Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Why I will NEVER shop at Shane Co ever again


Shane Co. NO, I don’t have a friend in the Diamond business!

I wanted to share my story with everyone because I think the way Shane Co. handle my situation was the most disappointing experience I have ever had with any retailer.

My husband bought me my first and only pair of Diamond earrings about 10 years about for Christmas. A few years later, I decided to get an upgrade. Shane Co. told me they have a different way of grading diamonds so I wasn’t able to get anything comparable to what I had. Basically I took this as the quality of their diamonds decreased from the time we had purchased mine. That news was quite disappointing but I really wanted to utilize their upgrade policy which allows you to upgrade your current earrings applying the price of the earrings to a new pair. So I ended up paying about $500 to get a pair that was slightly larger but lower quality. Was it worth it? Probably not-but they were larger and I figure nobody would notice anyway.

Two years ago, I lost one of the backings and decided to ship my earrings to their repair center since I live in Hawaii which does not have a Shane CO. They supposedly offer a lifetime “free” service so I wanted to take advantage of it. That was one of the things I liked when I decided to buy from Shane Co. instead of Jared’s. It “seemed” like a better deal. Boy was I WRONG.

 On September 17, 2016, I shipped my $1435 1.01 Caret Diamond Solitaire to Shane Co. for inspection and repair. I wrapped my earrings up in a bag wrapped with computer paper and threw them in an envelope thinking nothing of it. My experience at the local post office is another story for another day but let’s just say I left the post office feeling uneasy.

About a week later, I was at work in a room pumping milk for my newborn baby girl. My phone rang with a strange area code so I picked up.  It was a Shane Co. assistant store manager. Let’s call her Ang W. She stated they received my package “empty”.  This was the beginning of the disappointment.

I consider myself a very strong independent person. When I received this news, I cried. I NEVER cry. Ang W. seemed apologetic and professional and told me they would ship the envelope back to be for investigation.  I followed the instructions on their website which states to insure it and completed the repair form. I advised Ang W. that I only insured the package for $500-I was being cheap and wanted to save money on shipping. She stated she would work with me and that Shane Co. would cover the difference after the insurance. I was reassured and wanted to quickly start the claim process. Did Shane Co. hold up their end of the bargain? NOPE. Keep reading to see why.

A couple days later when I received the package back, I immediately thought of my experience at the Post Office and began to blame them for losing my earrings. But I thought, it’s okay, I insured them so I could get my money back. WRONG. I filed a police report. I filed a lost item claim to see if maybe the earrings got “lost” in the machines. I filed formal complaints with the USPS office of Inspector General (OIG) blaming the post office worker. I filed an insurance claim which after three appeals, was denied. The post office stated I did not package the earrings properly. Are you kidding me? I PAID for insurance, the post office clerk accepted the package and NOW when it’s time to pay out, you blame me and deny the claim. WHAT? I was SHOCKED to say the least.

During this entire year long process, I kept Ang W. updated with the status of my claim. She knew I was doing all I could to get to the bottom of my “lost” earrings. She responded in a prompt manner and I thought nothing of it.

When my fight with the US Post office was finally over, I notified Ang. W the post office would not be able to cover anything. NO Reponse from Shane Co. I thought, oh maybe she’s busy. So a week later, I sent a follow-up. No Response. I thought, oh maybe she’s not getting my emails so I called her phone. She didn’t pick up, of course, so I left a message. No Response. I called again. No Response. Then I gave up and called customer service who advised me she was in the office but on “another call”. SURE

By now I knew she was avoiding my calls so I gave up….for now. I would send occasional emails to follow-up again and again for almost a year. No response.

FINALLY last month, January 2018,  I received an email from Ang. W. who simply states they cannot do anything to replace the lost earrings and offered me $100 merchandise discount. WOW, I was not only disgusted by the news, I was offended. Really Shane Co.? $100 discount? That’s pathetic.

What was Shane Co. doing? If they had no intension on replacing the earrings, why did they lead me on for over a year? Why didn’t I get a quick “no” sooner so that I could figure out my next step? I had so many questions at this point. Now it seems like Shane Co. was just trying to protect themselves. At this point, can I even proceed with any kind of lawsuit? Who knows? I am not a lawyer. What I do know is Ang W. waited until the tracking information was no longer available. What that her intension?

I responded politely to her email stating I would go to the local media for help and would be declining the $100 merchandise discount. I asked her for the video footage of when they open the packages containing the earrings. She stated back in 2016 that there was no way a Shane Co. employee could have stolen my earrings because they are videotaped opening the packages that come in for repair.

This would have been my ONLY piece of mind but she refused to send me the footage. I should have known Ang. W. was only out to protect the company and not my best interest. I wish I had common sense to see past her generic professional responses to me. Lessoned learned.

I will never buy or recommend Shane Co. to my friends and family ever again. It’s quite unfortunate it took me a decade to realize this. It’s not like I can afford another pair anyway. Ten years later, I’ve got a huge mortgage and school tuition for 3 kids. That’s the priority and that’s all that matters.

Thank you Shane Co. for my lifetime of disappointment and a memorable experience. I learned a lot and will continue to share my story in person and in social media.    

Thanks for reading and God Bless.

XOXO,

Liz