Brilliant Earth — Local services in Merrifield

My saga with Brilliant Earth starts in December of 2023. I heard from a close friend that he had a great experience through this company. I reached out to local stores ( I am near Washington DC) and was told they would not be able to book me for several months for a showroom offering, but could pair me with someone online to work a custom order.

The custom order, per their website, took approximately 4 weeks at the time, which i was very excited about. I had plans to propose in late March overseas, getting the ring and cementing plans early would have been a great blessing. As I soon found out, their documentation on their website was incorrect, and the 'new' timeline would be closer to 12 weeks, at a minimum. No problem, this was early January! Surely the company could work to get this done?

The original custom order appointment was amazing, the worker listened to what I needed/wanted and taught me a lot about rings and what to look for. I was then put in contact with a customer service representative, where communication became sparse.

Months go by. We are now within the week of the original delivery date (March 13th) and I reach out to the customer service rep about a tracking number, as I am very worried about leaving the country and a ring sitting near my door for a few weeks. The customer service rep informs me that there is a note:

"My team did not reach out to me directly, but I am seeing there were notes added to your order yesterday that the new estimated delivery date of the custom cut stones is the 18th of April and this is due to the custom cut stones originally being worked on broke and they need to recut these stones.

I know we do not have a similar ring in our currently collection, but due to the delay, would you like a showroom loan to use in the meantime? Our showroom pieces are in white gold in a size 6. "

I was outraged, that I wasn't immediately informed about this issue, and had to be the one to reach out to get an update, so close to my delivery date.

The service rep offered a loaner ring from the local store in Merrifield Virginia. I offered to go look, and was put in contact with a manager (Andrew) who was set up to meet me at 3 PM on a Sunday afternoon. I arrive a bit early, and am greeted with "do you have an appointment?" by a lady at the front desk. I state I do, and am here to pick up a loaner ring, and am supposed to meet a specific manager. The woman asks me to take a seat, as it may take some time. Another woman comes out, and says "oh that manager decided to go to the DC location today, we apologize" and then they facetime that store through an ipad where the manager there walks them through how to submit a loaner ring. I choose a similar looking ring, a size too big (did not have any in size 6 as was told to me), but it was the best they had. I left feeling overall less than pleased. I was informed afterwards that to get my actual ring, I would have to return the loaner first. Asked my customer service rep if perhaps some sort of compensation or gift to make this situation better. I was informed that "There is nothing additional we can do except waive the loaner fee" and a manager that was "Escalated to" did not ever reach out to me or was named.

Fast Forward a few months later, it is now April 23rd. Did not propose overseas, as the ring would have caused too much confusion as it wasn't the official one. I came back and asked for an update. Did not receive any additional estimated delivery date past the April 18th one. I was reached out to by the customer service rep, and was asked to finish the other 50% of the payment, so they could deliver. I responded to see when I could submit. Did not receive a response. Finally got the ring June 6th, months after both the initial and later estimated dates. Posting this here as BE website does not allow you to post there. Overall, terrible customer service, a lack of communication and just bad work. 2nd star for the initial custom ring...

Update: 22 July 2024 I recently changed my review to reflect the effort on behalf of Brilliant Earth to provide an excellent experience following my original review. I worked with Tawnie Pike with Brilliant Earth Customer Resolutions. The next day, we were on the phone and online, scheduling an appointment at the Georgetown, D.C. showroom, picking out stones I wanted to look at in person, and discussing settings and what to expect from the Georgetown team during my appointment. Thank you, Tawnie. During my appointment, Nadia Corbett was excellent. Her thoughts and advice were genuine, and I felt I was the center of her attention, not just another customer. Her expertise allowed me to make an informed purchase of an engagement ring and wedding band set. I had an excellent experience at the Brilliant Earth showroom in Georgetown. I am sure Nadia will take care of you the same way. Original Review from Fairfax/Mosaic showroom:

Made my appointment to see specific stones. I showed up for my appointment after taking the day to work in the area. Informed at my appointment that none of the alexandrite could be shipped to the store before my appointment. The representative stated they tried to contact me via email. Then confirmed the email was never sent. Offered to show me diamonds. Diamonds are not what I'm looking for. Then asked what stones they could have brought in at a later date after I reschedule. I referred them to the detailed notes in my booking about what I was looking for. Representative said yes we saw your notes. First impressions are everything...

I had been looking at rings on their site for a while, but didn’t want to pull the trigger until I saw could see them in person. I stopped into this location after not being able to make an appointment at a different location. I wasn’t sure if they would allow me to look without an appointment, but I was greeted at the door by Luis and he quickly started working to show me a few of the options I had been looking at online. He was super informative and answered any questions I had. He noted each of the wedding bands that I liked and sent me a follow up email with links to each of the rings on their website so that I could look them over with my fiancé at home. We purchased my ring later that evening online with much more confidence now that I had seen it in person. I love that they have a 30 day return policy, resizing options and warranty options as well. The ring will only take 2-3 weeks to be shipped to our home, so it worked perfectly with our short timeframe. I was treated so well without an appointment, I’m sure it’s an even better experience with an appointment. I highly suggest shopping here and can’t wait to see my ring...