Christmas 2000, my husband bought me a heart-shaped diamond necklace from Zales Jewelry located at the Southern Hills Mall in Sioux City, Iowa at a cost of $212.96. Just before Christmas 2001, I noticed that two of the diamonds were missing, so I took it back to the mall store to be repaired. That was the last time I saw it!!

I took two pieces in to be repaired, later that week, I received a call that one piece could not be repaired. My boss was going at lunch time to pick up a ring from there, so I called the store and asked if I sent my repair ticket, could she pick up the first piece and they said that that would be fine. The repair ticket was for a diamond and pearl pendant – well, imagine my surprise when she came back with “A" diamond heart pendant. Immediately upon examining the necklace, I knew it was not mine and all of my co-workers (4) also agreed that it was not the right necklace.

That evening I went to the store to retrieve the piece that my boss was supposed to have picked up originally and then told the store that they had given me the wrong necklace. Immediately, the assistant manager, Brenda, offered me a brand new necklace right out of the case. I told her that I didn't want a brand new one, I wanted the one that I had brought in for repair. She asked me why I thought that this was not my necklace. I went through a whole description of my necklace and told her that I had worn that piece every day for 365 days, so I would know what mine looked like. She said that she would have to call the jeweler in the morning to see what she could figure out and would get back to me. I took the wrong piece home with me that night. A few days later she called me and said that the jeweler needed to see the necklace that I had.

That evening I took the piece back and the manager was there. He proceeded to tell me that the piece that I was given matched the SKU number that was sold to me. I told him that I didn't care what the SKU number was, that this was not my necklace and I wanted mine back. Again, I had to go through the whole explanation of why I thought that was not my necklace. He assured me that when the jeweler saw it, that he would know exactly where mine was and it would be taken care of. Well, a few nights later I went back to get my necklace and the manager dumped the piece out of the bag. The chain had been removed and was in one huge knot. He said to give him a minute and he would untangle it. I told him not to bother that it was not my necklace and again he told me that the piece matched the SKU of the piece that I was sold. I reminded him that he had told me that the jeweler would know exactly what had happened to my necklace and I wanted to know where it was and wanted it back. At that point, he turned his back on me and started messing with something on the counter. I asked him what he was going to do about it and he asked me again why I thought that was not my necklace and I went through the whole explanation/description again for the third time. Well, I finally, asked for my money back, because I could see that the conversation was going nowhere.

A few days later, I went to Zales web site to register a complaint with the company. I sent an e-mail with basically the same information I have just stated above. I got an answer back right away from Kevin O'Toole, Director of Customer Service asking for one full business day to research my compliant – well, that was twelve working days ago and I still have not received a response from him. I have sent two other e-mails in the mean time as replies to his message and still no response, so today I decided to try sending one through the web site again. I got the same generic response that I got back on January 21st. Please give him one full working day…….etc.

Also, while on the web site I went out to look at their diamond heart pendants. The pendant that they were trying to give me in the store to replace mine was worth $99. The pendant that is closest to mine is $299, which my husband says is what the clerk told him it was when he bought it but was on sale for Christmas for $199. The next one is worth $499.

I know I will never see “MY" necklace again, and even though I have received the money back, I feel that I deserve some compensation from Zales for their irresponsibility and lack of caring, namely another heart-shaped diamond necklace worth $299- $499 at no cost to me. This was my Christmas gift from my husband and now it's gone!! After telling my story to others, I have heard more horror stories about Zales. Someone, somewhere along the lines needs to hold them accountable for their less than professional practices!!!!!!!!!

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