Zales — Local services in Ocala

Where do I begin.

November 26 2022 I purchased an engagement ring from Zales online. My fiancé wore it, never took it off, and had no issues with it….. until 10/24/24 when a diamond fell out of it. We have the full warranty on the ring, so we sent it out to be repaired. I picked up the repaired ring 11/6/24 (repair #1). On 11/18/24 another, different, diamond fell out of the ring. We once again sent it back in for repair. I picked up the repaired ring 12/1/24. (Repair #2)

On 12/6/24 suddenly the ring (the same ring my fiance has been wearing for 2 years) is turning her finger green. Upon inspecting the ring further, it is missing the stamp that should be present on the inside of the band (all Zales rings have this to show they are authentic). After calling the store and explaining the situation to assistant managers Celina and Rocky - a meeting is scheduled with the store manager, Andrea, for 12/9/24 at the store. Rocky inspects the ring and confirms that there is something “off” and that it should “absolutely have the stamp”. In other words we were sent back a fake ring. The solution? “We no longer have this same style/model ring (but it is still sold online I saw on my own), so we can refund you and you can pick out a different ring…”

Not ideal, but with no other options my fiancé and I pick out a new engagement ring for her. We’re refunded for the original and pay the difference for the new ring (even though a new completely different ring is obviously not what we wanted in the first place). The new ring has to be resized, so it is sent out for resizing. We are told it would be a bit delayed because of the holidays approaching. All of this is done on 12/9/24.

On 12/27/24 I still haven’t heard anything - no emails, no phone calls, no anything about the status of the resizing, so I call. The associate I speak to says “the repair team hasn’t received it yet, the status just says shipped”.

1/2/25 I call again, Celina answered and said “I have no idea why they told you that it was still being repaired, I have it right here”. When I get there to pick it up, it was never sent out to be resized. The excuse - seasonal hires improperly handling the rings.

They expedite the resize and I pick it up 1/7/25. When I arrive to pick it up from Celina, Andrea is sitting at the counter and will not even acknowledge me or make eye contact with me at this point.

Unfortunately on 1/8/25 the new ring is turning my fiancé’s finger green… again. I returned the ring 1/8/25 and got a full refund. The excuse - your fiancé must have a copper or iron deficiency. I explain that she is wearing bracelets, necklaces, and other rings alongside that one made out of the same metal and none of them turn her skin green. The response - “maybe she should try wearing it on a different finger.”

The entire situation going on and on from October 2024 - January 2025. Poorly handled by ALL management: Andrea the Store Manager and both Assistant Managers - Celina and Rocky. Very unfortunate and frustrating circumstances. We gave them countless opportunities to correct the issues. Absolutely...

My husband purchased my wedding set at Zales in 2018 and it is a beautiful set! I couldn’t ask for better quality stones or design, however; the business practices regarding the store credit card is something all together different!

The sales associate convinced us to apply for the store card, no problem until my husband paid it off earlier than the 12 months that the sales associate assured us was interest free! Turns out that although you may pay the balance off, you will still be charged the interest fee. My husband has paid the interest fee twice now and the balance is up $16.00, even with the ring having been paid off.

Although the quality of the ring is great, the experience isn’t worth it to deal with the hassle of this hitting our credit. It costs companies a lot more money to send $16 to a credit agency than to write it off! This is one of the biggest problems in our country, cash used to be good as gold and now everything is credit. The truly sad part is when individuals try to get ahead by paying balances off to use that money elsewhere in their budgets only to be sadly misinformed that they are being charged some additional fee(s).

I will never again buy from Zales just based on the poor/unethical business practices that they subscribe to and allow their CC to dictate. It is NOT acceptable to continue to take money from customers when you have been paid the FULL amount and then some, just to become more profitable. Until our society demands for these kind of shady business practices to cease, this will continue to be a problem for us. The government should NOT allow credit card companies to have so much power that “they” dictate the rules and we “the consumers” have so little say. What is wrong with this picture??? Shouldn’t the consumer be permitted to pay off a balance and not owe additional monies? When did this become “our” norm and why are we allowing this to continue as we all end up in staggering or revolving debt?

I do not recommend buying from Zales just based on our experience which is sad considering I would not have chosen any other ring for myself. 😢

T....

I rarely do reviews but it's on my heart to do so! I would call this, "Turning a sour lemon into some good sweet Lemonade experience!"

Staff has changed a little since I last came into the Ocala Zales, my husband and I came in to get my diamond replaced, the 1st interaction we had, I don't know if the lady had a bad day or she just didn't feel like answering the questions we had, but my spirit couldn't align with her, so I ended up getting frustrated walked away from the conversation then I believe it was the manager who walked by and asked, do I need any assistance. At that point, I was disappointed with the experience, I just politely said "no, thank you I'm good."

Long story short, I told my husband, I would rather not continue the interaction with the 1st lady and we walked out. As I walked out, I prayed about it and turned around and went back into Zales, and I had the pleasure of being assisted by RICHARD JORDAN!!! He spoke softly, he spoke with dignity, he spoke with ease on wanting to help and answer allllll the questions I had (even at pick-up, he ensured I understood the guidelines and breaking down future maintenance).

I just want to let people know, it's not what you say it's how you say it, especially in customer service. I understand if a person having a bad day, we allll have bad days. But during a face to face interaction you should always treat people the way you would want to be treated!

Richard Jordan is the agent everyone should see! He's amazing and I really appreciate you for making my experience wonderful! Zales you have a great person there! Continue...