09-er Crashing with Wedding Band Advice
Hey girls,
I know most of you probably have not bought your wedding bands yet, so I really feel compelled to crash to tell you of my experience, and hope that I can help you not to make the same mistake.
We purchased my wedding band from Busy Bee Jewelery in Massapequa a couple of weeks ago. We bought it based solely on the low price that they offered. We thought we were buying a Benchmark model 513522, because that is the one we picked out in the catalog. We were told it would be ordered in my specific size, a 4.75, and would be ready in 2 weeks.
We went to pick it up yesterday, and it was not my size, it was a size 6. We were told that they are not able to order special sizes from Benchmark, and they must do the sizing there. We thought that was odd, because FH's ring is also a Benchmark, and was ordered special size for him at a different store, plus originally we were told my size would be ordered. So they said they would size it for us, and we could get it in a half hour. In the meantime, we went to pick up FH's ring from Good Old Gold (and in the process met your very own MrsSoto, hi!!!). He had no issue whatsoever, was given the proper warranty, documentation, etc. We noticed his ring had the Benchmark 14k engraving in it, which indicated it's legitimacy.
When we returned to pick up my ring, we looked inside and it did not have this engraving...we saw faint remnants of something, since it had been sized, and a 14K stamp that was way too deep and not in the right location (on the left, not right, so couldn't have been after the word 'Benchmark'). It did fit me, so we settled the transaction. We asked for the same documentation that we knew we were supposed to get, and they did not want to give it to us. They claimed that because the salesperson that originally helped us was not there, that they did not know what model I had ordered and could not give us paperwork. There was no written documentation, that means, of what we had ordered, or thought we did. I said I could point it out in the catalog, because I knew what was supposedly ordered for us, and they then gave us the appropriate paperwork.
After looking at it closer in the car, we noticed that it was all scuffed and dinged, so we went back inside to have it polished. They did so, and the scuff we originally saw was gone. Back in the car, we noticed that in polishing it, they had created yet another ding. Not wanting to go back in for a third time at this point, we left.
We immediately went home to research the ring. They had given us the wrong item number on the paperwork, a higher carat size, but we were able to find the correct ring. It is clearly not the same ring that we were given. The ring we were supposed to get, and thought we had ordered, was 12 stones in a channel, which was rounded at the edge of the channel, contoured to the shape of the end stone. The ring we have in our possession has 13 stones, and the channel is completely straight at the ends. This is a stock ring, and therefore should have no deviations from the specs that are on the official listing, so this is not a case where it's more stones that are smaller but still equal the correct total carat weight. We also realized that the faint remnants of engraving were the letters 'SAR', which, last time I checked, is not included in the words 'Benchmark 14K'. We believe that this means that we were given someone else's ring by mistake which had engraving of names or initials in it, or we were resold someone else's ring that was returned or sold for scrap gold.
We are going to call with this information later to try to rectify the situation. Everything I am saying here is fact, and there should be no issue with me saying so. I just want to help future brides from having to go through this same ordeal. If you are still in the market for wedding bands, I would highly suggest spending just a little more money in the grand scheme of things and go to Good Old Gold, and to not consider Busy Bee Jewelry, no matter how enticing the low price might be.
I know most of you probably have not bought your wedding bands yet, so I really feel compelled to crash to tell you of my experience, and hope that I can help you not to make the same mistake.
We purchased my wedding band from Busy Bee Jewelery in Massapequa a couple of weeks ago. We bought it based solely on the low price that they offered. We thought we were buying a Benchmark model 513522, because that is the one we picked out in the catalog. We were told it would be ordered in my specific size, a 4.75, and would be ready in 2 weeks.
We went to pick it up yesterday, and it was not my size, it was a size 6. We were told that they are not able to order special sizes from Benchmark, and they must do the sizing there. We thought that was odd, because FH's ring is also a Benchmark, and was ordered special size for him at a different store, plus originally we were told my size would be ordered. So they said they would size it for us, and we could get it in a half hour. In the meantime, we went to pick up FH's ring from Good Old Gold (and in the process met your very own MrsSoto, hi!!!). He had no issue whatsoever, was given the proper warranty, documentation, etc. We noticed his ring had the Benchmark 14k engraving in it, which indicated it's legitimacy.
When we returned to pick up my ring, we looked inside and it did not have this engraving...we saw faint remnants of something, since it had been sized, and a 14K stamp that was way too deep and not in the right location (on the left, not right, so couldn't have been after the word 'Benchmark'). It did fit me, so we settled the transaction. We asked for the same documentation that we knew we were supposed to get, and they did not want to give it to us. They claimed that because the salesperson that originally helped us was not there, that they did not know what model I had ordered and could not give us paperwork. There was no written documentation, that means, of what we had ordered, or thought we did. I said I could point it out in the catalog, because I knew what was supposedly ordered for us, and they then gave us the appropriate paperwork.
After looking at it closer in the car, we noticed that it was all scuffed and dinged, so we went back inside to have it polished. They did so, and the scuff we originally saw was gone. Back in the car, we noticed that in polishing it, they had created yet another ding. Not wanting to go back in for a third time at this point, we left.
We immediately went home to research the ring. They had given us the wrong item number on the paperwork, a higher carat size, but we were able to find the correct ring. It is clearly not the same ring that we were given. The ring we were supposed to get, and thought we had ordered, was 12 stones in a channel, which was rounded at the edge of the channel, contoured to the shape of the end stone. The ring we have in our possession has 13 stones, and the channel is completely straight at the ends. This is a stock ring, and therefore should have no deviations from the specs that are on the official listing, so this is not a case where it's more stones that are smaller but still equal the correct total carat weight. We also realized that the faint remnants of engraving were the letters 'SAR', which, last time I checked, is not included in the words 'Benchmark 14K'. We believe that this means that we were given someone else's ring by mistake which had engraving of names or initials in it, or we were resold someone else's ring that was returned or sold for scrap gold.
We are going to call with this information later to try to rectify the situation. Everything I am saying here is fact, and there should be no issue with me saying so. I just want to help future brides from having to go through this same ordeal. If you are still in the market for wedding bands, I would highly suggest spending just a little more money in the grand scheme of things and go to Good Old Gold, and to not consider Busy Bee Jewelry, no matter how enticing the low price might be.
