I visited Atlantic City Jewelry in the Berkeley Shopping Plaza in Bayville on Wednesday, September…read more18, 2024, seeking information on three rings that I wanted the owner, Chris Biele, to examine. I knew two of the rings needed repair and he stated that my wedding band did as well. A diamond cocktail ring needed to be soldered and my wedding band diamonds needed to be tightened. The engagement ring was missing two diamonds, which I instructed Chris just to fill in with white gold. In addition, Chris mentioned he would tighten all those remaining diamonds, as well as round the ring's frame, which had become somewhat more of an oval shape after years of wear. He told me that the repairs to the rings would be ready any time after 1 pm on that Saturday.
On the morning of the 19th, I gave Chris a quick call requesting an itemization of the charges for each ring as the claim check only had the overall amount due. He became very defensive stating that the jeweler down the street would have charged more. I wasn't questioning the total amount, but was interested in knowing the charge for each ring, an itemization. The response I received from him was very disturbing. His arrogance surprised me.
Even though the repairs were promised any time after 1 pm, I arrived at the store at 4 pm only to be told that the project was not finished. During the one hour I waited, he boasted that he had another property, a boat and purchased a new electric Hummer with a credit card, information I did not need to know.
After leaving his place of business, I placed the rings in a sturdy jewel box until I wore them on the 28th for my birthday. Less than two hours after I put the ring on, I noticed one of the diamonds was missing. On the 30th, I called Chris to inform him that one of the "tightened" diamonds fell out. At first, he suggested that I must have banged the rings or dropped them dislodging the diamond. Also, he claimed that gold is soft. Then he stated that "like an auto dealer, once you leave the business premises, it is no longer responsible". The analogy, I thought, made no sense. As I live in California, I wasn't in a position to return to Bayville to have him look at the engagement ring and he didn't offer for me to mail it to him. He offered no apology and refused to refund any of the money I paid him. In fact, he said to call my insurance company, and let it pay for the ring.
Fortunately, American Express intervened on my behalf, and I did receive some of the money I paid him. But now, I need to have the ring repaired again, and in addition, will now have to purchase a replacement diamond for it, costing even more than the original repair. I just thought it important to share my experience.
