Oz's Jewelers — Local services in Hickory

My fiance and I visited Oz's Jewelers in Hickory last weekend to purchase our wedding bands. He had previously gotten my engagement ring and a birthday necklace from Ozs and had shared many times how great his experience was, particularly with an associate named Dalton. That positive experience is what brought us back.

Unfortunately, our visit this time was very underwhelming. A young woman who appeared to be in her early 20s greeted us when we walked in, but from there the service essentially stopped. She never introduced herself (though I believe her name is Leah based on our receipt), never asked follow-up questions when I mentioned my fiance had purchased my ring there, and showed little interest in interacting with us. We had to prompt every step, from asking if it was time for me to look at bands after my fiance finished selecting his, to clarifying what was supposed to happen next when we needed our ring sizes checked.

When I tried to engage her by asking for her opinion between two band/ring styles, she gave a vague response about it being a personal decision and offered no further input. I understand not wanting to sway a customer, but in this industry offering suggestions based on the engagement ring or showing basic interest goes a long way. At one point I tried asking about earrings. She said they sold them, but never showed me where they were, walk me over, or even point in their direction.

For context, we arrived about 35 to 40 minutes before closing and were the only customers for most of the visit. One person briefly came in for a ring cleaning, but that was it. We left 15 minutes before closing, so the lack of engagement was not due to time pressure or being busy. It just felt like disinterest.

Thankfully, two other women helped make the experience significantly more pleasant. One was attentive, offered helpful comparisons between mined and lab-grown options, and showed genuine enthusiasm about assisting us. The other kindly offered to clean my engagement ring while we browsed. Their warmth stood in stark contrast to Leah, the associate who was primarily assisting us.

To add to the frustration, when we were checking out I gave Leah my name for the purchase. She saw I was not in their system and instead of adding me, she asked for my fiance's name and placed the purchase under him. I had already explained that he was the one who bought my engagement ring and that this visit was for me to make the next purchase. I was also the one paying. It might seem small, but it felt dismissive and summed up the lack of care we experienced. Simply asking whether I wanted to be added to the system would have avoided the misstep.

We did end up purchasing wedding bands that we truly love, and I am grateful for that. But the experience felt cold and transactional, which is not what you would expect for such a meaningful purchase. I was surprised to learn Leah has worked there for three years; based on her behavior, I would have assumed she was brand new.

To be very clear: I do believe most of the staff at Oz's are likely outstanding. I would just caution that your experience may vary drastically depending on who assists you. In a field like jewelry, where purchases often carry emotional value, a little enthusiasm and customer engagement goes a very, very long way. Sadly, our experience that day could best be described as lukewarm.

While I am happy with the bands that we selected, I personally would not return to Oz's based on the poor customer service we received, nor would I recommend it to friends or family. The lack of interest, guidance, and consideration made the experience feel impersonal and disappointing. However, I will say that if someone is primarily looking for affordable options and a decent selection without needing/wanting much connection, Oz's may still be worth considering. I would highly advise calling ahead and requesting someone with a good reputation. My fiance still speaks quite highly of Dalton (and was shocked by how different our experience was with Leah), so we'd suggest...

I was given excellent service. I am 73, my ring finger on left hand has arthritis in the knuckle. February of 2025 I severely hurt my hand with a pair of hedge trimmers. The emergency room had to cut off my wedding rings. And of course they stretched it immensely in order to get it off my hand as it was swelling because of how bad the cuts,I wpuld be getting many stitches. With this being said I didn't thank my rings could ever be restored or ever be able to get it back on my hand. Because the last 7 years of the arthritis in my knuckle I never took my ring off. It fit properly right near the hand, I just couldn't get it past the knuckle which wasn't a problem. Because I don't take my wedding rings off. So to sum this up, we went through various ideas and the bottom line is the jeweler was able to fix and restore my ring and it looks like the day my husband proposed to me and the day we got married (39 yrs ago) they look like they are brand new. They were able to fix an adjustment so I could get it over my knuckle. They are beautiful. Not to say most important how caring the employees were and trying to help me. I would highly recommend this business to anyone that is in need of jewelry repair or just wants to buy a beautiful item for a loved one, their store is just filled with beautiful things and they are very attentive to each and every customer. The day I entered the store Leah is the young lady who was the first one to help me and have suggestions and then suggest I leave it with the Jeweler to look at and see what his opinion was. But please understand the other employees I came in contact with were just as helpful. I apologize that I did not get all their names to add that into the...

On October 4th I married the man of my dreams. One of the best things and certainly one of the most important things in a wedding ceremony are the rings! My husband and I had a dream to use the gold and diamonds from his grandparents’ wedding bands to both honor, and cherish the love shared. All of this in hopes it would cultivate the same beauty in our marriage.

Oz's Jewelers crafted rings we plan to keep in our family or many more generations!!! I could not say enough how helpful the staff is, or how beautiful the rings are! Both my husband and I receive compliments all the time.

Every time I look at my left hand, because of Oz I'm privileged to see the diamond that started my husband's family. When he looks at his, my husband see's the gold that held it together for so many years.

Oz provided this fantastic service at such a great price at first I didn't even believe him! If you pick Oz's Jewelers you pick quality, excellence and value!

Thanks Oz for helping us make our dream a...