Wedding ring nightmare - Tiffany & Co
I want to share our nightmare in buying our wedding rings from Tiffany &
Co in Hong Kong.
i want to share our nightmare in buying our wedding rings from Tiffany &
Co in Hong Kong. I had thought that shopping for wedding rings would be
easy, but now it has become the most difficult anhd frustrating part of
the entire wedding organisation.
Our wedding is in mid July, and we first went looking for our rings at the
end of March. We went into several local shops but were met by very
disinterested sales people which made us very upset. I guess they don't
make much money from simple wedding bands, and are more interested if we
ask for a 2 carat diamond ring. We decided to go to Tiffany & Co, it being
an American shop, we expected we would be provided with good service and
knowledge on wedding rings. We found a ring which we liked very much and
proceeded to inquire with the sales person. We told her our wedding was in
July and we needed the rings in 3 months time, but she then told us that
it would take 4 months to get our rings as they have to order from the US.
I couldn't believe it, but then she said if they had stock, it wouldn't
take as long. Fine, I felt better. Then we tried to settle our ring sizes
(on our own, with not much help from her, except rather rude and
unconvincing comments to the sound of, "I am right you are wrong, you
should be a size 11") and decided to order our rings, saying that we
needed it in 3 months. She then gave me a form to fill in and asked us for
a 20% deposit on the rings, *and* on top of that, she couldn't guarantee
we'd get them before my wedding!! OK, 20% deposit is about $500 on both
rings and she said it's not refundable unless we don't get our rings in 4
months time! We both walked out of the shop angry and upset that we had to
subject ourselves to this sort of treatment. I mean, choosing wedding
rings is very important for us, as you only do it once in a lifetime and
you wear this ring the rest of your life. So the next day I wrote to the
head office in Hong Kong to complain and the Merchandise Coordinator
phoned me to apologise and said she would try to find the rings for us.
A week later she called me and told me that she had managed to find one in
my size and asked me to go to the shop and try it. I went to the shop, but
couldn't believe it when the ring she showed me was the WRONG one. Maybe
it was lack of communication, but I don't work in Tiffany & Co so how do
you expect me to know all the names and serial numbers of their rings?
They should have confirmed with me the exact style and I did try my best
to describe to her the rings we wanted. So she told me they would try to
locate the ones I did want.
A few weeks later, feeling a little worried by now, I called the
Merchandiser and asked about the rings. She told me that she found a Size
11 in Frankfurt and didn't have a size 5.5 in stock anywhere in the world
so it has to be special made. Once again, I don't work in the jewellery
industry, so I guess she knew what she was doing.
Today I went to the shop to check out the size 11 which was sent from
Frankfurt. Thinking that my nightmare was over, I asked to see the ring.
It looked OK, but then I asked to see the one in size 5 which they had in
stock, and believe it or not, THEY WERE DIFFERENT!!! If you look at it
simply, they look the same, but if you look at it for a few more minutes
you realise that they are made in completely different factories. The size
5 is alot thicker and is composed of an inner ring about 1mm thick where
the millgrain is and then an outer one where the dome part is. The size 11
on the other hand, has an inner ring which is so thin you cannot see it,
and on top of that, the millgrain is alot thinner! OK, I point this out to
the girl in the shop and she said, but they are the same!! Well by then I
was fed up with this shop and I told her that you weren't the one getting
married, so it might not matter to you if the two rings are different but
it matters to me.
I don't know if I am fussy or what, but I don't want a ring which is going
to be different from my husbands. From what I hear, wedding rings are
meant to be identical and should be made together by one craftsman.
Correct me if I am wrong? I also want to ask everyone, if they would feel
the same way as me if all this happened to you?
I don't know what will happen next, and I am just hoping that they won't
mess it up again and surprise me with something else. I've already told
them that I want the two rings identical. They will now order the two
rings together - you'd think they knew this 1 month ago. So I am hoping
that I will get these two rings in time and that they will be OK, as I
only have 2 more months. I don't know what I will do if I get the rings
and they are not what I want and I don't have any more time.
By the way I'm not trusting them to do the engraving - I don't know what I
will end up with !