whew! I''m glad they got in contact with you. We''ll be excited to see your new beauty

 

[strmrdr]

I think that consumers should be encouraged to post the good the bad and the ugly about any vendor as long as it is done in a fair manner.
I think the first post in this thread is fair.

Jim gave his answer and as long as he follows up on it(he will) it will be a good thing for him.
When researching a vendor I would rather see one problem handled well over 10 praises.
No matter who it is some time Murphy is going to speak, how they handle it when it does speaks more loudly about them than when everything goes perfect.
It is only a problem if the vendor don''t improve and it becomes a constant thing.
I have seen over the years all the top PS vendors soar and stumble and how they handled both has led them to where they are today.

 

[bright&shiny]

We had a similar experience - and were looking at fancy cuts, so it was critical to our decision. We ended up going with GOG because it was easier to get the images and data we needed.

I''m sure if we look for a RB, we''ll consider JA again, but I''m puzzled about why, given the number of images people are requesting, the don''t move their business model to fit this new trend. (I know, it is resource intensive, but it can be done relatively inexpensively - I''ve been making my own of my stones )I also expect this trend to be a new and permanent component of buying stones online (and in person).

 

[tyty333]

Date: 8/18/2009 2:01:57 PM
Author: strmrdr
I think that consumers should be encouraged to post the good the bad and the ugly about any vendor as long as it is done in a fair manner.
I think the first post in this thread is fair.

Jim gave his answer and as long as he follows up on it(he will) it will be a good thing for him.
When researching a vendor I would rather see one problem handled well over 10 praises.
No matter who it is some time Murphy is going to speak, how they handle it when it does speaks more loudly about them than when everything goes perfect.
It is only a problem if the vendor don''t improve and it becomes a constant thing.
I have seen over the years all the top PS vendors soar and stumble and how they handled both has led them to where they are today.

+1
I think the OP has/had a valid issue and I agree that he handled it fairly. I appreciate that JA understands the
issue and is working on it. To me, this is all good from where I see it.