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My wife bought me a tungsten ring from Tungsten World when we got married in September of 2007. I was very excited to get a ring that I really wanted for a reasonable price and a warranty. After only 5 months of wearing it, the ring became tarnished, accumulated several scratches and completely lost its luster. When I contacted Tungsten World to exercise my lifetime warranty, I got this form letter:
"I am concerned about the trouble you are having with the ring. I am not exactly sure what to say about the issue as I do not know what the origination of the problem could be as of now ... blah blah blah"
So when I spoke with the customer service reps, they referred me to the lifetime warranty policies on their site:
http://www.tungstenworld.com/lifetime-replacement/
It states that in order for me to exercise my warranty, I need to pay $50. It was 5 months after my wedding, it was just $50 so I figured I would pay it and move on with my life. That was a mistake.
5 months pass and I wandered into the same exact boat. The replacement ring tarnished even worse this time. same complaint - same form letter - same exact situation. I refuse to pay another $50 for yet another defective ring again so I've been wearing this tarnished memento for over a year now. It's a daily reminder of how Tungsten World took me for a ride.
I now understand why Tungsten World offers the warranty they do. Obviously, customers have to use the warranty due to the shoddy quality of the rings they sell. Granted you can pay their $50 deductible and get a new one, but what would be the point when 5 or 6 months we will need to do it all over again and blow another $50?
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Tungsten carbide rings do not oxidize in air, but they do react to chemicals, particularly chlorine. Based on how tap water is treated, merely washing your hands with plain water will eventually cause tungsten carbide to tarnish. So, the claim by any seller that TC rings are basically indestructible is pretty much a lie.
I bought a diamond inlay wedding band from Tungsten world and it cracked within 2 months. I got a replacement ring and that cracked as well. I work in an office so it wasn't damaged due to abuse. I would strongly recommend that you do not buy a diamond inlay tungsten ring as a wedding band as you want the ring you get on your wedding day to be the ring you have for life. I ended up exchanging my ring for other jewellery and bought a titanium diamond inlay band from somewhere else, so far so good. Again, DO NOT BUY A DIAMOND INLAY RING FROM TUNGSTEN WORLD.
Here's an update to my previous post. I contacted Tungsten World and explained how the ring purchased back in 2008 had oxidized despite their website's claim that it would not. I was told that my ring may be defective and that I should send it in for replacement. I asked if they would consider waiving the $50 replacement fee and, after the agent consulted his manager, they replied that they would if the oxidation on the ring was caused by defective materials or workmanship. So I sent the ring in and promptly received a shiny new ring within two days at no charge. The agent was very polite, the replacement fee was waived, and the faulty ring was promptly replaced. What more can I ask for? I'm hoping this new ring will retain it's shine over the years. At this time I'm very happy with Tungsten World's customer support and their products. I've attached a photo of the oxidized ring (on the right) next to a new stainless ring (the one with blue stripes) for comparison. The new ring has a perfect polish (second photo).
The tungsten carbide ring I purchased from Tungsten World a few years ago is also tarnished now. It's finish now appears dull and hazy around the entire circumference which is surprising since I always remove my ring when working in the yard, washing the car, etc... I haven't had any trouble with scratches though. I'm going to call for a warranty replacement and will let you all know how it goes. The company should waive the $50 replacement fee but we will see how that goes. If they don't then I will probably throw the ring away and purchase one from a different company. I would have to say that I feel a little taken in by the wording on the site's advertising stating that these rings will never lose their polish. I'm hoping the replacement wears better than the first.
I ordered this ring for my fiance a few weeks ago. It arrived in a very timely fashion (2 days), but it had a line through it underneath the finish so I was a little sad about it. When I called, the man I spoke to told me I could return it and get a new one... great! Oh, except for the 20 dollar handling fee and the 10 dollars in shipping I would have had to pay. So I don't get what I ordered and I get dinged for it? No thanks! It could have been a classy ring that hopefully would have lasted forever, but I'm not paying to fix their mistake.
I ended up just returning the ring (still 30 bucks... but 30 bucks spent knowing that going through Zales will give me better customer service for a lifetime). They charge me 20 dollars to return a defective product... Zales will charge me 20 dollars to give us a brand new ring if WE break it. You tell me... what's the better deal?
Long story short: Fast shipping does not mean product quality. Sorry guys.
http://nyafterthoughts.wordpress.com/2009/12/28/my-defection-from-tungsten-world/ I am a very happy customer of Tungsten World. So much so after buying our wedding bands I am returning to buy a watch. The above link has a more detailed opinion from me as to the complaints filed again the company. I surest anyone looking to buy a piece of jewelry really read the reviews before basing a decision off complaint boards with similar sounding content and pay attention to start dates a reply. A smart consumer will see the pattern.
I had a feeling I could not have been the only person out there that was ripped off by Tungsteworld. After seeing all these responses from victims and from the company itself, I now see their crooked business practices have affected many other people out there. I bought ring about a year ago and experienced what the (first guy who put up a post) experienced also. After reading everyone's comments, I also suspect the few people who posted postive reviews saying they love paying $50 for replacement rings must have been the company's employees who were ordered to write postive comments to convice readers to disregard the comments of REAL customers who had REAL bad experiences. I like how the owner states that depending on your lifestyle one of their rings could have more or less wear. Well, the 2nd comment by "Merbeen" states that her husband has owned his ring for 3 years. So how is it the owner of a company even admits all of their rings are not perfect and exhibit some type of wear, but this happy customer says their ring looks like they just got it after 3 years? I am guessing it is either because it wasn't 3 years, and it was more like 3 days, or the comment was put up there by Tungstenworld to covince people not to believe all the victims. Only after more came forward, does the company now admit there are problems with their rings. The comment by "AlexB" also seems suspicious because that person also says their ring looks good as new, yet the owner of Tungstenworld admits their rings will show some signs of wear. So, now we finally get the truth. The funny thing is, after admitting their products are inferior the owner trys to save the company's image by saying they have the most advanced products. Baloney! The first sentence "What matters most to our success are our CUSTOMERS!" is [censor] backwards. If you ar gong to lie about loving your customers, lie the correct way. Shouldn't you have said, "What matters most to us is our customers"? By saying "What matters most to your success", you are showing you place profits above people. We all know many companies who rip people off care more about profits than people, but thank you for showing that to the world.
To all our valued customers,
I am the owner of TungstenWorld.com and I am highly concerned about any issues related to our customers. Since everyone these days leads such highly active lifestyles it is important to note that some people will experience more or less wear than others. With that being said, I'd like to be as open as possible with the online community AND be the first internet retailer to let you all know that there is NO perfect product, just more advanced products than others, such as our Tungsten rings.
What matters most to our success are our CUSTOMERS! Our company has been proud to retail ONLY Tungsten rings since Tunsgten's first emmergence over 5 years ago. This is many times longer than the majority of all other retails online today, since many of them will go out of business within the first year. It may be difficult to do any sort of sizing exchange or lifetime warranty years down the line with companies like those.. :-/
It can also be frustrating sometimes with websites like ComplaintsBoards.com that "pop up" all of a sudden and get Google's attention. Unfortunately Google is still catching up on things..and they are still sending people to these JUNK these without ever doing background checks on them!
See the complaints about Complaintsboard.com:
http://complaintsboard.pissedconsumer.com/complaintsboard-com-is-unfair-for-not-verifying-complaints-about-our-company-20080825132786.html
Most importantly, please read the reviews on our site and and products for VERIFIED information about the true reputation of our company:
http://www.tungstenworld.com/testimonials/
http://www.tungstenworld.com/MATTINO-Tungsten-Carbide-Brushed-Mens-Wedding-Ring/
(see product review)
I can personally guarantee that we will continue to provide the most superior quality Tungsten rings at prices FAR below retail along with the highest level of service to ALL our customers, or your money back!
Tungsten World would like to thank all its past customers for you valued support,
The Tungsten World Team
Reviews are great! I WAS going to buy my ring from Tungsten World but after reading these complaints I will try another website.
Thanks everyone.
Alex from Miami, FL.
I got one of these rings from them for my sons 18th birthday. He is in college now and still wears it. He says its good as new, no problems at all and he has never even had it cleaned. I read their website before I purchased anything (like I always do when shopping online), so I was aware of their warranty policies and the $50 to get another ring. We haven't had to use that at all so I'm sorry to hear about other peoples issues with them, we think they're great! I wonder what could be causing your rings to keep doing that?
Tungsten World is a bad business. I ordered one of their rings 9 months ago, and after reading several complaints I found out they're overcharging people also. Their tax rate is supposed to be 8.75% and when I looked at my receipt, they charged me 9.25%. I don't know how many customers they get everyday, but they're totally ripping everyone off! These people are thieves are I hope their company closes down some day.
I had a bad experience with Tungsten World also. They sold me a defect ring and after a year it turned grey, dull and nasty looking. When you send them an email, you get a form letter. They charged me $199 for a ring that's not worth $1.99. They keep talking about a "Lifetime Warranty" to trick you into buying a ring and when you call they keep talking about their warranty policies and you need to pay them $50 for a replacement.
He accused me of exposing the ring to harsh chemicals as if the defects in the ring were my fault and wanted to just send me a replacement ring. I told him no and I wanted my money back and to return the ring.
He finally gave in when I mentioned the Better Business Bureau and agreed to return my money.
At the end, it took them a month to give me back my money. Stay away from Tungsten World, or they will sell you cheap defective rings.
That's too bad. My husband and I bought our rings from them as well. We have had our's for about 3 now and have had no problems at all.
I haven't even ever had mine cleaned. I wonder what's causing the tarnish? Seems odd. Tungsten only distributes titanium, right? I didn't think that could tarnish.
MER