Dear Greg,
As a former concierge, I know more
about customer service than the average person. After all,
I had a job that, at its most basic level, was completely about
making people happy. It is so seldom these days that you
receive what can be called good customer service, and I was
starting to believe that excellent customer service was
absolutely impossible. Impossibility turned to reality when my
husband, Paul, found RingDesigner.com. This comment can't
really be appreciated until you know our background. . .
It all started in December 2000.
Paul decided that for our tenth wedding anniversary he wanted
to turn my diamond solitaire engagement ring into a three-stone
anniversary ring. Doesn't sound too hard so far,
right? For sentimental reasons, I was against trading my
original diamond for something better, so we were going to try
and use it as one of the side stones in the new ring. With
appraisal in hand, Paul began searching the different web sites
for a stone matching the specifications of my original diamond.
He thought he found one at Mondera.com, ordered it, received it,
and, because he couldn't wait, put it in the toe of my Christmas
stocking. I was totally surprised when I finally got around
to emptying my stocking on Christmas night! After
Christmas, Paul took the new stone and my engagement ring to a
reputable local jeweler for an opinion on whether they matched.
He was told that they would make great earrings; then, the
salesperson tried to sell him a three-stone ring that was in the
store. The end result was that Paul sent the diamond back to
Mondera and purchased a new center stone, a 1.4 carat
emerald-cut diamond, set in a yellow gold Tiffany mounting.
He gave this to me for our ninth anniversary in January 2001.
At this point, the true search for a
matching side stone began. Mondera.com began looking, and
finally, in June 2001, asked that we send them my original
diamond to make matching it easier. We did this, and by
August, they still couldn't find a match. My original diamond
is emerald-cut, 0.72 carats, and because it was more rectangular
than square, they were having a hard time matching it.
They suggested we cut the diamond because it had a small flaw.
Cutting it would make it a more valuable stone and would make
it easier for them to match. We agreed to cutting it, and
it was sent to Israel to be cut. Paul e-mailed them weekly for
updates, but after we agreed to cut it, our original contact
left the company. That was when things really got
interesting. By October, our stone was still in
Israel. Our new contact was slow to answer emails or respond to
messages left on her voice mail. We were beginning to think
we'd never see our original diamond again, much less find a
match for it. In November, we got the new specs on our diamond.
It was now 0.52 carats, and Mondera was still looking for a
match. At this point, it looked like I wasn't going to
have a ring for our anniversary in January.
In December, Paul started reading
the message boards at Diamondtalk.com. This is where
he found RingDesigner.com. He also found USA Certed
Diamonds. USA Certed Diamonds had two stones on their web
site that, from the specs, appeared to match. Paul ordered
them, we received them, and, while they match based on their
specs, visually they were totally different. Disappointed,
we returned them. You know the rest from here, but it goes
like this. After going back to RingDesigner.com, Paul sent you
an email. It was a few days before Christmas. Much
to our total amazement, you promptly replied and stated to
work with us, all the while assuring Paul that we would have a
beautiful emerald-cut, three-stone anniversary ring by our
anniversary, January 11. Anyone out there who wants to buy
a diamond should know that in a matter of weeks you accomplished
what other jewelers had been working at for at least six months,
kept us informed every step of the way, and even took time on
Christmas Eve to communicate with us. Believe me, if we lived
on the West Coast, I would've been at your house assembling toys
and wrapping presents! It took a few days, and numerous e-mails
between you and Paul, but you found us two beautiful
side-stones, 0.80 and 0.78 carats. You Federal Expressed
me platinum mountings to look at after you found out how
hesitant I was to have the diamonds mounted before seeing the
mounts. Best of all, you let me wait until the
last possible instant to send you my solitaire. After Mondera
had had my other diamond for seven months, you realized exactly
how hesitant I was to part with another one! And, true to
your word, Federal Express delivered my new ring on January 10,
2002.
Well, it has taken me a whole week
to get used to the idea that the ring is mine! It is
absolutely beautiful, but I must admit that I was totally
overwhelmed by it when Paul gave it to me last Friday. I
had tried on a few at different jewelry stores, but they didn't
prepare me at all. We actually had to go out and look at
inferior rings on Saturday because I was so overwhelmed by
it. At first I just couldn't imagine wearing something so
exquisite every day. I thought maybe I'd have to get an
every day ring and only wear this one when I dress up. But
then I realized that that is totally ridiculous! It is so
beautiful and gives me joy, and that is what it is meant for.
I thought you'd want to hear from
me, not just Paul's impressions of how I felt. Thank you
so much for all your hard work. You made this ring a
reality for me. I really thought it was never going to
happen, and that my husband was going to lose his mind in the
process! If you need a referral, I would definitely be
glad to provide one. I can't say enough about your
professionalism and truly outstanding customer service.
Instead of feeling like we were dealing with someone who just
wanted to sell us something, we felt like you truly cared what
we wanted and strived to work with us to make sure everything
came out perfectly. You weren't just a faceless company
selling diamonds, but a friend helping us make our tenth
anniversary perfect! Thank you.
Sharon
