Finlay Fine Jewelry (2.80)
I have been working for Finlay for seven years and I have to say that of course there are going to be some unhappy former employees with a company as large as Finlay. The training is extensive, though hard to study while working the sales floor, but for people who sometimes are hired with little or no jewelry experience to expect to make big dollars right away is ridiculous. All the tools and the training are available to those who want to succeed and develop a clientele, but to those who come in inexperienced, starting at a low wage and expecting to bide their time until their closing shift is over, provide poor customer service, and then complain that the company did them wrong, they should think again. Finlay has a lot to offer and I've always been treated well. As for those protection plans...they're actually outstanding! I've seen a pair of earrings that were accidently run over by the owner's car be made new again. I've seen a ring that was accidently thrown into a fireplace and resembled nothing that even looked like a piece of jewelry come back better than new, and I have seen more watches than I can count come back without a scratch. In fact, I found this site by attempting to look for a plan of insurance for my new non-Finlay jewelry item and haven't found anything that even comes close to matching what they offer. I purchase the plans myself, along with items that I get at an incredible discount. The plan isn't only for two years unless you're purchasing a watch. The jewelry plans are renewable EVERY two years and if they can't fix or make the item look new, you're issued a check in the amount that you paid with the option of choosing something else or just keeping the check! To the person who only receieved part of their check back, I've never seen that happen. There's no reason why you shouldn't have received the entire amount paid or why you should be speaking with representatives of the plan instead of the jewelry manager, unless you've lost your receipt or it was past the two years and they made an exception for you. As for the quality, there is an assortment of different levels of quality just like there are differences in price ranging from small items with diamond accents for under a hundred to GIA certified pieces for several thousand. You get what you pay for and there's something for every customers budget.