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Link love (Powered by shopping woes and dropped phones)

ZOMG. The wedding ring buying process has totally exhausted me. What follows is one of the most painful and awkward retail experiences I’ve ever had.

  • T decided he wanted a tungsten wedding ring. They seem to mainly be sold online, so we look at Simply Suave, MaD Bling and Man Up Jewellery (and then see Google ads for the former everywhere online afterwards. Bless you, retargeting).tungsten wedding ring
  • We also visited the mall for a looksee, and turns out Michael Hill also sells tungsten rings. We get to see them in person and try them on. T likes them, but I don’t like the price ($500). But Jenny, our awesome salesperson at Michael Hill Jeweller Lynnmall (New Lynn) tells us that they are going to go on sale the following month. She takes our details and promises to call when that happens. Seriously. She is the shiz.
  • T doesn’t like the idea of buying a ring online, even though they are WAY cheaper, so we wait. At one point I go back to the store just to check (and no, they’re still not on sale) and have a quick chat to a different, male staffer, who gives me a little more information on the specifics of the tungsten ring buying process while I’m there.
  • Suddenly the end of February rolls around, and we decide it’s time to just buy both our rings online (I’m getting mine on Etsy).
  • But wait! On February 28, Jenny calls and texts to let us know the tungsten rings are half price. We hotfoot it over. There’s a big sale on and the store is totally packed. She’s busy at the bracelet/necklace counter – physically separate from the ring counter – with a stream of customers.  I catch her eye and smile (though she probably doesn’t remember or recognise me) and wait in line.
  • Male staffer who I talked to on my second visit seems to be the only salesperson NOT occupied. He zeroes in on me; I shrug him off and tell him we’re being taken care of. The second time around he finds us looking at the tungsten ring page of a catalogue which was lying on the counter, and goes for the kill. Jenny is still busy, so while I inform him that she had been the one dealing with us, we end up going along with him. Not only do I feel terribly guilty, it also turns out to be a huge mistake.
  • This guy (I won’t name him) is useless. Fast talking (came across as kind of sleazy), and downright incompetent. He promised to call us when the ring arrived instore, but forgot to get our contact details (I had to prompt him). Then he forgot to give us our receipts, and texted T once we had left the store to come back and get them. According to T, however, the guy was NOWHERE to be found when he returned. But by that time Jenny WAS free, and helped him sort things out (reprinting the receipts, etc). He apologised for what happened, and apparently she understood, though no doubt she was pretty gutted.
  • The next day Jenny texts me again asking when we’re going to come in. Cue back and forth messages while I recount what happened (even though she spoke to T, obviously she wasn’t sure if we were the same couple she originally spoke to. She must see dozens of people a day…

I can’t tell you how awful I felt. She gave us top notch service, and I gave in to the pushy sales guy who swooped in while he could. I FAIL. I hope she didn’t miss out on too much commission (how much would they earn? And is that reduced during massive sales (50% in this case)?

link love nzmuse

This week’s links:

Via Alexandra Franzen: how to say no (nicely) to anything

Amber Naslund explains how to get paid for your expertise

Newlyweds on a Budget enjoys a Pretty Woman moment

Plagiarism is well and truly alive in the PF community. Financial Uproar goes into all the dirty details

Housesitting as explained by Traveling 9-5

Do you need hours to marinate food? Nope, not according to Stonesoup

I think this is beyond me, but someone should try making A Wandering Food Lover’s colourful pasta and reporting back

Finally, here is a Venn diagram explaining how to find happiness in your work

Happy weekends, all!

13 thoughts on “Link love (Powered by shopping woes and dropped phones)

  • Reply Kara March 2, 2013 at 12:45

    I’ve been reading a lot online lately about tungsten rings being really brittle and shattering. I think Consumerist had an article recently with a bunch of links about it.

  • Reply anexactinglife March 2, 2013 at 13:23

    My spouse and I both decided to get simple tungsten bands for our wedding and we ordered them online. They were very inexpensive. They looked great, but within weeks, they were scratched and had lost their finish. I now believe that we had been sent stainless steel bands. I think they relied on the fact that most people would not be able to tell the properties of one unusual metal from another.

  • Reply Sense March 2, 2013 at 19:18

    You could always write the store HQ and praise Jenny to help make up for the loss of commission. And/or complain about the other guy, if you are so inclined. I loved it when I got compliments on my service when I worked retail!

    congrats on getting the rings!

  • Reply Tony@WeOnlyDoThisOnce March 3, 2013 at 03:53

    Good luck buying the ring! I am sure you will find something that you adore…you can also have it made for you from scratch! Thanks for the great reads…will be sure to check hem out!

  • Reply The Asian Pear March 3, 2013 at 06:19

    Wow. Sorry you had to go through all that. What a pain. Maybe she doesn’t work on commission? Glad you could get the rings you wanted though.

  • Reply Nicoleandmaggie March 3, 2013 at 06:43

    Ditto on contacting Jenny’s boss about the great service.

  • Reply Serenity March 3, 2013 at 07:53

    aww, that does suck. I felt that way when I moved and had to find a new eye doctor. the guy from my small town had his kids in the same class as me and I felt terrible moving my business away.

    I’m highly amused by the plagiarism talk around the blogosphere, especially how much in denial that Financial Fox person is. I wrote a thesis on plagiarism, and I’m wondering if it’s so common that this guy is thinking “eh, everyone else is doing it”

  • Reply Mo' Money Mo' Houses March 3, 2013 at 08:04

    I feel like your experience shopping for rings is like my experience trying to find a invitation printer. Way more hassle and stress than it should be!

  • Reply Harry March 4, 2013 at 16:44

    Hiya, my name is Harry I am from one of the companies you mentioned right up(Simply Suave). So someone came in and did the close after it was Jenny who built the value and created an emotional link between you and the item. This is quite common in the trade and in this case has left you a small guilt but most people dont usually bother. As a customer I would have been a little offended if someone who called you up for the sale didnt remember you after all they call you a VIP or special someone and invite you for the sale. As far as commissions go hardly anything in the trade and the specific company you are talking about they need to hit a high target to even qualify based on the net GP they make. More than 90% of them never make it so I doubt there is not much lost there but would have helped her reach her weekly sales target. As someone else commented above, I would consider leaving a note through their website as it does get mentioned somewhere in a newsletter for internal circulation so that would infact do more good that the sale and you can easily buy your guilt off if any. If you didnt make a personal connection with the other chap and if he didnt give you the service you think you deserve put that in the note too. An hey sorry regarding our ads stalking you wish we could control that please click on ad choices and through the options you can prevent them from reappearing.

    • Reply eemusings March 5, 2013 at 08:37

      Oh, I know I can turn those ads off. Heck, I could go completely private with my Google searches (though as a publisher private searches are the bane of my life!) It’s just not a big enough deal for me to bother yet. Just pointing out how pervasive retargeting is now, it all.

  • Reply Sara March 4, 2013 at 17:17

    Ugh, buying Liam’s ring wasn’t fun for us either. He finds the current trend in rings really ugly- he jut wants a solid ring; not for the edges to be lowered or a different finish (like the ring in the picture). We went to every jewelry store within a 40 mile radius (ok, that isn’t very many) trying to find something he would like. We wound up buying him a tungsten ring online for a fraction of what they were going for in jewelry stores. Although, after all of the comments above, I think I will be sending it to our jeweler friend to see what kind of metal it actually is.

    We figure that after the wedding we can hunt for a 14k gold ring for him if the current one doesn’t work out.

  • Reply Lachie March 4, 2013 at 19:57

    Hi, I just came across your blog while research a potential trip away. I’m at the other end of a marriage (sorry to bring that up pre-wedding…) and a lifetime aucklander currently contemplating chucking it all in for 6 months and flying solo. Would be interested in hearing where you’re thinking of going. Also, im a shareholder in a jewelley business so let me know if I can help with the rings.

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