REALLY UPSET WITH GOG Long vent!!!

[butterfly 17]

Hello,

First I want to say that this post is about the setting job, not about the stones in question. Second, I really thought about whether I wanted to post or not, but I am so upset I cannot even contain myself and I have no one else to speak to on this matter since no one would understand really.

As some of you know, in June I upgraded my diamond to a 2.38 H VS2 from Whiteflash. I had the diamond set into a temp. WF Tiffany setting in 18kt. white gold. Now, I am extremely picky with my jewelery and I don''t wear them in the house, when I am doing anything that might damage the ring, I don''t even use my hand to take things out of my bag or pocket.

I can tell you that the setting from WF was perfect and this is someone who can be overcritical at times.

After receiving the ring, I sent the ring to Richard Sherwood for an appraisal and received it back on June 14th. He said the setting job was excellent and the polish and workmanship on the ring was excellent.

In July I got a Simon G setting and I went ahead and reset the 2.38 into that setting. I went to GOG to have the work done since I live in NY and even though I could have gone somewhere much closer to me, I thought they would do a great job and they did.

So basically I only used the ring which was in "excellent" condition from June 14 to July 9. After I had the diamond removed, I obviously did not wear it because there was nothing in it.

I tried to sell it, but then I figured I would make myself a fun travel ring and set a stone ( not a diamond) into.

I had to find one that would fit though and after a few months, I finally found one that was 8.5 mm., almost the same size as the diamond that was in it.

So, I took the stone and setting back to GOG to have them set it. I picked up the ring on Oct. 17th and really did not pay too close attention to it when I picked it up. I had my three kids with me and my husband had driven us and I know some of you know that I just had a baby in Sept. so I really wanted to get back home.

On our way home I did notice that there were dents and scratches and I thought about returning back to GOG, but was already on my way home and my husband still had to drive us back to Staten Island and go to work afterwards. Plus, my brother was getting married the next day, so I had other things on my mind.

As soon as I got back home, I gave the ring a thorough look over and I was really upset. All the prongs had dents and scratches and there was a dent on the band that was not there before. Some of the prongs where not even touching the stone.

I was really shocked at the setting job as they set m 2.38 in July and the setting job was great on that ring.

So, I called them right away to let them know and then I also sent them an email. I was actually pleasant with my email and just said I wanted to let them know because it might be a while before I could actually get back to the store.

Jonathan replied and said to bring the ring back and they would polish it, but he also said he was curious to see what I was talking about and whether it was actual wear and tear or marks that normally occur when a stone is set.

I told him I would try to send him pictures and I explained that I really had the ring for only a few weeks and really hardly wore it the time I had it and it had to have happened during the setting.

So, I sent him pictures. A lot of pictures and this was his partial response to me-

Thank you for showing me these picture. They tell me *a lot*.

1. Where the prongs don’t meet the stone (in the first 2 pics), our bad unless that happened between the time you got it and the time those pix were taken. I give you the benefit of the doubt of course.

2. All of the marks on the prongs however are the result of natural wear and tear that can only occur over a period of time. This is not the result of one setting job unless the diamond setter was purposely trying to mar a ring. These prongs look like they’ve been chewed on for an extended period of time and not the result of an accidental scratch (or even 3). Those pix reveal natural wear over an extended period of time and is what I thought at first but your pix confirm this.



I am really upset by his email. First off, I told them the same day I received the ring, by phone and by email, that some of the prongs where not touching the diamond. He has the audacity to suggest that this might of happened between the time I got it and the time I took the pictures. Why would I email him the same day I received the ring from his store about it, if it was not there to begin with? DO I have ESP? If the prongs were touching the stone to begin with, I obviously would not have mentioned it, now would I?

Secondly, he then says that ALL of the marks are due to natural wear and tear, not the result of his setting job, implying that I did this to my ring over an extended period of time. I only had the ring with a diamond in it for 3 weeks before I had it reset. I did not wear it without a stone in it after I had the diamond removed, why would I do that. I have a real diamond to begin with anyway, this is supposed to be my fun vacation ring. Not my ugly damaged ring.

I am so upset by this. Luckily, I did take pictures of the ring when the real diamond was in it and you can see that the prongs are perfect. I sent those to Jonathan so he could see a before and after.

The setting was not very expensive, but it was not cheap either, I paid close to $800 for it and now I feel that it is ruined and no matter how much they polish it, it won''t look the same. Also, I noticed that one prong is bent out of shape if thats the proper wording.

I don''t even want the ring any more at this point.

 

[butterfly 17]

Here is the ring when I had my diamond in it. Rhino claims that the area I highlighted shows that the ring had some scratches in it already. I told him that that is just a reflection on the diamond wedding band next to it and not any damage or wear and tear.

 

[butterfly 17]

Here is a picture of the prongs not touching the stone.

 

[butterfly 17]

...

 

[butterfly 17]

...

 

[butterfly 17]

Here you can see that one of the prongs is all bent out of shape. It sort of juts out instead of curving like the other side.

 

[neatfreak]

Wow butterfly I am sorry to hear that you are having a hard time with GOG. One thing I would suggest right off the bat is to call him if you haven't already. Many things (including tone and meaning) can be misinterpreted over the 'net.

Also, I would imagine that there is some resulting prong damage from having a stone removed from a setting no matter how careful a benchman is, so is it possible that some of the scratches came from that process rather than the setting process? Are those last pictures after it was reset or of the first ring? The damage seems uniformly around the setting, it wouldn't be from a wedding band scratching it there would it?

I hope this can be fixed to your satisfaction, it certainly sounds frustrating.

 

[butterfly 17]

...

 

[Skippy123]

Butterfly I too hope things get worked out.

 

[butterfly 17]

Basically, every single prong has dents and/or scratches in it. I can understand that may be there would be one or two very light superficial scratches, but the scratches are really deep and I don''t even know if they can be polished out.

I am more upset that they don''t want to take responsibility for the work and are saying that I did this than anything else.

And then to claim that I might have done some of the damage since receiving, but to be so benevolent and giving me the benefit of doubt, it is just terrible.

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 10/28/2008 7:01:31 PM
Author: neatfreak
Wow butterfly I am sorry to hear that you are having a hard time with GOG. One thing I would suggest right off the bat is to call him if you haven't already. Many things (including tone and meaning) can be misinterpreted over the 'net.

Also, I would imagine that there is some resulting prong damage from having a stone removed from a setting no matter how careful a benchman is, so is it possible that some of the scratches came from that process rather than the setting process? Are those last pictures after it was reset or of the first ring? The damage seems uniformly around the setting, it wouldn't be from a wedding band scratching it there would it?

I hope this can be fixed to your satisfaction, it certainly sounds frustrating.

Thanks for your words of encouragement. I did try to call, but they said he would get back to me.

When they removed the stone, the setting was still in great condition. I would definitely have noticed it if it wasn't. I don't know why there are such deep scratches/dents in it. If I really did do that damage, I would only have had to do it in one area on every single prong and then taken a knife to it to make the deep scratches. LOL, but not really.

As far as the wedding band, some superficial scratches may have occurred on one side ( I always wear my rings with the stamping facing my hand not outwards) , but the areas I took pictures of are really high on the prongs, so a wedding band would not even touch those areas and anyway, what about the prongs on the sides that don't sit next to a band, why are there dents/scratches there too?

ETA: only the first picture is when it was set with a real diamond. The rest are after GOG set the other stone.

 

[Sharon101]

Unless you dropped that ring down the insincerater, those are industrial dents and definately not from wear and normal usage.

I think what has upset you is the flippant tone used. eg saying that the faulty prongs are `our bad` is pretty flippant and not what you would expect from a professional vendor who is trying to engage in damage control. I notice no appology or explaination about the `our bad`????

There does seem to be something (respect?) missing from the vendor in his response to you. I hope it gets sorted out.

And, that is definately reflection in the picture with the wedding band. Infact you can see that there is no scratches or dents anywhere. The reflection is all smooth and round because it is a reflection. If it was damage it would be jagged and not smooth and the damage would not be so `neat` or in such an awkward spot.

Everything points to problems in the bench. Maybe this ring got sent out without being checked as mistakes do happen.

I would have thought that even if it was a chewed up damaged ring that the vendor would (a) point this out to you before they set a new stone in it.....or (b) offer to try to replate or polish out some of the damage and let you know that they thought the ring needed a massive overhaul?????

 

[luvmyhalo]

I am by NO means an expert, but those prongs look AWFUL!!!!! My settings have all been white gold and I''m pretty hard on my rings, they have NEVER even come close to looking like that!!!

It seriously looks like someone took a cutting tool to each prong. That coupled with the fact that at least 2 prongs weren''t even touching the diamond and one looking mangled, shows that the stone setter just wasn''t paying attention. I would also think that if they saw the "normal wear over an extended time" scratches on the prongs, they would buff them out instead of just slapping the new stone in there.

I would be pretty upset too. I hope they call you ASAP to resolve this!

 

[lesco]

Aww, I''m sorry Butterfly! This sort of thing really sends me over the edge, especially because I am not a big fan of a vendor going "tit for tat" with a customer. I hope you soon get an answer more along the lines of "OK, we understand the situation, what can we do to resolve it?".

I am more than sure the situation will get resolved to your satisfaction.

 

[oldminer]

It does look pretty awful, but it is a very easy thing to make right. Finding fault is okay. Placing blame is more or less a wasted effort especially when it can be fixed without breaking a sweat.

Given the chance, a jeweler can make the prongs very shiny and fresh looking, no matter why they are currently bruised and dinged. Hope you can get this fixed without much more anxiety.

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 10/28/2008 7:02:50 PM
Author: Skippy123
Butterfly I too hope things get worked out.

Thanks Skippy. Here is another picture before the diamond was removed. See how perfect and UNdamaged the ring looks. It''s good that I actually took pictures when I had the diamond in it as you can''t say that there is anything wrong with it all.

I think it just bothers me that on top of receiving the ring this way, they are saying that I actually did this to my ring. It''s like I am being accused of lying without it actually being said.

I find it just disgusting.

I had so wanted to post the upgrade with the reset in a seperate thread.

 

[Kaleigh]

I''m really sorry butterfly. I am mad for you!!

 

[Tuckins1]

Yeah, I would be pretty disappointed with that if I were you. WIll they fix it/buff it/polish it for you? They should definitely do something.

 

[Rhino]

Hi butterfly,

Why leave out my "bottom line" to my last email I sent to you today? Did I not assure you and give you my word "regardless"?

 

[Sharon101]

Date: 10/28/2008 8:30:03 PM
Author: Rhino
Hi butterfly,

Why leave out my ''bottom line'' to my last email I sent to you today? Did I not assure you and give you my word ''regardless''?

I think fixing the ring is the physical solution to the problem.

It seems that the poster is upset with the way you have basically refused to accept that it happened at your place of business.

Telling her that it is impossible that your guys did it (when all evidence points in this direction) .....& you know it has to be her fault.........but you will fix it anyway is sort of not the solution.

I think you need to applologise, and acknowledge that someone made a mistake at your end, and then offer something to make up for the extra hassle of the poster needing to either send it in or drive the long distance etc.

Thats my opinion anyway going by the posters obvious care for her jewellery and the odds that it did happen in her hands v. the high odds that a benchman did it with tools etc.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 10/28/2008 8:44:30 PM
Author: Sharon101

Date: 10/28/2008 8:30:03 PM
Author: Rhino
Hi butterfly,

Why leave out my ''bottom line'' to my last email I sent to you today? Did I not assure you and give you my word ''regardless''?

I think fixing the ring is the physical solution to the problem.

It seems that the poster is upset with the way you have basically refused to accept that it happened at your place of business.

Telling her that it is impossible that your guys did it (when all evidence points in this direction) .....& you know it has to be her fault.........but you will fix it anyway is sort of not the solution.

I think you need to applologise, and acknowledge that someone made a mistake at your end, and then offer something to make up for the extra hassle of the poster needing to either send it in or drive the long distance etc.

Thats my opinion anyway going by the posters obvious care for her jewellery and the odds that it did happen in her hands v. the high odds that a benchman did it with tools etc.

Bingo!!!

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 10/28/2008 8:30:03 PM
Author: Rhino
Hi butterfly,

Why leave out my 'bottom line' to my last email I sent to you today? Did I not assure you and give you my word 'regardless'?

Hi Rhino,

The last email that you sent me was at 7:30 pm so I have not even posted that last email you sent me, so I am not really sure what you are talking about. The email I quoted above was a quote and I did mention it was a partial response and I didn't post the whole email because my real name is in the last part. I didn't want to edit my name out as it would not seem truthful, so I just left that last paragraph out and again, I mentioned that this was your partial response.

As mentioned before, while it's all good and nice that you are willing to actually fix the ring, you should never have given it to me in that condition and when you first responded, I even commented this-

First, thanks for replying. I have always admired your quick responses and great customer service on PS.

I did not attack you or anything and even though I have had the ring now for 10 days, I was never planning on posting or starting a thread about it, but I was really upset by your email that I "partially" posted and I felt it needed addressing and also I really needed to get it off my chest.

It's not like I can call my mom and tell her my prong work is messed up, but on PS, I can do that and have a bunch of people understand what I am talking about, even though they may not always agree with me.

Again, I am more upset that you are saying I did this and your setter could not have done it, than anything else. Especially when I have pictures to prove that the ring was not in that condition originally.

I also have pictures dated June 13th 2008 from Richard Sherwood that would show that your whole idea that the wear and tear would have to have occurred over a long period of time, is just not true. This means that the wear and tear would have to have occurred from June 14th to July 9th and again, I really don't abuse my rings.

Lastly, the other areas on this ring are nice and shiny and scratch free/dent free (except for one area on the band that was also not there before I had the new stone set) , so what happened to the supposed wear and tear on those areas, or did I just rub and bang up the ring only on some spots but not anywhere else?

Regardless, I have a right to be upset by this and you can not deny it and if you were in my position, you would feel the same way too. There's really no excuse for it. that's my "bottom line".

 

[LostSapphire]

It is unfortunate that the OP and GOG haven''t sorted this out a bit more before GOG is tarred and feathered in a public forum.

The OP notes "this was his partial response to me". What wasn''t included in the 1st post? I''m sure the OP is very, very careful with her jewellry. But, we''re ganging up on GOG based on a one-sided complaint containing only selected bits of information.

(side note: who removed the stone from the original setting? I can''t see who that was..?)

GOG is then forced to reply to a rather inflammatory thread in our forum, instead of the 2 of them trying to work it out.

It seems that every time I see one of these posts (and I am NOT taking sides here), the whole thing gets sorted out to the satisfaction of the poster. But in the meantime the negative thread subject sits there...




Butterfly17: I am sure that Rhino will make this right for you. It''s in his best interest to keep his customers satisfied. Mistakes DO happen. And, context, subtlety and inflection don''t translate well in e-mails or on public forums.

I hope it all works out for you, and you update us with a positive, happy outcome.

LS

 

[mrssalvo]

gosh butterfly, I''m sorry. I can understand the feeling of "giving you the benefit of the doubt" when you know you did not cause the damage as almost accusatory. I do believe though that GOG will make it right and hope your ring will get back to being perfect right away.


p.s. I don''t think you ever posted pics of your new setting either. please start a new thread, I''d love to see it.

p.p.s. what did you end up doing with your Ritani?

 

[agc]

Butterfly, sorry to hear about your ring and how upset you are.

I hope you can take a deep breath and give Jonathan a chance to make things right for you. I know he is a man of his word and takes good care of his clients. He said he would take care of it and I know he will.

 

[strmrdr]

ok what a mess....
Jon your response in this thread wasn''t your best.
I am confident you will see to it that it is fixed however.

Now about the ring....
Looking at this picture you can see where they were at one time tight against the stone.
They have been sprung,,,when the tips were formed they were over the stone.
How that happened I have no clue, an impact? caught on something? Who knows...Where it happened? who knows. When it happened .. who knows?
Setting then removing and resetting a stone can make them more prone to it also but again who knows.

As far as the scratches go they are fixable and Jon said he would fix them so let him.
Get the ring to him and get it fixed and live happy ever after.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 10/28/2008 7:50:45 PM
Author: butterfly 17

Date: 10/28/2008 7:02:50 PM
Author: Skippy123
Butterfly I too hope things get worked out.

Thanks Skippy. Here is another picture before the diamond was removed. See how perfect and UNdamaged the ring looks. It's good that I actually took pictures when I had the diamond in it as you can't say that there is anything wrong with it all.

I think it just bothers me that on top of receiving the ring this way, they are saying that I actually did this to my ring. It's like I am being accused of lying without it actually being said.

I find it just disgusting.

I had so wanted to post the upgrade with the reset in a seperate thread.

Ah, sorry, send it back and give them a chance to fix it; I feel for you. I too am DYING to see the upgrade friend!!!

Sending you a hug!

 

[Diamond*Dana]

I am sorry that your ring is damaged and I hope that you and GOG can sort things out. Good luck!

 

[Rhino]

Date: 10/28/2008 8:44:30 PM
Author: Sharon101

Date: 10/28/2008 8:30:03 PM
Author: Rhino
Hi butterfly,

Why leave out my ''bottom line'' to my last email I sent to you today? Did I not assure you and give you my word ''regardless''?

I think fixing the ring is the physical solution to the problem.

It seems that the poster is upset with the way you have basically refused to accept that it happened at your place of business.

Telling her that it is impossible that your guys did it (when all evidence points in this direction) .....& you know it has to be her fault.........but you will fix it anyway is sort of not the solution.

I think you need to applologise, and acknowledge that someone made a mistake at your end, and then offer something to make up for the extra hassle of the poster needing to either send it in or drive the long distance etc.

Thats my opinion anyway going by the posters obvious care for her jewellery and the odds that it did happen in her hands v. the high odds that a benchman did it with tools etc.

Thanks Sharon,

I think this is perhaps where their may be misunderstanding.

butterfly ... If I failed to communicate this in my emails or via our first phone conversation let me first apologize and also clarify.

I am confident that some of the scratches/marks were the cause of the setter removing your original diamond and resetting the cz. I don''t deny that and if I gave the impression otherwise please accept my apology. It was not my intent to make you feel that I was laying sole blame at your feet and that we were totally innocent.

As I examined the photographs you sent over, the abundance of scratches I see, based on my experience looking at prongs before and after generally do not show the amount of scratches I see when a stone is taken out and reset, even if the ring was not polished. Hence my comments about wear and was my honest assessment. I also apologize if this was communicated in a way that somehow offended you. That was sincerely not my intention.

I am, as I have tried to express in my email, taking full responsibility for any/all scratches regardless of who caused them and how they got there.

That is the bottom line and main point I was trying to express to you via email and expressed via our phone conversation when you first brought this to my attention.

I take full responsibility for the work that leaves our firm and if there is a problem I will do everything within my means to make it right.

Kindest regards,
Jonathan

 

[lesco]

Date: 10/28/2008 9:04:00 PM
Author: LostSapphire

It seems that every time I see one of these posts (and I am NOT taking sides here), the whole thing gets sorted out to the satisfaction of the poster. But in the meantime the negative thread subject sits there...

... and it is only fair LS. As I see it, the good, positive reviews get memorialized here as well. We need to balance the equation, don't you think?

To me, the best way to determine the quality of a vendor's customer service is to observe how well disputes are resolved. So, a "not so positive" post resolved to satisfaction can be quite beneficial, let alone positive, to a vendor.

Although I have not dealt with Rhino or GOG, I have a very positive impression of the company, based on past reviews. I am confident that this will be resolved to Butterfly's satisfaction.

ETA: I guess I was posting at the same time Rhino did---- I am glad to see your response.