With Some Jewelry Clients, No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

A customer came IN for a sizing of an engagement ring purchased at Walmart. We performed this and the customer picked up the ring and left. We got a call later saying his fiancée was in tears because the diamond was not the same. We invited them both to come in. While my husband tried to assure them this would be impossible and that no stone is worth the reputation of our business, I was looking up the SKU on the Walmart website to get a picture of the ring. It was a perfect match to the ring in hand: a round stone in a bright mounting. The bride-to-be insisted the stone was more square in shape. I was ready to ask them to leave, but my husband was feeling generous and o ered them any stone they wished to match her “memory” for no charge. She chose a cushion cut stone that was much larger than her original diamond and would require us to remove the bright setting and make further modifications. They accepted this arrangement, we ordered the stone and modified the ring. It turned out beautifully! They came, picked it up and left. A week later, they contacted us to say her ring had been stolen. They wanted us to provide a full description of the ring. I told my husband to direct them to the Walmart website and end all contact. — Gloria H., Topeka, KS