My personal experience purchasing a ring from Natalie Diamonds online store, hoping that it will help other people too (Updated 2017).
I rarely publish personal experiences on this blog but this time I decided to make an exception. The main reason being the unfairness of the Internet and how it can sometimes harm a business or person without a valid reason.
Let me explain.
I was looking to buy an engagement ring. I’m pretty confident of making online purchases so my only thought was to buy the ring online.
I started like everyone by searching Google and making notes of the different rings from the various retailers. My budget was about $2500 and I needed something to be great looking and of course I wanted to buy a real diamond and not something that was manmade or artificial.
I have spent a lot of time researching and reading about diamonds and narrowed down my options to 2 possible shops. One of them was Natalie Diamonds and the other one James Allen.
To be able to make a decision I created the same type of ring, with the same options (carat, clarity, etc.) on both websites to compare the prices.
It turned out that for the same type of ring, Natalie Diamonds was about $240 cheaper than James Allen. The James Allen price was $3,110 and Natalie Diamonds price was $2,859.
The ring I have selected was a six-prong round cut ring (0.70 carats, G-VS2).
Before hitting the buy now button, I also looked into other things like free shipping, coupon codes, lifetime warranty, money back options, diamond certificate etc.
Both companies offered the same things with the exception that Natalie Diamonds was giving $250 discount on first purchase while James Allen was $100. They also had different diamond certificates but this was too technical for me to understand, both certificates looked valid and legitimate.
To cut a long story short, I decided to purchase my ring from Natalie Diamonds. My total savings were $340, and that was a good reason for me to select this shop and not the other.
Just before entering my payment details, I realized that one of the things I did not do was to search for reviews and purchase experiences.
So, I started another round, searching google for “Natalie Diamonds Reviews” and “James Allen Reviews”.
What I found surprised me and this is the reason I’m writing this post today.
I read both good and bad reviews for both companies (see here Natalie Diamonds Reviews) but a couple of posts grabbed my attention. Some single threaded posts in some forums had some really bad reviews about Natalie Diamonds so I decided to investigate the matter more.
I didn’t want to give up easily and spend $300+ more for a product I could get in a better price, so I called their support.
I explained to them what I was looking for and what I have read in the forums. They were kind and patient enough to answer all my questions and I was convinced that it was a Legit business and 100% safe.
30 Days later, I got my ring and took it to a local jeweller to get an appraisal. Everything was as expected. The ring is gorgeous, authentic and the diamond is certified.
So, what is the meaning of all this?
It has to do about the Internet and how it can damage a brand’s reputation because some people (sometimes deliberately), post bad reviews for a company (or product), without giving them the chance to defend themselves.
When I asked Natalie Diamonds support why they did not respond to the bad reviews, they told me that they couldn’t because the threads were closed! They told me that the persons complaining never reached their support and instead they have chosen to do this online without warnings. They also told me that they tried to get in touch with them to verify their purchase and discuss about their complaint but they did not receive any replies back.
This is not fair and this is why I used this blog to tell my experience.
I’m a small business owner myself and I couldn’t but think how bad it would feel and what damage it can do for my business if the same thing happens to me. You strive to have good reviews from trusted companies like BBB, Trust Pilot, Facebook, Google and everything can go way because an un-confirmed customer goes online and says whatever they want, in badly moderated forums, without proof of purchase and without giving you the opportunity to offer a solution to their problem.
I’m not affiliated with them or have any relationship whatsoever. After talking with them I felt that this is unfair treatment and since there is no way to get around this, I wrote this review to help other people make a decision based on facts and not on possibly spammy reviews you can read anywhere on the Internet without moderation or respect.
P.S The image with the ring is not the ring I purchased.
