FLUX and STONE JEWELRY - Mayfair — Local services in Victoria

BUYER BEWARE! GET APPRAISAL!! BE SUSPICIOUS OF THE OWNER!

We purchased a $2500 engagement ring, supposedly a "sapphire". I noticed that the stone was CHIPPING AND SCRATCHING QUITE EASILY (like others have complained about) so I took it to Francis Jewlers' to be appraised (these guys are amazing, btw). And low and behold the stone is most likely some sort of synthetic material. The appraisers could not say what, exactly. But needless to say the jewellers were horrified. I talked to a few different jewellers about the situation and they were all aghast. The only person who didn't act like this was a big deal was the owner of Flux and Stone!! We approached her with the fake ring, and she just calmly asked if "we would like a replacement stone", I stated that we would like a refund. She states that she "does not do refunds". I became angry demanding a refund (I might point out that did not use any sort of aggressive language). She said that I shouldn't be angry and I shouldn't be rude, it's not her fault. At this point she is still smiling, she has not apologized, she is still acting like this is not a big deal. We went in circles many times where she continued to try to tell me it's not her fault, she's not a bad person, and I shouldn't be angry. I ultimately had to state that I will sue her for the refund, before she was willing to give one.

Edit: A response for the owner.

1. You state the price was for a tourmaline. Which is interesting, because you had sold my partner on the ring by saying that it was on discount! You said the ring was originally $3100 but you would sell for $2500. The receipt is clearly for a sapphire. And there's no diamonds in the ring... so I'm not sure how you think that price is fair for a supposed "tourmaline" (btw did you have the stone retested, because the appraisal I received was that it is "likely synthetic" )?
2. I understand your need to save face, however, in terms of Jewellers, you have no idea who I spoke to so I'm not sure how you cleared the air with them? But I can assure you that any true professional in their field would be appalled and deeply apologetic for making such an embarrassing mistake like the one you made. You were not apologetic nor embarrassed. So it leaves one to question your integrity, ethics, and professionalism.
3. You feeling "uncomfortable" is a result of your lack of accountability. Imagine how we felt when we thought we bought our forever ring, find out it's fake, and then are expected to just be fine about it? We trusted you to hold a high standard for yourself and your products. When it was evident that you did not care, I did not want anything more to do with Flux and Stone. Which, I'm sure feels...

My sister and I had gone to the mayfair mall location last week because she’s been eyeing up this ring for the last few months and finally decided she was going to buy it with her mayfair gift card she received over christmas. When we came into the store there was 3 girls working. We asked for some help with the rings to see if there was different sizes because the 7 was so big and the one girl who was mostly helping us informed us that there was only size 7, but that they could size it to a smaller size if needed. We decided to think about it but ended up coming back because my sister really wanted the ring. After coming back though we had gone to ask for help with the ring and to try on a different sizes and my sister was asking the other girl who was there for help and she proceeded to say “she has no idea what we’re taking about” because she was not helping us the first time round I guess? Anyways then the third girl who offered to help us actually size the ring was probably had the most knowledge although she didn’t seem keen to help us and my sister decided to get the ring sized to a 6. I also want to mention that during this process when she was trying on the rings I guess one of the girls working had misplaced the ring for which was all of 5 minutes but instead of trying to find it basically accused us of stealing it and said something along the lines of “I’m not mad I just wanna know where the ring is” which is a wild accusation. Anyways fast forward to today we went to go pick up the ring… (the girl who helped us today was a sweetheart) the ring ended up being to snug and we were not informed until today that they have half sizes… also when trying sizes last week they were sizing her with a band so it wasn’t even going to be accurate for how this ring she wanted was going to fit her. We were also informed that the ring may turn green so the girl put a polish on it that could help prevent that but… why would the ring be $150 plus $20 for a re size? seems kinda outrageous to me. The nice girl who was working today though said that my sister can bring it back although it may be hard to resize now since it need to be half a size bigger rather than smaller… overall other than that one sweet girl today (don’t know her name) terrible customer service on the other 3, not welcoming at all, and just plain rude. Do better with your hires… maybe the downtown location is better but overall disappointing as we have always loved flux and stone but probably won’t be supporting them in the future unless...

EDIT: After contacting the owner Mieke, she gave me a call and provided a gift card to replace the cost of both items. I went in and got a new ring and monogram necklace. I'm super happy that she followed up. I hope in future staff refer people to the owner for solutions. It's been almost a year since I originally got these pieces for Christmas. But overall, I am happy with the customer service! Thank you. 4.5/5

My partner bought two Christmas gifts for me here. One was an opal ring and one a necklace. The chain necklace snapped within a few months of having it. We finally got around to going to the store, where they only offered a 25% discount on a new chain. The chain snapped when I adjusted it after getting some hair caught in it. I wasn't rough with it and granted it was a delicate chain, but I am super disappointed that they only offered a discount. A chain shouldn't snap with moving the clasp around to the back of my neck.

We were also not provided care instructions for the opal ring. Apparently opals cannot go in water. This was not something we were made aware of. When we brought it in to be cleaned, they told my partner that we shouldn't have put it in water and now the opal is permanently yellow and tarnished. I am so disappointed that this important piece of information wasn't provided. If I had known, I would have never worn it in the shower. But it's a sterling silver ring, I assumed that and the opal would be okay in water. If something as simple as water can ruin a stone, customers need to be informed. My partner doesn't make much money, and knew I wanted an opal ring for Christmas. She saved up money, and now this opal is ruined because we weren't informed of one simple care item. Super...