Burnie's Rock Shop — Attraction in Madison

Had a long wait to deal with a rude staff person who refused my custom jewelry repair due to the time of year. When I asked if she was kidding me she reluctantly reviewed my piece and made an estimate with a $100 range and emphasized that they would likely break the stone. We had some more back and forth before she said she needed to stop and help other customers. My 15-minute wait at her register behind 1 person did not hasten her actions, but apparently our 3-minute conversation was too much. I emailed the owner with a review of my experience noting that myself and the person I was with were local artisans who had a need for supplies like those Burnie's provided. The response was that the staff person should not have been rude, but that the they had more business that the needed at the time and that they instructed their staff to turn people away. The email was entitled and rude. I am happy I took my business elsewhere and challenge the competency of their staff. I was seeking gem polishing and was told at Burnie's that I would need gem cutting, while implicating that I didn't know what I was talking about. The jeweler I patronized after being turned away from Burnie's polished the gemstone for my Grandmother's ring without incident (it did not break) and earned themselves a $300 repair job. I am glad that Burnie's can afford to turn that business away because I had a great experience at Chalmers Jewelers. Didn't matter that I only had a $300 repair job - we were treated as important customers and the sales person even went out of her way to show us everything we admired in the display case. While I know that was a smart move on her part, due to the harsh experience at Burnie's we experienced 30 minute earlier, I am able to confirm that when I can afford that diamond bracelet or the beautiful gemstone jewelry, I will for sure buy it from Chalmers. In the mean time, they will be my first stop for jewelry repair. Their professional staff deserve...

About 3 years ago, I had Burnie's Rock shop craft me a ring that holds a very personal piece of ivory in it. The ring was just what I wanted and have gotten many compliments on it. In the past months I have noticed that the ivory has become loose and moves in the setting. I took the ring back in to have it fixed and the day I picked it up I noticed that the ivory was still loose. I questioned this and the female working there at the time stated that she could tell the bezel had been tightened and to not worry about the ivory being loose because she could not "hear" it moving. So I paid for the work and took my ring home, still being skeptical of the work having been done. Forward a month and I can now "hear" the ivory moving, so I took the ring back in. Anthony who "helped' me this time was not helpful at all. I stated that I wanted to talk with the metal smith so we, he and I, could discuss other options for making sure my irreplaceable ivory does not fall out. I was told the metal smith does not talk to customers, he only relays messages through the manager...WHAT? So I can not talk to the person working on my ring? I was also told that the metal smith was only in early Wed mornings and that he was hard to get in touch with but a request to have him call me was placed or that the store manager would call me. That was 4 days ago. Today is Wed so I called and was informed that the metal smith was not in at all today but no one bothered to call me and let me know the status of my ring or what was going to happen with it. I was told the metal smith would be in tomorrow or Friday so I informed them that if I do not get a call on Friday I will be picking up my ring and taking it to a jeweler that works with customers and will stand behind their work. If Burnie's Rock Shop actually works with me and stands behind THEIR work, I will change this review. But so far, I am very disappointed in their follow through on their OWN work and...

(This is actually written by my sister) "I brought my Mother's (who has passed) diamond ring to get re-sized. The first time I picked it up the "artist" made it a size 8 1/4 when I wanted it to be 8. It was too big and the manager didn't seem apologetic at all and said they would have the artist correct their mistake. So I had to wait another four weeks. When I get a phone call stating that it was ready again, I was very excited to get my ring! I tried it on and it fit! YAY! But when I got it home I noticed that it was misshaped. The "artist" who fixed it melted the setting and the ring is now noticeable deformed. When I picked up the ring, the worker did not tell me that when I signed my credit card slip that that was also confirmation that the ring was fine. Sure it was my bad to not fully inspect the ring, but I believe that the worker should have asked me to inspect it and also inform me that by signing the credit card slip that that was also confirmation that once signed it's out of their hands if anything was wrong with it. I also am frustrated that the "artist" didn't inform me that they had accidentally deformed my ring. They obviously had to have known. I feel like this was all very sneaky and not honest. The ironic part is, my Mother would take me to Burnie's Rock shop when I was little and I have always given them support and recommendations. I spoke with the manager and she informed me that I would not get any sort of refund because I had signed the credit card slip. I will never set foot in that store again and I don't recommend you do so either. The manager was extremely rude and unapologetic throughout this whole awful...