Jared, Galla-ripoff of Jewelry IV

I called Customer Relations & tell a very nice woman the whole story about my mail, credit report, etc. She is so horrified that she puts me on hold before I can even tell the whole story & puts her supervisor on the phone.

I begin again. The supervisor is so horrified that she also stops me & puts her supervisor on the phone. This time I get to tell the entire story & she is extremely apologetic, for both the mistake & for the behavior of the store manager.

They tell me that the account is being closed as we speak & I have until April 26 to return the rings for a complete refund. I tell her I am going there as soon as we hang up, so she says that she'll call the store immediately to authorize the return.

I race to the store as quickly as possibly in rush hour traffic on McNightmare Road. As soon as I'm waited on, I'm put on ice while the lovely Chantal is brought out. Of course, she insists that nobody called so she has to call Credit for a return authorization. She keeps me waiting for about 20 minutes, briefly popping over to ask if I have a cell phone. No.

I do have a cell phone, but I'll be damned if this horrific monster of a woman is going to have some phone bank weasel call me to say they won't accept the return. Eventually, she has to accept my return but as she processes it, she's banging the keys so hard I really thought she would break her computer.

As she works, she informs me that she herself was right all along & that the supervisor who authorized the return had no authority to do so. In fact, they had attempted to call me just moments after hanging up with me to say that I can't return the rings.

That's funny because my BF was home & the last thing I did before entering the store was call him to see if they tried to back out of the return. They did not call. We have caller ID & he had a phone next to him the entire time, so there's no mistake.

She goes on to inform me that the woman who authorized the return is going to be in a lot of trouble for doing so & will likely be disciplined. I merely stated that it's a sin if the only honest employee in the organization were to be faulted for acting upon their claim of customer service being the company's #1 priority.

I added that I just want to be rid of the account & the rings -- we didn't return the gifts we had purchased, so they still got some of my money. I wasn't being unreasonable. I bit my tongue so as to stop myself from telling her that I bought a fantastic ring with multiple sapphires & 50%more diamonds at a competitor for only $50 more than the plain, unimaginative band I was returning.

And I certainly didn't rub her face in the fact that my fiancee got the exact same band elsewhere for nearly $200 less than Jared's price. All in all, I believe I handled myself with great aplomb, considering that their incompetence could have serious repurcussions for years.

Now off I go to find yet another way to monitor my credit & protect myself, thanks to Jared the Crapperia of Jewelers.

Jared, Galla-ripoff of Jewelry III

I go to the store & patiently explain the problem to the store manager (Chantal), hoping that she will be able to help. She is not sympathetic in the least. There are rules & she can't help me. So I tell her that I want to return the rings, because I simply want to spend my money elsewhere. I'm bluffing but it works. Aha! "Return" must really hit a nerve.

Instantly, she has transformed from a sour, scowling shrew of a woman into a friendly, smiling person whose only mission in life is to satisfy this customer. The change is stunning. She's suddenly very helpful, offering to call Credit & have them change the account.

She picks up the phone & makes the call, but while she's on hold, she reads the receipt for about the 10th time & suddenly realizes the purchase was made more than 30 days ago. All traces of helpfulness disappear in an instant. She tells me that I "just missed" the 30 day return period, so the rings are mine. Then she has the nerve to tell me this is MY fault because my address is correct in the computer, so only I could have changed the address with the credit department.

She tells me they will "note" my account in the system until the payment is processed & the account is closed. If someone tries to use my account, it will be flagged & they won't be able to do so. By now, I have ZERO confidence in the entire company so this is not good enough. I want the account changed. She again reminds me that there is a corporate policy & there's nothing I can do. I have no other options.

None? I ask. No other options at all? At this point, the last thing I want here is a wedding band. There is no way I want him slipping this on my finger on our big day. I'm completely disgusted by the fact that she was willing to make me happy so that I wouldn't return the rings but now that I "can't" make a return, the company refuses correct their errors or do anything to protect me. How's that for customer service?

She tells me the rings are mine & I have to pay for them. Then she brightens & suggests there is one other option.

Thinking that she might actually be human, I ask what that would be. Her response? "Well, I get the feeling that you just can't afford these & regret the purchase. If you don't pay for them, eventually we'd repossess them, although that would ruin your credit. That's the only way you'll get us to take them back. Otherwise, you have to keep them."

WHAT?!?! Excuse me, but we wanted these bands & accepted the price. The cost is not at all the issue here. And this amount of money will not ruin my good credit. Most importantly, she just threw down the gauntlet by speaking in absolutes. Nobody is going to tell me what I "have to" do.

I just walked out at that point. I don't know what we're going to do with these rings but Jared is going to take them back if I have to drive to their corporate offices in Akron & hand deliver them. They will never see a dime of my hard-earned money. I will happily pay this sum in multiple to an attorney to ensure that these scumbags never see a single red cent of our money.