Brilliant Earth — Local services in Austin

Read on to see how my boyfriend tried to order from Brilliant Earth 5 times before giving up due to poor customer service and payment system: Disclaimer This might be most relevant for those seeking to do a phone order/custom order and use a debit card as payment.

1. Customer Service: It seems they are outsourced and not all educated the same. The store rep didn't mention 14k yellow gold as an option, the 1st phone rep said it wasn't possible, and 2nd phone rep said it was definitely an option. Everyone had different answers to my questions and legitimately seemed not well trained for "custom" orders. I also received different answers on whether or not they could do a bank wire payment since the website mentioned it. I don't blame these employees, I blame upper level management for not educating everyone about their own policies.

2. "Custom" Orders: Currently, Brilliant Earth does not offer 14k yellow gold as one of their standard setting options. You have to call a customer service representative to place an order in this metal. I am uncertain as to why they chose not to make this a standard offering as most other competitors I checked with made it available. It is more durable so this would make sense for a ring. For whatever reason, a ring that is made in 14k yellow gold is treated as custom and therefore non-returnable, only exchangable. However, it seems most customer service reps could not tell me off the top of their head the price of difference of the 14k yellow gold, if it was possible to make, and if it affects shipping time. It is listed on the website so this is something employees should have been knowledgeable about.

3. Online Transaction System for debit cards: This was the source of all our problems. Essentially our first order never went through because Brilliant Earth never processed my boyfriends debit card transaction. We confirmed with his bank that it went through on their end. As you can imagine, I anxiously waited for the email saying my ring was in production but never got it. This led my boyfriend to trying multiple times at giving them his debit card information since they would say "well let's try this and see if it works". This ended up leaving him with a double charge on his bank account. So this meant that he was not only missing more money than what he owed, but also that the ring hadn't even been sent into production yet. The order simply did not go through on their end. Not impressive at all, they need serious engineering help or something. Note that yes it is more common to use credit card, but my boyfriend had a spending limit on his which is why he had to use debit card.

4. Responsiveness: After our in-store visit, I emailed Rachel at the Austin location multiple times with questions and I never got a response. We also had to keep calling customer service about his missing money over and over again. The people seemed clueless and didn't really care to transfer us to a supervisor so that we could get actual help. For reference, we started our Brilliant Earth process on March 5th and didn't get it resolved until March 24th. Also every time my boyfriend's order attempts wouldn't go through he never received any sort of notification email or phone call. He only found out about the order not going through after calling to check on the status. After all this madness and 5 attempts at ordering, they had the audacity to ask my boyfriend if he could try a wire transfer but he would have to go in person to the bank and hope for the best (this was before his money came back to his account). Obviously we were both beyond done with Brilliant Earth and so he told them forget it, we're done trying.

He ended up getting all his money back and we went straight to Jared instead. I believe that if you want to place a Brilliant Earth order online and don't do anything custom, this experience might be simple. However, if you are looking to do anything slightly custom or if you are paying with debit, be very cautious or just don't even bother shopping at...

My sales associate N’Dea met with me several times to find the perfect setting, stone, stone color, carrot size, etc. I am extremely grateful for all of her help! I am so in love with my rings! It is exactly what I had always dreamt of and more. N’Dea made the process super easy… she was very knowledgeable and helpful! She was a very bubbly happy woman, which made the process of buying a very expensive ring SO much better! However, I cannot say the same for the rest of the sales associates in this Domain store. Every time I came in for my appointments, the other sales associates were judgy, rude and seemed like they had better things to do than to talk to me. Very disrespectful and kind of annoyed with how they treat their clients. Especially for a jewelry store where women come in to buy their wedding rings & bands and are greeted with nothing, but snark and disrespect. Like come on… if you are trying to sell something, try a little bit harder. Even act like you care in the slightest for the time that you are there in store. When I went to pick up my wedding ring, the 2 ladys that verified that I was pleased with my order and wanted to take it home… were just glaring at me the entire time. They didn’t entertain conversation or seem happy IN THE SLIGHTEST. I was so excited to see my beautiful ring and they just kinda ruined the entire experience for me. Just super disappointed with the rest of the team at the domain location…. LOVE the brand and the quality, design and brilliance of my ring. LOVED my experience with N’Dea and will definitely be going to to ONLY her from now on. I would recommend the same to everyone else as well.

Edit: after having my ring for a total of 20 days… The main stone felt loose. I only wore it in the evenings. There wasn’t even a scratch on the ring or any signs of wear so it’s not from any activity with my hands. I took the stone to get checked at the domain brilliant earth, location… The girl poked it with her acrylic, fake nail and said that the stone wasn’t loose. She then asked for a second opinion with the warranty lady that happened to be in that day and the warranty lady took the ring and shook it next to her Ear. She came to the conclusion that the stone was in fact very loose. So they shipped my ring off to the manufacturer for three weeks to get repaired and cleaned. I spoke to the consultant at the manufacturer that was supposed to be repairing my ring to tell them that some of the prongs were loose in the main stone was rattling around inside of the setting. After they repaired it for three weeks, I finally got my ring back… Only for it to STILL be loose again. I am now extremely disappointed, as this ring has spent more time with the manufacturer getting repaired than it has on my hand. Now I’m haven’t to ship off the ring AGAIN… For it to get repaired. I cannot believe that this company‘s customer service is this bad and their quality control team cannot do their jobs. I will never buy another piece of jewelry from brilliant earth ever again. This should not be an issue that I am having within the first several weeks of owning the ring. Especially after I sent it off to get repaired and they ship it back in the same...

So let me be completely transparent about my initial experience with Brilliant Earth, only because I want everyone to know that this is a real review.

I went into their store in Austin to purchase an engagement ring that I knew my girlfriend would love. Walking in, I already had a good feeling. The staff was super nice and welcomed me. I was helped almost immediately. The lady that helped me (I wish I got her name so I can give her a shoutout) was extremely helpful and genuinely excited for my future proposal. Ordering the ring was very easy and a great experience.

Unfortunately, waiting for the ring was not as pleasant of an experience as it was ordering the ring. The delivery date for my ring was delayed several times, all the way up to the week before my planned to proposal date. Mind you, this was quite a bit of time after I placed the order (close to 2 months). That created so much unnecessary stress on me! I was extremely displeased with this, and much more so, disappointed because this ring was exactly what I wanted. The customer service I reached out to were nothing but helpful. However, that did not stop the delay, which was the biggest issue for me. I had no choice but to cancel my order.

After that, someone from upper management reach out to me to talk about my experience and find a way to resolve my issues. I expressed to her my concerns and disappointment. She was empathetic to my concerns and receptive to my criticisms. I felt like I was heard, which is all I can ask for as a customer.

So long story short, I ended up proposing using a ring from a different company which was second best to me. I showed my now fiance the initial ring I ordered for her and she agreed, as much as she loved the ring I used to propose, the ring from Brilliant Earth was much more beautiful. So I went back to the store, and just like how it was the first time, the person helping me was helpful and the experience was great!

The ring, this time around, was delivered close to the intended date (2 weeks after). My fiance and I went to pick up the ring at the store and both associates who helped me out the first and second time were both working! Both were excited for my fiance to have the ring of her dreams on her finger! Seeing my fiance excited for the ring and having the Brilliant Earth staff excited for us just gives me a warm feeling throughout.

Overall, I'd like to say the Brilliant Earth did a great job with the ring and showed me that they care for their customers. I would've chosen to give them 4/5 stars, but I feel like they've redeemed themselves and deserve the five stars. Well done, Brilliant Earth.

Here are some suggestions for your customers from an existing customer. Please create a better communication with your customers, especially in regards to the delivery date, tracking number, and even just expectations for when it will be delivered. That way the customers that have important dates (like proposals) will plan accordingly.

Thanks again Brilliant...