[Jewelry making - Article 00070] - Re: [Orchid] Oops, I broke your tanzanite

[Daniel R. Spirer]

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>     There is no price on sentimental value as it lies with the person
>     and varies from one person to the other. So you can't and
>     shouldn't have to pay for that. 

    Ah, this is exactly the problem.  While you shouldn't have to pay
    for this the reality is that if the customer is left miserably
    unhappy because of the sentimental value you will lose not just her
    as a customer, but all of her friends, and her friend's friends.  We
    once had a ring  mysteriously disappear from our shop that belonged
    to a regular customer.  She had inherited the ring from her aunt. 
    Her first childhood memory of any jewelry was seeing this ring on her
    aunt's finger.  There was no way we could ever replace it, both
    because of the unusual nature of the piece and the sentiment attached
    to it.  We talked to her in depth about it (one employee lost a job
    over it), offered to duplicate it as best we could or we offered her
    anything in the store that she wanted (anything!).  She chose some
    pieces from the store.  To this day she is still a customer (as are
    her children).  Did it cost us a lot more than her ring?  You bet. 
    Have we made it all back?  You bet. Plus it was just the right thing
    to do---something everyone should think about in these cases.  After
    all a customer came in and entrusted you with their treasure. 

Daniel R. Spirer, GG
Spirer Somes Jewelers
1794 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02140
617-491-6000
spirersomes AT earthlink.net
www.spirersomes.com


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