Cartier — Local services in Costa Mesa

Avoid this store. You’ll get better customer service at the DMV. It's no surprise they have 30 one-star reviews complaining about the terrible service, bad attitude, and lack of respect toward customers.

My fiancée and I visited this store together to look for a wedding ring that she saw online. We met Robby and got some ideas for rings, but nothing was a match. That night, my fiancée searched again and found another one she liked. I messaged Robby to ask about it. He told us that he would need to take a deposit to have it sent from another store. I said great, please let's do it.

Then Robby disappeared. Six days passed before we heard from him. Around day 3, I called the store to see if somebody else could take our deposit. A woman told me that a sales associate would call me back the next day. But the next day, nobody called. I swallowed my pride and called them right before closing. This time, the person promised me that a sales associate would contact me the next day.

Kaylin contacted me. She messaged me and asked when she could call me. I said 5 p.m., and she said she would. Great. But 5 p.m. came and went, and no call. Ten minutes went by, then 20, 25, and I was wondering, maybe Cartier should have spent its money on training its salespeople instead of ads about how Cartier is “The Maison That Redefined Elegance for a Generation.” Give me a break. So I called her. Twice. But no answer. Thirty-seven minutes late, she called me. She asks, “Is this Justin?” even though she had messaged me earlier, “Hi Austin.”

Turns out I had waited for no reason. No call was necessary, because no deposit was necessary (somebody should tell Robby). The ring was on its way. After a few days, we made the first payment in store. But then, after I called Kaylin to authorize the second payment, she told me my card had been declined and that I should contact my credit card company. I did. Turns out she incorrectly took down my billing address or expiration date. So I sent her both in writing. Card accepted. Third payment, card declined again. I call my credit card company again. Turns out she made the same mistake twice. She did not update her records or check her messages to verify the billing information.

The most offensive thing in this long series of mistakes and errors was that nobody apologized. They treated it as normal, the kind of “service” we should expect to put up with for the privilege of buying their fancy jewelry. But you know what? I’ve worked a lot of jobs. At a camera shop, a food truck, a law firm, and others. In every job, when I’ve made a mistake that burdens a customer or client, I've been taught to apologize and make it right, because that’s the right thing to do. That's basic respect. And this store does not do that.

You'll probably see a belated apology copied and pasted below my review. Ignore that. That’s branding. And frankly, pretty hilarious how often they have to do it....

I recently visited Cartier for what I thought would be a simple cleaning of my ring, but unfortunately the experience was disappointing overall. When I first arrived, I told the associate at the entrance that I only needed a cleaning. He told me to sit in the back and wait, but gave me no further instruction. After waiting for about 10 minutes with my toddler, I had to approach him again to ask where exactly I should wait. I then asked another associate, who wasn’t busy, if I needed to leave my name anywhere for the cleaning. She simply told me to continue waiting, but again I felt brushed off. It wasn’t until a wonderful associate named Karen approached me that I finally felt seen and valued as a customer. She asked right away if I was being helped, and when I explained the situation, she immediately offered me water, ginger ale, or champagne, and even brought apple juice for my baby. She personally took my ring to clean it herself rather than making me wait longer, and showed true professionalism, kindness, and warmth. During this visit, I also mentioned that I was interested in purchasing another ring to pair with my Love ring. Karen brought over an associate named Sean/Shawn. His service was okay. What I didn’t appreciate was him asking me, “What’s your price point?” I had not asked about pricing, I simply wanted to see different style options. Instead of showing me a range of pieces, he only brought one option. This made me feel judged, as if assumptions were being made about me, and I couldn’t help but notice that other customers were being treated with more attentiveness and respect. In the end, Karen mentioned that my name had never been added to the queue for cleaning, meaning if it weren’t for her stepping in, I might have never been helped at all. Overall, my visit left me feeling that service was inconsistent and unequal, and that I was treated differently, possibly because of my background or appearance. However, I want to emphasize that Karen deserves full recognition for her exceptional service, she treated me and my child with respect and kindness, and she’s the only reason I left with a positive impression of Cartier at all. I truly hope Cartier management addresses this with their staff and ensures that all customers are treated fairly and equitably, regardless of who they are. A brand as prestigious as Cartier should hold all of its associates to the same high standard of service that...

My experience with cartier has been good and bad. First, they treated me much better than other brands as far as customer service. They were nice, not stuck up, and treated me with respect, unlike Hermès. But unfortunately, cartier fell short when it came time to accessorize a watch i had bought for my wife. I wanted to get her a few new straps for her tank. The first problem came when I found out that the strap I bought is sold separately from the buckle. STUPIDEST THING IVE EVER HEARD. That's like selling shoes without the laces. Or a jacket without a zipper. A belt without the buckle. Either make the strap more expensive and add the buckle, or don't sell straps at all. It's completely irrational on why they would do this. Well I bought the strap, and I know the size of the watch and the strap, so I'm ready to go right? I can just call a boutique store, place the order for a buckle, and get it mailed over. Or call cartier customer service and get it done with them. Nope, I have to drive over an hour to go to a store with the watch in hand, and have them order it in the store. Or I can have the store mail me a kit to put my watch into, and mail the kit back to cartier. They then figure out the size of the buckle which I already know, and then send it back to you. My guess is a total of 3-5 weeks just to buy a damn strap buckle that should of came with the strap to begin with. And forget about suprising whoever it is with your gift. Like I said earlier, you have to bring the watch with you to the store when ordering straps. So you'll have to take your wifes watch for the day, and bring it with you just to place the order. I'm going to return the strap i bought, and start buying 3rd party straps that are just as nice, come with a buckle, and are half the price of a strap that just has cartier stamped on it. The cartier straps are not any better than other straps. I tried buying cartier straps, but they just made it too damn hard to purchase them. I'm just trying to buy a tiny piece of stainless steel (which for $85 should be silver). There should be no reason I have to jump through all these hoops to purchase something so simple. This has started to turn me off from shopping at...