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I'm trying hard not to write this review simply to vent my spleen but to give others like me who may not be experienced with jewelry a heads-up.

I recently had my local Zales store size my engagement ring down and I felt I was taken advantage of. I have very little experience with jewelry and admittedly didn't know what questions to ask - the sales people certainly weren't forthcoming with information.

My engagement ring, which I did not purchase at Zales, needed to be made a size and a half smaller. Basically they were going to cut 3mm of the 18k gold out of the bottom of the band, solder it back together and do some sort of dip (since it is white gold.) When I dropped it off, I assumed that the gold would be returned to me since it is MINE. Actually it didn't occur to me that they wouldn't give it back so I never verified this.

After I had dropped my ring off, a friend of mine who IS a an expert about jewelry asked if I requested to get the gold back, and advised me to demand it back if they didn't. When I went to pick up my ring, sure enough they didn't give back my gold. When I was told "we just don't do that," I informed her that it was MY gold and if they were going to take my gold, it was kind of like charging me twice. The sales lady then backpedaled and told me that if a customer wants their gold back when a ring is sized down, they need to specify that at the time they drop the ring off and that they charge $10 to retrieve the gold. At this point, I got the feeling she was flat-out lying to me and covering her tracks. I asked her if that was the case, why wasn't I made aware of that option at the time I dropped off my ring? (She had no good answer for that.)

After I got home I called another Zales and inquired about their sizing services, and asked if they return gold that has been removed from a band. I was told they do not, so apparently it is corporate policy. Nice little racket they have going there. By the time they're done sizing down a few bands, they have the material they need to make another piece of jewelry, and they never have to pay for materials. I will be going to a local jeweler from now on - one who was recommended for his service and honesty, and yes, one who has told me it's his regular practice to return his customers' gold to them.

Location: Boulder, Colorado

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Guest

This happened to my mother and I with a birthday present ring that we had to get sized down three sizes. We ordered it from another store online and used the printable zales sizing helper.

It was horribly inaccurate and the first time they sized my ring they did it improperly and had to send it back again. When we went to pick it up it was the right size, but we did not receive the extra white gold. Other jewelry stores give back what's your's, but zales does not.

We are still waiting to get another email so we can pick up the gold. That will be the fourth trip to the store for a simple sizing.

Guest

well no jewelers returns the bit of gold they cut out. you will never be able to do anything with it.

The dipping you referring to is plating. your white gold is plated. Thats why i do not understated why people bother buying white gold.

Gold is never white its yellow gold with added white metals to lighten the color but its never truly white, its a muddy yellow so they have to "plate it" they plate it with the same substance they plate sterling silver with. so if you want white you migh as well just buy sterling silver

Guest

When Ben Moss jewellers made my channel-set anniversary ring 1/2 size smaller, it also came back thinner and lighter on the underside of the band. They scraped away some of the width of the band.

Because this had happened to me once before, I told the saleperson I wanted to see no difference in the width of the band. She assured me it would be exactly the same. Well it's not. I feel Ben Moss ruined one of my most important pieces of jewelry.

NOw, sad to say, it looks cheap and light. I'm extremely angry about it.

Guest

Most of you are wrong.Gold does get cut out of a ring to make it smaller.The tiny piece falls into a lap tray that catches gold filings, dust etc.I've done more than 10 thousand ring sizings over 23+ years & If a customer asks for the gold back ahead of time, I'd gladly return it. The rhodium plating is always done for white gold.

Another thing...NO jeweler is going to re-use your tiny piece of gold to size your ring up.We use CLEAN, rhodium free gold, not scrap pieces.

Guest

it's probably not be the corporate end, but the individual store or salesperson/craftsman that is ripping you off- scraping the gold, swapping diamonds, etc etc

Guest

First, the gold does not get cut out of the ring to size it down.

Second, if it did then your ring would constantly break where the gold was cut out.

The ring gets cut and the gold his heated and shaped to make a smaller size and then buffed back into shape. The excess gold turns into tiny shavings.

All gold comes out of the ground YELLOW, which is why white gold gets rhodium plated to make it white. It will always be a YELLOW color when the rhodium wears off. Which it does depending on your body chemistry.

Guest

Just an FYI--check with 99.9% of all jewelers---none of them return the gold from sizing a ring. Most of it either gets filed away in the sizing.

As far as you keeping that "peice" of gold for further sizing....a good jeweler would never use it to size up.

Don't get me wrong---a lot of people request "their" gold back. Maybe if the store just took some time to explain why this isn't done in the industry--then you would have felt better about the process??

Guest

In case you didn't know, not only when a ring is sized the gold that is take out is small but if a good company does it it puts the gold back into the ring by means of smoothing out the surface of the ring. keeping the width of the band the same.

So there is no gold left over. Zales doesn't not make their jewelry it is bought from vendors that sells to other companies as well. They have no use for your little to nothing gold. They don't sell chunks of gold either.

So your delusions of zales is stealing your gold is absurd!

What are they going to do with all the SUPPOSLY stolen gold? Look at it!

Guest

nuts, how apropos your handle is.

Regardless of how much gold is removed during a sizing (3mm in my case), the fact remains it was MINE. I understand it is a minuscule amount, but it sure would have come in handy if I ever have to get the ring enlarged - the gold would have matched perfectly, now, who knows? And "most of the time" the gold is not used to make more jewelry? Unacceptable!

Now go away until you can learn how to make your points without resorting to calling people "idiots". Go on now, shoo.

Guest

you are all nuts about the gold being stolen. Do you really now how much gold comes off in a sizing?

Not much and most of the time it is molded into the ring not used to make more jewelery.

And as far as scraping the gold off, you are an ***. You cant just scrape gold off!!!!!!!!

Guest

my experience involves a purchase my husband MADE at zales. when my husband i were first married he purchased a ring for me from Zales along with the extended policy(we were younger and starting out, didn't have much money; but he managed to save some money away for a diamond cluster ring for me).

after further inspection of my diamond ring, i noticed some diamonds that were dark grey, some that weren't even whole but noticibly chipped (and mind you this is with the naked eye not those magnifiers). i took my ring in numerous times and they said they didn't see anything wrong. finally i marked the diamonds with a water soluble marker. they admitted at this point that my stones needed replacing.

flash forward 2-3 weeks later, i head back to zales to pick up my ring and the diamonds are NOT replaced. and to top it all off, the ring is noticibly lighter and looking at the inner band i can see where gold has been scraped OFF of my ring!!!! of course, they TOTALLY denied this, but it was pretty obvious. i was livid!

i still can't wear that ring to this day (almost 10 years later). Don't waste your time purchasing from this store.

Guest

Thanks for the info. I didn't know to ask for gold back, and I need two morris and david rings sized. I would not trust to just any jewelry store.

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