James Allen
reviews and complaints

I recently bought a wedding band and engagement ring from James Allen, and I have to say, I was pretty disappointed with my purchase. I opted for a D, VS1 cushion cut diamond, but when I received it, I noticed that there were two obvious shadows in the center of the diamond that looked like eyeballs. It was pretty distracting and made the diamond look less appealing than I had hoped.

I decided to exchange the diamond for another D, VS1, hoping that the new one would be better. Unfortunately, it was even worse than the first one. This time, there were four large shadows around the edges of the diamond, making it look terrible. I tried to find a replacement within the 30-day exchange period, but I couldn't find anything that I liked.

Eventually, I reached out to James Allen outside of the 30-day exchange period to see if there was anything I could do. I was extremely unhappy with my purchase and wanted to see if there were any options available to me. Unfortunately, the response I received was not very helpful. I was told that my diamond was beautiful and that the shadows were just from the setting. However, the first diamond didn't look as bad and had shadows in different areas, so I wasn't convinced.

The only options I was given were to upgrade if I spent double the cost or to sell it to a jewelry broker. Neither of these options were very appealing to me, and I was left feeling frustrated and disappointed. I don't think I'll be buying any more products from James Allen in the future, and I'm pretty sure I'm stuck with this ugly diamond that looks like it has huge flaws.

My experience with James Allen has been pretty terrible. They take your money fast, but don't expect your order to arrive anytime soon. The shipping process is slow and you'll be left in limbo for weeks. The communication is terrible, and the people on the phone are short and uninterested in helping you out. I spoke to a woman who laughed when I said I would be posting a review.

They give you a shipment date when you order, but don't expect to receive your purchase anywhere near that date. I was told that the inspection process can take weeks to complete, and they blamed the weather for the delay. The weather? Really?

I suggest taking your business elsewhere. I spent several thousand dollars with them, only to be given the runaround. I may even cancel my purchase and look into legal options.

Their financing is also a waste of time. They use TD card services, who are even worse when it comes to customer service. They don't even answer the phone, and I waited over an hour one day before giving up. You can look up this company online, and you'll find nothing but bad reviews.

In conclusion, I would not recommend James Allen to anyone. They're slow, uncommunicative, and uninterested in helping their customers. Save yourself the trouble and go somewhere else.

I gotta say, I'm pretty frustrated with my experience with James Allen. I bought a super expensive ring from them, but ended up returning it. They got the ring back on March 8th, and I was told that I'd get my refund within 2 weeks. I called them on March 15th to check in, and they said everything was good on their end and that they just needed my bank details. They sent me an email confirming that I'd get a credit card refund within 3 days and an ACH refund within 2 weeks.

But here's the thing - it's been 2 weeks since March 15th, not March 8th like I was expecting. I did get a partial refund on my credit card within 3 days, but I've been waiting and waiting for the ACH refund. I've called James Allen multiple times to ask what's going on, and they keep blaming the bank system for taking so long. But I know that ACH transfers usually only take 3-5 days, so what's the deal?

On March 29th, I still hadn't seen any money come through, so I called James Allen again. They said they were "working on it." The next day, they called me and said they'd just initiated an ACH transfer - not a wire transfer like they'd said before. When I asked when I'd actually have the money in my account, the manager said it should be the next day. But honestly, at this point, I don't even know what to believe. They've lied to me before about when the refund was issued, so who's to say they won't lie again?

The worst part is that I have to sell some stocks to pay my credit card bill on April 4th, and I have no idea when I'll actually have the money from James Allen. I've wasted so much time on this - between the wait times, hold times, and dropped calls, it's been a total nightmare. And to top it all off, James Allen wants me to wire them money, but they can't even return my funds in a timely manner. If you're super rich and don't need your money for a week, then maybe James Allen's refund policy won't be a big deal for you. But if you're like me and live in the real world, I'd definitely think twice before buying from them.

The earrings were as expected but the delivery was a terrible experience. Be warned if you are not based in the US. - they did not warn me that I still had to pay all taxes and duties - I am sure is buried somewhere in the T&Cs but not where a regular customer would see it - they did not warn me that my earrings would be held at customs - they refused to give any assistance or advice on how to get the items released and delivered to me - customer service said was all my responsibility and nothing to do with them even though they chose the carrier and method - they had not given the carrier my phone number or given me the invoice details I needed to communicate with FedEx - after several phone calls and long hold times I eventually managed to get my earrings released A very frustrating experience which could be easily avoided if they cared about customer service.

Several other reviews / complaints have been left with the same story. I ordered from JamesAllen for two reasons: they had what I wanted AND they promised a very fast delivery. When I put in the order I was told (and I confirmed this on the chat function that day) that shipping would be today with FedEx overnight to arrive on Tuesday. Since I was looking for fast delivery of a wedding band, I chose JamesAllen. Today I call to check delivery status, just to make sure, and I am told that it is not shipping until next week. This is a simple band, nothing special, no diamonds etc. As expected the defense was that they care about the quality etc, but it does not take much to accurately estimate expected delivery date for something like this. So, I'm starting to believe they highly exaggerate their speed just to lure you in. I'm very disappointed as I really wanted this band before Thursday. If I'd known this, I would have bought one in town instead.

I know it's a real diamond because it came with the IGI certificate. But when I received it, I took it to a good friend who is GIA certified. He tested it with a Presidium Diamond Multi Tester, and it did NOT test as a diamond. When I called James Allen to inquire why an HPHT diamond would not test as a diamond, I received a response indicating that the metals in an HPHT diamond will sometimes cause it to not test as a diamond. She also told me earth-mined diamonds sometimes do not test as diamonds. My GIA friend told me the second part of her explanation is complete BS, that of the thousands of earth mined diamonds he has examined and tested, they have ALL tested as a diamond with the Presidium Multi Tester. SO, it is a beautiful stone. I'll give them that. But James Allen should tell you up front BEFORE you purchase an HPHT diamond that it will not test positive if you take it to a jeweler. Which in turn, may affect an appraisal from a third party. Just a heads up.

Bought a classic comfort fit platinum wedding band for my partner. The fit was perfect ! He had bought some cheap rings from Amazon to try on first as we were keen to get the sizing right as we live in the U.K. Turns out British size P (US size 7.5) is a little snug on his finger but the Q (8) is a little loose. The comfort fit size 7.5 from James Allen however turned out to be a perfect fit. It only took slightly over a week for us to receive the ring and it was packaged beautifully. We were kept updated throughout. We also used the chat function on the JA website several times and all of our questions were answered promptly. There is also an import/custom duty tax calculator on the JA website (I missed this the first time round as the calculator is not visible when accessing the JA website on a mobile) which allows international customers like us to ascertain the total cost before making a purchase. First class service from JA throughout and we are delighted with the ring !

My purchase from JamesAllen.com came from the New York City location and was shipped super fast. I loved everything about the ring, unfortunately, I had decided that the diamond was too small and changed my mind about ordering a Lab Grown diamond vs a Natural Mined diamond. Lab Grown diamonds are less harmful to the planet and do not have the reputation of being a conflict derived material as diamonds often are. Plus the fact that Lab Grown diamonds are 60-70 percent cheaper than mined diamonds, and is a real diamond. It's not a cheap knock off like some have suggested. Same chemical structure, same inclusions, same colors, same carat's, same cut, same clarities.

Thank you to JamesAllen.com for your 30-day free return policy so I can buy my girl a larger rock. JamesAllen.com is the *** of jewelry stores. No lie...

Wish I could give 0 stars. I designed my engagement ring and (to my knowledge) it came on time. I wore it the day my fiancé proposed, then took it off and kept it in the box as I don't need to wear it during a quarantine in my house. I put it back on (2nd time I wore it) before going to visit my grandmother to show her the ring. I was taking laundry out of the drying machine, and the ring got caught on a denim belt loop and BROKE. 1 of the 2 prongs holding the diamond was clean off after 5 days of owning the ring and wearing it twice. We could have saved the $10,000 and went to Target and found something that lasted longer. I called customer service to say I wanted to return the ring, as even if I get a new setting I'm not going to trust that it won't break again and the next time the entire diamond will fall off and be lost. The customer service woman I spoke to said even though I only had it for 5 days, it can't be returned it it's broken. Thankfully my fiancé called and spoke to someone else who was quite pleasant to refund our money. Will be deterring all of my friends and family from purchasing such low-quality jewelry.

Buying an engagement ring for the second time 35 years later was a very different experience. Being "old school", I first shopped some of the high quality jewelry stores and always left feeling like I lacked some confidence in my consultant's knowledge or advice, or I felt like the selection and options were limited. After reviewing on-line alternatives, and spending significant time on another site, I found James Allen. The selection of diamonds and settings presented an endless option of styles and prices. I learned a significant amount from the diamond advisors regarding the specific criteria that were important to me: How to balance Color, Cut, Clarity, Carat... and fluorescence (?!) given a particular price range. My consultant was invaluable in this regard. Once I selected the setting and stone, it became necessary to determine ring size. The sizing guide on the James Allen site was unique in my shopping experience, and proved invaluable and ACCURATE! I placed the order and crossed my fingers that the company could honor the delivery date, as I planned on a Christmas Day proposal. Customer service kept me apprised of the process, and the order shipped on time. A Christmas season hiccup with Fedex proved harmless, and the ring made for a very special proposal and more importantly, the woman of my dreams absolutely adores her ring. Thank You James Allen from a very satisfied customer.

Four months after my fiance proposed at the start of COVID, 3 diamonds fell out of the ring without any damage on my end. I'd been doing nothing but working on the computer, and they just came out. The process of sending the ring back to be repaired was long and tedious. Despite my warranty, they at first told us we'd have to pay for the repair, and then they said it would be free unless they found damage when they inspected it. There was little helpful communication throughout this process. When my package was supposed to be shipped back to me - it was never delivered. The claims process was EVEN LONGER than the original processes. I have contacted them every ten days for the past 5 to 7 weeks. I just received an email that they have decided - WITHOUT speaking to their shipper (confirmed by FedEx), WITHOUT contacting my apartment for camera views of the delivery or lack thereof (confirmed with Building Management and Corporate Office), and WITHOUT double checking the address sent to, personnel, person who signed for the package (confirmed with FedEx), etc. - that they will NOT BE REPLACING OR REFUNDING the order THEY LOST through the shipper and shipping methods THEY CHOSE! I am LIVID! My wedding is 3 weeks away, and after they'd been telling us we'd have the ring in time for the wedding - here we stand. I will NEVER recommend this company to ANYONE EVER! Do NOT BUY FROM JAMES ALLEN! It is truly NOT worth it!

Where do I start? First off, received a extremely poorly made ring that actually made it through "Inspection". What I received was a god awful band, the stone was nice sure. But come on. I get that it's a discounted jewelry retailer but the jewelers at James Allen seem to just be concerned with slapping together a couple pieces of metal as fast as possible and have the nerve to call it engagement ring. Couldn't even give it to my fiance because it was literally an embarrassment of a ring. Decided I wanted to have it remade so I sent it back without the grading report. Then COVID-19 happened then the whole company essentially shut down, but they still have the nerve to keep the store open and offer a sale on jewelry they aren't even able to produce. So I asked for a refund instead. Waited weeks for a response only to have them say it would be $125 dollar charge deducted from my refund because I didn't include the original GIA report for the diamond. Cool, so I contacted "world class" customer service and the woman I spoke with said it would be PERFECTLY ALRIGHT that I send it back in a regular letter style envelope and stamp to the New York office. Fast forward a month later, they say they still haven't received the report and are unable to process my full refund amount. Tough times, I get it. But how are you going to punish a perspective future customer for actually asking if it was appropriate to send the GIA report back in that manner then act like it's my fault? Over a month later, still no refund. Over it at this point. Won't be ever shopping with them again. What a joke.

I ordered a ring and was excited for my wife to get it. I initially got an email that my card information hadn't transferred. I thought; Odd, it allowed me to complete the transaction. I sent a follow up cc form. I Got another email. So I called and talked to an associate. We completed the CC info and all seemed fine. Then I got another message that my transaction was being flagged. I was asked to send a message from a business, govt or university email account of which I have none. It said in lieu of that I could send a picture of me with the credit card in hand (is that not asking for fraud?!) So the transaction was cancelled. Except, I have to file with my credit card company for a refund and wait 7-10 days. So, they have a $2k+ Deposit in their account to draw interest while I, for my part, have to pay interest on the amount and lose the use of that credit for that time. Any company that would claim worry of fraud and still run your credit card so that they have the money either way is running a scam or is just incompetent. Only after they had my cleared credit card transaction did they claim any worry of fraud and by then, they had a free deposit to earn interest on until I can get things squared on my end. What if it was fraud? They would have the money indefinitely! They've run the card. The person or credit card company has to catch the fraudulent transaction and come back to them for reimbursement. If they have a process for fraudulent reimbursement to cc, why am I having to file claims to get my money back for a refusal on their part to send what I legally paid for? I think these are legitimate questions about their business practices.

I purchased an engagement ring in April . After much research about which online diamond store to purchase from I chose JA, mostly because of the vast variety of diamonds & settings and the customer support person (Carolyn) i spoke with several times leading up to my purchase was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. THIS IS A DECISION I DEEPLY REGRET RIGHT NOW. Straight to the issue...the original setting i got was slightly big so we were gonna need a resize anyway, neither of us particularly cared for the setting so my fiancé picked out a different setting which I paid an additional $450 to get. After waiting 4+ weeks the new ring finally arrived early June. Upon opening the box and inspection of the ring the bottom of the setting had some indentations in it and was not flush on the edges. Its almost as if it was used! ARE YOU SERIOUS JAMES ALLEN?!? HOW CAN THIS POSSIBLY PASS YOU QUAILY INSPECTION! I PAID $2,500 FOR THIS BRAND NEW SETTING AND ANY IDIOT CAN TELL WITH THE NAKED EYE ITS FAR FROM NEW! Now after wasting more of my time on 2 calls with JA they are offering to "fix or repair" my brand new setting instead of replace it with NEW ONE! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. I SFRONGLY URGE YOU STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONLINE DIAMOND PURCHASE YOU ARE CONSIDERING. I NEVER WANTED TO BUY A DIAMOND I COULNT SEE IN PERSON BUT I CHANGED MY MIND SINCE MY PROPASAL WAS 16 MONTHS DELAYED DUE TO COVID AND ALL THE LOCAL JEWELRY SHOPS AROUND ME HAD LIMITED DIAMONDS TO CHOSE FROM. THE "30 DAY GUARANTEE " MAY SEEM LIKE ALOT OF TIME BUT TRUST ME ITS NOT ENOUGH, ESPECIALLY IF U ARE NOT HAPPY WITH SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR RING. LETS SEE IF JA REMOVES MY NEGATIVE REVIEW FRON THEIR WEBSITE...(IT WONT MATTER SINCE I WILL COPY/PASTE THIS REVIEW TO ALL MAJOR SITES)

Ah, how I love James Allen. My husband wanted to get me a 25th anniversary ring. I went on the website and started building my dream ring. After hours and hours, I finally chose a diamond, a diamond that I thought was perfect... flawless, 1.51 carat round cut. I chose the setting and we made the purchase. When I got it, I thought it was a lovely ring, but there was just something I wasn't completely happy about, but I thought it might be the setting. Well, I got online and started chatting with one of the James Allen gemologists through the chat feature on their website. I told her I thought maybe I needed a different setting. After looking at my order, she said, "That diamond is not good. You need to return it. I'm sorry to hurt your feelings." I was thinking... WHAT? This is a huge sale they made, and she is telling me that it's not good. So then she started explaining what was wrong with my diamond and what to look for in a diamond. I asked her if she would pick a few diamonds for me within my budget so I could choose a good one, and she did. She gave me all the information I needed and educated me on what's important in a diamond. Then she held the diamond I chose for me until my return went through so we could place it in a new setting. The return went through more quickly than they estimated, and then I was able to place a new order for the new diamond and setting. Painless, really. I felt confident in my new choice, and it even shipped a day early in a beautiful box and with all the paperwork that went with the diamond. I will never buy jewelry from another store. They also had VERY good prices and a huge selection of settings. While my return was going through, I was emailing them, kind of worried because the *** was delayed, and I was really concerned *** was going to lose that original ring I was returning. They were so good to respond to my concerns and every email with me whining and worrying. They're just great people, and they care about quality and communication. I also did comparison shopping with other stores, and they are very competitive.

I was very disappointed with the 14k rose gold engagement ring and wedding ring which I purchased from James Allen, and with the disrespectful and dismissive manner in which I was treated by the representatives in James Allen's Georgetown location.

The 14k rose gold in the engagement and wedding rings contained substantial amounts of non-gold metal alloys which are known to cause adverse skin reactions in certain individuals. James Allen failed to disclose this possibility when I was browsing for the rings at the Georgetown location, and when my husband and I purchased the rings. I later learned about this phenomenon after consulting with a jewelry expert at ***, who informed me that *** only used 18k rose gold in its jewelry for this reason.

On January , my husband and I ordered a 14k rose gold engagement ring (retail price $1050.00, purchased with promotion for $850.00) at James Allen's Georgetown store. At the time of purchase, we were not given any indication that the metal alloys used in the 14k gold could cause skin irritations and/or adverse reactions (this was similarly not disclosed anywhere on James Allen's website or in the purchase contract), even though this was not an uncommon reaction.

After receiving the engagement ring on March , and wearing it for approximately one month, I began to notice dark grey, soot-like stains on my wedding ring finger and on my adjoining index finger. I concluded that the dark marks were caused by cosmetic compounds that interacted with the rose gold, causing flecks of the gold to rub off onto the fingers near the ring. I tried changing my cosmetics routine and only wearing the ring after I had washed my hands to remove any traces of cosmetics, but the problem continued.

On October 3, my husband purchased a matching rose gold wedding band from James Allen (retail price $930.00, purchased with promotion for $887.22). I soon experienced the same issues with the wedding band, and the staining and smudging became increasingly pronounced when I wore the two rings together. After several colleagues and friends remarked about the unsightly stains on my finger, I contacted a James Allen representative, who informed me that the stains were caused by undiagnosed anemia, and would clear up with iron supplements. After purchasing and taking iron supplements for two weeks, as per the representative's instructions, I witnessed no improvement.

I finally scheduled an in-person appointment at James Allen's store in Georgetown to return the rings and request a refund. On November 16, I visited the James Allen store for my appointment. After waiting for approximately an hour and a half to speak with a representative (the store had three representatives and only one other customer), I was informed that I was ineligible to receive a full refund because I did not return the rings within 30 days of purchase and because I owed a restocking fee equal to 25% of the rings' purchase price. The "restocking fee" was necessary for James Allen to recoup the losses of recycling and reselling the ring, and for the alleged decrease in the market price of gold. The latter explanation did not make sense, as the price of gold had increased by approximately 25% over the last year, as did James Allen's listing prices on both rings (i.e., the retail price for the engagement ring increased from $1,050.00 to $1,210.00, and the price of the wedding band increased from $930.00 to $1,030.00). The 25% re-stocking fee reduced my total refund from $1,737.00 to $1,302.75.

I believe that James Allen's refusal to refund the full purchase price of the rings and its failure to inform buyers about the potential adverse reactions to its 14k rose gold amounted to nondisclosure and breach of contract (by failing to deliver conforming goods). As a point of comparison, after returning the rings to James Allen, I purchased an 18k rose gold ring from *** and have not experienced ANY smudging or discoloration (to date, I have been wearing the *** ring for four months).