"Golden Guarantee" Shopping?

[Fern Crest]

While in St Thomas, we bought a tanzanite/diamond bracelet from Omni Jewelers, mainly because it was a recommended store, and also because the Cruise Director, Brett Alans, made a very big deal about what good personal friends they were to him, and the "Golden Guarantee" there, where they would take anything back for a refund for 30 days, no questions asked.

 

Two days later, a prong snapped off, and a tanzanite stone came out. We searched, but never found it. No problem, it's from Omni, we'll just send it back. Not really interested in a repair or replacement, because they make their own jewelry there, and if the quality was this poor on this piece, the next piece probably isn't going to be a lot better. We filed a report with the Purser's office, who said that Brett would be contacting us. That didn't happen.

 

However, we filled out the Buyer's Guarantee form and turned it in, so Carnival will back us up on getting our money back, right? We shall see.

 

We called Omni the day after we got home and explained what had happened, and that we wanted to send the bracelet and the matching earrings back. She gave us the address and phone number of the shop in NYC where they make the jewelry. I call them to make sure of the address, and did they need a copy of the receipt? They said they were only going to repair the bracelet, not give a refund.

 

Hmm.

 

The store in St Thomas calls me right after I hung up with the repair shop, saying that I couldn't get a refund, that I'd agreed to get the bracelet repaired. No, I didn't. Then I calmly explain that I was merely following the CD's advice about the "Golden Guarantee" that their shop advertises through the cruise lines. The lady on the phone starts shrieking that I had "Buyer's Remorse", and they didn't offer refunds for that. Again, I calmly stated that I was just following the advice of the CD, and asked if the store had perhaps changed their policy and not let the cruise lines know?

 

I got several bilingual comments, but after a bit a begrudging agreement that I could send the jewelry back, with a copy of the receipt and credit card slip. They'd see what they could do.

 

Not too comfortable with the way this was going, I called Customer Relations, who referred me to PPI Fleet Services. This lady told me that she'd never heard of the "Golden Guarantee", and that all Carnival would do would be to help us get a repair or a replacement. I was quiet for a bit, then she said that they would have someone reveiw the video of the Shopping Talk that the CD had given, and if he made the claim about the 30 day return policy, they'd probably have to honor it.

 

However ...

 

Since there was a prong and a stone missing, they would probably have to charge me for the cost to repair the bracelet.

 

What in the heck?!

 

I'll keep you posted as to what's going on, but hold onto your credit cards for now, Dear Shoppers.

[mc'smom]

Please do keep us posted...

 

I never buy jewellry on the islands..

 

I have a personal jeweller and found his prices to be better than on the islands.

 

What about a warranty with your credit card ?

 

Good luck and be persistant.

 

Lisa

[Stella_Illuminata]

Thank you for the information on that shop. I've never bought jewlery from the island stores, but if I ever do, I'll be sure to stay away from that one. Do keep us posted. :)

 

I wish you alot of luck with your refund! I would have wanted that over a replacement or a fix, as well.

[Zeke3]

My sister had a problem with a bracelet she bought through a Carnival recommended jeweler. I forget which port and all the details but it also broke while on the cruise. I recall she had somewhat of similar circumstances as you but she had to send it back at least twice (maybe three times) and it is still was not repaired properly and broke the first time she would wear it. This process took close to a year until she finally just paid for it herself to be fixed correctly. I wish I could remember all the details but I do remember telling myself to be aware that the "guarantee" is not such a great selling point if I was inclined to buy any jewelry. I wish you luck. Stay persistent!

[Fern Crest]

We called the credit card company, and they were more than happy to file a dispute with Omni Jewelers. The girl was very helpful, and said it would go under the heading of "Merchant Error", and they are sending us the papers to fill out. Shouldn't be a problem to get the charge reversed.

I guess, for me, the oddest part of all this is the hostile attitude of the jewelers. Seems they'd be so incredibly careful to keep customers happy, because word of a bad encounter travels far further than word of a good encounter. For example, not nearly as many people know about the steal we got on a beautiful bracelet we bought from a truly friendly, helpful and engaging man at Diamonds International. (Hee, hee, well, you all know now.)

Even the girl on the phone at Carnival's Customer Relations was shocked, saying that the stores know how much their livelihood depends on the good service that the cruisers report back, and how one bad incident can take a shop off of a "Recommended Store" map.

Anyway, just keeping you posted. :)