Service with a Sneer (from the Main Blog) Question

[Outdoor Girl]

I attended a meeting in Beverly Hills last year.  I got there a day early and decided to window shop Rodeo Drive.  I wandered in and out of lots of famous, super-expensive stores.  I really expected to be ignored by the sales people, but almost without exception the very nice salespeople all asked me if I need help and showed me any merchanise I was interested in.  I was chatting with a sales person in the Chanel boutique who was showing me purses that cost upwards of $1,000.  She was really nice and the store was slow, but I told her that she really didn't have to bother, that she must be able to tell that I was probably not a Chanel customer.  She told me that you never know about anyone who walks into the boutique and that the person who comes in wearing the outfit from Macy's could actaully be quite wealthy and prepared to spend $$$$ in the store.

Maybe they've been watching 'Pretty Woman'.   

[gramma dishes]

...   She told me that you never know about anyone who walks into the boutique and that the person who comes in wearing the outfit from Macy's could actaully be quite wealthy and prepared to spend $$$$ in the store.

LOL!  I wonder how she'd feel about it if someone walked in wearing something from Walmart?

And no, I've never shopped Rodeo Drive, but I have shopped both Macy's and Walmart! 

[It's good to be Queen]

I felt a little guilty taking up anyone's time knowing I would probably not be buying anything - but it was a lot of fun and yes, I kept thinking about Pretty Womam (especially since way more of the girls walking down the street dressed like the "before" Vivian than the "after").

[Piratelvr1121]

Piratelvr, if you brought your claddagh ring into my store, the LAST thing you would have heard would be anyone denigrating it.  The claddagh is a lovely symbol and one to be proud of.  Don't let anybody tell ya otherwise. 

It is absolutely one of my favorite jewelry designs, ever.  Actually I wear two everyday.  This is my wedding ring: http://www.claddaghringking.com/images/RZ105.gif
And this is one I got from QVC, designed by Stephen Walsh's company, with a piece of Connemara marble in the center. http://www.kaboodle.com/hi/img/b/0/0/b9/f/AAAAC6pSKyQAAAAAALn_Ng.jpg?v=1268885209000

I first learned of what the ring stands for when one of my aunts got married, and even if I was 16, I knew that was the design I wanted when I got married.   And being 1/2 Irish myself, I'd much rather have that than a huge honkin' diamond ring.

""""And being 1/2 Irish myself, I'd much rather have that than a huge honkin' diamond ring."""""

Hey nothing wrong with "huge honkin' diamond ring.  Of course my mother gave me the diamond and I am at least the 3rd generation to wear it and it will go to my niece when I am gone. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking anyone who wants a diamond ring.    My mother had 3 pendants made for herself and her two sisters from her mother's wedding and engagement set.  I'm all into sentimentality.   That said, I've never inherited any heirloom pieces from any relatives, and if I had inherited a diamond ring I'd treasure it. 

But at the same time I didn't want to get a diamond just because that's what's expected when someone gets engaged or married. 

[Wulfie]

I remember reading a story about a woman who had been married for 50 years. For their first date, he took her to a sapphire mine that he had a partial ownership in and they dug for sapphires. She found a really pretty one and he promised to have it cut and set for her. The two of them hit is off, when he proposed, the stone in her ring was the sapphire that she had found.

She had a few old biddies comment to her about how horrible her husband was for not buying her a huge diamond, he could afford it. Her response was that the Hope Diamond was not big enough to show how much her husband loved her but the stone in her ring was.

[AngelicGamer]

I remember reading a story about a woman who had been married for 50 years. For their first date, he took her to a sapphire mine that he had a partial ownership in and they dug for sapphires. She found a really pretty one and he promised to have it cut and set for her. The two of them hit is off, when he proposed, the stone in her ring was the sapphire that she had found.

She had a few old biddies comment to her about how horrible her husband was for not buying her a huge diamond, he could afford it. Her response was that the Hope Diamond was not big enough to show how much her husband loved her but the stone in her ring was.

To the bolded - Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

(Why yes, I'm a hopeless romantic and I love that story.  )

[gramma dishes]

...   She had a few old biddies comment to her about how horrible her husband was for not buying her a huge diamond, he could afford it. ...

LOL!   I can imagine some 'old biddies' I've known who would have discussed this with horrified shrieks and noses probing the upper atmosphere:  "Can you IMAGINE?  Not only did he not buy her a mongo sized diamond, but he made her find and dig  her own sapphire!"   

[AmysAuntie]

Wow. I've never had jewelry appraised or anything, but if someone had told me that the diamond ring I have was worthless, etc., I would have read them the polite version of the riot act. That "worthless" ring was my grandmother's engagement ring, and it's one of the few things I have left of her.

Exactly.  The value of the ring I was speaking of is in its sentimental value.  It is NOT worthless--but when someone is asking for a dollar value on something that has little in the way of dollar value, tactfully guiding them back to the "it was your Grandmother's ring" is the kindest thing to do.

[magician5]

I read these posts and remember the scene in "A Little Night Music" when Madame Armfeldt momentarily questions her lifelong haughty pose (which has never brought her love:

"When I was your age, I wanted everything - the moon - jewels, yachts, villas on the Riviera. And I got 'em too, - all for the good they did me. There was a Croatian Count. He was my first lover. I can see his face now - such eyes, and a mustache like a brigand. He gave me a wooden ring. It had been in his family for centuries, it seemed, but I said to myself: a wooden ring? What sort of man would give you a wooden ring, so I tossed him out right there and then. And now - who knows? He might have been the love of my life."
 

[Isometric]

I have a couple of very close friends in the jewellery industry. They are the nicest, most welcoming salespeople you will meet. Until a customer dropping off a ring for repair sneers "are you going to swap my diamond?" Then they turn a little frosty.

There's no other industry I can think of where it's acceptable to ask someone if they're going to commit a crime. Can you imagine going into a bank to deposit some cash and saying "now, you're not going to pocket that for yourself are you?"

Personally, if they're just rude, (not over the top like in a lot of these posts!) I give three chances. There's a convenient place for me to get my bus tickets, but I no longer go there as the service is appalling - served by a different person each time.

[Shoo]

I have a couple of very close friends in the jewellery industry. They are the nicest, most welcoming salespeople you will meet. Until a customer dropping off a ring for repair sneers "are you going to swap my diamond?" Then they turn a little frosty.

It's a shame that jewelry store customers have to actually consider that this might happen.  It's been well documented. 

I don't know how a customer is supposed to deal with this.  It's scary dropping off one's jewelry at the jewelry store.  It just is.  I know it's rude to sneer, and to accuse someone of wrongdoing before the wrongdoing is actually done, but in this kind of situation, I truly don't know what the correct thing to IS.

The last time I had to have my ring sized, I mentioned to the clerk who took it that I had become very good at identifying my diamond.  I knew every inclusion, every spot.  I did this in a light hearted way, but I think (I hope) I got my point across.

[Isometric]

I don't know how a customer is supposed to deal with this.  It's scary dropping off one's jewelry at the jewelry store.  It just is.  I know it's rude to sneer, and to accuse someone of wrongdoing before the wrongdoing is actually done, but in this kind of situation, I truly don't know what the correct thing to IS.

As with anything, honey attracts more flies than vinegar. Asking nicely, in a non accusing manner goes a long way. A reputable jeweller will not risk their reputation, litigation and jail time for a $100, $10,000 or even $100,000 ring. They have to find a passable replacement stone, sell the original, and get away with it repeatedly to make it worth their while. One of my friends has been in the industry 30+ years and hasn't heard of a single case (in Australia) from an established, reputable jeweller. Nowdays many actually have a number or reference etched onto the diamond too.

In the news a while ago though, I did hear of a lady working in a clothing store who bought a 'diamond' (cz) off a door to door salesman... don't do that!!

Getting back to my original point though, nobody should have to put up with rudeness from either side of the counter!!

[CLE_Girl]

It just doesn't make sense to me.  Everyone knows, particularly in the jewelry industry, that a diamond's value is falsely inflated because of the control put on them by the privately held corporations that control most of them.  The mark-up is ridiculous and whoever started that whole "two months" rule should be flogged.

Actually that "rule" was started out of practicality in a time when processing paperwork was much slower.  The theory was it could take up to 2 months to process life insurance, pension or death benefit paperwork, so the Husband bought a ring worth 2 months of salary so his Wife would have money to live on while the paperwork processed should he meet an un-timely death

[Thipu1]

...   She had a few old biddies comment to her about how horrible her husband was for not buying her a huge diamond, he could afford it. ...

LOL!   I can imagine some 'old biddies' I've known who would have discussed this with horrified shrieks and noses probing the upper atmosphere:  "Can you IMAGINE?  Not only did he not buy her a mongo sized diamond, but he made her find and dig  her own sapphire!"   

I can also imagine the 'old schnulls' going the other way if the BTB received a great big hocking diamond.  'Can you IMAGINE?  He wasted all that money on a ring!  That money could have given them the down-payment on a house!'

[artk2002]

It just doesn't make sense to me.  Everyone knows, particularly in the jewelry industry, that a diamond's value is falsely inflated because of the control put on them by the privately held corporations that control most of them.  The mark-up is ridiculous and whoever started that whole "two months" rule should be flogged.

Actually that "rule" was started out of practicality in a time when processing paperwork was much slower.  The theory was it could take up to 2 months to process life insurance, pension or death benefit paperwork, so the Husband bought a ring worth 2 months of salary so his Wife would have money to live on while the paperwork processed should he meet an un-timely death

Do you have a source for that. It sounds to me like an ad hoc justification.