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| - Per Yelp, 1 star = "Eek! Me thinks not"...that's pretty much how I feel about this place.
A few months ago, my fiance (then boyfriend) and I began our quest for a diamond engagement ring. I was lucky enough to be in on the hunt with my fiance and I had clear parameters in regards to the cut, clarity, color, and the carat weight of the stone I wanted. I was even luckier to have a flexible budget to work with...so my #1 priority was to find EXACTLY what I wanted at the best deal possible.
I walked into the store one Saturday afternoon by myself and was greeted by a saleswoman. She was nice enough, chatted me up, found out what I was interested in and pretty much promised me the world. She brought out a few stones that day...none of which I liked. All of the stones she had were either HIGH COLOR GRADE and LOW CLARITY or vice versa, or they were just too small. In any case, I spent a few hours there and was shown nothing I was interested in. We did spend an hour looking at Hearts of Fire diamonds...but really those are all low in color grade and weren't even in the ballpark of what I wanted. I wanted only D or E.
Anyways, so when she was done with showing me what she had, she promised me that she would look throught their inventory and "get what I wanted". I was called back to the store on Tuesday. I left work a few minutes early and had my fiance meet me at the store. Again...the stones were missing the mark. Either it wasn't the clarity I CLEARLY stated I wanted, or the color was BELOW what I wanted..etc, etc...So again, we left.
I came back 2 weeks later after a few email exchanges and waiting for the saleswoman to get over a mild cold. She told me she had a few stones coming "from corporate" (wherever that is) and she was sure I'd love them. So a few days later, I went back. The stone was AGL certified...which clearly breaks my #1 criteria. I wanted a GIA certified stone. So...again...nothing. It was pathetic. I left.
I called her the next day and asked her "can you get me what I want?! a GIA CERTIFIED 2 carat, D-E color, VVS1 and higher, princess or round stone?" After a few torturous silences and prying, she finally admitted that MJ Christensen had no such stone in their inventory. However, they could order one and fly it in for me to look at. (Now, if you're familiar with Jewelers, there is an ongoing "exchange" of stones. Authorized diamond dealers can take posession of a stone to show a customer at little to no cost...it is a customary practice.) So, I said, "Great! Let me know when it's at the store so I can come see it."
Then she dropped the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life....she said, "oh, we charge you $150 deposit to have a stone brought in. It's a new policy, because we've been burned so many times. If you decide to buy from us, the $150 is applied to your purcase." I just about flipped my lid. You're gonna charge me $150 to see a $25,000.00-35,000.00 stone that I might or might not like? That policy is the most absurd thing I've ever heard. A real diamond dealer (which MJ "claims" to be) would NEVER charge such an insulting fee. But what they really are is something a hair above your typical mall jewelry store. Yes, their store is pretty. Yes, they have been around for a long time (and closed a location last year). But so has Kay Jewelers. It's not exactly the place you go to if you're looking to spend some serious cash on a diamond. AND TO SPRING THIS ON SOMEONE 1 MONTH INTO LOOKING FOR A DIAMOND WITH YOU. IT'S JUST POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE, REALLY.
Needless to say, it wasn't about the $150. It was about the principle. I kindly said thanks but no thanks and hung up the phone. I've never looked back.... :)
A month later, we found the most PERFECT stone RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET at Jack Weinsteins TOWER OF JEWELS. Though the inside of the store might not be as "pretty" as MJ Christensen, they know their stuff. They were able to get us EXACTLY what I asked for in a matter of days. Not only that, they gave my fiance a fair and honest price. They made me a custom setting and I"m very happy.
Also, the prices at Tower of Jewels is SO much better. It's hard to explain pricing of a diamond because there are so many factors. But let's talk about settings. Just to show the price difference, wegot my setting custom made at Tower of Jewels, with 1 carat of pave stones in 18k white gold for $1,100 (this was done in early March 2011). MJ quoted my coworker $1,500 to do a 14k custom setting with NO STONES (last week). Are you joking?! Can you say R-I-P O-F-F?! Ugh.
In closing, my fiance and I are truly happy with our decision. I'm so happy I remained patient and focused on what I wanted...even though MJ Christensen essentially wasted over 1 month of my time...trust me, I will never go back to this place...eeeevvvveeeerrrr...unless something in there REALLY change
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