For many brides and brides-to-be, an engagement ring isn’t just a flashy new piece of jewelry, it’s a physical reminder of a pretty huge life event. So it’s no surprise that some customers of Kay Jewelers were pretty upset when their rings disappeared, came back damaged, or were replaced with sub-par jewelry.
Buzzfeed News took a deep dive into Kay Jewelers’ Facebook page and tallied up a slew of complaints leveled at the company from customers regarding engagement rings.
Between Feb. 15 and April 21 this year, eight people said their inspection or certification records were misplaced; three got a worse diamond replacement; 22 said their repairs were shoddy or the ring came back looking worse than it did before; and six said their rings were lost when Kay sent them for repairs.
One bride said she didn’t particularly love jewelry, but she cherished her $21,000 engagement ring, which her husband had custom-made at Kay. They paid extra for an extended service plan, which required them to come in every six months to have the ring inspected in case there were loose stones that needed to be secured.
They recently brought the ring in for inspection, and a store employee told them a stone was loose, and it would need to be sent in for repairs. When the couple called to ask when they could get the ring back, they were told it had “disappeared.”
After she posted about it on Facebook, she finally got a call from a Kay representative offering her a nice diamond, but not one of the same quality her original had. She says all she really wants is her original ring back.
A Kay spokeswoman told Buzzfeed the company is looking into the situation and working with authorities on recovering it. She said Kay had “provided options that we are confident reflect commensurate value, and we are committed to collaborating with the guest on a satisfactory resolution.”
“It’s really devastating, because we could get a new ring, you can get new jewelry, but you can’t get back your original,” the bride told Buzzfeed.
Others complained that their rings did come back — they just looked worse when they did. Some said they got smaller stones, or diamonds with flaws in them. One couple gave up after multiple attempts to get their ring repaired correctly, and ordered a new ring from a different company.
Another common complaint on Kay’s Facebook page is that the company losing inspection records. That means if the ring’s stones fall out, they won’t be covered under warranty, most likely.
“As part of our dedication to our guests, we provide inspections on jewelry under warranty every six months,” a Kay spokeswoman told Buzzfeed News when asked for comment on the complaints. “Guests are required to bring in the proper paperwork to be validated at each inspection so that we can be sure that we are keeping an accurate record of service. Upon completion of inspection, each guest will receive an inspection record document that they are able to take with them and keep with the original guarantee paperwork.”
Brides Say Their Engagement Rings Were Lost Or Ruined By Kay Jewelers [Buzzfeed News]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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