Kay Jewelers (Kay.com) Sucks
I’m not pleased with the level of service at Kay Jewelers after stopping in at their NYC location across from Macy’s on 34th street. Wendy and I went there to pick out a pair of rings, and settled on these two:
Color: HIJ, Clarity: I1-I2 – 14K White Gold 1/2 Carat t.w. Diamond Anniversary Band
Color: HIJ, Clarity: I1-I2 – 14K White Gold 1/4 Carat t.w. Diamond Band for Him
Not bad rings, not a terrible price. However, in the store once we purchased them, things got bad fast. First, they quoted the rings at the $699 price, but when I received the itemized receipt, the rings were billed at $599 (the correct online price, which we didn’t know at the time). Second, although we had declined their insurance option, there was magic insurance at $75 a piece. You can checkout an uploaded receipt image here, if you like. Tomorrow, I’ll be dropping by again to return both rings and receive a full refund.
Where my ire really gets irked is when I began to shop online for an alternative to the Kay rings (since I’m planning to return them). I took a look at Zales, and found a nearly identical ring, for the same price:
Color: H, Clarity VS1-VS2 1/2 CT. T.W. Diamond Five Stone Band in 14K White Gold
This Zales ring is the same price as the Kay’s Jewelry ring, but at a superior clarity. With free shipping and a $50 off coupon, the total price is $135 less than what Kay’s charged me. Yes, and that’s for a better ring! Zales even offers the Jewelry maintenance services as a free service, whereas Kay tries to tack them on as a $75 additional charge.
Some other red flags about Kay’s Jewelers:
- RetailMeNot doesn’t have any coupons for them. There’s a notice that reads, “Sorry for the inconvenience but this merchant has specifically requested to have all user contributed coupons removed from the RetailMeNot system.” That seems sketchy at best.
- Their Santa Certificates are only good if you spend in $300 increments, at which point you get $100 off. Although, there’s the possibility that at this point Kay’s will quote $100 of list, not advertised price.
I am pleased to see that they have a 2 star rating (out of 5) on RateItAll, a nice consumerist horror story, and something titled Kay Jewelers RUINED MY ENGAGEMENT RING!!!.