After my wedding rings were damaged following an accident, I spent several months scouring the web in search of ideas for a new setting. When I mentioned this at my salon, the owner and several of her employees recommended the Mt. Juliet (TN) location of American Jeweler Co. After hearing their positive feedback and seeing their beautiful rings, I decided to pay a visit. My salon friends had worked with Ryan, who wasn’t there at that time. We were waited on instead by a saleswoman with many, many years of experience. I didn’t see anything I was particularly fond of that day.\r
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When we returned several weeks later, I found a setting I loved that already had a center stone in place. We were told that the ring was custom made at their location and the center stone could be removed to accommodate mine. We were assisted by the same saleswoman as before, who offered to sell us the setting for a certain price. She had an associate look at the ring under a microscope and he said they may be able to go even lower than what she’d quoted me, but they’d need to run it by another associate who had gone home for the day. We were going out of town for the weekend and I needed time to research her quote, so we agreed to follow up after we returned from our trip.\r
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I brought a design idea with me when we returned to see what it would cost to have it custom made. We were assisted by the same saleswoman, who agreed to call me with quotes for the existing setting I liked and the design idea that we discussed. I’d found the design idea from a reputable online store, so I already knew what I could buy it for; I was using it as a “litmus test” to see what American Jeweler Co. would charge. As promised, I received a voicemail from the saleswoman one afternoon the following week. \r
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The price she quoted me for the existing setting was nearly twice as high as her original quote. When I mentioned this, she seemed flustered and said she’d misjudged the quality of the center stone. I reminded her that I’d planned to use my own stone – even so, the quote remained unchanged. The price she quoted for my design idea ring ended up being over four times as much as it would’ve cost to buy it online. (She had slightly increased the size of the side stones, so I expected it to be a little more - but never over four times as much!)\r
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When I got home from work that evening, I had a voicemail from the saleswoman. The quote for my design idea setting had been miraculously cut in half because she “discovered they had the diamonds in house and that makes all the difference”. The original setting I’d fallen in love with – the final quote for which had nearly doubled from the original – was never mentioned. To say I was extremely disappointed in my experience would be a gross understatement. My trust in my salesperson was completely blown, so I never went back nor do I plan to. Unfortunately, these kinds of experiences have a way of creating a lasting brand of distrust.\r
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