Unfortunately, these are troubled times in which we live. In days
gone by, a man’s word was his bond, people got married forever, and
experts really knew what they were talking about. Today, …well,
forget about it. MONEY is what talks, never mind how you acquire it
as long as it’s quickly and there’s lots of it. When we read of
reliable firms being cited for fraudulent practices what are we, as
customers, supposed to think? If your customer knows you personally
and still wants to watch you setting that diamond, well…that’s a
little tacky. But if she doesn’t, you can’t blame her for being
wary, given all the sleaze in business today. I am reminded of a
jewelry dealer in Westbury, Long Island, who was arrested in 1993 for
replacing his customers’ valuable gems with flawed or fake ones when
doing repairs or resetting stones. The papers were full of stories of
irreplaceable heirlooms he had rendered valueless, and heartbroken
women whose diamond engagement rings turned into cubic zirconia
overnight. That had been a neighborhood place for years. Nobody ever
dreamed anything like that could happen. But it did, folks, it did!
He’s serving a nice prison sentence, but that isn’t helping the
customers retrieve their lost goods. People like that make it
tough for everybody who wants to make an honest living and I don’t
know what can be done to get the ‘caveat emptor’ (Let the buyer
beware) attitude out of the marketplace. Dee
Hello Sharon, Just let her watch. Don’t get involved in a discussion
with her about honesty. Just let her watch. Have fun Tom Arnold
Often times by submitting to a customers simple request , such as
watching you set their stone .You may end up with a very good
relationship with the customer… thereby increasing your potential
business with them. This also allows you the oportunity to educate
the customer and this will invariably result in far greater trust and
better potential sales as this customer will be singing high praise
about your knowledge ,skills and how well you treated them. This type
of publicity can only help.It certainly won’t cause you to loose the
customer. When Customers come to visit my shop , or talk to me on the
phone, I feel it is my responsibility to treat the custmer with the
utmost respect, no matter how large a customer or how small a
customer they might be.I have had customers watch me make a model or
mold…carve a custom wax…even cast their item and set their
diamonds…what harm was there in that? It has happened that a person
who gave me $20 worth of work in a year was also responsible for
sending me 3 new accounts that bought over $8500. collectively. where
would I benefit if I had sent them packing for a simple request 
Thats my $ on the subject.(treat people nicely and it will come back
to you 10 fold) Daniel Grandi http://www.racecarjewelry.com
Casting,finishing mold and model making for the trade.
What about the lazer printed certificate number on the edge of the
diamond? - Dana Carlson
Great…calgang…I had to sign a paper once that I had taken this
women’s pin to work on and she was a friend of long standing… never
again of long standing but anyway not to digress… I did sign it and
fixed her antique that was really falling apart…anyway I had her
resign that she had accepted it back etc… We still say hello but…
interesting topic and loved Rowe’s answer as usual…
Sharon, One way to discourage any one in your shop area is to tell
them “It’s not that I don’t trust you ,but I don’t want to find
somthing missing from my shop!” NO! I’m just kidding… I would tell
them that your insurance company prevents anyone in your work area,
for obvious reasons. You can also explain that 10 minutes with a loupe
examining most diamonds will be characteristics that one can identify
after resetting. OR, have her spend the money to have a gemprint made
etc. Thomas
Sharon - Why don’t you just tell her the truth. I had a
customer once who left me a large diamond to set in a new ring.
She asked me how she would know if she got the same diamond
back. I told her that I had to deal with my own paranoia and
couldn’t deal with her’s too. It seemed to lighten the moment
and the sale continued without a hitch. Steve.
Steven Brixner - Jewelry Designer - San Diego CA USA
mailto:@Steven_Brixner4
http://www.brixnerdesign.com
We always refuse to work for customers who won’t leave their stones
with us. We feel if they can’t trust us enough to leave the stone then
they won’t trust us on anything else either. Our standard response is
that while we would love to work for them, they need to find someone
they can truly trust.
Daniel R. Spirer, GG
Spirer Somes Jewelers
1794 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
@spirersomes
Hello Sharon, Yes, … I’ve been there too,but I tell my customers
how the whole proces is done.As soon as I’m done with the havy stuff
(using files,sanding,polishing etc)they can occationly whach me while
I’m working on it and that means in your case the very last part of
it.They can look over my shoulder while I’m presetting the stone and
I give them or her some comment on what I’m doing.For the finishing
of it, I tell them that I need to be concentrated in order to serve
them or her with a perfect finished setting.It’s all up to you,buth
presetting the stone and giving some info doesn’t take that much time
and the customer is happy.I understand perfectly what you mean,but my
experience with people is that not everybody have seen the work of a
jeweller due to the fact that a lot of jewelry is machinemade.I
thinking about having a small corner in my hobby shop with books
about jewelry,and foto’s about the entired proces of
casting and stonesetting and others.These days,people like to be
informed and making an exception ones in a while will not harm your
business.But again it’s all up to you and depends of the grade of
difficulty of your project.Making a business is one thing keeping a
business takes lots more.If she’s concerned about the stones,you
could consider making a small drawing (inclutions,details about the
cut,weight…)of her stones while she’s there and then show her later
which stone is placed where in her new ring.One fact is for sure,one
bad customer costs you 10 good customers if you know what I mean.In
matter of fact it’s just a question on howfar you can go with your
customer service.I hope that this info get you somewhere without
having troubles with your customers and sometimes you can do whatever
you want and they’re never pleased!Thats a part of the game,like it
or not. Pedro By the way,my wife and I are big fans from Australia.We
where there ones and Queensland is awsome.Spend some time in Rubyvale
(found 137 carats of saffire,have a part of theh cut extreem
beautifull).Love to talk about the country.As soon as the kids are
old enough … we hit the airplane and do it again.Opal is one of my
favorit stones.Bye now and succes.
Daniel, I basically agree with everything you say, except…the
trust thing, no matter how I try to tell myself I understand the
whole issue from a customers point, really gets my guts churning.
Making sure you treat your customers with respect and caring is very
important to me too. I worked for a guy who owned a high end store.
And whenever I could I made sure the customer knew what and why I was
doing something if they had a question. sometimes after the customer
would leave he’d chew my butt for giving to much But
those customers were the ones that not only came back but also sent
their friends and family. Also sometimes after I’d go into alittle
more detail about a repair or alternatives they would decide to go
ahead with a more expensive repair i.e.; finger fit, so it paid off.
Trust is something I’ve always worked on just so my customers will
come back. Lack of trust can be costly, but I’ve only had to turn
down a few people, and my guts told me it was the right thing to do.
Now that’s just me, I was always polite, and even though I did want
to punt their butts out the door I actually didn’t even tell them"
and don’t let the door hit you in the a$$ on the way out!
Keep it Shiny,
Matt the Catt…