European Jewellery / European Boutique

This is the complaint i sent them on their website and THEY DIDNT GIVE A DAM to even get back to me or anything WORSE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND PRICES AND PRODUCTS ...not to mention ALL their products can be found at winnters for 90% LESS !
On October 8 my boyfriend went into the Eaton Centre location of European Jewellery and asked the sales person to help him with a birthday gift for me. He asked for hooped earrings. The sales person did not even take the time to explain the warranty care package to him but rather just told him the price of the earrings that included the warranty. My boyfriend, unaware of sales associates commission tricks, did not check the receipt since he thought the price he paid was just for the earrings. On October 11, I received my present and it was not something I was looking for. I asked for white gold hooped earrings and he had purchased me sterling silver earrings that were 89$+ a 12$ care package value. Unsatisfied with my gift I asked him if we could go back to exchange it. On October 13, around 8 45pm, we made our way to the same location where the purchase was made. We had both the original receipt and the gift receipt along with the warranty paper. As I entered the store, I came up to a sales person and explained my situation. I asked the lady to guide me toward the white gold hooped earrings and the pair she showed me was at a price mark of 499$. I then asked her to show me silver rings around the same price of the original earrings my boyfriend purchased. The store did not have a large selection of silver rings and the ones they did have were not what I was looking for. She then further guided me into Pandora charms but I told her that I do even own the bracelet. I asked the sales person if she could allow me to speak to the store manager and she asked me why? I was wondering why she found the need to ask me that question when she fully knew that I was trying to find a solution to my problem. Once I approached the store manager (Mr Minnu Rattansi), I explained the situation to him calmly and not even once I recalled myself being disrespectful in any kind of way. I told him that the original earrings were not what I wanted and the white gold earrings that they did have were out of budget for both my boyfriend and I. I have seen the same earrings for a significantly less amount and I tried to explain to him that my boyfriend and I, being both students, could not purchase their merchandise for their prices. He told me that he could only give me exchange or credit note. I began to explain to him that I do not normally shop here and that there is nothing else I see that I want or can afford. This is where he told me that he did not care if I could not afford good quality stuff and it was highly offensive. I told him that I am too a part time store manager for a chain company and this is not how we deal with customers. He told me that he did not care where I worked nor who I was. And that If I did not take the credit note or exchange I had to leave his store. I asked him if he could give me the number of the head office to see if there is anything else that can be done. I know many other chain stores including the store I work for, follow the same store policies of exchange but exceptions for situations like these can always be made. He told me very arrogantly that he was the right and only person to resolve this issue with and that head office will not pick up the phone call nor answer to email. Frustrated with his disrespect and bad customer service I walked out of the store as a very unhappy customer that will never shop at that store again and will make neither friends nor family do. I am hoping to resolve this matter and be provided with a refund of the original purchase.

P.S ONCE AGAIN LIKE I SAID NOBODY GOT BACK TO ME!

Marex Jewellers and Europeon Jewellers are the worst Jewellery stores ever. The only nice guy they had was a gentle who I saw once I went to collect my ring. Everyone else in the store was looking for victims to sell them high priced items which actually are not worth that much. I bought a ring and the very next day I wanted to return it. They refused to take it back, instead offered me store credit. I wanted to return it because I hated myself for getting trapped and scammed by these thieves because I found out that I was charged for this item more than 400% for the same item in different stored. And I feel like such an ### for trusting their word and not looking around. And their justification was "better quality diamonds". I just cannot believe how low people can go just to make a little more extra commission and profit. This is the worst type of customer service I have ever seen. Specially this manager "Donna". She acted like an angel when I was buying the ring and paying her but when I went back to return it, the whole attitude changed and the fake smile was gone. She said its store policy and then I asked for the head office number so I could deal with them directly. She refused to give me the head office number, I mean who does that now a days. Only and only cheats and frauds. Anyone who is confident of their quality of products and customer service, refunds don't matter to them. These thieves have good sales team so they trap people and push them it buy it right then. Once it is sold. it doesn't matter if a customer is happy or not because they don't refund you. I actually find hot dog vendor friendlier and nicer than these greedy people. She actually called security on me because I said I want a refund because I felt cheated. She offered me store credit but I refused to accept it because I didn't want to deal with these thieves again. I have accepted my loss already but please make this a habit to check refuse before spending decent amount of money anywhere. It is sad but this world is full of greedy people like Marex/Europeon Jewellers. I just hope my comments are of some sort of help to people who are thinking of buying anything from either of these two stores. And please spread the word too so that they can know it matters when you leave a happy customer, it damages your reputation. I have already made it my mission to spend at least one hour everyday for coming months to tell the truth about these frauds to everyone. At the end of the day it is not about the money, it is the feeling of being ripped off that I cannot even sleep now. I just pray to God they go bankrupt one day for not having any customers and then they can wear all their ### jewellery themselves. Please spread the word, it might help someone from being ripped off!

I took my mother's gold charm bracelet (without the charms) to European Jewellery to ask about getting it made into a bangle. When I was told the price, they suggested I leave it with them while I "thought about it". I left it there several months, then went in to retrieve it and they said they'd sent the bracelet to "off storage". The slip I had that recorded this fact was starting to fade but they said not to worry about it. A year later when I went back again to get it, they could not find it. They now say that they have not record of keeping it and that I must have it at home somewhere. The slip is now faded beyond recognition although I still have it. I sent a letter outlining all of this and never heard from them. It was my mother's pride and joy, left to me after her death, and it was value at about $1800 (and I have an evaluation certificate to support this amount). I don't know what else to do (even if they admitted losing it, I could then claim insurance money).

I work at a different jewellry company but decided to purchase from European Jewellers with my fiance. I picked out my ring. It was my dream ring. We brought it and lived happily. So we thought. We decided that it was time to get married. So we went wedding band shopping. We were looking for a ring to match the engagement ring. As we were going around to the different stores we are told that a stone on the band near the main diamond was loose. So we planned to go up to Toronto from Niagara to have a look at our ring since it was all covered on in the waranty plan. We get to the store and the guy behind the counter said there was nothing wrong with the ring. We showed him and he told us to come back in 45 minutes. We went and had some laughs around the mall and grabed a quick Timmies. When we went back 45 minutes later. Nobody greated us as we entered the store. We also notciced that none of the staff was wearing name tags. The staff was acting really wierd. We went to the counter and got the ring back. We looked at the claw that was suppose to be tightened. The stone was still a little loose. He told us that they tightened it as much as possible. We then asked can we get the ring inspected for the 6 month thing. The guy said it was inspected right away without thinking. So he signed the card and we went on. When we got to the car and were pulling away from the mall I noticed that something was wrong with my ring. I was not happy. At first I thought they swapped the diamond out. As my fiance went into another store in a different area I examined my ring. I noticed that a piece of the diamond was soddered. We went and picked up our friends and met them at Sherway Gardens. They work in jewellery as well. They said the ring was definately soddered. A chunk of the diamond was missing and it was a clean cut that was done with tools. We went to the European at Sherway and all they could do was send it away to have it inspected and then get back to us. After some frustrations we ended up driving back to Square One. We went into the store 1.5 hours after we left and said that they chipped our diamond. They kept saying no they did not. They had no manager on or anything. They finally took the ring and told us a gemolgist will look at it tomorrow afternoon and when the manager is in tomorrow he will deal with it and call you. The ring is not even 5 months old and they did this. It is my dream ring. I cant believe the bad customer service they have and the way they treated me. I felt sick to my stomach. Feels like I just wasted my money. When we picked our ring back up this morning they should have told us what happened. It is a human error. But to lie about it come on.

I went to Yorkdale with my mom in search of a watch to buy her for around $800. We went to the first jewellery store we found - EJ - and browsed through the collection of watches. A Gucci in the display window caught my mother's eye and we asked a salesperson to have a closer look at it. As soon as we told the lady we liked it, she offered us a similar Gucci for $1000 more with a small diamond ornamentation. We politely declined and asked for the price of the white one with no diamonds. The list price was $795, and the employee told us she could get us a small discount. She seemed very eager to close the sale and was pushing for it as soon as she gave us the price. Didn't offer warranty information or anything. We told her we needed to think about it and left.

We found another store called Marex Jewellery (EJ's sister store) and found the same watch in white and brown. We asked a saleslady to have a closer look at the two different colors it came in for comparison. My mom liked the brown dial more and again we were immediately pressured to close a deal. I inquired about the warranty and was informed it was a standard 2 years for inner repair. The employee told us about the additional "buckle to buckle" warranty. We said we weren't interested, but she kept rambling and giving us this meaningful look like we were missing out on a great deal. She also gave us a 10% discount, but it didn't seem too good considering the advertisement of large sales. We also overheard a male employee talking to another customer nearby, discussing the no payment for 12 months deal. He actually told the man that if he was smart, he would make a down payment on the item. Of course, he was implying that the customer wasn't smart, since he was choosing no down payment.

My mom wasn't sure what to do, so I told her I'd quickly return to EJ and find out their discounted price. I asked the same saleslady from before if they carried the watch with the brown dial and at what discount. She told me to wait a moment and then spent 10 minutes on the phone. She said that they did have it. I again asked for the discounted price but she refused to tell me, ordering me to call my mom now and get her to come to the store. I said that I just came to find if they had the brown watch and at what price but that I wouldn't call my mom unless I thought we should buy it. She ignored me, ordered me again to bring my mom to the store, and said she'd be right back to get the watch. "Where was she even going?" I thought to myself. Frustrated, I walked out before she came back.

I really didn't appreciate being talked down to. I may have a young-ish face, but I am 18 years old and shouldn't be treated like a child instead of a normal customer (I even towered over the lady because I'm tall for a girl).

When I looked up EJ reviews, I saw many bad ratings and comments and also found out that Marex is the sister store. That's where the saleslady was going - to get the brown watch from Marex! The two stores were probably in the same mall so that customers wanting to compare prices would find the same ones and decide to buy from one of the stores since they couldn't find a better deal. I also believe the extra warranty is rip-off because intead of having a professional doing watch repairs, regular store employees were at the counter tweaking with watch parts.

Bottom line: VERY unprofessional behaviour toward customers and useless warranty!

European Jewelery Horror Story! Long but should be worth reading...

I am finally deciding to make my "experience" public here on the internet so other consumers can make a wise choice before spending thousands upon thousands for a store that hardly seems to really value each individual consumer. Certainly like anything in life some people will have great experiences and some horrific. Normally with purchase of such luxury items you are far too excited sometimes to even realize or care but as the situation got worst for me it became time.

To introduce my story i'm a young watch collector who has brands such as Raymond Weil, Fortis, Omega (sadly) and soon Rolex. Have dealt with jewellers all over Ontario and even a few in USA with pleasant experiences. The things you will read a little further down will hopefully ensure you get better service from another dealer or speak up about things as most do not.

Summer 2007 I started a new job in downtown Toronto and of course one of the main things on my list to experience was a new watch to the collection. Considering all the local dealers and brands my obvious first choice was Rolex but wanted to take small steps and work my way up having nice variety to the collection. A second place childhood dream was the Omega SeaMaster Professional so a lot of comparing was done in terms of dealers and models. After the first visit to European Jewellery in the Toronto Eaton Center there was definitely a tough choice to be made, being the way I am sometimes it is a pain to wait too long especially when your favorite brand is planning updates on the model you want. That day in European Jewellery all that was done is a quick browse of the Omega display case.

This now brings us to visit number two, because of course this is no impulse purchase. In the afternoon I had left the office dressed in business attire (Hugo Boss shirt and Armani tie) not that it matters, but wanted to go have a closer look this time to try figure out this tough choice. Arriving at the Eaton Centre from the Yonge street entrance of course I'm headed directly to European Jewellery. The store was not busy at all at that particular time, so after a few moments an older gentleman approaches me and asks if he can help. Responding to him I say yes of course and explain how I'm considering this watch but want to have a closer look. With my knowledge of the watch industry it is known to me that after a watch comes out, gets popular and does really good sales the retailers can and will offer you deals of 15%, 20% and sometimes near 30% off list price. Having with that in mind well examining the watch in my hands I asked him what it was selling for there, he quoted me the list price of $3, 800.00 CAD. Knowing the other dealers had given the discounted price with including tax of $3, 200.00 CAD ish I just bit my tongue and told him how i'm considering the Submariner which at the time was $5, 750.00 including tax but had a list price of $6, 260.00 CAD. He then continued to give me this look as I noticed from the corner of my eye well looking at the watch and literally stated "Do you even have the money for this watch?" That really shocked me, the fact he would say such a thing regardless but especially to a person who is well groomed and dressed in designer business attire. Frustrated as hell I obviously left and did not pay any attention to that ignorant salesman due to the turn over rate in that job also knowing he was not even wearing a watch himself, which really should not matter anyways.

Keeping in mind now that this is the doing of one silly employee and not the company, I decided a while later to call them on a Saturday and see if they still had the watch in stock for me to look at and try make a choice based on what they offer me. The reason for obsession with price is the fact that Omega watches have terrible re sale value unless it is kept for years and develops some special demand similar to those old North American Muscle cars sold at the Barrett Jackason auction in USA. Car's that when new cosed no more than $15, 000.00 Max in most cases sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars restored like new. The lady who answered the phone in the watch department said to me, "We are having a BIG sale". This got me interested so asked her what it was selling for, their policy was they do not say on the phone which I respected and knew some places don't but funny thing is every other dealer called before was able to quote me on the phone or at least give me a range within a few hundred so I know if it is a waste of my time for now or not. She said the only way she could tell me is if I go down to the store.

Figuring to myself ok that sounds fair if the sale is as big as she claims but would have still been nice to get a range. Living near Ajax, Ontario it is quite a distance to travel down to the Toronto Eaton Centre. Being such a big interest of mine I just went. Being it was the weekend I wanted to dress more comfortably instead of the shirt and tie worn each and every day in the office. Wearing a pair of Blue jeans and an Adidas light spring jacket I'm on my way, waiting for the Go Train to begin this long trip. Upon arrival when she saw me and realized that it was me who called she gave me this strange look, told me the price which was virtually list price and took the watch out to show me. Having seen it before it never hurts to handle it again to make the choice easier. Knowing they have security procedures was obviously no issue to me but the way this was done was hardly "procedure". From the corner of my eye again noticed a sales person further down behind the other counter give this head nod motion to a salesman standing n the middle who then walked over to the door. That of course if fine be me and even better so no one walks in and tries anything. What was strange is how he stood faving me and staring right at me the entire time. Personally I love the stores that you need to be buzzed into, I feel safe in there with my money and looking at watches with a security guard or two around. This was now strike number two and my anger level was rising.

Remembering the first mans comment and this incident I was now out to do what I do best, prove people wrong. Now my mind was made up and to me it was leverage to get a more accurate price. Finally with the amount of money in hand I was told by other collectors to aim for and what they paid, it gave me the power to walk out and go elsewhere but was too determined to show them. The same lady was there, accept this time she saw me straight from the office dressed up in business attire and was kind of shocked it seemed. Offered a proper price and that was it, deal. After an incident with the bank not raising the debit card limit in time I walked from Eaton Center near to Wellington street at the TD branch there only to come back with cash in hand. The watch was taken behind the counter and before I could say anything the tag was cut off. To some of you it may not matter or may be like "it is just a tag" but it turns out from recently contacting Swatch Group Canada they say it should have NEVER been cut off and I should have had it included. That was obvious to me because all the other watch collector friends got it and the tag is a nice keepsake for the future. Being too excited at the time to argue with them after he seemed to place it under the counter they cleaned it, the same lady on my way out said "She did not think I was going to ever come back to buy it" I replied well yep I just did...

Some time passing now realizing that more and more people obtained this it just did not make sense. Contacted the store and the manager said they could not get me one, that they are thrown in the garbage after. That really made me wonder, why on earth take it and throw it out instead of just giving it to the person who buys the watch it was attached to? Took it a step further after retailers let me down, called Swatch Group Canada and before they told me it was standard to give it, they said one could not be issued or re created. Going now directly to the source and making an international call to Omega in Switzerland, they were appalled at the story of my experience, made a formal apologize and have since then ordered me a tag and the lady also mentioned giving me the COSC Certificate too. They seem confident in re gaining my as a "customer" but too late for that now.

Swatch group Canada soon followed, the day after two separate people called me in less than a two hour period to say how sorry they were and how they will make sure this issue is passed on to those further up, and the stores review sales procedure. Deciding to call back the store manager and give him the update on the situation he was not in but the other manger was. After getting the run around I was placed on hold for quite some while until he became available. He was told this ENTIRE horror story and was "Flabbergasted". Claimed they would make it up to me and Tomorrow some lady from their store who is out of the country on business will call me to discuss it. She did call today and did the worst damage control I could ever imagine. Trying so hard to get me to go back and buy stuff overlooking the bad taste left in my mouth and tarnished image. She said to give them a "second chance" but if going back to buy a watch from there after all that stuff is not a second chance then WOW! The conversation ended and as promised to them, regardless to who cares this story will get published on numerous forums, watch blogs, complaint boards etc so future consumers know what to look out for, do not make the same mistake I made of going back and actually speak up because the majority of people let things slide and never bring issues in the open to peoples attention. At first I was like that but as the treatment from Omega and European Jewellery declined it became my duty to make other aware of this experience.

I will now certainly NEVER shop at European Jewellery as long as I shall live, going to make sure none of my family members, friends or any locals on watch forums etc go or at least know this. From this point forward Rolex will get all my business. They treated me like royalty on the phone with Rolex Canada, had all the info needed. The retailers on Bloor street too were incredible and gave me the best experience one could ever imagine. Omega claiming to be going after "Direct competition" with Rolex to me is a joke with service like that and against a brand that even those who know nothing of watches realize it is among the best out there. Hopefully you all speak up about any situations similar to this! It is not only to let the store have their bad things out there but to help protect us, the consumers. The lady that called me today did not want me to post this on the internet but too late they should have thought of this several months ago. If even one person decides not to buy from European Jewellery or Omega due to this article or the love of other brands also I am satisfied.

Thank you for reading.