Kay Jewelers Sends Wedding Ring For Polishing - Ring Mysteriously Gets Hyjacked. Corona California

You boob what exactly is YOUR definition of ripped off..duh when something of your is stolen that's called ripped off..my advice get a Lawyer and sue for everything you can get including legal fees and pain and suffering caused by stress!!

Ringless,

I worked for Sterling Jewelers, the parent company of Shaw's, Kay's, Jarred, and many other brands for a few years in college. I was the Assistant Manager before I left for my 'grown up' job after I graduated.

What the manager told you about the plating on the white gold was probably true. The rhodium wears off frequently on white gold and does need to be replaced, you were probably lucky if the original coating lasted you a year. They would of needed to send it to their regional repair shop to replace the plating.

What they told you later was probably true, too. Unfortunately, when you left your ring with them, you didn't know that the Company routinely uses FedEX, DHL, crack-heads, the 16 year old part-timer they just hired, etc. to transport your jewelry from the store to the repair shop. The store I worked at had a UPS driver steal a box full of our repairs, the driver was prosecuted, fired, but the items were never recovered. There was no insurance claim made by the company because they don't insure their shipments - I don't think they even purchase insurance on boxes of inventory they send to the stores from the home office. It's far less expensive to bank on under informed consumers, such as yourself, who let the person behind the counter fill out that repair ticket for them, then signed it without reading it.

It sounds like the Manager told you that he had replacement ring because they had the SKU, were able to look it up, took one from the case, and called it even. If this was the case, be glad the woman who took the repair didn't do her job and get you to leave you grandmother's wedding ring for prong work, or your mother's Emerald earrings for new backings! Imagine loosing those!!

Did you accept the ring they offered?

I hope you raised hell before doing so! The District Manager is the person to call- He/she will do anything to shut you up, if you aren't happy with what he offers call him daily until you are! He/she can override any decision made by the customer service/home office people, too. It really is a good tip for all of retail. As soon as the 'manager' says no once, tell them you want the District Managers number. If they have any sense they will just do what you want without letting you call that high, if not the DM will cave pretty easy, they don't have time to deal with individual customers, but are required to resolve your complaint.

In future, I recommend using a store that you can actually see the repair shop in the back of. To my knowledge, all Jerrod (SP?) stores have this, and a lot of high volume Kay stores do, too. I am sure you can look up their main customer service number and ask, they will let you know which location has one. That way someone is just walking your ring across the store, not shipping it to Taiwan! You may even ask the Shop Manager or the Head Repair Man, or someone to come out and talk to you. It may make you feel better to see the person, and he may work a little harder for you after he remembers how nice you were to him.

Honestly, I have no sympathy for you. If you signed on the line where the amount was written and they agreed to replace the lost item at the same amount, why would they do any more than that? If that amount was enough to compensate you for the inflation of value due to the gold market, and your sentimental attachments to the piece when you left it, why would anyone think that they you owed you more than that after they lost it?

Good luck on making better decisions in the future! I would try and remember that the person behind that counter is making 10 bucks an hour, and will more than likely say anything to get you out of there with some commission in his pocket. It really is up to you to look out for you, thankfully most of us learn that in childhood.

Congrats on 10 years, that is something to be proud of in the world today!!
Nope81