Shane Co. — Local services in San Mateo

I have been in this Shane Co many times. I bought my diamond here (not my setting) and my fiancé bought his wedding band here. We didn't like the diamonds in-store but they had us write down what we were looking for, put down a small deposit, and they called worldwide to get the quality diamond we wanted. They called us, had 3 for us to look at and we found the perfect diamond. There is no buying pressure, they have an awesome warranty policy- my diamond came loose twice and since they mounted it - they fix it for free. Their warranty is better than Ben Bridge (you have to buy the warranty) and Jareds (you buy and it voids if you don't take it in every 6 months). I would definitely buy all my jewelry here.

In addition, their machine that steam cleans jewelry is the best! Love getting my jewelry cleaned at Shane Co. I'm also the person who won't leave the store unless I check my diamond's GIA number to make sure my diamond didn't get swapped (I bought my own loupe). I completely trust Shane Co with my diamond (but I'm no fool, I still check).

I think the only downside is returning an item/canceling layaway. Once I put a wedding band on layaway, but wanted to keep looking elsewhere since it's no interest and 100% refundable. I decided to get the matching band to my engagement ring from another store (Shane Co doesn't sell A. Jaffe). We walked in and the minute we said we wanted to cancel the layaway, nobody wanted to help us. The billing people pulled our ring and said an associate needed to cancel us. We had to wait 30-45 mins in the store to get someone to help us (instead of passing us off) - just to ask why we were cancelling and help us with the paperwork (also you can only cancel in person and not over the phone). I was pretty pissed that no one would help us with as much money as we spent there and as many times as we have been there (we practically know all the employees). I was about to make a scene because they weren't busy and everyone kept asking if we needed help and when we said we are cancelling they said such and such can help you as they walked away. When someone did look at our records and saw how much we spent at the store they quickly let us cancel the layaway with no questions asked.

So my advice: don't put something on layaway if you might change your mind later because returning anything at Shane Co is ridiculous! Be sure you want to buy something so you have a pleasant experience (you can go a million times without having to put it on layaway. They have it on their website if it is not in the cases).

And out of all the places to buy jewelry - I checked Shane Co, Ben Bridge, Jared, Kay's, etc. Even with my bad experience, I would still buy jewelry at Shane Co because of their warranty and you get your monies worth - cheaper prices but better quality...

I had a very disappointing experience at Shane Co. in San Mateo this afternoon. In July I brought a ring in to be resized. The sales woman used a ring sizing gauge, as well as a mandrel to get my current ring size. When we found the correct size using the gauge, the fit felt fine and she assured me that if the new sizing wasn't the right fit that Shane Co. would fix the sizing free of charge.

Unfortunately, when I came back to pick up my ring it felt a bit tight, but I thought that I just wasn't used to having a ring on that finger or it felt snug because it was a hot summer day. I was also left on my own to decide, as the women working their "pick up" counter was preoccupied and only asked for my ID and "does it fit?". Zero customer support was given at the time of pick up. I left the store believing that even if the fit wasn't perfect, I would have some time to see if I got used to it. That's what they promised, right?

I tried it on a few more times over the next few months and it still wasn't fitting right, so I decided to bring the ring in. I spoke with a sales person (possibly name Zouana?) and she informs me that because I didn't buy the ring there at Shane Co., they couldn't fix the size. I could not believe what I was hearing. I would have never left the day I picked up the ring if I had an doubts about correcting the size.

After a little back and forth she went to get the manager John Paul Murphy. John started our conversation with a rude and condescending attitude. I explained that, had I known that they will only resize your jewelry when you request it at pick up I would have been more careful about judging the size when I got it back. He implied that I should have known to ask for a resizing immediately. I asked where it says how long customers have to request a resizing and he said that they don't even promise in writing to resize any jewelry if it is not to your liking... that it is just a verbal promise that they so obviously have NO intention of keeping.

John Paul Murphy even went as far as telling me that "a lot can happen in a few months", implying that my ring didn't fit because I had gained weight. I really can't believe this man is the store manager, because his customer service skills are unprofessional and inadequate.

The woman then tried to get me to be remeasured so they could charge me for a 2nd resizing. What a joke that they thought I would actually pay them more money to do the same job again! I told them that if I was going to pay someone to resize my ring AGAIN it surely would not be them.

Shane Co. San Mateo has absolutely lost me and my family as customers, and I'm writing this as a warning for anyone considering using them. I would instead recommend Kerns...

Bianca and Kataneh were incredibly helpful in guiding us without being pushy or pressuring us into something we were uncomfortable with. We left the store excited about what we got and more knowledgeable about diamonds

Update: unfortunately after a weird experience today I need to lower my review from 5 to 3 stars. Maybe it depends on the associate you get because today's experience was far different than our usual Shane Co trips.

We just had my fiancee's ring cleaned and afterwards were looking at wedding bands with the associate who cleaned it. She was also helping another couple looking for engagement rings right next to us who happened to be looking for a ring just like ours. We heard the associate offer to show them our ring and the couple politely declined. This is when we noticed the band on our ring was still quite dirty and asked to have it polished if possible. The associate said she would polish it for us and took our ring, only to return with a polishing cloth and nothing else minutes later. She acted confused after we reminded her we gave her our ring and said she "accidentally" gave our ring to the couple to try on. Sure enough, the other woman being helped was admiring my fiancee's ring on her hand!?!

She put our ring on someone else's hand!! She could have asked and my fiancee would have "modelled" it for her, but instead took our ring to clean what was supposed to be clean already and put it on someone else's hand to try without ever asking us. I'm not sure if we or the other couple were more appalled but it left a bad taste in my mouth for sure.

The more it sits with me, the more it feels like something special was handled without any care or consideration. Apparently she didn't even need to take our ring to clean it, since she just brought over a rag, so it feels like sneaky way to showcase our ring and make a sale to the other couple. With the sentimental value behind our engagement ring and the fact this is all Shane Co does, I expected more class and care from their sales people. To the middle aged Asian woman who helped us today, you get 0 stars. Everyone else has been lovely so I'll keep it at 3 but I'll make sure to remember and avoid you for our...