Balfour
Reviews and Complaints

I ordered a school ring from Balfour. I had been saving for it for many years. When it arrived I couldn’t believe how hideous it is. The bulldog (mascot of the school) is just an indistinguishable blob of metal. They abbreviated my degree incorrectly (I have a PhD but they put PHD which is absolutely incorrect). The metal top is definitely not the 14K gold of the rest of the ring and looks cheat and doesn’t even sit flush with the ring. I called customer service and they basically said, “sorry nothing we can do for you) I can’t imagine wearing this ring and it cost $1400. I filled a complaint with BBB and I’m looking in to other methods of trying to get this resolved.

Son received a letterman jacket for his achievements. The company has people there doing fittings however son ended up with a jacket way to small for him can’t even wear onetime because of this. Company gives you run around now they want me to pay half of a new jacket they have people they’re doing the fitting and state all they do is throw jackets on a table and let the kids try them on

This is the most incompetent company I think I have ever dealt with! I received my Clemson class ring back in October and the moment I opened the box it was obvious my ring was made incorrect and without any quality control. The stone in my ring was not set even remotely correct or secure so due to this I was forced to send my ring back to be fixed. Balfour received my ring at their head quarters in the very beginning of November and it is now January 16th and still cannot even get an accurate update as to when I will get my ring back!

I was first told I would have my ring back by at the latest the beginning of December then it was by the beginning of the year then when I spoke to them last week I was promised that my ring would be shipped out by Friday (01/12) and when I spoke with them again today my ring is still sitting there and they cannot even give me an answer as to when it will be shipped for 24 to 48 hours! How does it go from it will definitely be shipped four days ago to now I will not even have an answer of when it could be shipped for another two days?! So not only did their customer service lie to me last week they are so incompetent they cannot even give you anywhere near an accurate idea as to when you will get it back!

I spent nearly $900 on this ring for it to be sent to me wrong and unwearable and now have had to wait months to get it back, postpone graduation photos due to this, and still have no clue when or at this point even if I will be getting my class ring back!

Horrible customer experience with a ring that cost nearly $1,000. In less than a year the stone has fallen out twice and is apparently held in with a small bit of plasticy glue that does not stay. They can only promise to glue it back in with the plasticky glue and not to repair it correctly with a bezel holding the stone. The first time we sent it back they lost it. They then did remake the ring and sent it to us... it has the same exact problem, the stone fell out again. They're refusing to do anything other than what they've already done twice which obviously isn't working.

I ordered a high school class ring for my son's graduation. The stone seletion was July- Ruby. Rubies are supposed to be red. However, the stone in the ring I received is pink not red. I did call customer service but, I'm told I have to pay $50 to have the stone replaced. The Customer Service Rep suggested to switch the stone to January. He told me that stone is the most red. I strongly feel this is something I should not pay because the stone color is wrong. Again rubies are red, not pink. The stone would have to be replace regardless because, the color is incorrect. I emailed and this is the response.

" Good afternoon

Thank you for contacting us.

All our birthstones are lab created, the ruby has a pink undertone and depending on the batch it may look more pink but it will not look red even if replaced again. For a red stone a garnet would need to be picked and unfortunately a $50.00 fee would apply

Thank you"

I understand these gems are lab created. No where on the website does it mention the is a possibility or the fact that these "Ruby" has a pink under tone. Had I know that prior to ordering. I would have changed my selection. The only mention of anything about stones is that certain stones may cost extra.

"All birthstones are stimulated stones. Black Onyx, Navy Blue Sapphire, Mother of Pearl and Orange Sapphire are speciality stones and additional charges may apply".

The image of the stone when designing the ring on line shows a RED stone for July/Ruby. Not the pink.

In my opinion this Place is a Total Scam!...Purposely misleading to get extra money. Funny I have two more children that will be graduating soon. I will NEVER do business with this company again.

On 12/6/19 we ordered this ring. We received the wrong ring on 2/21/20. Balfour acknowledged their mistake and provided a return. On 6/15/20 we received the wrong ring. Balfour acknowledged their mistake and provided a return. On 8/5/20 we received the wrong ring. Balfour acknowledged their mistake and provided a return. 3 TIMES. Each time I have included the original order which has a PICTURE of the RIGHT ring on IT! How do I get out of this crazy cycle and get the right ring? You can not speak to anyone live. Customer service is only provided through email. They claim to have a 48 hour recall but you can't leave a message as there is an auto hang up. We spent $950 last December, my son has since graduated and we still do not have a ring that was supposed to take 6-8 weeks. This is NOT Covid related! This is 3 wrong rings related!

A page in the yearbook was not "sewn" in to the binding. I called to complain as I ordered through them directly. They said email them pictures, which I did, showing that the page had no sign of being sewn in, which I did. They then said I need to contact my children's school. They are taking absolutely no ownership of their lack of quality work of their product. Pics attached are funny because I had to crop out people for privacy.

On 05/15/2018 I called the Towson number 301.321.4433 around 1258, to check on my son's graduation order. My son [name removed] and he is graduating from Patuxent High School. The lady who answered introduced herself as Kathy was very rude on the phone with me. Before I could finish telling her my concern, she kept cutting me off statting "well you were late with the order. You are the 4 the person who is late ordering!" Every time I tried to speak, she cut me off. I was telling her that my son's school told him that he will not be able to graduate since he doesn't have have his order. Ms. Kathy told me that "I am sure his school didn't tell him that!" The way I was talked to was not acceptable! I am a customer and had a concerned child which I was trying to resolve his issues so he could show his school that his orders were placed already. Her phone etiquettes were unacceptable and poor. A company like Balfour, very well known and had prestige, I was really disappointed to speak with an employee who can care about customers' concerns or customer service let alone not know what phone etiquette is! I pray and hope that in the future you will be more careful selecting and training your employees. I was so baffled that I really did not know what else to do to but write this complaint letter... Now, I know this complaint might not fix anything or no one might not even care and dismiss it. Still, thank you for your time.

sincerely
[removed]

My graduating son ordered his college graduation announcements from Balfour. The website does not provide room for two majors to be on announcement. He manipulated his text using the ampersand between majors. We received announcents stating he was receiving a "bachelors of arts in English in Computer Science " rather than and in Computer Science. The announcement text was not centered on paper, the foil seal was raised and created rippling of paper, the announcements were printed on subpar paper, two of the announcements had the seal, but no text whatsoever, no tissue paper was included. I called Balfour to remedy the problem. They offered to give me a discount of $20 to reorder and proclaimed my son was responsible for reviewing and proof reading his order. His order clearly stated a bachelor of arts in English AND Computer Science. I would have received the announcements 3 days before graduation had I reordered. The Balfour employee stated I could send said announcements two weeks AFTER graduation. I told her I was appalled at the price they charged for subpar announcements and I was embarrassed to send them out. Nothing could be done to remedy the problem so I chose NOT to reorder or EVER do business with Balfour. I chose a company called Signature who offered to rush the order so that I would receive them in timely manner and apologized for the problem I encountered with Balfour. Signature announcents are higher quality, waived the rush shipping to accomodate my order, and I received many more items than I was receiving from Balfour. Graduation is an important time in your child's life. Don't set yourself up for disappointment by using Balfour. You have choices! Balfour has not sent his cap/gown so we could get photographs to go in announcents and graduation is 3 weeks out. Steer clear of poor quality, subpar announcents and customer service of the Balfour company.

What a JOKE! the representative was sent to a fairly small school. She was "multi-tasking" and got my daughters ring order wrong. So we talked to the company and they were in no way willing to budge to fix their mistake. They send these people to work with teenagers, most of whom have never had to be specific on ordering something, and blame the child. My daughter asked the lady more than once to make sure that the ring she chose was correct and the rep assured her it was right. Wrong! the rep wrote the order wrong by one number..Who hasnt ever messed up before? yet they blame the child and want us to pay another $75 on top of the $300 we were already out to fix it..I dont think so. Come on now! you would think you would honor your company and do the right thing. To top it off, my daughters best friend got her ring from the same company on the same day and one of her diamonds had fallen out. Geez! should have went with trusty ole walmart..At least they value their customers and honor their mistakes.

In 2010 I purchased an expensive flip style ring for my sons graduation. The flip broke, sent it in and repaired it. It broke again, sent it back and they replaced it. It broke a third time and they had me pick a more standard ring. We did. Didn't have it too long before the top came off. Sent it in, sent another ring. The stone fell out. Another ring, got this had it a few years and the top came off again. Sent it back and they repaired again, this time it comes back with the top stone area crooked. I am tired of this company and their lack of quality and I want my money back. Nothing should break that often. This is a big male high school ring, I have more fragile rings purchased over 25 years ago that have never broken. I have attached a pic of one of the broken scenarios.

I ordered my daughter a premium class ring and she was supposed to have a free cap and gown for graduation with my order. She transferred schools in her Senior Year still in the same school district so they Chose not to send me invitation information or her cap and gown. Have called them multiple times and they continued to refuse to send her cap and gown or offer me a refund. Wallace High School also contacted them and were assured they would send her cap and gown to them since it was in the same school district and here we are the night before graduation with NO CAP AND GOWN. I paid for this when I bought her senior ring and they still didn't send it nor a refund. I have 3 other children and will NEVER use Balfour not recommend them again! Very rude customer service who talk down to you and treat you like you are stupid on the phone! I paid for a service and they refuse to provide it or a refund!

I paid $80 for my cap and gown and I just got it today. The gown is WAY TOO BIG. It swallows me whole. My arms don't even show. It's just a complete disappointment. Balfour measured me 4 times and STILL got it wrong. NEVER USE THEM! Now, I cannot return it and cannot get it altered since it won't match my fellow graduates. Jostens does a MUCH BETTER job.

I purchased a cap and gown on 1/15/2011 for my sons graduation for a total of $49.78 including a shipping charge of $12.00. I was hoping that the cap and gown would be shipped to my house since they wanted my home address. As time passed, I never received the cap and gown. After contacting them by email, I was told they would send the cap and gown to the school on April 21. I don't understand why I was charged a shipping charge of $12 when they never delivered the cap and gown to my house. Instead, after leaving a message, someone called me back and told me that it was a mistake on their website programmers part and that he/she should have wrote handling instead of shipping for invoice. He said every student got charged this. I don't think it's right these people charging $12.00 per student for this. These people made money off the cap/gown already. They made roughly $3000 off of these students for delivering this stuff from a city 200 miles away. I am contacting the school board and hope there can be other options for students in the future. I have attached copies of their website where it states handling fees after Feb1 and where it states about shipping charges which I thought I paid for. This isn't the only time Balfour has had problems with other customers.

Belfour rep. Mark Jacoby, did not print son's graduation invitations and did not notify anyone in person. Says he left a message on a contact phone number but no message was received. Now is too late to get others printed. Family members were notified late by phone and many have made plans for other out of town graduations, so money to rent hotel and party goods and food have been overspent. Cap and gown were cancelled and when I tried to reorder they said may not get here in time to have my son participate in the ceremony. No apologies ever given.

I tried to order cap and gown on line and Balfour has a monopoly and is the only place I can get a cap and gown for my daughter's graduation. The website is completely useless. The graduation page "cannot be found". They also have no place on the website to write and complain.