Austen & Blake - Manchester Reviews 267

We were really excited for our wedding rings appointment, but were completely let down by the customer service.

The staff member was rude, offered minimal advice, and we felt as though we were being rushed out of the store. This is our third location to try on wedding rings and the service here is MILES away from other companies.

I tried on multiple styles but no assistance or guidance was offered at any point. The shop assistant barely even looked at my ring pairings! The rings themselves looked very dull and unclean.

The whole experience was quite upsetting for what should have been a lovely time. Instead, it was extremely unpleasant and uncomfortable. We will definitely not be returning.

Excellent service and advice very helpful Charlotte helped every step of the way.

Very happy with our purchase

Just perfect from start to finish.
The staff could not have been more helpful and friendly.
Very knowledgable and gave great advice.
The diamond, sizing and setting is perfect

Good and professional, exactly what you need. No stress, no forced extra purchases. Bought the engagement ring for my (now) fiancée and she can’t stop praising it. Top service

⭐️☆☆☆☆
If I could give 0 stars, I would. Austen & Blake (Manchester Store) completely ruined what should have been a happy time leading up to my wedding. They lost my engagement ring in the post after sending it off for engraving, and only told me a week before my wedding.

Despite me calling several times for updates, I was reassured twice by a woman on the phone that my ring would arrive in time — only to later find out it was lost. The woman in the shop was incredibly rude and dismissive, even saying, “Well, there’s nothing we can do now, it’s not just your ring that’s been lost, it’s £60,000 worth.of jewellery ” The lack of empathy and accountability was shocking.

Customer service was disgraceful — no offer of compensation, no attempt to replace the ring in time, and no genuine apology. In the end, I had to demand a full refund and bought a replacement ring from another jeweller who was far more professional and caring.

I would never recommend Austen & Blake to anyone. Their service was unreliable, unprofessional, and deeply disappointing.

*REPLY TO AUSTEN&BLAKE*
Dear Austen & Blake,

Thank you for your message. However, I’m struggling to understand what providing further information will achieve at this stage. The fact remains that my engagement ring — a highly sentimental and irreplaceable item — was lost after being sent off by your own store, and I was only informed a week before my wedding.

No amount of additional details from me will change what has already happened, nor does it alter how poorly the situation was handled, including the lack of communication and the dismissive responses I received.

What I would like to understand instead is:
• Why my ring was lost in the first place,
• Why I had to chase for updates rather than being informed proactively, and
• What Austen & Blake intend to do to compensate for the stress, inconvenience, and emotional upset caused by your error.

Until these questions are addressed directly, I don’t see the relevance of supplying yet more information.

I look forward to a meaningful response.

Charlotte

We have dealt with Rosie a couple of times now at the Manchester store and she is amazing. She’s so friendly, professional and knowledgeable. We will be returning!

Bought a diamond pendant for my daughter and within 4 weeks the chain had broken. My daughter took it back to the store and stood for around 3-4 minutes whilst the 2 girls stood chatting. They didn’t apologise and just took it off her saying they would be in touch. I received an email saying it would take around 2-4 weeks to repair. Responded asking if it could be prioritised and take no longer than 2. Received no response. After 2 weeks I called the store and the person I spoke to was unhelpful and rude saying the quicker I got off the phone the quicker she could email the repair department! I sent another email and I was contacted by Janet who sorted it out and I was told the store manager would respond to my email regarding their customer service. Not heard anything. They seriously need to sort their store staff out as this type of service is totally unacceptable

Alisha supported us with the choosing of our wedding rings and even stayed late with the store manager a couple of times as we travelled around an hour or so into the Manchester King Street branch from Cheshire. The process was really enjoyable and easy, even when my ring finger wasn’t quite as large as we thought the replacement came promptly and I am really appreciative of the extra mile the team went with a gift for our poorly cockapoo at home upon our collection day! Would recommend 100%

Charlotte has been exceptional from the beginning of the process. She helped me pick out and design the perfect engagement ring for my partner and provided me with all the key information of the process from start to finish. I would highly recommend Austen & Blake for their service and attention to detail.

Easy to deal with. Phoned after my order to offer a better deal with a platinum ring rather than white gold. Fantastic communication from enquiry to purchase very professional and I’m super happy with my purchase

Ordered Diamond solitaire white gold necklace for my Granddaughter’s 18th birthday. Very helpful lady I spoke to at Manchester helped me through the whole process and she even arranged delivery of the necklace to my Granddaughter in France.
My Granddaughter loves the necklace.

Amazing experience shopping at Austin and Blake for the perfect engagement ring for my now fiancé. Alyshia was friendly and very helpful when it came to showing a wide selection of rings and customisations which made the process easy.

Chose the ring and design online. Very easy and arrived on time without going to a shop it was everything I expected

Time was taken to help me select the ring I wanted. I wasn't pressurised into making a purchase. Every effort to show me how my ring would look was made. Everything was explained clearly about ordering and purchasing.
When my ring was ready I was notified and even though I had not made an appointment I was seen immediately. I love my new ring.

From the minute we walked in the staff were warm and welcoming, gave honest and good advice, without being pushy and we never felt rushed. So pleased we got the perfect ring for my wife. Both myself and my wife would definately recommend the Jewellers and the wonderful staff

Like previous reviewers I'm also disappointed with the service and quality of the ring we purchased from Austen & Blake. We spent over £2000 on our wedding rings in March 2024 and not even 18 months later my wife's ring is completely bent. On inspection they said the ring was damaged by an impact, which I don't deny, but this has happened whilst wearing the ring without my wife even noticing at the time. A wedding ring should be designed for everyday use and most importantly durable. To service and repair the ring they wanted £90! Of course this wouldn't be the last time this happens because the quality of their rings is shit, so over the course of it's lifetime god knowns what we'd end up paying in service fees. They're also incredibly frustrating to deal with, booking an appointment is required for the most basic of things like dropping a (broken) ring off and picking a (broken) ring back up. Why do we need an appointment for that?

I booked an appointment to view engagement rings. I was dealt with by Roseanna in the King St Manchester store. She was very helpful, informative and welcoming from the start. Throughout the process Roseanna kept in contact right up to collecting the ring which made the whole journey hassle free. Would highly recommend this store. All staff are welcoming and polite.

Very helpful

I visited this store looking for an engagement ring for my girlfriend. I’d visited numerous shops before landing here. My request was quite specific and the ring I wanted didn’t exist. Every shop I had been to saw this as impossible to do and I’d simply have to pick something else until I met Michael at Austen & Blake. Michael made the process of buying a ring so easy. We designed a ring together in store which included exactly what I wanted but Michael made it come to life. Michael had a prototype made up for me which looked like the real deal. Once I’d seen the prototype I knew the ring was going to be perfect. I proposed with this ring and my girlfriend loved it although she wanted to change the colour of the band which was no issue. We had the real ring made with the new band and it only took 6 weeks. My girlfriend couldn’t be happier with the ring!

A further update to this, we are now married! There was only one place I would go for the wedding rings & this was back to Michael at Austen & Blake. Again, Michael looked after us and made the whole process so seamless, it seems there’s nothing he can’t do. We designed 2 rings, Michael had them drawn up and we made some alterations, a few weeks later they arrived & they were perfect. We’ve had so many compliments on them it’s unbelievable. He also managed to have my girlfriend’s engagement ring cleaned to immaculate condition before the wedding. A hero!

Michael has been with me on this entire process & I’m grateful I met him, I wish I could have invited him to the wedding!

I’d 1000% recommend Austen & Blake to anyone and everyone. Michael made the whole experience fantastic from start to finish and turned what I was told was going to be impossible, possible.

Thank you Michael!