Long's Jewelers — Local services in Burlington

Update: when I went to pick up my ring, Karen gave me a good apology. The store manager also apologized and said she would ensure that this sort of communication issue doesn't happen again. I am very happy with the ring itself, and the engagement ring as well. Overall, the store is nice and clean, the staff are usually very respectful and very willing to tweak things or do custom work, and the rings themselves are excellent. The only problem I had was with the lack of communication.

Original review: Tl;dr: they say they'll call and they don't. They say the ring will be ready and it isn't. If you want something done right and on time you should expect to have to call them several times a day.

I bought both an engagement ring and a wedding band from longs. The engagement ring was a custom job, and Dee helped me through the design process. We went back and forth with emails and pictures and eventually settled on something and then they cast the ring. Dee often didn't respond to emails and needed text prompts to get a response, which usually came a few days after I expected it. I went in to pick it up on the day it was supposed to be ready, and they looked for it and found it not finished. Not having a ring can really throw off a proposal, but I had some extra time, so it wasn't an immediate problem. They said they would call when the ring was ready. A week went by, I got no call. I called them, and it turns out it was ready, they just hadn't bothered to call. Fast forward to my wedding band. I came in and was helped by Karen this time. I picked a band that they needed to order and then finish in house, and I would come pick it up in a few months. I came to pick it up, and it didn't have the finish. I told them it had the wrong finish and they were confused. I explained they were doing a special finish like another ring, and they eventually realized the "cryptic runes" on the back of the paper were a reference to the ring that had the finish. They assured me they would finish it and I could pick it up 2 days later. If for some reason it wasn't ready, they'd call. They didn't call, I showed up to pick it up, it wasn't ready. They assured me it would be done in another 2 days ("1000% done") . This time though, they would call me to tell me that it was ready. If I didn't get a call, I shouldn't come get it because it wasn't ready. A week later I hadn't gotten a call. I called and complained, they had Karen call me back. Instead of apologizing, she lectures me on how rude I am and how I shouldnt expect them to call me. She doesn't remember if she was supposed to call me or someone else was or what.

So go to longs if you're looking for a sales pitch from someone who will make it exceedingly difficult for you to actually get what you actually paid for....

Yesterday I took my new engagement ring to Long's to have it resized. My experience at this point was great, they did the resize quickly (same day) and the metal band looked seamless and showed no signs of repair. The staff were so kind and congratulated me and my fiancé on our engagement, and the diamond was shined and polished beautifully. They even gave me a small container of their jewelry cleaner, free of charge. HOWEVER, when I returned home I noticed that the prongs were not making any contact with the center stone. I could completely SPIN the diamond within the setting, and if I shook the ring I could hear it jingling. The diamond was about as loose as it could be without falling on the floor. Thankfully I noticed this before I lost the stone, and took it back to Long's the next day. The saleswoman took a quick glance at my ring as I explained what happened, and had the audacity to tell me the reason the stone was loose is that the setting is too large for the diamond.. What?? This is a setting and stone combination they carry in their store, identical to my ring. She went on to tell me that the loosening was inevitable, and had probably occurred from general 'wear'. Once I explained that that wasn't possible, that this was a brand new ring I've had less than a week (how much 'wear' can happen in a week?), she quickly changed to asking me about the wedding and my fiancé, anything she could to change the subject. She never apologized or admitted that this was a result of poor work, and I was never offered a refund for the resizing. The ring was quickly fixed and I was shown the door. I was there less than 10 minutes. I felt rushed and did not trust the quality of the repair, so I took my ring to another jeweler, LLG Jewelers in Burlington. The jeweler showed me with tweezers that the center diamond was STILL loose - he even gave me the tweezers to try myself. I had noticed that the prongs did not seem straight and he confirmed this, and made the repairs in front of me. I was VERY disappointed with how poorly Long's handled this mistake that they made. Worrying about your diamond falling out is not something a newly engaged woman wants to think about! Ring resizing seems like a very routine thing for a jeweler to do, and to have this big of an issue is ridiculous. For any further maintenance I will be returning to LLG, and I would highly recommend others to...

Karen S. and Dave are absolutely amazing associates and above all, kind and thoughtful people. I've had a lot of terrible experiences at many jewelry stores where associates have ignored me, scoffed at my questions or worst off, tried to push product that I didn't even want. It's really made jewelry shopping a very frustrating and exclusive experience; however, Karen and Dave really made me feel so comfortable, open to asking any questions and made sure that I was happy and confident with my purchase without pressuring me at all.

Karen from the start was so helpful. Her style, intuition and knowledge about jewelry really makes you feel like you have a personal stylist helping you pick out something beautiful, valuable and desirable. What I appreciated the most about Karen was that she was honest and provided strong opinions and feedback; as I picked my selections she would tell me what she liked or didn't like and any risks, such as if a certain piece might not be strong enough for everyday wear because of the way it was built. I never felt pressured to buy anything. In fact, I didn't buy anything after my first visit and despite that Karen was still extremely responsive and attentive to me as if I had been a valued client for years. I ended up purchasing a custom piece that Karen helped me design and it was amazing how much passion, care and commitment she offered during the entire process.

During my time with Karen, I was lucky to meet Dave who is an expert at watches. From the start, Dave was so kind and welcoming, which was extremely refreshing from many of the cold, dismissive associates I've worked with in the city. Dave answered all my questions, let me try on numerous watches and always made sure that I knew that he was there to help me. I purchased a watch with the help of Karen and Dave and I couldn't be happier.

Big thanks to Karen and Dave for making this a wonderful experience. When you are spending a lot of money, you don't want to feel like you're being bullied or that you have to prove yourself to the associates. Karen especially just makes you feel like you're talking to trusted friend who doesn't have anything to gain or lose if you purchase or not.

I will undoubtedly be back and will be telling...