Matrioshka
Member
- Joined
- May 4, 2011
- Messages
- 3
Soooo this is my first post even though I've had an account here for literally years. This will be kind of long, brace yourselves, maybe grab some popcorn...
So my momma and I have been racking our little brains for gift ideas for an upcoming PhD. convocation. I haven't spent money on pearls for a good couple of years since I left my bank job to start grad school, but remembered the gorgeous Pearl Paradise pieces (I received a fabulous multicolored, metallic, double strand for my B.A. grad) and thought I'm going to see if Pearl Paradise is still around/affordable if I'm careful with my budget. Aaaaand they were! (yay)!!! Shopping around for ideas, I saw many pieces I loved, of course, but the gift was the main focus, so the gorgeous White Tahitians got put onto the maybe someday list (Curse you exchange rate, and grad student budget!!!!)
So I've scrimped and saved a little splurge account in the past year, planning for this, and I thought a Tahitian pendant is the gift to give. My momma fell in love with a Freshadama strand, done and done! We order our loot and start talking about wrapping paper, fast forward a few days (we live in Canada) we rip open the boxes to see the treasures, Tahitian pendant? Stunning and loved it. The Freshadama strand not so much... my momma was nearly in tears as she looked at the much smaller than expected strand, with a filigree clasp instead of the polished ball clasp, and no cute little p charm. "Not to worry momma," I said. "They'll take care of it, don't worry." So on the phone I went and got a customer service rep within 5 minutes, he pulled up the order and we initially figured that we had just not received the correct clasp. No hassle at all to return the necklace for the correct clasp, but lo and behold living in Canada there's no free returns option. "No matter" the representative says, "return it and scan me your receipt we'll reimburse you whatever it costs to ship." See momma? I knew they'd help us
We are not what would be considered "high value" clientele in most businesses, our purchases tend to be few and far between, so when I get a phone call, uninitiated, to confirm that they've received the return, I was very impressed, but I also got an explanation. As it turns out we had been shipped the completely wrong piece from what we had ordered, and had received a different order by accident, small wonder it was disappointing! But how's that for straightforward, honest communication? Letting us know that we absolutely weren't wrong to be disappointed and what was going to be done to fix things, without me needing to call and ask any questions.
Within the next 24 hours I was showing my momma a picture of a brand new strand of Freshadamas to replace the incorrect strand. She was thrilled. I also received a follow up email from our wonderful representative to check that I had received the shipping refund, I was in the middle of a brief but intense school crisis and hadn't even stopped to think about that, and here they are following up at every turn. Despite the Black Friday busyness we will be seeing our new strand in a couple of days, strung and set to give! And after all of that, I even get another follow up from our representative to let me know that they've confirmed the shipping refund has been sent, and that I should see it on my statements soon!
So coming to the story of the White Tahitians... Pearl Paradise has kept track of my previous purchases, (when I worked for a bank and could afford to splurge on nice jewelry from time to time) and I had Pearl Points (really! cool!), plus a little money left over from my splurge savings. The strand was on sale with the Black Friday promos, and I thought why not see if I can use the points as well? That would make the someday list a little more possible.... And they worked!! So I am now the owner of a white tahitian strand, I can't believe how lucky I got! I can't wait to see this!
So... Hi everyone, nice to officially meet you all! Mr. Shepherd if you see this post, you have a fantastic team of staff, they deserve lots of kudos and a raise!
P.S. My apologies just realized I spelled your name wrong, fixed.
So my momma and I have been racking our little brains for gift ideas for an upcoming PhD. convocation. I haven't spent money on pearls for a good couple of years since I left my bank job to start grad school, but remembered the gorgeous Pearl Paradise pieces (I received a fabulous multicolored, metallic, double strand for my B.A. grad) and thought I'm going to see if Pearl Paradise is still around/affordable if I'm careful with my budget. Aaaaand they were! (yay)!!! Shopping around for ideas, I saw many pieces I loved, of course, but the gift was the main focus, so the gorgeous White Tahitians got put onto the maybe someday list (Curse you exchange rate, and grad student budget!!!!)
So I've scrimped and saved a little splurge account in the past year, planning for this, and I thought a Tahitian pendant is the gift to give. My momma fell in love with a Freshadama strand, done and done! We order our loot and start talking about wrapping paper, fast forward a few days (we live in Canada) we rip open the boxes to see the treasures, Tahitian pendant? Stunning and loved it. The Freshadama strand not so much... my momma was nearly in tears as she looked at the much smaller than expected strand, with a filigree clasp instead of the polished ball clasp, and no cute little p charm. "Not to worry momma," I said. "They'll take care of it, don't worry." So on the phone I went and got a customer service rep within 5 minutes, he pulled up the order and we initially figured that we had just not received the correct clasp. No hassle at all to return the necklace for the correct clasp, but lo and behold living in Canada there's no free returns option. "No matter" the representative says, "return it and scan me your receipt we'll reimburse you whatever it costs to ship." See momma? I knew they'd help us
We are not what would be considered "high value" clientele in most businesses, our purchases tend to be few and far between, so when I get a phone call, uninitiated, to confirm that they've received the return, I was very impressed, but I also got an explanation. As it turns out we had been shipped the completely wrong piece from what we had ordered, and had received a different order by accident, small wonder it was disappointing! But how's that for straightforward, honest communication? Letting us know that we absolutely weren't wrong to be disappointed and what was going to be done to fix things, without me needing to call and ask any questions.
Within the next 24 hours I was showing my momma a picture of a brand new strand of Freshadamas to replace the incorrect strand. She was thrilled. I also received a follow up email from our wonderful representative to check that I had received the shipping refund, I was in the middle of a brief but intense school crisis and hadn't even stopped to think about that, and here they are following up at every turn. Despite the Black Friday busyness we will be seeing our new strand in a couple of days, strung and set to give! And after all of that, I even get another follow up from our representative to let me know that they've confirmed the shipping refund has been sent, and that I should see it on my statements soon!
So coming to the story of the White Tahitians... Pearl Paradise has kept track of my previous purchases, (when I worked for a bank and could afford to splurge on nice jewelry from time to time) and I had Pearl Points (really! cool!), plus a little money left over from my splurge savings. The strand was on sale with the Black Friday promos, and I thought why not see if I can use the points as well? That would make the someday list a little more possible.... And they worked!! So I am now the owner of a white tahitian strand, I can't believe how lucky I got! I can't wait to see this!
So... Hi everyone, nice to officially meet you all! Mr. Shepherd if you see this post, you have a fantastic team of staff, they deserve lots of kudos and a raise!
P.S. My apologies just realized I spelled your name wrong, fixed.
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