You know what else gets two thumbs down? Brilliant Earth, a jewelry purveyor that specializes in conflict-free Canadian diamonds. I was excited to find exactly the wedding band I had imagined on their website, the Whisper Diamond Platinum ring. I also found almost exactly the same ring on Blue Nile, their Petite Cathedral Pave Diamond ring. They're both 1.6 mm wide, but the ring from Brilliant Earth has three more gemstones, larger carat total weight, and costs less! What could possibly go wrong?? I ordered both, as the wedding day draws nigh and I hadn't seen either in person.
Both rings are sparkly on top and platinum on the bottom. Both rings are quite thin. And yet...the Brilliant Earth ring is not even close to being the same size as the Blue Nile ring!
Both rings are sparkly on top and platinum on the bottom. Both rings are quite thin. And yet...the Brilliant Earth ring is not even close to being the same size as the Blue Nile ring!
The Blue Nile ring is on the left; the Brilliant Earth ring is on the right.
The Blue Nile ring is closer to my hand; the Brilliant Earth ring is closer to my fingertip.
A comparison against a ruler reveals that the Brilliant Earth ring is barely 1 mm, if that. When I called customer service, a young woman put me on hold to consult her colleague, and when she returned, she informed me that the ring is, indeed, 1.6 mm as advertised. Except that it's not.
How strange, then, to discover that the Brilliant Earth website was updated in the few hours between our phone call and Dave's email to customer service! I bet when you visit the link to the ring above, the website will tell you it's 1.3 mm! But don't worry, I've screen-capped the earlier advertisement of 1.6 mm that fooled us. I can't tell whether I'm more pleased at the prompt, more honest update of their site, or annoyed that they haven't updated the rest of the ring's statistics – I believe that the carat total weight must also be revised down, given the even tinier width of the diamonds. So much for your "ethics," Brilliant Earth! I know that all of this isn't the end of the world; we're returning the ring and getting a refund. But this episode reminds me of how much I've come to trust online shopping: I expect that the ring on a website really is the width advertised, or really does contain the weight of diamond promised. It's not Ebay or Craiglist; this is supposed to be a somewhat reputable company! Could we have imagined ten years ago that we would have such high expectations for the trustworthiness of basic online shopping?
ahhh you were so smart to order 2 rings! that would never have occurred to me... you caught the scammers and still ended up with your ideal ring #epicwin
ReplyDeleteONE JOB -- check
ReplyDeleteONE DISSERTATION -- check
ONE GRADUATION CEREMONY -- double check! :-D
That's awful! I wonder how many other couples fell for it :-\ I always opt for the cheaper one and only object if it shows up and is ridiculously bad (e.g., if this had been made out of tin foil). Did you post a nasty review? :)
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, ten years ago, they told me, "NEVER type your credit card into an online website," and well, I've definitely done that a time or two since. (Five years before that, they also said "NEVER use information you see on the internet (i.e., nothing on your computer screen but those Britannica CD-ROMs) as a reliable source for your work...")