James Allen

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).