Hi everyone,
First off let me say that if I had found this site 3 weeks ago, I would not be in this situation. I havent found any posts on this subject, and if it has been covered and recovered, I appologize in advance.
I''ll try to keep the story short and to the point:
3 weeks ago, me and my future bride decided on a Sunday afternoon that we would go look at some engagement rings. We have been steadily moving towards engagement for some time, and I wanted to get a basic idea of what she wanted in a ring before I made the final choice myself.
We went to the Shane Company. She was immediately drawn to a Christopher Designs ring, (at this point, Ill spare you guys the description). I wanted a slightly larger center stone, but she was quite happy with the size already set into the ring and litterally carried it around the store for 3 hours. We hadnt planned on purchasing anything that day, and I personally had definitely not planned on buying from there becuase I have hated the radio commercials since I was a child. At the same time, I did not want the ring that she seemed to like so much to be unavailible if that is what she wanted in the end. She made a point to tell me that she may be OK with knowing exactly which ring she was going to get, and I asked her if she wanted me to make sure the ring was held so she could make up her mind over the next few weeks, to which she sheepishly smiled and nodded her head "yes". I am a sucker for this girl.. which is why I am going to marry her!
She went off to the restroom, I asked the sales associate (Who was very helpful, very nice and a genuinely good guy) what I would need to do to make sure the ring was there when she made up her mind in the next few weeks. He advised me that I would need to place 25% down, and place it into the layaway program. If she decided that she wanted to be suprised and have something different, I could simply take advantage of the "60 day no questions asked money back gaurantee". 25% was around 2100 dollars. I filled out the form, swiped my card, got the receipt, and we were on our way...
Flash forward 3 weeks: She goes Saturday to look at the ring again and make her final call. She decided it was too shiny (blew my mind) and that it looked almost "costumish". I was relieved in a way, because now I could explore some other avenues, although I was still considering buying from Shane Co because I was so happy with the service. I am weird in that way, I do not mind paying a premium for security and service.
Here is where it all takes a turn for the worse! I call on Tuesday morning to tell them to cancel the layaway, and have my credit card credited back, only to be informed that the Shane Company had declared Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, that the court order blocked all refunds on purchases made previous to the filing, and that my only option was "store credit". I am not happy with that, the whole reason I even considered purchasing there was the piece of mind of walking back in with any problems I had and having them corrected. She has been through every ring in the store and there was nothing that she did not say no to, except that ring... which she now does not want.
I have talked to the store managers, the customer service VP at corporate, and I have a phone call with the excecutive VP tommorrow. I am nearly positive I am not getting a cash refund from them at this point. And they have offered me no other incentive to make me happy. I need to know what my options are, I do not trust store credit because I just do not have faith in their ability to emerge from Chapter 11. I feel like things will only get worse for them going forward, and liquidation is more likely. I have no merchandise in hand, just a ring on layaway that I have no intention of buying. Here are the options I have considered, someone please chime in and tell me which way I should go:
1. Purchase a setting there and buy the stone somewhere else (I dont really want to go this avenue, because there is no setting there that matches up with what she wants) I have been to 3 Shane Co stores, and through their website with a fine tooth comb.
2. Demand that the store credit be matched in the form of a discount of the same amount in whatever I wind up having to settle with from the store. This is what I am going to ask for from executive VP who left me a voicemail today in response to an email I sent to the "Tom Shane" option on their coroporate website "contact us" page. Do you think that this is an equitable option? I feel like they are holding 2100 dollars of my money interest free and I am being forced to deal with them in direct contradiction to their gaurantee!
3. One of the sales associates at one of the stores advised that I actually pick up a 2100 dollar diamond so that I had something in hand, which makes sense logically, but can I realistically recoup my value if I trade that stone in on another from a different dealer? (someone who knows the ins and outs of this option please explain for me).
4. I contacted Chase to see about having the charge disputed and let the credit card company fight the battle. This process is going to take a month at a minimum because they have to mail me the certified form to be filled out and then I have to wait for them to resolve it, by which time I am afraid that the store will shut its doors and the CC company will have to balance to charge it back to.
Someone please give me the master plan here... Forgive my ignorance, I just dont know which way to go.
First off let me say that if I had found this site 3 weeks ago, I would not be in this situation. I havent found any posts on this subject, and if it has been covered and recovered, I appologize in advance.
I''ll try to keep the story short and to the point:
3 weeks ago, me and my future bride decided on a Sunday afternoon that we would go look at some engagement rings. We have been steadily moving towards engagement for some time, and I wanted to get a basic idea of what she wanted in a ring before I made the final choice myself.
We went to the Shane Company. She was immediately drawn to a Christopher Designs ring, (at this point, Ill spare you guys the description). I wanted a slightly larger center stone, but she was quite happy with the size already set into the ring and litterally carried it around the store for 3 hours. We hadnt planned on purchasing anything that day, and I personally had definitely not planned on buying from there becuase I have hated the radio commercials since I was a child. At the same time, I did not want the ring that she seemed to like so much to be unavailible if that is what she wanted in the end. She made a point to tell me that she may be OK with knowing exactly which ring she was going to get, and I asked her if she wanted me to make sure the ring was held so she could make up her mind over the next few weeks, to which she sheepishly smiled and nodded her head "yes". I am a sucker for this girl.. which is why I am going to marry her!
She went off to the restroom, I asked the sales associate (Who was very helpful, very nice and a genuinely good guy) what I would need to do to make sure the ring was there when she made up her mind in the next few weeks. He advised me that I would need to place 25% down, and place it into the layaway program. If she decided that she wanted to be suprised and have something different, I could simply take advantage of the "60 day no questions asked money back gaurantee". 25% was around 2100 dollars. I filled out the form, swiped my card, got the receipt, and we were on our way...
Flash forward 3 weeks: She goes Saturday to look at the ring again and make her final call. She decided it was too shiny (blew my mind) and that it looked almost "costumish". I was relieved in a way, because now I could explore some other avenues, although I was still considering buying from Shane Co because I was so happy with the service. I am weird in that way, I do not mind paying a premium for security and service.
Here is where it all takes a turn for the worse! I call on Tuesday morning to tell them to cancel the layaway, and have my credit card credited back, only to be informed that the Shane Company had declared Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, that the court order blocked all refunds on purchases made previous to the filing, and that my only option was "store credit". I am not happy with that, the whole reason I even considered purchasing there was the piece of mind of walking back in with any problems I had and having them corrected. She has been through every ring in the store and there was nothing that she did not say no to, except that ring... which she now does not want.
I have talked to the store managers, the customer service VP at corporate, and I have a phone call with the excecutive VP tommorrow. I am nearly positive I am not getting a cash refund from them at this point. And they have offered me no other incentive to make me happy. I need to know what my options are, I do not trust store credit because I just do not have faith in their ability to emerge from Chapter 11. I feel like things will only get worse for them going forward, and liquidation is more likely. I have no merchandise in hand, just a ring on layaway that I have no intention of buying. Here are the options I have considered, someone please chime in and tell me which way I should go:
1. Purchase a setting there and buy the stone somewhere else (I dont really want to go this avenue, because there is no setting there that matches up with what she wants) I have been to 3 Shane Co stores, and through their website with a fine tooth comb.
2. Demand that the store credit be matched in the form of a discount of the same amount in whatever I wind up having to settle with from the store. This is what I am going to ask for from executive VP who left me a voicemail today in response to an email I sent to the "Tom Shane" option on their coroporate website "contact us" page. Do you think that this is an equitable option? I feel like they are holding 2100 dollars of my money interest free and I am being forced to deal with them in direct contradiction to their gaurantee!
3. One of the sales associates at one of the stores advised that I actually pick up a 2100 dollar diamond so that I had something in hand, which makes sense logically, but can I realistically recoup my value if I trade that stone in on another from a different dealer? (someone who knows the ins and outs of this option please explain for me).
4. I contacted Chase to see about having the charge disputed and let the credit card company fight the battle. This process is going to take a month at a minimum because they have to mail me the certified form to be filled out and then I have to wait for them to resolve it, by which time I am afraid that the store will shut its doors and the CC company will have to balance to charge it back to.
Someone please give me the master plan here... Forgive my ignorance, I just dont know which way to go.
. I''m sure your laws are a bit different than ours but probably not that much......
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