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
