1 /5 Colin Smythe: Had an awful experience here.
I originally bought my wifes wedding ring at a wonderful jeweler more than an hour away from where I currently live. Because of this I figured Id take it somewhere closer to fix a simple bent prong.
After receiving multiple recommendations from friends and family (none of whom will be returning after seeing the outcome of this ordeal) I brought the ring to Allen Village Jeweler.
Within a few days we got the call that the ring was fixed and the two outer bands were cleaned. The two outer bands were fine and looked clean.
The center band now had a prong that what significantly thicker and was not even touching the center stone as well as what appeared to be a groove ground into the band. The first 3 pictures show how I received the ring after the first
"repair."
Mistakes happen. While I wasnt pleased I spoke with them and they took the ring back to work on it more.
When I received the call that the ring was finished I went to pick it up and to my surprise it had gotten even worse!
The ring had 2 prongs soldered together
"to make it stronger" with a deep furrow between them as well as pitting in the affected area (Shown in the remaining photos). They insisted that no material had been removed but the entire profile of the ring was asymmetrical (shown in the last photo, the bottom left side now slopes away.
When I showed this to them they wanted to take the ring back for a third time.
Since the work was only getting worse I declined and insisted on a refund of the $230 they charged for the "repair".
I was told I had to come back later when a manager was in, which I did. When the manager, Razia, was in I spoke with her and she said she would have to talk to the owner about any kind of refund, offering store credit instead. After insisting on the refund I was told Id have to come back later after the owner decided if I would get a refund.
A week later, after repeated requests for updates, I was finally asked to come to the store. I was informed that I would only be getting a partial refund of $156 from the original payment of $232 as they were still charging for the cleaning and rhodium plating.
I was surprised to hear that any rhodium plating had been done to any of the bands as that service was not discussed at all and palladium bands should not be rhodium plated as it heavily tarnishes palladium. This jeweler was also told multiple times that the Rings are palladium prior to any work being done.
After leaving the store I went back to the jeweler where the ring was originally made and they did a wonderful job of restoring it. The jeweler even commented that whatever Allen had done to the ring made it very difficult to repair. I also asked if the bands had been rhodium plated and was informed that there did not appear to have been any plating done to the rings as was claimed.
As stated earlier, Ill never be back to this jeweler and those that recommend the place to me have told me they will not be returning either.
I cant understand how any jeweler would be OK with letting a ring leave their store in such a state.
This store appears to be associated with "Infinite Jewels" on the BBB.
