Bellinger's Jewelers — Local services in Rehoboth Beach

This could be an anomaly of a service and not the type of service to ask of a jeweler, but anyways, I needed some watch bracelet repairs for a pin and collar system so I brought it here.

He couldn't fix it, but that's fine! I'm okay with that - I think it would have been difficult for anyone and being a jeweler and not a clock repair shop, I understand. He didn't charge me and doesn't charge for things he can't do.

My issue was with the timing of the repair and the communication. He said it should be done in a week, so I waited a week. I called 7 days later to get an update and he said it wasn't done yet- that it should be done by Saturday. I asked if it would be okay if I stopped in early next week to pick it up instead, he said yes. I thought it would definitely be done by then.

I stopped in Tuesday (I think) and I think it was his wife that came out, got my name, and asked if I had received a call that it was done. I said no, but I told her that her husband said it would should done by now. She walked into the back, came back out and said it wasn't done yet and she said it should be in a couple days. I asked if I needed to wait for a phone call and she said yes. I walked out pretty disappointed.

If you both see this review you can correct me because my memory is getting the calls mixed up, but I'm pretty sure I ended up calling three or so days later to check on the status yet again. That's when Mr Bellinger told me he couldn't fix it, when I called, not when he called.

So I was pretty disappointed with the communication overall. And I never got any feedback as to why it was taking so long when I tried to get updates- just things like "It should be done by __" every time I checked in, but nothing else on the status of it. It had me kind of frustrated the whole time for a $40 repair.

Again, this says nothing about their jewelry work and they didn't charge me (thankful that they don't charge if they can't repair), but as a marketer and business owner for my short professional career, communication is the most important thing I've learned in owning a business. It just kind of fell short here. But maybe they do a great job on jewelry! So they might still be worth going to. Just expect them to call you when they're confident about the status of your jewelry on their own timing and maybe not when you want them to call you.

Anyways, I always want to have good faith and kindness. Wanted to leave the review for both public eye and business' eye. Felt pretty disappointed and frustrated. Respond how...

I would not recommend this business to anyone. The owner is not friendly. He cannot, will not and does not want to communicate with customers. This is a long story but worth reading because it validates my reason for such a low review. We went to this jeweler on a recommendation and we were extremely disappointed. We dropped off several pieces of jewelry just before the Thanksgiving holiday. We wanted an estimate and ideas on combining several family pieces into a memorable piece. He stated he would draw up plans and notify us in two weeks. Three weeks later, we contacted him since he failed to call us. Unbelievably he stated that he forgot about the jewelry. He said he would expedite the drawing and quote. Three weeks later, we contacted him since he failed to call us again. Messages were left on his phone however, we never received a call back. Unrelated to our experience, friends then told us they recently went to this same jeweler to have him inspect some pieces they had inherited. The owner stated the jeweler was damaged and stones were missing. They left taking their jewelry with them. They said he was unfriendly and dismissive. They then went to another local jeweler for a another inspection. This new businessman stated there was nothing wrong with the jewelry, no damage and no missing stones. He showed them the pieces under a microscope to convince them. They were so impressed with this jeweler they made several additional unplanned purchases. They were very angry with the other jeweler. Once we learned about their experience we immediately went to this jeweler and retrieved the jewelry we dropped off eight weeks before. While we waited for him to locate our items, he answered his ringing phone. We clearly heard him yelling at the customer on the phone and cutting the customer off mid-conversation, quickly hanging up on the customer. He then returned to the counter with our jewelry. Unbelievably he stated that no jewelry work occurs during the holidays because the outside company he uses has a holiday backlog and they are then closed for the holidays. He conveniently left key piece of information out of the conversation when we dropped off the jewelry. In addition, he failed to say that he shipped out his work. That same day we went to the Jeweler our friends had found. That Jeweler told us he performs all work in house. This reputable Jeweler now has our pieces and is doing the work that we had planned before...

I highly recommend Bellinger’s July 24,2024 They were closing and they stayed open longer to help me get this Beautiful watch and sized it for me to fit my wrist . Love it and the quality is top Notch Dale Bellinger sold it to me with no pressure I live in Pa but every time I return to Delaware I will be stopping Thank you again Dale Bellinger I am proud to were a Bellinger watch thank you again for being patient with my Mom and Me ...