Kay Jewelers Can Suck It

I normally don’t write blog posts in the middle of the day but since the fire inside of me is still burning bright, I need to let it all out.

With the Christmas shopping season almost in full gear, retailers are doing just about anything to get you in their stores. You see that image to the left? This was one of those enticing deals designed to get you to spend, spend, spend.

Those $19.99 specials (regular $80 each) were included in the Kay Jewelers catalog that arrived sometime last week. And the minute Ann laid eyes on that ring, she expressed an interest in it so I agreed that I would buy this for her as a Christmas gift.

No, it’s not exactly a knock-’em-dead diamond ring but remember that it’s been a tough year and we’re just sort of getting back on our feet again. And it was what Ann wanted and what would make her happy this Christmas.

So we loaded up the truck and headed down to the Lakewood Mall to make the purchase. It was actually a dual-purpose trip: we were also going there to get Anthony’s picture taken with Santa Claus with our $10 Groupon (regular $25–go Groupon!).

Once our visit with the Jolly Old Fat Man was complete, we meandered over to Kay Jewelers to check out the ring. We were immediately greeted by, for the sake of description, Girl 1. She smiled and asked if there was anything she could show us.

I expressed an interest in the $19.99 ring. She nodded and headed over to the display to grab one that Ann tried on. It just happened to be the right size. It was a done deal.

And then it began. Girl 1 began her spiel about extended warranties, sizing, etc.

“No, we only want the ring,” Ann smiled and told her. Girl 1 continued.

“Did you get any warranties on those rings,” she asked, pointing to Ann’s diamond wedding set. Yes, we did but then again, that set also cost me a few thousand dollars. Big difference. And she’s starting to get annoying.

And not to get too much off-track here, but when I was making more money back in the day, we literally spend thousands at a place called Weisfield Jewelers which, unfortunately, has since closed up all local stores and merged with Kay Jewelers. They were a first-rate jeweler who never gave us any kind of slack. You asked, they helped. You were never pressured into anything you didn’t want and all of the employees at the South Coast Plaza location were as kind as could be.

Then there’s Kay.

As the conversation continued, we made it clear that we were only interested in purchasing the ring. Come on, it’s $20 and the warranty was another $20. I get that they are trying to upsell stuff this time of year and I went so far as to blatantly tell Girl 1 that I’m on a budget after being unemployed for almost 2 years and that the extra $20 wasn’t in cards.

So Girl 1 walks over to the register to complete the transaction–or so we thought.

While behind the register, she handed the ring over to someone I’ll call, for the sake of being polite, Girl 2. Although there were a few other niceties that come to mind with how she handled the siltation. So it wasn’t enough when we told Girl 1 that we only wanted the ring; she had to sic Girl 2 on us to try to retain us.

Girl 2 begins to tell us about the ring. And then she gets in on the whole warranty thing.

“Are you sure you don’t want the extended warranty,” she asked. Ann spoke up.

“No, I already told the other girl I only wanted the ring.” Girl 2 got agitated and threw up her hands, palms facing us.

“Okay okay, I’m just asking!” she said in a manner implying that we had firearms on our person and were ready to ransack the place for every $20 ring they had in stock.

Ann and I stood there, mouths agape. I turned to Ann.

“So…you still want that ring?”

“No, let’s go.” We left the store with Girls 1 and 2 looking a bit surprised yet smug.

It’s Christmas. It’s going to get busy. And having worked retail for years, yes, I know things can get a bit stressful during the holiday season. But unless a customer is making some wild accusation or claim about a price, is about to throw down with you over something stupid, or just being a pain in the ass in general, be good to them, for Chrissakes. They give you money which is why you are business in the first place!

No, no and no, goddamit. Kay had to see it another way. So fuck you, Kay Jewelers. If you had simply handled the situation in a more kindly manner then perhaps you could have had that extra $20 sale on your take tonight but no, because someone behind the counter had to get all high-and-mighty on us and fling an attitude in our direction, you get no sale–and my wife gets no ring since we both refused to have what little money I now make fund the payroll of someone like that.

Now Ann has to set her heart on something else this holiday season. And I don’t care what I have to do, she will get it. You don’t even know how disappointed she is/was about leaving the store without this little trinket of a ring which she loved and was within my budget.

Bored? Give Kay a call and let them know they suck: (562) 633-7141. And tell them they can stick their extended warranty.

Ironically, Kay’s slogan is “Every kiss begins with Kay.”

Well, guys, here’s my ass. Now go on practice what you preach.

(UPDATE: E-mail about the incident was sent to their Customer Service Department, and I’ve also gone through this post and made a bunch of edits/corrections. I was typing in a blind rage when I posted this and missed quite a bit. Calm blue ocean…calm blue ocean…)

(UPDATE 11/25/10: Kay’s Reply)

I would like to thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding your visit to our Lakewood Center Mall, Kay Jewelers location. Our goal is to exceed our customers’ expectations, and I appreciate the opportunity to respond when there is a concern. We will forward this issue to the management staff at the store location for additional review. I want to apologize for how you feel you were treated. This is not how we want our customers to feel when they leave the store.

Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience that you experienced and hope that you will allow us to provide you the service you deserve in the future.

Sincerely,

Amanda L
Customer Care

Jeez, at least Cost Plus was kind enough to send Ann a $25 Gift Card after contacting their Corporate Office about one of their managers disputing a price/signing issue with us. As far as Kay goes, you couldn’t get me to go back there if you tried and I hope someone got busted for their horrible service.