(my original stone in my ring – 8 years ago)

If in case you’re not caught up to whats been going on with my Lord & Taylor drama, please read this first: The Time L&T ruined my engagement ring pt. 1 and the follow up: The Time L&T ruined my engagement ring pt. 2.

I had left off in my last post with having to still go into the store and pick out the stone from a selection the repair center owner was sending, as a way to make up for the fact that he screwed up my “original” stone (it is my belief he sent back a stone that wasn’t even mine and his company lost/stole/broke my original stone).

So, Saturday afternoon, Lobster, Behbeh and I went down to the Lord & Taylor store we’ve been dealing with during this entire mess, to pick up my  fake “original” stone and select a new stone for my ring (on the repair center/Lord & Taylor’s dime). The store manager and the department manager met us after a few minutes of us getting there and we got right to business.

The store manager immediately processed my refund for the $106 as promised (which I am still waiting to show up in my bank account) and the department manager laid out the selection of stones that the repair center had sent. Despite my asking for certification and proof of value of each of the stones, the repair center owner just sent an approx. value of “these are all between $200 – $400″. According to the store manager it would have taken too long to do that.

I wasn’t too impressed by this but Lobster and I picked out a stone that looked similar in cut and color to the one that I original had bought with my ring. We got a couple of pictures of it but for now here’s one:

There are no weird lines going down it this time, BUT as I mentioned, I have no idea what the value of the stone is. Upon selecting the stone, I asked the store manager to ensure that the ring and new stone come back with a certificate of value. She said that that could take a while – to which I said that was fine, but I wanted to know what it was that they were putting into my ring. She said she’d be in touch with me regarding that by Monday (today – still no call btw and its 3pm).

Then the department manager brought out the stone that the repair center returned saying that it was my original stone, or as I like to refer to it : My Fake Original Stone. I took the stone and reiterated to them both that this was not my stone because again, it was too dark, the wrong size/shape, the chip wasn’t even there and it was buffed down completely along the edges. THEN the department manager pointed out that oh hey there was a chip! Look:

Voila! Suddenly there was a chip on this stone when there wasn’t one the last time I was there. Oooookay. So I played along and said “well that is STILL not my stone because that chip is in the wrong place. I remember where my chip was.” DP says that the chip was near the prongs and it couldn’t have been on the prongs. I agreed. My original stone’s chip was chipped nowhere near the prong. Also, “My stone was chipped on the SIDE, and UNDER the stone, not towards the top and face of the stone.” The DP continued to say that the repair center owner said this was the only stone it could be and this was it.

Then I told her the other reason this wasn’t my stone was because it was buffed to hell and back along the edges and my stone was never like that. To that the DP then answered that must have happened during the cleaning of the stone:

 

Good to know that apparently if you ever give your stones/jewelry in to Lord & Taylor to clean, they buff down your stone SO much along the sides that you’d have done a better job handing it over to a 4 year old with sandpaper.

I told her that that made no sense and sounded like he was lying (the repair store owner) because I’ve had that ring and stone cleaned and its NEVER come back looking like that.

At that point the store manager exchanged looks with the department manager and the DP kind of backed off. I told them that at this point, “Lord & Taylor has left me no choice but to accept what he’s saying, because short of going to his store and raiding it to find my stone, I can’t do anything else and I would like to move on from this matter.”

The store manager, of course, happily agreed.

So… my ring is back in the hands of the repair center owner. We’re hoping the diamonds in it don’t get switched out for glass or something, and the stone I picked out is the one that I get back with the ring. PLUS before I left I reiterated to the store manager to ensure that the ring and stone came back with paperwork stating the value of the stone that I had selected. She said that she’d put in the request.

I’m back now to just sitting and waiting to see how long an issue this becomes for me now. She had said she would overnight the ring and stone out today to the center… with the weather issues lately, I’m willing to give it a few days before I hear from her.

Every time I walk into that store now, I just get this terrible taste in my mouth. Its never good when you start having a physical reaction to a place is it? I still can’t get over what a terrible knockoff they gave me thinking that I’d buy that it was my original stone. Its not even the same cut! Argh. Every time I see it, I just get livid all over again.

At this point the Fake stone is living upstairs in a bag in my jewelry box so I can get it looked at by a good reputable gemologist to see what it is that they gave me. Here’s hoping that its not just purple glass

Remember: Friends don’t let friends shop/repair/clean jewelry at Lord & Taylor…

…unless of course you like buff lines along the sides of your stones.