Venetian Jewels & Gems — Local services in Juneau

My husband and I visited Juneau as one of our stops on a cruise. We walked around and popped into a store here and there and made the unfortunate decision to walk into Venetian Jewels and Gems. We weren’t really out to buy anything, but I happened to fall in love with an opal ring. The price was out of my budget and even though the owner and his wife were very pushy to “work with me” I continued to respectfully decline. It got to the point where they came down on the price considerably to sell me what I wanted.

They seemed very nice people, but truly just wanted to make a sale. They somehow managed to come all the way down to my budget and presented this to me as a favor.

The ring seemed to be all I was looking for, but shame on me for basically “getting what I paid for”. I assumed there would be some sort of quality in this ring they so desperately wanted to sell me, but alas, I was wrong.

The shop said the ring would be mailed to me within a month. After we came home from our trip, the ring arrived within that time frame and I was so excited! I even texted the woman telling her how gorgeous the ring was! Not more than 60 days and the color of the opal had discolored DRASTICALLY (refer to pictures). Prior to me getting this ring, I did my research on how to care for opals (Don’t use soap, chemicals, lotion, etc) and I carried the care instructions out impeccably, but the discoloration was obvious this was not a quality stone.

Long story short, I called this shop back to see if they could help or at least for a refund. The owner said he could ship me another opal, but could not guarantee this wouldn’t happen again. And if it did, he plainly said he wouldn’t offer me a refund either. So, the only logical choice was to opt for the refund now. I basically was told if I had spent more money, this wouldn’t have happened....Not only did I have to pay for shipping this ring back, but didn’t get my entire refund m due to a “restocking fee”( if they restock this ring and try to sell it again, that’s incredibly shady..)

The woman said I would receive a refund on a certain day and unfortunately, no refund was made. Then I was made aware I had to talk to the owner to get everything handled over the phone 2 weeks later.

The man started the conversation nice, but then began to yell at me through the phone as I continued to tell him I don’t appreciate how he was speaking to me. I mentioned I would also be sure to write a review on my experience and he said “shit happens”. Clearly defensive he yells to me, “This is how you teach your students?!” (I’m a teacher). I responded with, “Absolutely! I teach my students to speak kindly to others and that when I tell my students I will do something, I always follow through and keep my word.”

The pictures speak for themselves (if I can get them to post), but this experience needed to be shared for others to avoid this kind of...

I purchased jewelry on 9/5/2023 while on a cruise stop. When my wife decided the piece didn’t work with her wardrobe, I attempted to return it the same day, well within their written 30-day return policy that clearly states a 20% restocking fee applies.

Here’s what happened:

Initially, staff said they “couldn’t do returns” but could “negotiate price” When that failed, they called their “boss” who first agreed to the 20% restocking fee As I was processing the return, the “boss” (now on FaceTime) suddenly claimed “all sales final, exchanges only” - directly contradicting their written policy When I showed them their own return policy document, they refused to honor it They claimed I was “forfeiting” my merchandise and money when I left the items for return

Red flags for cruise passengers:

Written policies are not honored Story changes multiple times during return attempt “Boss” mysteriously only available via phone Contradictory statements about return vs exchange policies

I have photo documentation of their return policy, my receipt, and video of my return attempt. Currently disputing with my credit card company.

Advice to cruise passengers: Take photos of any return policy BEFORE purchasing. Consider shopping at more established stores that honor their policies. If you do shop here, be prepared that their written return policy may...

BEWARE! They sold synthetic stones claimed as real gems. Their quality was far subpar for the price, when compared to other vendors. He repeatedly speaks badly about other vendors, as that’s his tactic to continue to sell subpar products.

Not one but three jewelers confirmed that his pricing was more than double the market value, and that the stones sold were synthetic stones.

Max spoke so sweetly in person and was utterly rude and unprofessional when I reached back out. He challenged me to go the credit card route. His return policy includes restocking fee (it’s on the back of the receipt - he does not give full refunds even within 30 days).

With an appraisal in any jewelry store local to you, you can submit a claim along with the proof of appraisal to your credit card company and get a refund.

Horrible...