Austen & Blake - Birmingham Reviews 56

Messed about!

We booked an appointment several weeks in advance only to be contacted 1 or 2 days before asking us to move the time to either earlier or later in the day. We attended the appointment, the sales person was very helpful explained a lot about the ring, although we were told before the appointment that the ring we wanted to see was in stock but it wasn't, only a version of it and not the one we wanted to view. We ordered a ring and the diamond we, only to find out 3 days later that we couldn't have that diamond and needed to pick a new one! I might as well of ordered online, this has not made my partners ring picking experience particularly memorable.

5/8/2024 received order confirmation for the original order that i was told was not available.

8/8/2024 - 1 week since placing my order, I still don't have a resolution to which diamond we are receiving.

9/8/2024 - Multiple attempts to call the store and number on website, no one answers.

23/8/2024 - Ring has been dispatched, its a shame the certificate of authenticity is wrong, it contains multiple diamonds (one of which we were told was sold) and some of the details for the new diamond are not correct. This also means the insurance valuation is also incorrect.

Offered a substitute to take on holiday with us while we waited for the order to be made

Honestly cannot express enough how brilliant Mia from customer service dealt with all my questions.
Replied quickly to emails and went above and beyond to keep me updated, and making sure I had the ring in time for my proposal.

Very happy with my purchase here. Jordane was a massive help and helped me to get the most out of my budget.

Dealt with Louis this morning and to say he was fantastic is an under statement!!
Did not feel pressured into anything and really took his time to understand what we wanted.
His knowledge was incredible and if anyone is looking for any jewellery this is definitely the place to go.

Great service by Cassie! Very helpful and very in depth service to get exactly the right ring for us! Thankyou so much

Cassy was fantastic on helping us select our wedding bands. We booked an appointment on the day with ease

We had a great experience purchasing a ring from Cassie. We didn’t feel any pressure and she was really helpful explaining everything. Thanks so much Cassie!

Jordane was extremely helpful and helped me through the whole process in a friendly yet professional manner!

I am still infuriated with how a member of the (I assume customer service) team spoke to me over the phone. Their tone was rude, argumentative and abrupt. Unprofessional and not what I would expect of A&B as a brand. The individual was just unfriendly and unhelpful - and that would be generous of me to say. They were clearly disinterested, and had no real intention of helping me. I was left feeling like I had somehow inconvenienced the person I spoke to - even though they had called me (why call, when they clearly do not enjoy assisting customers?)

Background - my partner purchased a ring which needed resizing. I was travelling for work so I had a very short window in which to book my resize. Birmingham was my local branch, so I tried to call and book an appointment. I called multiple times that day, and none of my calls were answered. I therefore contacted the company via webform later that night (which was detailed as to what I needed support with). The response I received was unhelpful. Whilst I did not have the order details, I was able to provide the details of where the ring was purchased, approximately when, and the name of who purchased. The response was essentially ‘that’s not good enough’. The other points I raised were simply ignored and an appointment was not booked for me to get my ring resized. They might as well not have responded in the first place.

I therefore booked an appointment directly at the store via the webpage. This was easy. I went in the next day and dropped my ring off, the lady who I dropped my ring to was lovely, but the person I subsequently spoke to on the phone was not. At my appointment I asked questions about my resize and potential sizing beads as an alternative. I was not sure what was best given the design of my ring and not wanting to damage its structural integrity. I was between sizes and I felt unsure if I had made the right call.

The day after I had dropped my ring off, I received a call from (I presume) the individual I had previously emailed. I wasn’t expecting the call but took the opportunity to raise my concerns about my resize and ask advice. She was however short, seemed annoyed and generally unhelpful. I was a taken aback by her manner and tone, but continued the conversation as I also wanted to know when I would get my ring back, and what would happen if the resize was not to the correct. I was met with responses like ‘I don’t know’ ‘I can’t comment’ ‘if you got the size wrong thats your issue and you’ll have to pay for it to be redone’. I was a shocked by the tone and concerned by the implication that if the resize needed to be fixed ‘that was my fault and problem’. I continued and asked when I would get my ring back. Again ‘I can’t comment, I don’t know, I can’t say when it might be back’. I explained I needed it back for a particular date and I was completely dismissed. I then asked for the price of potential additional work to which I was told ‘I don’t know I’ll check and come back’ and ‘I’ll pause your repair’. She then called my partner back, not me, although she had called and spoken to me earlier. She also huffed at my partner when he asked her to contact me to respond to my queries.

When I was called back, she immediately set off ‘yeah so it’s £x amount, do you want it or not? if you don’t decide I’ll charge you for the resize tomorrow as you only have until then’. I was stunned - this deadline was untrue and I had to correct her that I had longer for the complementary resize. I asked when my ring would be returned to me and was again told ‘I can’t say. Might be 3 weeks could be longer there is no guarantee’. I asked for a moment to think about the additional costs and timeframe as I did not know how to respond to the abrupt and frankly unprofessional tone being taken. Within minutes of hanging up I called back, but again no answer. I eventually called the head office line and was redirected to the Manchester team (who were so lovely!). When relaying the conversation I’d just had, I wanted to cry realising how rudely I had been spoken to and how this had tainted such a special memory. I asked for my ring to be repaired and redirected to an alternative store - as the Birmingham branch clearly have no concern for your needs once you have made your purchase. If the person who called me does not enjoy helping customers - they should not be in a customer facing role, or call customers to make them feel like inconveniences. It’s unacceptable.

There are so many wonderful stores in the JQ, but this particular branch is one to avoid if you don’t want a special memory ruined by terrible attitude, tone and a total lack of polite conversational manner.

Jordane made the process really seamless and explained everything to me really clearly. Completely stress free process! Big thank you!

Great service provided and fully satisfied with item purchased.

The ring was sent out, no hallmark !!!!! They said it was to meet demand over Xmas period. Who would buy an expensive ring with no hallmark??? Sent it back, it was returned hallmarked,( by now, do I trust what's on the ring? ) but then the documents about the ring were missing, had to chase this up!!!!
No apology. It has tainted my upcoming proposal plans.

Sent on behalf of Joe who is proposing to my daughter. His details and order number forwarded as requested

Jordane was great she made me feel comfortable and excited at the same time as it was an engagement ring I was buying and was a little nervous about the whole thing but jordane make the whole experience well worth it I’m really glad I came to this shop thank you Jordane

I went to the Birmingham store to buy an engagement ring for my partner. Service from the young guy that worked there was great, he was really helpful with all the questions I had and my now Fiancé loves the ring!

Jordane was amazing help! very kind and understanding. Felt comfortable throughout the sale and she was very patient whilst I kept changing my mind on the style!
Thank you :)