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Melee replacement cost?

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Well Ocean replied back saying that Wink was OOT, and that the SHIPPING and INSURANCE were part of what drove the costs up so high-- but that I should wait and talk to him about it as that portion of things is his responsibility. Okay, I can deal with that.

I know it was sent Fed Ex to me overnight --- mind you I wasn't asked how I wanted it shipped (and personally I feel if it's at my expense I should be consulted) but I thought jewelers had accounts set up for insuring jewelry at reasonable costs? I think Ocean just assume I was in a rush-- she's done this before. She has an impression of PSers has being quite impatient. I wasn't in any rush. In fact I sent the stone off last week and yesterday was the first time I sent her a note about it, and all I wanted to know was IF she had gotten the stone (she didn't contact me to let me know that she had, so I wanted to confirm, despite the registered mail thing).

I really thought she hadn't started the repair when I emailed her yesterday as niether she or Wink had contacted me about the price of the repair. And I hadn't paid for it. So...

This isn't making any sense to me. This isn't how Wink has done things in the past. I've talked to him about repairs before in the past. He's done repairs for me. He qoutes me first, and he honors his qoutes. On my five stone the repair ended up costing HIM more than HE thought, but he still honored the qoute. Which I appreciated. I just am so surprised by all this happening the way it has.

So I'm going to wait till Wink gets back to discuss this with him. Cause frankly it cost me 30 something to ship it to them registered mail with full insurance. So I'm having difficulty understanding how shipping drove up the cost on this repair a couple of hundred dollars beyond that which is SOUNDS like I should have been charged.
 
Gypsy, here''s a price comparison from WF. I sent my diamond studs in to have the post replaced with platinum, and the entire thing cost me $95 ($50 for the new posts and $45 for shipping). Now granted, I''m not having a diamond melee replaced, but there is some labor involved to solder a new post on the earrings. So, I think possibly you are getting overcharged. I also can''t believe the shipping costs are that much higher than what WF charges. You definitely will want to take everyone else''s advice and find a good local jeweler.
 
When I first read this I was thinking it was going to be the shipping costs they were charging you so much for. I hope something gets worked out because that is just way too high to charge you w/o an estimate.
 
Yeah, the shipping explanation just doesn''t work for me since you weren''t consulted about how you wanted it shipped. Plus it''s really not acceptable, in my opinion, to do expensive repair work without giving you an estimate first. I don''t want to jump to conclusions without hearing both sides, but still...hopefully you and Wink can work something out, because this entire situation just seems strange.
 
It cost me $80 to replace a bezel set stone in my earrings at a local jeweler in NYC. I think the stone is about 10 points.
 
I haven''t heard from Wink, as he is still out. But I did get the ring back. It looks perfect again.
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I was looking at the setting and Ocean might have had to unmount, then remount my center stone to do the repair. So I''m wondering if the work was it was more labor intensive because of that. But what''s confusing me, is the WAY I found out it was cracked was that I was in a nice jewelry store getting my rhodolite set into my old e-ring setting, and the told the jeweler one of my stones was dark in my current setting, he louped it and said it was cracked and showed it to me. And qouted me 40 dollars for the repair.
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If it really is the shipping that''s done this well, lesson learned.

It is a shame that it costs so much because I do feel much safer with Ocean working on the setting.
 
You know I would send my ring all the way back to the US if it needed a repair. I wouldn''t let any of the jewellers round here touch it. And I don''t even have melee.

Sometimes its better to stick with what you know.

I''m glad its back and looking beautiful again Gypsy
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Gypsy, even if they unmounted & remounted the center stone, it sounds high.

I just had my benchman unmount and remount another stone in a very delicate antique platinum setting, AND rebuild new platinum prongs completely for the center stone, AND size it down 3 sizes, AND replace a 1.5pt antique single cut melee stone. It cost $125 all together. Wait, that included mounting another stone in a white gold setting too. So I would suspect $100 would be the actual cost on all that work on the platinum ring.

Granted, mine wasn't shipped, but it still seems boggling. I hope you at least get a cost break down explaining it.
 
Date: 4/11/2008 1:56:03 PM
Author: LittleGreyKitten
Gypsy, even if they unmounted & remounted the center stone, it sounds high.

I just had my benchman unmount and remount another stone in a very delicate antique platinum setting, AND rebuild new platinum prongs completely for the center stone, AND size it down 3 sizes, AND replace a 1.5pt antique single cut melee stone. It cost $125 all together. Wait, that included mounting another stone in a white gold setting too. So I would suspect $100 would be the actual cost on all that work on the platinum ring.

Granted, mine wasn''t shipped, but it still seems boggling. I hope you at least get a cost break down explaining it.
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Thank you Little Grey. I appreciate the perspective. I''m sure Wink will let me know one Monday... the invoice I got just says $250 dollars flat. So, a break down would be great. I wouldn''t have picked overnight shipping, personally. Oh well.
 

Literally within fifteen minutes of leaving to catch a plane I was told that Gypsy's ring had cost x dollars to repair. If it was a stranger walking in the door that repair would have been billed at nearly $400 based on the cost. Since Gypsy is a valued customer I billed it to her at a large discount from that number and in addition sent it out prior to receiving payment, which we do not normally do. I made up a quick invoice and emailed it to her.



What I did not know was that $100 of that number was for shipping and insurance through Ocean's FedEx. (Which we never mark up!) I have better insurance than Ocean, so in the future she will send out under my account. The ring was sent FedEx Morning delivery as that is what is required by both Ocean's and my own insurance with rings over $5,000 in value.



As to the diamond "should have cost 12/15 dollars…..that is less than what we paid for the stone alone before adding the cost of shipping charges to get it to Ocean. If any of you want to compare the cut of our diamond to your 12-15 dollar diamonds, and match the color and clarity then have at it. If you find your stones are actually as good, then your vendor either is selling below current cost, possibly from old stock, or I need to find a new vendor. My stone would have been cheaper in a parcel, (I actually had to ask a favor to get just a single stone, normally I buy them in parcels and they are normally only sold in parcels) but for a single stone I am just fine with what we paid and what was charged.

Now, first let me mention that Ocean does not do repairs. She is a world class designer and she does custom designs. She agreed to do this repair only because she made the piece and wanted to be sure that it was done correctly. There was not only the damage to the one diamond, but some damage to the corner that it was in.

“Pop out the stone and stick it back in” band-aid workmanship might be acceptable to those who are also okay with $12-15 quality replacement stones, but repairing a very fine piece of pave jewelry requires considerably more skill and finesse. First the broken stone was removed, then the center stone was removed, the damage on the corner of the ring was repaired first, and metal was added so that new prongs could be made to hold the diamond. Then the diamond was set, the center stone was set, every thing polished up, checked over and then proudly shipped back to Gypsy so that she could have her ring quickly.

Ocean also inspected the ring thoroughly to be absolutely positive that there was no damage to the integrity of the ring. I give Ocean A++ for caring about her clients.

We could have used registered mail, and it might be there sometime this week or next or even the week after. We hate using registered, since we have no control over how long it takes, and it has taken as long as three weeks on way too many occasions for us to ever use it unless instructed to do so.



Since I did not know that Ocean did not know to have me issue her a Fedex lable under my insurance, and since I did not know that $100 of the charge I saw was for shipping I will happily reduce the charge to $200.



I appreciate being given the opportunity to share with you a little of what goes on behind the curtains. It is not often that we vendors can do that without violating the rules. However, and I mean this to come across firmly, I am very dissapointed in the tone of some of the posts. I have a reputation for doing the right thing and for being a responsible member of this forum; it would have been nice to have been given the benefit of the doubt before comments about what was I smoking were made.

I hope that for most of you this conversation is now over, but at least you have now heard why it cost what it did.

Wink

P.S. In case I was not perfectly clear, she is now paying $100 for the repair, and $100 for Fedex and Insurance.
 
I would like to apologize too Wink for upsetting him and too make it crystal clear that in no way do I think that he has/does/ever will smoke dope.

Those have read my posts or how I worded it knows that it is a way I talk and that is how I would have worded it had it been my ring and to put some humor in the thread to relieve some tension and did not mean that I thought he was indulging in anything.

Wink reducing the price based on the shipping being more than it could have been shows that he cares about his clients.
 
Thank you for your kind words and apology. It means a lot ot me.

Wink
 
Wink,

As a third party to this transaction, let me say that I think you explained the issue very well and I see no reason to believe your reputation is anything less than 100% intact.

Even though I haven''t ordered from you yet, you and your staff have been very helpful in answering some questions on some lower price (non ering) type merchandise. I look forward to doing business with you.
 
Thank you for your kind words. It is always wonderful to hear that my staff is doing their jobs so well while I am gone to study.

Wink
 
Just saw this. Thank you for the response Wink. I''ve been checking my email obsessively!

I really appreciate the discount, but was not necessary. Truly. If that''s what the charge is, and I understand it, I''m fine with it. It IS higher than I expected, but as you pointed out Ocean is not a repair jeweler and since the halo is so small, it''s very labor intensive.

I did not posts this to cast aspersions on yours or Oceans characters, I was geniunely confused. Now I''m not.

The cost of shipping is a shock. And next time I would appreciate being informed of shipping costs and options, so that I can make the choice, but that''s something I will also know to ask about in advance.

Thank you for addressing this and clarifying.

Layla
 
You are very welcome. As I said in my reply I was informed only minutes before leaving to catch a plane and I forced myself to sit down and dash out an invoice and an email for you to let you know that it was shipping.

I did not even see the actual billing from Ocean, I was only told the full amount and was anxious to get it shipped out to you, as was Ocean. She really is a special lady who cares deeply about her clients.

Had I known what she was paying for shipping I would have had her send it on my account, which is what she will do in the future, I have better insurance through Jewelers Mutual when it comes to shipping coverage.

Most important to me was your comment that you were happy with the results!

Wink

P.S. At Storm''s suggestion in a private email, we are setting up a procedure to prevent this type of misunderstanding in the future.
 
I''m happy to hear that Wink! Take care!
 
Well I''m glad you guys got it all worked out
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