Purchasing wedding rings for the first time is a veryexciting, emotional and sometimes intimidating task to undertake. After visiting many local Charlotte jewelrystores, I decided to purchase two white gold 1 1/4 karat princess cut channelset wedding rings from Reeds Jewelers at Carolina Place Mall in May. Both rings were purchased during May but ondifferent dates. During my search, I hadvisited a couple of custom jewelry manufacturers in Charlotte but found comfortin being able to actually see and hold the rings in person versus using myimagination of what the rings would look like if they were custom made. Having a very specific style and design inmind, I was overall pleased when I found the rings at Reeds. During my research, I had actually visitedReeds at Concord Mills as well as their location at Carolina Place Mall. During these visits I was given the retail price ($3350) as well as current sales price ($2199.95) of the rings which were thesame at each store. During the next coupleof days after visiting the Concord Mills location, the sales representativesthat assisted me during my visit called to follow-up and see if I was ready tomake a purchase. At this time Iexplained how I had also visited the Carolina Place Mall Reeds location andliked how it was located closer to my home in Matthews if I ever needed to takethe ring to be polished or worked on. For me, developing a relationship with the store that I purchased fromwas a very important aspect of such a very important purchase in my life. During the course of my phone conversationswith Reeds, I found my self being bounced back and fourth between the ConcordMills and Carolina Place Mall locations each time receiving a lower price forthe rings, sometimes from different store associates. One store would beat the other by $50. Then the other store would hear of the newlower price and after contacting their manager, would then beat it by another$50 until the store manager, Amanda Symonds at Carolina Place Mall, contactedme for the first time saying she wouldnt go any lower and that $1750 was thefinal price. Amanda even provided areduction in price for the difference between the tax rate at Concord Mills (whichwas lower) and the tax rate at Carolina Place Mall ($8.10). Even with the competition for business/pricewars between stores, it was interesting that Amanda commented that its not Reedscompany policy to be in competition with other Reeds stores in the same region (Keep this broken store policy in mind).
Armed with some previous knowledge of how sizing a channelset diamond ring can impact the channel and diamonds, I was very upfront fromday one with Carolina Place Mall store manager Amanda Symonds. She indicated that the rings come from amanufacturer overseas in a standard size 10. Knowing that the rings would have to be sized to a 9 and 8, I expressedmy concern. I let her know that I didnot want the diamonds to be affected in the channel and that I absolutely didnot want to be able to tell that the ring had been resized (I made certain tosay this because Ive seen less than satisfactory sizing jobs in the past withthis style ring and its not pretty). Amanda made every effort to assure me that this would be a typical ringsizing and that she was comfortable with sizing a ring like this 2 sizessmaller with no problems at all (Ive since been told by other jewelers thatthey would not size a channel set ring 2 sizes smaller because of how itimpacts the channel and causes diamonds shift. The rings are made with the diamonds and channel calibrated per the sizethat the ring is cast in). She also saidthat she would personally oversee the entire process and would make sure tosend the rings to her most preferred trusted Master Jeweler. HmmMaster Jewelermakes you think theyknow what theyre doing, right? A trueMaster of their craft. Trained with knowledge of only the best techniques ofworking with jewelry? Well, never havingpurchased diamond jewelry before, I put all of my trust and confidence inAmandas words. Why wouldnt I? Up tothis point, I had absolutely no reason not to trust her. I was excited to find the rings that I wantedand wanted to get them sized so that they could be worn! Unfortunately at the time, I didnt realizethe significant difference of purchasing jewelry from a store like Reeds thatlacks an in-house jeweler versus one that does. Absolute lack of qualitycontrol! I assumed that paying $100every three years for a third party Service Plan would take care of anyissues that arise and bring peace of mind to this investment in emotion, timeand money. This combined with the confidencefrom Amanda and promise that the rings would be absolutely perfect and that Iwouldnt be able to tell that the rings were ever sized, I moved forward withthe purchase. (Another side noteit hadbeen mentioned to me from day one from sales associates at Amandas store thatthese rings could be ordered from the manufacturer overseas cast in the correctsize BUT they would cost more and Reeds would not extend the $1750 price forthem. Despite my great concerns withsizing complications and not ordering the rings in the correct size from themanufacturer, Amanda pressed on). Afterpurchase, the rings were sent off to the Master Jeweler for sizing. After a couple of weeks passed (a smallannoyance) the rings were ready to be picked-up. During a phone conversation before Ipicked-up the rings, Amanda let me know that after inspecting one of the rings, she detected a fracture in one of the end diamonds. She indicated that it was most likely causedfrom the heat applied to the ring during the sizing process. Rather than replace the fractured diamond, she offered to replace the entire ring and have the new one sized. My preference was to only have the diamondreplaced because the quality, color and overall clarity of the stones in thatring were beautiful. When I selected it, Amanda let me use the loop to view the diamonds under 10x magnification aswell as the microscope that is around 40x magnification. I appreciated the ability to really inspectthe diamonds and know what it was that I was purchasing. Based on her recommendation to replace theentire ring because she did not want to have the channel taken apart to fit anew diamond in and cause more problems, I proceeded to select a new ring. At the same time, I discovered that the otherring that was sized from 10 to 9 was still too large and also needed to be asize 8. Upon further inspection of both rings, I pointed out to Amanda that it was clearly noticeable where the band had beencut in half and melded back togetherone side of the band was smooth and theother side had a wave to it. Overall, the bands were uneven on the bottom and absolutely not the level of work that Amandapromised her Master Jeweler would provide with wavy bands and a fractureddiamond! In addition, one of the bandshad always been wider in width than the other (not detected at time of originalselection) and one of the rings had diamonds that were uneven in size. Fortunately, she offered to replace bothrings with two new ones. Here we go forround two. Because Reeds only kept one ring of this style in stock inthe store, she had her corporate office send four new rings that I would beable to select from. Finding twoidentical rings was and has always been a very important aspect of this processthat I made clear to communicate to Amanda. These rings represent a lot more than a purchase at a local store and becauseof this, spending the time to inspect the rings and diamonds was a must. Unfortunately in what was probably an attemptto speed this process along for a second time, Amanda mentioned to me duringone conversation at the store that she wouldnt let me use the microscope tolook at the diamonds and probably wouldnt let me use the 10x magnificationloop either when selecting new rings so I wouldnt find any flaws and not behappy with the rings. At this point, Iwas becoming worn out of the entire process of selecting rings, beingdisappointed with the level of quality of merchandise and service that theMaster Jewelers were providing, and frustration with what Amanda waspromising not coming to fruition that I only inspected the new rings by eye. I was tired of being disappointed and havingmy confidence drop every time there was a broken promise by Reeds. Of the four rings that Amanda had to selectfrom, it was easy to eliminate two right from the start. The color tone of the diamonds was clearlyyellow compared to the brighter white of the other two (not the level ofquality in selection I had expected). Left with only two, I had no other options to select from. Of the two that remained, one of the bandswas wider than the other (7.5mm compared to about 7mm) and one of the rings haddiamonds that tapered down in size from the top (the other ring had all evenlysized diamonds). Unfortunately at the time, I did not realize either of theseproblems and that the wider ring was actually lopsided in that it had more goldon one side of the channel set diamonds than the other side. The bright halogen lighting in the store dida great job of making everything look great and it wasnt until it was returnedfrom being sized that I detected this issue. Wanting nothing more than to finally have tworings in my possession to celebrate such an important and special occasion inmy life, I moved forward with the only two that remained. This time, Amanda made sure to select anotherMaster Jeweler since the last one she spoke so highly of did not do the jobshe promised me with the ring sizing and damaged a stone in the process. Sheindicated that this was going to be the first time that she used this newMaster Jeweler for the second ring sizing. Regardless of this, she sent the rings off on July 1. At this point in the process I felt like a burden to Reeds. Forseveral reason. That I was having to choose from 4 rings that none of whichwere identical. I believe this is due tofeeling intimidated and belittled by Amanda by her not letting me use the loopor scope to view the diamonds. I feltlike I was taking too much of her time and the time of her associates. I was made to feel that I was being tooselective and looking at the diamonds that I was purchasing was not animportant part of the transaction. I now know that I should have never feltthis way because none of the issues that I experienced were ever my fault. I also believe that I should have never beenplaced in a position with a company that I was doing business with to feel thisway regardless of how big or small that transaction was. After another couple weeks at the Master Jewelers to besized, the new rings finally arrived to the store. Being thrilled to finally be done with thisentire fiasco (so I thought), I went to the store to pick-up the rings. I was at the store no more than 10minutesjust long enough for Amanda to take the rings out of the bag from theservice center and for me to sign the documents acknowledging that I pickedthem up. My brief glance at the rings inthe glimmering halogen ceiling lights looked stunning and I left thestore. (Its interesting to note thatthere is a big difference in how the rings can look outside of the brighthalogen lights of the storeof course. Reeds want everything to look perfectand shinny which is absolutely not the case).
With one of the rings on the same day after having left thestore, I noticed the top center diamond was darker than all the rest. It did not shimmer or reflect the light likeall the others and just looked dead. At the same time, I also noticed thatthis diamond looked smaller compared to the rest and that three diamonds wereset lower in the channel than the rest. Issues that I did not notice when I originallyselected it with Amanda in the bright halogen lighting of the store with nomagnification made available to me to use. I do believe, however, that the diamonds were all set properly in thechannel when I originally selected it and were now affected because of thesecond ring sizing. So, for a secondtime in a row, these so-called Master Jewelers have taken a ring andcompletely destroyed them. Unfortunately, all I wanted was to enjoy a ring that I had waited sovery long to receive, not only all my life but during the entire process ofpurchasing it with Reeds. Over the nexttwo months I tried to convince myself that I could live with the defective ringbut I had a constant reminder of its flaws every day I looked at it and the brillianceof the center stone just looked dead surround by crooked stones set lower thanthe others. The thought of returning itto Reeds for a third time just to have it sent off to another supposed Master Jewelerat a third party service center for several weeks was upsetting and daunting.in retrospect, I resent waiting so long but Iinevitably returned to the store to report the problems with it. This time Amanda was off so another storeassociate Diane assisted me with writing a report to send the ring off to beworked on (September, 26). Dianewas able to see the darker center stone and acknowledged that several of theother stones were set lower in the channel and that there was also a spacebetween the gold and one of the end diamonds. Unfortunately, the brief report that she typed up to send along with thering did not indicate that the stone was darker or mention the unevenness ofthe other diamonds in the channel which I did not realize until later.instead, it said: Please check center stone, it appears to beeither smaller or crooked. Straighten orreplace, polish and rhodium. Also thediamond on the end has a little gap before the gold starts. I also expressed my hesitation to Diane forbringing the ring back into the store based on my most recent experiences anddesire to not have the ring gone for an extended period of time. She seemed to understand and she promised torush the ring and said it would only take a couple of weeks. After constantly calling the store to checkon its status and with a lack of store associates ever seeming to know how longit was going to take or have an actual update on it (apparently updates are notmade available unless the associate calls the service center), the ring finallymade its way back to the Reeds store on October 21, nearly one monthlater (I finally knew it had come in from calling to check on it. Otherwise, Idont know when I would have found out based on Reeds lackadaisical approach tocommunications). With reservedexcitement, I went to the store to pick-up the ring from yet another one of thestore associates Glenn. Glenn took thering out of the bag from the service center and I immediately saw the samedead looking diamond in the middle that was darker than all the rest. The number one most obviously noticeable problemthat I wanted addressed with the ring wasnt even resolved. At this point I told Glenn that both ringscame as a pair and despite most of the troubles that I had with this one particularring, I was finished with Reeds trying to constantly fix the rings and wanted arefund. He said that since he was notthe manager that he would leave a note for Amanda to give me a call when shereturned to the store the next day. Thiswas a Thursday. It wasnt until Monday, October 25 that I decided to give the store a call and was able to talkto Amanda since I had never heard from her the previous week. She said that she had seen the ring when shereturned back to the store and immediately sent it back off to the servicecenter. I asked her about receiving anote from Glenn to call me and she said that she did not receive a note. She said that the day I talked to Glenn washis last day with the company and that sometimes employees on their last daydont do everything they should like leaving a note in the storecommunications log. WHAT? You mean to tell me that I am now supposed tobe concerned about your companies poor lack of management and selection ofpersonnel? At this point I reiterated mydismay with Reeds and the entire experience with them and my desire to returnthe rings for a refund. I was alsofrustrated that she never called me to let me know that the ring was in butinstead made the decision without me knowing to send the ring right back to theservice center. A complete lack ofcommunication and another demonstration of many of the inconsistenciesdemonstrated by Reeds. Letting Amanda know that Diane was supposed to specificallyhave the center stone situation address and was supposed to rush it, she toldme that if she would have been in the store the day I dropped it off she wouldhave overseen the entire process and would have made sure that the servicecenter knew exactly what to do. GREAT! So now I cant trustanyone in the store to be able to do their job! Referring to the instructions provided to the service center forrepairing the ring, Amanda said that they sometimes, dont know how to read. With this said, how am I supposed to have anyconfidence in anything that Reeds and their employees say and do? How am I supposed to feel comfortable havingmade a very important purchase in my life when I, per the extended serviceagreement, have to bring the rings to Reeds every six months for them to inspectand send to the service center to be rhodium plated and polished? I cant! At this point, I lost ALL confidence in everything that Reeds stands forand promised me. My relationship withReeds was now strained and I did not envision a future having to constantlydeal with them every time the rings needed maintained and sent off tountrustworthy service centers that just make the issues at hand worse than theyshould be. This is supposed to be a verysimple, straight-forward process and it is anything but. Since the original time of purchase in May, my ring has spent more time being serviced than it has on my finger.
In an effort to resolve my complaint with Reeds, I haveasked to return and have Reeds fully refund the cost of the two rings due to acomplete lack of faith in their product and services provided and for receivingproducts and services that were sold under false pretenses. I have explained to them that at this point, it is better for all parties involved to end our relationship given theextended timeframe of the circumstances involved. Amanda was unable and unwilling to process arefund. She argued with me that shenever would have let the ring leave the store in the condition that I broughtit back in with the stones out of alignment and the center stone darker thanthe rest. She also argued that we alllooked at the rings with the 10x magnification loop when I came to pick-themup. I reminded her that we never did anysuch thing and that the condition of the ring with its issues was the sameduring the entire time I had it for two months before again returning it toReeds for more work. I finally asked tospeak to her supervisor. Amanda did notprovide me with her supervisors number but instead said that she would havethe supervisor call me. Eventually, thesupervisor Susan Taylor (Assistant to the VP of Operations for REEDS Jewelers at ReedsCorporate office in Wilmington, NC) called to discuss everything with me. From the first conversation, I made it clearto Susan that I wanted to talk with someone that held the authority to make afinal decision in this matter because I did not want this to be prolongedlonger than it already had been. Susanassured me that she had the authority so I began to describe everything to herfrom the start. Little did I know thatthis process would take a total of three weeks! Susan would communicate with me in a very understanding tone. After our conversations she would let me knowthat she would get back with me. A dayor sometimes two would pass and I would typically have to leave a voicemail forher to call me back. When she would callme back, her seemingly understanding tone to my side of the story would changeto that of Amandas side of the story. Refusing to do anything about the situation. During these conversations I explained to herthe reasoning behind my desire to return both rings. She did not agree that both rings should berefunded and she indicated that she would understand the return and refund ofthe ring that had the majority of the issues. I struggled to explain the hardship and frustration that this has causedme as a consumer of Reeds and that it was in everyones best interest tosimply end our relationship so that we could part ways and I could startover. I explained that I did notenvision being tied to Reeds as a customer given the negative experiences Ihad endured. Becoming frustrated andsimply looking for a resolve, I indicated to Susan during a conversation that Iwould be willing to simply return and refund the one ring with the majority ofthe problems. I did this in hopes thatReeds would finally make a decision and we could all move on.in only requesting the refund of one ring, Itold Susan that I am ultimately the one that is out the most. I would have to sell the ring at a lossespecially given the holiday time of year and competition in the marketplace justto make some money to purchase new custom made rings to avoid any of theproblems that I had encountered with sizing. Susan offered the option of exchanging the ring for a new one which Ideclined and told her that an exchange for a third new ring did not solve anyof the problems that I had encountered or would continue to encounter byprolonging my relationship with Reeds (Is she even listening to me?!?!?). Going back and forth for a couple of weekslike this she finally indicated on Tuesday, November 9, that she wasgoing to let Amanda know of her recommendation to refund the one ring with themajority of the problems. Expecting tohear from either Susan or Amanda the next day, I waited. It wasnt until I called Susan andimmediately received her voicemail on Wednesday and Thursday without hearingback from her that I placed a call to Amanda on Thursday, November 11. Of course, one of the storeassociates answered the phone and surely knowing the situation that I wasinvolved in, was short with me on the phone as he took a message to have Amandacall me. This was around 1:00pm in the afternoonand Amanda never returned my call that day. I called Amanda the next day with no apologies from her for notreturning my call (typical practice) and indicated that Susan was out of theoffice for a family emergency. Sheindicated that she had also last talked with Susan on Tuesday, November 9as I did but that Susan did not indicate any form of refund like Susan told meshe was going to do. On Monday, November15 I again left Susan a message and called Amanda to see if she had heardfrom her. Amanda indicated that Susan wassupposed to be back in the office and the last time that she had talked toSusan was Tuesday, November 11the last time that I also talked to Susanwhen she indicated that she was going to recommend to Amanda that the ring berefunded. Unfortunately, this was neverthe case. I finally got a hold of Susanon Tuesday, November 16 after nearly three weeks of trying to resolvethese issues with her. I indicated myfrustration and desire to work these issues out professionally with her and to finda resolve by returning and refunding the ring. As always, Susan seemed to agree and understand and thanked me for my patience. She said that she would continue to revieweverything and would call me back the next day. On Wednesday, November 17, Susan did call me back and indicatedthat her VP of Operations had the idea of issuing me an exchange for anotherring. Susan seemed to think this was agreat idea that wasnt explored before because they didnt want to lose me as acustomer. Unfortunately, I had to remindSusan that she had indeed already offered this option to me over a week priorand that I declined as this was not a solution that was solve anything. She seemed to understand withoutacknowledging that she had already offered this solution once! (At this pointIm losing my mind). Susan thenindicated that she was going to place a conference call with Amanda and Amandasregional manager on Thursday, November 18 to bring everybody up-to-dateand would contact me after that. She wasunable to do this Wednesday because Amanda was off that day. A constant issueof slow and/or lack of communication throughout this entire experience thatcontinued to plague the efficiency in which this manner could have been handled. The same day I called Susan back and left hera voicemail indicating my renewed desire to have both rings returned andrefunded because of the absolute insanity of this situation and how it is notfair that I as the customer get stuck with a ring that I do not want becauseReeds has clearly demonstrated that it will be serviced by persons andcompanies unable to conduct their jobs. Reeds did not sell me the product that I was under the impression I wasreceiving from day one and because of that, both rings should be returned.
Finally on Thursday, November 19, Susan and Amandaconference called me. Susan indicatedthat she received my voicemail and due to company policy was unable to doanything. She wanted to know when Iwould be available to go to the store to pick-up my ring that came back frombeing repaired for the fourth time on October, 29 (after over one monthof being serviced twice). I asked for clarificationon what Company Policy they were basing their decision off of and Susanindicated that I was outside of my 10-day return period and outside of my30-day exchange period and because of this, they were unable to do anythingabout my situation. I then asked Susanif it was outside of Company Policy when I was bounced back and forth betweenReeds stores with different prices multiple times which had already beenestablish by Amanda when I first purchased the rings that it is NOT within companypolicy to do this. Yet they did just this! So, if they already broke company policy once, I dont understand whythey are playing such hardball and using store policy as an excuse. I also understand the implications of a 10and 30 day refund/exchange period but at some point in time, these policieshave to be lifted in order to deal with situations such as this. Furthermore, if I was limited to a 10 dayreturn policy when I got the rings, I would never have had the chance to returnthem because they had been sent off to the Master Jewelers to be sized. Even the second replacement rings would fallunder this predicamentthey were purchased and immediately sent off to be sizedwhich took a couple of week. So wheredoes that leave me? Absolutely helplessall the way around! Based on the answers that Reeds provided during my last callwith them on Thursday, November 18, I indicated that I would now be intouch will all local media sources to make sure that the public was awareduring the holiday shopping season of how Reeds conducts their business. Of course, Susan and Amanda said nothingother than again asking when I could go to the store to pick-up my ring. Amanda said that they will only keep it inthe store for 30 days before sending it to me. I let her know that I had more important issues with reporting them theconsumer advocacy groups and would be in touch. Since 11/22, my complaint filedwith the BBB of Charlotte has unfortunately not produced any further resolutionto this matter. Reeds continues to claim false allegations against me asa consumer and refuses to refund the rings.in their most recent responseto the BBB, Reeds claims they want to maintain positive relationships with theircustomers yet they have unfortunately done everything in their power to make meresent doing business with them. They also claim that only one repair was ever made to the rings when two repairs (not including the exchange of the initial two rings) actually occurred.
Reedscontinues to make false statements regarding the poor level of service theirjewelers have made in the various sizings and repairs. Their allegations thatonly one repair has been made is incorrect as I have documented the replacementof the original rings as well as two additional repairs made to one of thereplacement rings. Reeds should also have the ability to provide evidence ofthe number of repairs that have been made but after reading other reports on usacomplaints.com, I am concerned that Reeds will falsify this information to side with their story. Reeds says they desire to foster a positive relationship while all they have managed toproduce is one of negativity and animosity for how they have representedthemselves throughout this regrettable transaction. No consumer should be subjectto false representation of services and goods. Furthermore, no consumer shouldbe led to believe that by purchasing an extended service contract they areprotected with accurate, timely and satisfactory repairs. I am highly disturbedthat after spending hard earned money and countless hours trying to resolvethis matter that Reeds has the audacity to tell me as a customer of theirbusiness that I have the ability to use any jeweler in America. It is with thisvery statement that I wish to remind Reeds of the very nature of my disputewith them. I selected Reeds based on what I was promised and since I have notreceived what I was promised after numerous attempts to allow Reeds to rectifythe situation, I wish to end my relationship with them with a return/refund. Ihave already paid for an extended service contract to maintain the jewelry andaccording to the service contract, I am required to have Reeds inspect therings every six months. It was also the expectation set by Reeds that the ringsshould be sent to their service centers to be polished and plated every sixmonths. Because of this service agreement and its associated requirements, I amsubject to maintain a strained relationship with Reeds which I no longer desireto have in order to have the jewelry covered under warranty. It is simply notworth the headache for both parties involved.in their response to my BBB complaint, Reeds expresses concern of future litigation with other customers which is simply not my problem. If youmisrepresent goods and services and can not accurately follow through in atimely manner then the blame is on you. If Reeds true desire is to maintainpositive relationships then the only way for them to achieve this is by apositive, consumer focused approach to this situation which they have continually failed to provide.
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