It seems that the only way Brian’s girlfriend could keep the necklace he bought her at Kay Jewelers from breaking is to not wear it, which isn’t really the intended use of a necklace. It has now broken three times in the same spot. He bought an extended warranty, which would have been a good idea if the store would replace the chain instead of repairing it over and over. Instead, he has to turn in the chain and pendant for store credit and buy something else. Why can’t they replace the defective chain and leave Brian the pendant? Because they just can’t.

I’ve been having issues with a necklace I purchased at Kay Jewelers – it keeps breaking even though my girlfriend is extremely gentle with it. It has broken 3 times *in the same place*. I purchased an extended warranty for the necklace in which they will either fix or replace the necklace.

When I dropped the necklace off the last Wednesday, I explained to the customer service lady that I did not want it fixed, I want it replaced this time because they obviously can’t fix it (broken 3 times in the same place – plus, the soldering on top of soldering looks terrible). I told her to hold onto it and have the store manager call me the next day. Of course, I don’t get a phone call the next day. I call 2 days later, and he said he’d call the jeweler the following Monday (it was Saturday, and the jeweler that does the repairs was closed). Again, I don’t get a call on Monday, so I call the store on today. I’m told that the necklace was shipped out for repair (even though I specifically told them to hold it and not send it out). I again ask to speak to the manager, and he won’t be back in until next Monday.

Furious, I call the Kay customer service number (I was respectful and calm the whole time), and after being on hold while she spoke with my store, she comes back to tell me that she can’t do anything. Furthermore, she said that if it needs to be replaced, I must surrender the necklace and pendant because they don’t make it anymore – basically I get store credit to get something else. I don’t want something else…why can’t they just give me a new necklace and let me keep my pendant? I’ve escalated this situation to the district manager, so we’ll see if he returns phone calls any better than the store manager.

If the district manager doesn’t help, there are other options. The parent company of Kay (as well as other regional brands) is Sterling Jewelers, which in turn is a subsidiary of UK-based Signet Jewelers. Using customer service ninja methods, try contacting someone on the US side of Signet to see if they can help.

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