KAY Jewelers — Local services in Springfield

Went in for wedding bands. They were helpful with the selection. When it came time to pay for the rings, they stated that I could only pay for one of the rings at the time of purchase, the other one was a special order which could only be paid for when I picked it up.

However if my fiancee wanted to pick them up in my stead that I would half to create a KJ credit account, bill the custom order ring to the account, and then make her an authorized user on the account.

I agreed to set up the account which they said would take a moment. This took 30 minutes...After all of that they finally got everything squared away and told me they would call me when the rings were ready.

About a month goes by. I'm checking the balance on my KJ account to see if the custom order ring has been charged it hasn't. I wait another week, still no change. I call and apparently the rings have been in for a few weeks, they just neglected to call me.

I head back over to pick up my fiancee's ring that I have already paid for and my custom ordered ring. However, they won't let me take my fiancee's ring despite the fact that I have already paid for it with my credit card, stating that "Well the ring isn't for you, and we don't keep track of credit card information." They ended up calling my fiancee at work, asking her to verify her identity, and then half way though the call they hang up on her and say "Oh I remember you...don't worry about it..you can take the ring."

So they then ask for me to pay for my custom ordered ring, which was confusing to my because it was supposed to be billed to the KJ account that I was hamstrung into setting up in the first place. Apparently that just didn't happen. I told them to close the KJ account, I paid for it on my credit card and left.

In summary, the relatively simple purchase of two wedding bands turned into a logistical nightmare and negatively impacted my credit score. On top of that the staff were incompetent and had a business style and approach that would have been more at home at a used car sales lot.

So yeah. Never going back. Would not recommend this place to my worse enemy.

BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE...

At the end of this experience I thought at least I am the wiser about ever going to a Kay Jewelers again. And at the very least I never have to deal with these idiots again...but that was not to be.

I recently called the people who work at this KJ incompetent and having a "used car salesman" business style. In retrospect that was kind. The people who work at this KJ are the herpes of the jewelry business, they are massively unpleasant experience and despite your best efforts they just keep on coming back to make your life miserable.

I just received a bill from the KJ account for the total of my ring, $249.10. The account that was supposed to have been closed out when I last was at the store, for the ring that I ALREADY PAID FOR ON MY CREDIT CARD!!!

Now I wanted to give KJ the benefit of the doubt because it is seriously hard for me to fathom that people can suck this much at their jobs. I called KJ to check my account balance, yep $249.10. Then I went and reviewed by credit card statement, and sure enough I wasn't hallucinating when I gave him my credit card, there is it a charge for $249.10 on my credit card.

Now I have to fight this charge, which mind you I have to wait until Monday to do because apparently KJ customer service isn't open on the weekend.

I'll defer to True Detective's Martin Hart regarding my feelings about the people who work here:

"If you were drowning, I'd throw you a...

1 star for the girls at the store who were polite and helpful. Otherwise I wish I could rate as 0 stars.

This place is RIDICULOUSLY overpriced! STOP! Compare prices for same clarity/color/cut stones with competitors, you'll be shocked...

I knew nothing of diamonds when I walked into the door. I was looking for an engagement ring. They helped picking one, helped defining the size and design, 14k gold band, 0.5 carat gem, all good. $1.6k estimate. Ok whatever. The gem itself looked somewhat scratched up when looked at closely, but I thought it's just dirty and can be cleaned.

I then asked what's the clarity and color index of the gem (all the smart words I knew about diamonds). The assistant pulled a catalog and mumbled it's a "Very Good" cut, "I" color stone with "I2" clarity. Once I looked it up - I was shocked. "I"-clarity stones are the DIRTIEST and CHEAPEST stones there are, with "I3" even not being carried by a number of jewelry chains due to the fact the imperfections are SO significant and visible - they may even affect the diamond's durability! How do you like that?! There are 11 main clarity categories. And they offered me a 10 (SECOND WORST) quality stone of mediocre color for 1.6k. When I mentioned that to the assistant - she said that higher clarity category stones like SI1 and VS2 are $3-5k and more depending on color, size and cut.

Long story short, I ended up buying an "Excellent Cut", VVS2 clarity (4 our of 11) G-color stone for LESS than that from a competitor. A beautifully sparkling stone with no imperfection I can see no matter how hard I try (image attached. I WISH I took a picture of the stone KAY tried to sell me). On top of that a competitor had an 18k gold band while Kay offered...

My husband bought my engagement ring and wedding band set from Kay’s in August 2018. Since that time, the staff at this location has treated me wonderfully. Everyone is so friendly and the majority of them remember me when I go to get my set cleaned. One month prior to our wedding, one of the employees noticed the diamond in my engagement ring was loose. It was then shipped out and returned to me quickly within a single week. Additionally, the employee working with me was patient and confirmed the serial number of my diamond to assuage my paranoia that it wasn’t switched (haha). We originally decided to get my husband’s wedding band from Kay’s. However, after purchasing it, my husband determined he was not satisfied with the particular style and wanted to return it. Despite it being outside the return window by a day or so, the manager was willing to work with us and allowed us to return it, making the process very simple. The only downside with Kay’s in general (not this location) is their customer service as it relates to their payment program. The customer service representative at their national call center was rude and unwilling to assist after my husband’s credit card with his bank (not the Kay’s card) was charged for the remaining balance due on my rings after he was assured this wouldn’t happen. The representative insisted he didn’t carefully read the terms, which was not true; furthermore, another representative had verbally indicated the balance would not be accelerated. Overall, this Kay’s location is fantastic, but Kay’s corporate needs some work in...