True Tales - INSTOREMAG.COM

Humor: This Client Had an Unreasonable Request

INSTORE Staff — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 00:08:15 +0000

A guy asked us to resize his wife’s wedding ring, but he did not know any information as to what size. He just asked us to do it. We did not. — Bruce Bragg Jr., Coffrin Jewelers, Sarasota, FL

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Humor: This Former Marine Had a Burning Desire

INSTORE Staff — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 04:00:02 +0000

A guy asked Julie to make an earring for him out of his deceased wife’s engagement ring. She did. Then he asked her to solder it shut in his ear with her torch (this predated the permanent jewelry fad). When she told him the temperature needed to melt the gold in his ear, he said, ‘Go ahead and do it. I can take it. I am a Marine.’ We passed on the solder job — can you imagine the smell? — Cliff Yankovich, Chimera Design, Lowell, MI

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When This Jeweler Decided to Start Charging to Measure Ring Sizes, He Wasn’t Counting on This Customer

INSTORE Staff — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 04:02:23 +0000

Got tired of sizing people’s fingers so they could go buy a ring on the internet and decided to start charging for it. A few days later, I got a call from a young woman who said she needed to get her finger measured, and I said OK but I charge $50 for it. She didn’t hesitate and said that would be fine and she would be by shortly. When she finally came in, she sat on one of my benches in my store and starting looking at her hands. Then she started weeping and couldn’t stop. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me that she didn’t know which finger to measure because her fiancé had died and his mother wanted to have a ring made for her with his ashes in it. I gently suggested she use her right-hand ring finger, and she agreed. I measured her and then she pulled out her credit card. Needless to say, there was no way I could charge her after that! I just sent her on her way. So now I just refuse to measure fingers unless the rings are being purchased from me. — Daniel Spirer, Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, Cambridge, MA

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Humor: This Client Was All Dirt and No Pay

INSTORE Staff — Thu, 04 May 2023 01:41:40 +0000

A guest told us he had found some pure gold and asked if we could sort through and test it. We, of course, said we could, not knowing … He proceeded to bring in a cooler filled with dirt for us to “sort through.” He insisted there was gold in there and talked a sales associate into checking it, saying we could take our time. One of our staff graciously sifted through it to find a tiny amount of pyrite. We called the guest to say we found no gold and only a small amount of pyrite and to please pick up your cooler of dirt. He never returned, and the cooler sat in a corner in the back room for years until we threw it out. Never again! — Katrina Sustachek, Rasmussen Diamonds, Racine, WI

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This Customer Gave The Salesperson a $500 Tip

INSTORE Staff — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 01:03:41 +0000

(During the pandemic) after a couple of months going back and forth on a custom design sketch (customer kept making changes), when the job was complete, my customer reached over and kissed my hand through his mask and gave me a $500 tip. He said I was very patient with him and his platinum and diamond band came out exactly as he envisioned it. Not to say but I took the tip happily. — Lyla Ismael, Lyla Jewelers, Oak Lawn, IL

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Humor: That Time Mr. Clean Came to Visit

INSTORE Staff — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 02:19:19 +0000

I was helping a customer on a Saturday, and she had brought her husband along to pick up her new wedding band. While they were sitting there checking out, her husband asked if he could use our restroom. Typically, I don’t let the public use our restroom, but they were nice and spending some money on an expensive band, so I said sure. I hear him wrestling around in there, and he was in there for almost 20 minutes. By the time he came out, I had already rung her up and we were just shooting the breeze waiting for him. They said thank you and left, so I went in to check the damage. Turns out the guy found the Clorox wipes, cleaned the facility first, then got himself his own new toilet paper roll, made himself at home and did his business. I have never seen this in our store before and didn’t know what to think. At first, I thought, ‘Who does this?’ But then I couldn’t help but laugh that he made himself at home. At least he was clean! — Marc M., Midland, TX

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Humor: One Jeweler’s Great Service is Another’s … Waste of Time

INSTORE Staff — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 08:50:44 +0000

WITH ALL THE COVID issues, we offered curbside service and delivery. Along comes a young mother who wants small hoops or studs that won’t come out of her 1-year-old’s ears. After being shocked that what she wants costs $500, she settles on a pair of sleepers for $35. Then asks us if we can deliver them to her home for free. I am sure some jewelers would say that is what great customer service is about, but I would humbly disagree and say that is how time is wasted. The offer was made to mail the item or arrange a delivery service … at a cost. — David B., Calgary, AB

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I’ll Be Back to Pick It Up … As Soon as I Get Out of Prison

INSTORE Staff — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 03:00:48 +0000

A man dropped off a pocketwatch with my father-in-law for repairs. He came back 25 years later to pick it up. Another time, a guy dropped off a bag of watches for batteries. He came back five years later after he got out of prison. The batteries were all dead and we had a hard time getting him to pay for new cells, but he eventually did. — Contributed anonymously to the 2022 Big Survey

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True Tales: Sometimes Your Refund Policy Is No Match for the Waterworks

INSTORE Staff — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 23:45:29 +0000

A gentleman bought a nice bracelet for a woman he’d been seeing the past few months. He was proud of what he picked out and was excited to give it to her as a token of his love. A few days after Christmas, he called asking about our return policy, which is store credit only. The cost of the bracelet was $3,000 and he really wanted a full refund returned to his credit card, which I (the store manager) could not authorize, so I encouraged him to come in person to appeal to our owner. When the gentleman came in, an employee asked how they could help him, and he started crying in the middle of the store, saying he bought this bracelet for the wrong girl who broke up with him and said she couldn’t accept his gift. The owner refused, but the man starts crying harder, saying, “Well, who else am I going to buy any jewelry for? I don’t have anyone else to give this bracelet to!” The owner felt so bad, she refunded the full amount to his credit card and gave him a box of tissues along with suggestions of some good dating sites. — Rebecca Larson, Barry Peterson Jewelers, Ketchum, ID

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Humor: This Customer Was Angry That The Store Was Open on a Monday

INSTORE Staff — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 05:36:53 +0000

“We have never opened on Monday. However, we open Mondays after Thanksgiving through Christmas. A new customer came in very mad that we were open on Monday but it wasn’t written on our door. ‘And yet here you are!’” — Rick Nichols, Nassau Jewelry, Fernandina Beach, FL

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