Jewelry store rant...

[ammayernyc]

I just needed to let off a little steam and vent about my yucky experience while looking at rings yesterday.

I went to Harry Winston in NYC with a friend to look for ideas about what kind of ring I want. There are two counters up front with helpful salespeople, however, if you want to try on rings that are not displayed, you have to be seated with a ''special'' salesperson. The woman upfront was a little reluctant to seat me and my friend, but eventually she did. The man we sat with was helpful at first, bringing out a number of rings for me to try. However, when I asked to see a fourth type of stone, he said, ''let me tell you how it works here. When you sit down you tell us the kinds of rings you would like to see. Usually we don''t bring out more than two shapes. I''ve already brought out three.'' My friend was much more upset than I was, but I was still a little shocked. Then the saleseperson kept telling me that when women come in with friends they want to see 2.5 - 3 carat rings, but when the men come in to buy them, it''s always a much smaller ring. I was shocked! If I want to see a 3 carat ring, show me a 3 carat ring. It doesn''t matter that I''m not buying it that second. How dare he say that I would not be bought a big ring. In fact, I explained to him that my boyfriend thinks bigger rings look better on me. He sort of smirked.

Harry Winston is an institution, but way overpriced, and I''m sure they know that. If I were them, I would greet customers with a glass of champagne and a helpful and complimentary salesperson in order to make the sale that could go to one of the 1 million other jewelers in the area.

So, there''s my vent.

 

[Angel7]

I''m sorry, about your horrible experience. You exact situation is what intimidates me about actually going to see what ring looks good on me. I''m scared they''re going to kick me out of the store when they realize I can''t afford it and I''m just wasting their time. But isn''t that the fun behind shopping!

Maybe you had millions in your pocket that day and wanted to buy a ring and jsut didn''t know which one to choose. It''s not your fault you would like to look at more than two. When I''m encounterd with sales people such as this guy I always think of Pretty Woman. When Julia Robert''s goes into the store the next day and says.."You work on commission right? Huge mistake! I have to go shopping now!" Love it!!

 

[SJS1234]

ROAR!!!! I hate hate hate hateful smart alec jewelers!!!! One day back in November during my lunch break I went over to Mayors to look at rings/diamonds/etc. There were 2 salespeople sitting behind the engagement ring case and NEITHER of them even acknowledged me until I gave them a little "ahem"! then they just kind of looked up -- then away again -- without saying A WORD! I stood there looking into the cases for a few moments, then finally said politely, "excuse me, do you have any cushion cut diamonds?". One of the guys bluntly said "NO" without ever even looking up! JERKS! oh I was so mad. There was only one other customer in the store, and that person was being taken care of by a salesperson in another area.

I did go back to that same Mayors a couple of weeks later with my bf and we actually had a really nice saleslady. She didn't have answers to half of our questions but she was at least nice and TRIED to be helpful. Oh well. they have a beautiful setting that I love -- but they are overpriced, and nobody seems to know which settings can be set with which stones, and so on. durh.

You should tell your bf to go back to Harry Winston's and spend some serious time with that same sales person, make him think he's going to buy a big ol 3 carat -- then have him say, "Wow your rings are very nice and all -- and I would DEFINITELY write you a check today, but since you were so incredibly rude to my girlfriend I think I'll just pass" BU BYE! Evil salespeople are the WORST!

 

[Carolynw]

I actually called Harry Winston one day, i was considering on buying my diamond there
and setting. The older gentleman was so rude on the phone, he sounds like the
guy you sat with, that I never went in. I ended up purchasing my 1.5 RB and
tacori setting somewhere else.

I also went to the Mall by my home, and was going to buy my tacori set closer to my home,
again the sales person was so rude, i didn''t go back.

I ended up driving an hour from home because the sales people were so nice.

 

[chantal990]

I HATE rude sales people there is no call for it. I have worked in customer service and sales jobs and it is completely uncalled for. Recently I had went into a large chain jewellers with lots and lots of stores all over Australia. Ok so it was on my way home from the gym and I wasn''t looking my best ( I have a sadist of a trainer). I was basically given the "can you actually afford anything?" treatment. I got disgusted and walked out.. A couple of days later I went in after work all nice and corporate in my suit etc just to have the same saleslady practically fall over herself to serve me. So I got the item number for what I was after off her THEN told her I wouldn''t be buying off her and why and went to another location of the store.

I 2nd the suggestion of SJS and send your man in there to teach the nasty salesperson a lesson.

 

[onedrop]

I am so sorry for your experience. Being Harry Winston I thought they would have trained their sales staff better. But then again, they may just be snobs. I too deal a lot with the public and one thing I have learned is that everyone deserves respect. Even if the consumers don''t have money, what harm can it do to be nice to people?

I guess some of these places have a bias against women shopping for rings with out the BF. What they don''t realize is that if treated well, those same women will come in BF and quite possibly make a large purchase. If the sales staff chooses to be mean, I take my business elsewhere!

 

[aeli]

During my ring shopping experience, I have gone into many, many jewelry stores by myself (when I go with my fiance, they tend to ask him what I want, and not me), and was offered assistance only once. Surpisingly, it was at Cartier (I say surprisingly because I expected more snootiness at a higher end store). I told the salesperson that I was just looking, and that I wasn''t sure if Cartier was even in my price range, but she insisted I try on everything I liked, "just for fun." It was like being a kid again playing dress up - she made me feel so at ease. This is what engagement ring shopping should be like, a fun and exciting experience.

 

[codex57]

I hate snooty salespeople. I refuse to go to Fletcher Jones Mercedes and gladly badmouth them every chance I get cuz I keep getting ignored there. I refuse to wear a suit to get better service.

Good service is a big reason why I ended up getting my ring from teh store I did. I was dressed down (ok, I almost always dress down) and was just wandering around the LA downtown jewelery district and wandered into Oscar''s Jewelry. I was pretty sick of the whole jewelry district scene but Amy the salesgirl was really friendly and made me laugh. Even Oscar, as laid back as he is, wanted me to be in a cheery mood (which eerily, all his customers seem to be) and even kept giving me Bailey''s to loosen me up.

 

[njc]

I hate rude/mean sales people too. Especially when you get that treatment because you are "dressed down". I am a HUUUUGE jeans and t-shirt kinda gal, plus i look younger than i really am (like 19/20), and hence people think i have no money. Money is money no matter how old you are or how you are dressed. People should be happy to serve you and make a sale... you never know who that person really is. My example...

My dad was raised on the farm that my grandfather still keeps up today... he wasnt going to go to college, he was happy being the small town farmer, but he did. Today he is Chairman of the Board of Directors for a local bank. He still helps my grandfather, and his favorite thing to do is go into one of the bank branches after helping him... like in the summer after spending the day getting up hay. Nasty jeans, ratty old t-shirt, covered in sweat with hay all in his hair, just to see what kind of reactions he gets from the tellers. He''ll even go through the drive-thru in my grandfathers ''67, rusty brown and yellow, no-way-itll-pass-inspection-next-year, pick-up truck. Its his way of testing the customer service, which i think is great.

 

[orbaya]

My parents were in the market for some furniture so they went to a nice, expensive store because they had few items my parents really liked. My dad had been working in the yard and painting so he wasn''t looking his best and when my parents went into the store, the salesperson actually said, "there is nothing in this store you can afford"!!!!

Can you believe it!

Of course my parents were livid so they left. The next day, my parents went back, pulled up in their Mercedes, looking very nice. The salesperson was very eager to help them, and my dad let the the person have it! He told them they were a rude, discriminatory bunch and he had planned to spend THOUSANDS in there the day before.

Needless to say, they didn''t buy anything there.

 

[Petra]

Date: 1/18/2005 4:31:44 PM
Author:ammayernyc
I just needed to let off a little steam and vent about my yucky experience while looking at rings yesterday.
So, there''s my vent.

When looking for our engagment ring my boyfriend and I hit naked rudeness on more than one occasion. There were times when we actually walked out because no one would speak to us. I don''t know if it is because he''s Indian and I''m white or what -- but it got very annoying. At one point an other customer even commented on it.

Honestly I do think it is him. When I go into stores I tend to get prompt and immediate service and some of the most of expensive places I''ve been into have shown me everything even when I told them I couldn''t afford anything in there.

 

[valeria101]

Maybe someone can explain this...

Regardless of income bracket, no one I know buys jewelry as often and careless as groceries. It takes a while to make up your mind even if it is just to figure out what's hot and what's not. Most of this "making up your mind" is looking at jewelry somewhere unless we're talking about a design freack who draws his/her own... Once you try something on it's that much harder to take it off ! From this and Pricescope's record it seems to me that showing jewelry drives sales.
Now, why do they make jewelry windowshopping so hard on ones' nerves

 

[codex57]

I think for the sexes, it's different. Just stereotypes some salespeople have with the different sexes.

With girls, I guess the assumption is that the guy is going to buy for the girl so no need to spend that much time on the girl.

For guys, I dunno, maybe they think we're dumb, hate to be shopping, and will do what we're told since we've been whipped enough to even be in a jewelry store. I got a lot of the "this stone is beautiful. Your g/f will love it!" for really crappy stones, including ones with big fat inclusions right in the middle of the stone that you can easily see. I mean, it's like they think I don't even know about Clarity cuz I asked about Color and will buy whatever they say is beautiful as long as it matched the Color I asked for.

 

[pearcrazy]

Wow, I must say I've never encountered such snobbiness in a jewelry store!! Usually I encounter the opposite, a pushy, eager beaver young salesperson trying to make a big sale.

I do have a funny snob story about a friend of mine. She and her DH like luxury cars. They always buy a Lexus and usually trade in every 2-3 years or so for the latest model. Last summer, my friend was involved in an accident that totalled her Lexus. The other person was at fault and their insurance company had paid for a Ford Taurus from a rental car company while she settled on payment and shopped for a new car. She and I had the afternoon off from work, so we changed into t-shirts and shorts and decided to head down to the Lexus dealership (from which she has bought her last 2 cars) and look at new cars. It was a quiet Tuesday and there was only one other customer on the lot. She found one she liked and wanted to test drive. NO ONE would wait on us even though there were 3 salesmen standing outside the showroom talking. Finally, she walked into the showroom and asked if anyone could come out and help her. She was told that someone would be with her shortly. Ten minutes later, no salesman! She walked into the showroom and asked what the hold up was and was told by some pudgy 50ish gentleman that they didn't have time for people wanting a joy ride in their Lexus!

She assured them that she wasn't a joyrider and that she had purchased from them in the past. He laughed at her and said "oh did you get that Taurus from us?!"

About that time the sales manager walked in from lunch, recognized her, greeted her by name and asked her if "they were taking good care of her". She pointed at the pudgy salesman (who was now turning red) and said, "well as a matter of fact--NO!, NONE of these gentlemen here want to sell me a car, I've been here half a hour and I cannot get waited on. I think I'll be heading to another dealership since this one doesn't want my business!" We walked out and left. Later on the sales manager called her at home apologizing profusely and asking what he could do to keep her business. She got a red faced apology from the pudgy guy the next time she walked in and the sales manager turned her over to another salesman who practically rolled out the red carpet for her and gave her a $50 spa certificate and her DH a $100 gift certificate to Ruth's Chris' Steakhouse when she signed off on her new car.

Now THAT'S sweet revenge!!!

 

[Kaleigh]

Pearcrazy,

I just love your story. What sweet revenge they got!!

 

[dobie]

Maybe it''s because I''m a man. I''ve never had any problems in any jewelry store. My only complaint is I get too much friendly service. My GF and I visited Tiffany for the first time last Dec. I was just buying a "cheap" gold necklace, but the sales lady kept us there forever. I just wanted to pay for the necklace and leave, but everytime my GF looked at something the sales lady took the item out and let her tried it on. Two days ago, I called up a local diamond wholesaler/designer to show some interest in a pair of earrings. I went in yesterday to see the diamonds and was ready to buy and leave within a couple of minutes. But the sales lady took her time to show me the hearts and arrows and inspect the diamonds under a microscope. Some of the ladies here in the forums might want to see the hearts and arrows for 15 minutes, but I certainly didn''t.

 

[fire&ice]

Funny story - but hey, I drive a Ford Taurus!

Sales people that cop a tude are just plain stupid.

And, yeah, I LOVE that scene in Pretty Women.

 

[aeli]

Oooh, rude car salesman stories. I was in the market for a Toyotal Solara several years back and went into a local dealership. I brought an ad in (from a different dealership) and asked if they would match that price (for the same model/options). I was told to leave the dealership, and that my offer was a joke. When I asked the salesperson if he was serious, he said yes, to stop wasting his time, and pointed towards the door and asked me to leave, again. I ended up buying a higher model Solara with all the options elsewhere for the same price I had offered for the lower model. Guess my offer wasn''t such a joke afterall.

As far as my worst jewelry store experience - it was at Tiffany & Co. My fiance and I had decided on the Legecy ring and actually paid for it up front. When the date had arrived that my ring was supposed to be back from being sized, my fiance went in to pick it up. As soon as he walked through the door, security pulled him aside and performed a full body search. Then, when he finally got to a salesperson, he discovered the ring wasn''t ready. He went in several times a week for over a month, with false promise dates given by management every time, and never received a ring. We gave up after that and demanded a refund, which then took almost a month to arrive.

 

[pearcrazy]

I buy my diamonds over the net and we negotiate our Toyotas over the net. We got a great deal that way. When another dealer said that we "wouldn't get that car for that price" we just forwarded the email from the first dealer. It was amazing how fast they came back with a counter offer! i love negotiating that way. No waiting while the salesman "runs this offer by the sales manager". Most dealerships have internet sales people and that's the easiest way to go!

 

[Diamonds4Me]

I can not stand it when salespeople are rude. There is no sense in it. I remember getting into a full blown argument with one because he kept showing me EC stones when I was asking for radiants.

Don''t get me wrong..I love ECs but I wasn''t shopping for an EC at that moment.

As for the poster that doesn''t like the Mercedes dealer..I do suggest a different dealer. When my h2b gave me mine for my birthday he went to pick it out in cargo shorts, Harley t-shirt and tennis shoes. He did it on purpose so that if they even hinted at having a snooty attitude he was going to rip them a new one.

But they couldn''t have treated him better.

Funny, but the salesperson that worked with him was from an L.A. dealership.

I have always worked in customer service in some form or fashion. I still do to this day. I make it a point to treat my clients exactly the way that I would want to be treated. Like they are a person with certain likes, dislikes, wants, etc. And if they want to see fifty houses in one day..well..I''ll just do my best to get to as many of them as I can....even if it does take from sun up to sun down.

 

[pearcrazy]

"I have always worked in customer service in some form or fashion. I still do to this day. I make it a point to treat my clients exactly the way that I would want to be treated. Like they are a person with certain likes, dislikes, wants, etc. And if they want to see fifty houses in one day..well..I''ll just do my best to get to as many of them as I can....even if it does take from sun up to sun down. "

And THAT''s the mark of a good salesperson! We nearly drove our agent crazy when we were looking to buy our first house. We didn''t have a lot to spend and her commission was going to be small indeed. She couldn''t have been nicer. As a result we recommended her to ALL of our friends and looked her up when we were looking to sell and move up a few years later. If only more snooty salespeople realized that happy customers refer more customers.

 

[codex57]

Date: 1/20/2005 5

8

0 PM
Author: Diamonds4Me

As for the poster that doesn't like the Mercedes dealer..I do suggest a different dealer. When my h2b gave me mine for my birthday he went to pick it out in cargo shorts, Harley t-shirt and tennis shoes. He did it on purpose so that if they even hinted at having a snooty attitude he was going to rip them a new one.

But they couldn't have treated him better.

Funny, but the salesperson that worked with him was from an L.A. dealership.

Oh, we got it at another dealership. House of Imports has no problems with people who aren't dressed in a 3 piece suit. They have the proper attitude. Didn't BS about the price much (their opening offer was the offer I had in mind as fair based on my research), and the sales people went up to everyone that stopped by that dealership. They realize that appearance doesn't matter.

I've got another bad dealer story. I was in high school and was looking for a car. Went with my friend in his E30 325. Pulled into the Toyota dealer. As we were getting out, a sales guy approached. Asked us how old we were. We said 16. He promptly turned around and walked away. Unfortunately for him, his sales manager was watching and started screaming at him, "What the hell are you doing?!? Can't you see they can drive? Go give them a test drive!" But, we were so pissed, we just got back in teh car and left. I bought a Honda Civic instead. Should have driven over and rubbed it in, but I was so mad, I didn't set foot on that dealership until years later (and a change in ownership).

I agree that it's not just about the individual sale and that referrals can be even more valuable. If you're in the LA area, Jackie Chan at House of Imports was great. Fletcher Jones sucked. And Long Beach BMW treated me a hell of a lot better than Shelly BMW did (and avoid McKenna BMW at all costs).

 

[diamondlil]

Pearcrazy, I loved that car story. I must say I have endured my share of snooty sales people not only in jewelry stores, but also car dealerships, and model homes, of all places.

My husband and I both look younger than we really are, and in our mid-20s, I think people assumed we were in high school. Thankfully, it does not happen as often now that I''m 40 and he''s 45.

DiamondLil

 

[codex57]

I thought most adults would love to look 10-20 years younger?

But yeah, that's a problem I have too. Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's bad. When I was in high school, my dad loved telling my schoolmates taht he was my brother. And they'd believe him.

 

[onedrop]

While I deplore the terrible service received at some establishments, it''s somewhat comforting to know that I am not alone. I can rememeber shopping for rings at a BB&B (before I knew about PS) with my boyfriend, and we were totally ignored. There were sales staff available, but no one even looked our way. And others in the store seemed to be getting great service. Needless to say, we were both highly upset. We both chalked it up to us both being minorities and vowed to never shop in a BB&B ever again. THat was years ago, but I still cringe when I see one of those stores in the mall.

I can laugh about it now because I realize my money spends just as well at other stores!

 

[Addlepated]

Date: 1/20/2005 4:39:53 PM
Author: aeli
As soon as he walked through the door, security pulled him aside and performed a full body search.

I would have called the police on the security guy! No jewelry store ninja has the right to search anyone like that.

For my horror story - wedding dress shopping. My mom died when I was 16, so when I was planning my wedding I went to the most prominent wedding dress store in town by myself, prepared to spend a good amount on a dress since we were having a very small ceremony. I was utterly ignored. Thinking it might have been an off day, I went back the next week - ignored again. At the bridal show a couple of weeks later, I was there with my then-fiance (now husband) and approached their booth - they were all over me. I told them that I would never buy anything from them after how I was (not) treated in their store and walked off.

 

[pearcrazy]

When I went wedding dress shopping with my mom (many, many years ago) I walked into a store and was told that shopping in there was by appointment only. I noticed that I was the only customer in the store and my mother told the clerk that she was from out of town and could we possibly just look through the rack at some dresses since there was no one in there. I could make an appointment later if I found anything I liked. The snooty lady told us "No, as I said, it requires an appointment". It kind of reminded me of the scene in "Meet the Parents" where Ben Stiller''s character is denied boarding because they haven''t called his row, and he is he only passenger waiting.

We drove less than a mile up the street to another bridal shop and tried on dozens of dresses. Those ladies couldn''t have been nicer. My mother bought her dress off the rack that day and I placed the order for my gown. I told the store owner about my experience at the other store and she said that they got TONS of business that way!

 

[Dancing Fire]

you never know

back when i was doing coin shows a gentlemen stop by my table (sloppy looking) want to look at some coins in my show case, i show it to him, he end up spending almost 25k purchasing 4 coins from me,then he said let me show you what else i brought here.he show me like 14 or 15 other coins that worth over 100k......so you never know.


now i'm on the other side of the counter...

one time i went into a jewelry store (t shirt & jeans) and ask the salesmen if i can try on the rolex s/s submariner, he ask me are you ready for a rolex ? by this time i already took off my lange watch and lay it on the pad on top of the counter,i know what he's thinking ,he's thinking that i'm gonna head for the EXIT as soon as he hand over the watch.so he turn to make eye contact with the manager and the manager walks up behind the salesmen then he ask me is this your watch ? i said yes,may i see it ,i said sure,he got his loupe out and look at the movement on my watch and he said "magnificent watch",he then told the salesmen my watch cost more than their 18k gold rolex....and the salesmen almost sh!!!t in his pants.

 

[dobie]

I really don''t understand why so many of you ladies and gents had so much bad services. Like I said earlier, I never had any problems. Is it because I''m a man? Perhaps it is because I''m a Canadian? Just for the fun of it, I went to the local mall a couple of hours ago to buy one of those Gund Holiday Bears from Mappins/Peoples/Zales for the earrings I bought from a diamond wholesaler & designer yesterday and browsed around some of the jewellers there. I went to 5 jewellers out of at least a dozen and of course none of them had the diamond stud earrings with the same specs as the ones I already purchased. But they each spent at least 20 minutes with me and looked up the price (at least twice what I paid) for the earrings with the specs I gave them. I got business cards from 4 of them. When I got home, I noticed 3 of the business cards were from the store or assistant managers. I don''t know if all sales people call themselves assistant managers or what.

 

[ForteKitty]

Date: 1/21/2005 12:40

0 AM
Author: dobie
I really don''t understand why so many of you ladies and gents had so much bad services. Like I said earlier, I never had any problems. Is it because I''m a man? Perhaps it is because I''m a Canadian?

Just wondering... are you Caucasian? Because I''ve noticed that sales people generally roll their eyes or pretend to be busy as soon as they see a person of color walk thru the doors. Just personal observation... and experience. You don''t know how many times I''ve had money burning thru my purse and nowhere to spend it because of my race. How do I know? because they told me. A sales lady in a La Jolla boutique said that "My kind" is not welcome because we never buy anything... so I promptly took my $11K to a family jeweler and bought a diamond ring for my mom.

I have also been asked where my parents were when browsing thru the jewelry stores, because they do not allow kids under 18 to shop there unattended, as they are not a babysitting company. As if!