Dunbar Jewelers — Local services in Yakima

The past several years I’ve mainly had contact with the owners wife, and she’s a real gem of a woman! I’ve always enjoyed going in and visiting with the staff. Early December 2022, I took my wedding set and a diamond eternity band ring to Dunbar’s to have them serviced. This includes checking prongs, rhodium plating, and cleaning. (the owner’s wife told me in December I had a few diamonds loose, which is usual after 6+ months of wear) I do this approximately every six to eight months to prevent losing stones in my rings and to check for any damage. I am aware that stones can be lost regardless of the efforts I put forth, especially small diamonds. To my surprise, I lost a stone in my eternity ring today. It has 80 diamonds (small!), yet the center channel diamonds being a good decent size. I took it in, naturally disappointed at losing one of the large center set stones. I explained to the younger sales woman I had just brought it in for servicing a “few weeks ago” and I was surprised I lost a center stone since they are set between two bands of gold and not just prong set. Nonetheless, I just wanted a quote for repair. Obviously, I’m not going to throw my diamond ring away. She excused herself and eventually returned with a sticky note stating the last time I had my jewelry serviced was in 2019. I had to pull up my checking account transaction on my phone to show her this was not the case. I come every six/eight months. She then said that it was only for a cleaning in December 2022. No it wasn’t. I paid for other services. I’m thinking, does it matter anyway? I just wanted a quote for repair and diamond replacement. She then informed me that two additional diamonds were cracked, so now I have three diamonds needing to be replaced. This was odd, since I just had it serviced and had worn it only a couple times - and limited wear during those times. I had not dropped my ring, banged it, nor done anything that would have cracked two stones and cause one to simply fall out. Still, I know that I, the owner, am ultimately responsible for the wear and tear of the diamond ring. I was not questioning this. Unfortunately, this sales person was wanting to dispute the cause of the damage and even brought to my attention that I had not purchased the ring at Dunbar. She excuses herself again and I could overhear her discussing with the gemologist/repair person the “issue” I had of my ring not being serviced properly and what to do. She sounded annoyed! At this point I’m irritated and feeling defensive. My only request was just to get a quote on repair, not compensation. For heaven’s sake! After returning yet again, I could tell she was stuck on the idea I felt I should be compensated. So, I asked her if she felt that I was responsible for the damage and she just gave a big, exaggerated shrugged. At this point, I wasn’t going to spend the energy trying to change the mind or convince the “friendly-combative” representative and her weird 2019 sticky note. Just listening to customers and what they truly want and not making assumptions would...

Went to several places and was told alterations I wanted for my wife's ring couldn't be done. Spoke to Matt their jeweler, and he said they (everyone else) may not, but he could!

After my visit, I looked at their website to help decide if this was a place where I would get the work done, when everyone else said no. My apprehensions went away when I realized the pics of owners on their site from looks like early 2000's are the same people helping in store!

I love the fact its a family affair, and their son is the jeweler 20yrs later. I have worked as a progressive manager is sales, customer service, and retail myself for over 20 yrs, and I could tell you that their customer service is top notch! No pressure, pushyness, or cheesey. Everyone suited and ultimate class.

Service was great at other places, and even if they (others) could do what I needed, I would have still gone with Dunbar! The difference is other places probably have employees employeed at their location, who need to earn a paycheck. There is nothing wrong with that, but at Dunbar you get family-generations of it with decades of experience.

Will definetly be back for some work on my...

I'd replaced my watch battery. I couldn't get the cover back on. It's not an expensive watch, but was a gift from my late father. I phoned and asked if they could get the back on. The woman I spoke with was genuinely very nice and told me they'd try. I brought the watch in. It's a very nice store. I was dressed in old jeans and a t-shirt. Each person I spoke with treated me very politely and with respect. Matt had to repair the distorted back. When finished, he handed it to me with grace. I'd been worried both that the response to my appearance might be snooty, that they'd either not deem the watch worthy of repair, or do a poor repair. They proved my worries unfounded....