Zales — Local services in Garland

If I could give no stars, I would. Absolutely horrible experience.

I was shopping around for an engagement ring and stopped by Zales. I have made smaller purchases (Such as necklaces) in the past, so figured I would give them another try.

The first time I walked in, I spoke with Cody. Very knowledgable guy that was very helpful and not too pushy. He knew my budget and was willing to work with me and show me all the options.

About a month later, I come back. This time, a little more serious about buying. I had money saved up and was ready to purchase within that week. As I walked through the door, I was immediately greeted by Debbie. She asked what I was looking for and what my budget was. After clearly explaining my budget, she practically forced a credit application on me. (I am partially at fault for this, but thought "What the heck, let's see what I can get pre-approved for.") She took my drivers license (because she needed the info) and kept it in her little booklet. We ran my credit application and I was approved for a certain amount. I did not want to finance, but if "the one" was $500 over budget, I was willing to finance a small portion.

During this process, I mentioned that my girlfriend had looked at the Vera Wang collection and tried one, specifically, on. We went to look at it and it was OVER DOUBLE my original budget. She explained, that was the only ring they had like that (pear-shaped). After pointing another one out, she said "Oh, I didn't realize we had that one"... Yeah, I'm sure. Very unknowledgeable.

She kept trying to force me to use the financing, when I clearly stated that the monthly payment was out of my budget. After 30 minutes of me saying "No" and her trying to force me upon this one ring "That I didn't like a whole lot and knew wasn't the one", She got the store manager over because she had run out of excuses and couldn't answer to my objections any longer. Not as pushy, he still tried to force the financing upon me.

Remember when she took my drivers license? Well, she still had it. Finally, she said "Well, I don't want to hold you hostage, so here's your license back." Well, Debbie, You did. You wasted my time when I could have been shopping at another jeweler.

The whole experience was like walking into a car dealership. Who likes dealing with sales people? I work in sales & marketing. Just a tip, be friendly, courteous, knowledgable, & understand that NO means NO. Forcing someone upon your product will only scare them away.

Unfortunately for Zales, they have lost my business for life. As well as anyone who I can reach out to via friends, family, social media or online reviews. They have some great products, but Debbie left a very unsettling feeling in my stomach about buying an engagement ring. One of the biggest moments of your life can easily be ruined by one person.

I appreciate your business in the past. I will not be back and have gone elsewhere for an engagement...

I have a diamond solitaire with a guard that was purchased from Zales. The ring is in need of a new mounting. I wanted to purchase a plain heavy gold band and have the solitaire mounting transferred to the gold band and then have pieces of the guard placed on the same band. I had consulted two independent jewelers who had both confirmed that this was a simple remount and would cost approximately $100 plus the cost of the gold band (or I could supply my own band).

I decided to stop in my local Zales (Firewheel Mall) to price gold bands and to inquire about the cost of the remount. I found a band that I really liked. The salesperson asked if I would like to return two days later to attend a special event. She said that during this special event, a jeweler would be onsite and could complete my work at that time. I know that I did not misunderstand or misinterpret anything that she said because she removed the gold band that I had selected from the display case and put it aside because they had only one in the size and style that I needed. She also told me that if I purchased a $5 bottle of jewelry cleaner and completed a survey using my purchase receipt, I would receive $100 off a purchase of $300 or more.

I returned to the store on the designated day of the special event. My salesperson was present. She immediately asked if I wanted to look in their “special” cases to see if I found anything I liked better. I did look, but did not see anything that I liked any better than my own idea (and, of course, their ideas were far more expensive than mine were). Another salesperson came over and was pushing me to consider the styles in the case. They also began discussing “special financing.” I advised both women that anyone who would finance a piece of jewelry was very foolish with their money. I told her that I wanted to proceed with purchasing the band and having the solitaire and the diamonds from the guard mounted on the band. She immediately informed me that I would have to purchase a new mounting head/prongs for a price of $300. I walked out of the store. BOTH of the independent jewelers that I had consulted had specifically stated that the mounting head could be reused. It is platinum and it is in good condition.

In my opinion, Zales employs a tactic of “bait and switch.” Why does any business owner feel a need to be dishonest with customers???? If the sales person had told me that they just did not feel that my little expenditure (about $400) was worth their time, I would have gone to one of the independent jewelers immediately. There is a tremendous price mark-up in jewelry so there is absolutely no reason to attempt to extort more money from a customer. It is very sad that Zales (or any other business) feels a need to treat customers in this manner. Some customers would have fallen into this trap and would have gone home with a product that they did not want and possibly...

At first my boyfriend and I came in to just take a look at rings. A man helped us by the name of Cody and when I found a ring I really loved from the Vera wang collection he told us it was limited edition now and Vera wang stopped making it so if I didn't buy it today I may never find it again. Of course being naive I believed him because he was so nice and so informative. Then he handed me over to larisa and the two of them continued to help us out through out this process. They told us about the Zales card. Stated that to lower my monthly payment I could do the plan with 9% interest. I almost backed out with it being monthly interest. When they said no it's per year so the interest would be so small I once again believed them. (Word for word). They then gave me a ring size 6 that was in their show case (I'm a 9) and said yes it doesn't fit but you can have this ring resized as many times as you want to through out your pregnancy and after. Never once asking to resize it for us and us being so excited we just left with the sizes they gave us for our rings. The next day we go to towneast zales to have our rings resized and the lady there tells us that firewheel zales must have really wanted to make this sale because they lied to us. The ring has to be special ordered for the right size and it can take 10 weeks. So I then I figured I'd ask if this ring was really limited edition and no longer being made and she said no that's not true either. Then I receive my statement today and the interest is monthly not yearly. So my payments they told me I'd have,the minimum payment is 30 dollars higher than they told me to expect. The only reason we bought the rings when we did was because they made it afforadsble and sound like I'd never be able to get the ring I loved ever again. And I'm very upset at the dishonesty. With a baby on the way we are on a tight budget and larisa and Cody despite the fact that they knew I did not want to pay a certain amount because of this, they still lied just to get a sale. And sent us on our way knowing what they did. I do not recommend anyone to come to this zales. Towneast zales was so honest and I wish I had gone...