Recently I had a very disturbing incident at Unique Jewelers in Benicia.
My father was a WWII veteran. He was shot down and held in a prison camp Stalag Luft IV for 10 months. Then he was involved in the Hanover march where he was then held in Stalag XIB. When liberated, he weighed about 85 pounds, standing 6 feet tall
When he returned, my mother bought him a new ring, as all his property had been stolen. He chose a ruby ring. This was in 1945.
Fast forward to 1983 and my son is born in July, after my father passed away. Ruby is the July birthstone. When Brian turned 18, as a gift from his grandparents, he was given the ring.
Brian wore in all the time, and it finally split behind his finger. I took it to Unique Jewelers to repair.
I chose the better repair where they would slightly thicken the back of the ring so it would hold for years to come.
I was VERY clear... I did not want to alter the ring in any way or lose any of the existing gold. They assured me that they would only add to one area and it would look no different..
I went to pick up the ring and I was in shock.
They added gold in such a way that they chanced the width, not thickness of the band. It is 50% wider.in addition, they polished the ring to a bright, smooth gold finish. The ring had been a dull finish with some recessed accents. It had some wear scratches, but had depth to the appearance. It looks nothing like the original ring. Those scratches gave it character, It was not a shiny ring. It now looks like some cheap everyday ring with no depth or character. They could not see why I was upset and said I should have known they clean and polish. That they don't feel they changed the ring as they did not reset it!
They offered to "make it look old" but that is MORE change and not replacing what was there. That can't happen.
They are taking some width off the back band now, but it will not look great. It was too wide for my son to comfortably wear.in addition, the size is a bit smaller as well, so no longer the size of my dad's finger when he got it.
I am beyond upset at this establishment.in addition, I owe THEM money to get the ring back.
In my frustration, I am spreading my story as a way of letting people know about this business and asking for you all to not do business with them and pass this on to everyone you know may patronize this shop.
This is not the same owners as a few years back, and they clearly do not care about customer wishes.
I can't fix this ring. It is forever altered and I am dreading telling Brian when he comes home for Thanksgiving.
Thanks for listening and please pass this on.
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