They have no idea what they are doing - AVOID!!!!
My wife purchased a dress ring for £225 from a shop just around the corner from David P Stern. The ring needed resizing and the basket needed a slight adjustment. David (the owner of D P Stern) agreed to do it on the spot within one hour for £40 cash.
After inspecting the ring when we arrived home we found the basket to be dented and scratched on both sides where he had damaged it with his tool, the centre stone was rattling as the setting was no longer holding it correctly, the two side stones had changed from CZ glass to a crystallized / frosted glass look as David used heat on the CZ stones when adjusting the setting, which any experienced Jeweler would know heat damages CZ stones, and finally the entire band of the ring had marks and scratches all over it.
After a few emails that evening back and forth, David agreed to have the ring collected from our property the next morning by City Sprint and he said he would have it fixed before we were to go away on Holiday. I confirmed in an email with David what needs to be corrected and I asked for confirmation of this.
The ring was posted back to us on special delivery 2-days later. The centre stone was still rattling when you move the ring as the clasps hadn’t been adjusted to hold the stone correctly, the sides of the centre basket were still marked and dented, the ring itself was still scratched / marked around the band, and the two side stones, which David replaced, were not sitting (set) equally, as one sat higher than the other. Upon closer inspection one stone was actually shorter than the other, which is why it looked this way. When we purchased the ring 2-days before David destroyed it, both side stones were exactly the same size as each other.
David agreed by email with our solicitor copied on a Friday early afternoon to refund us the £225 for the ring and the £40 we paid him. David asked for my bank account details and specifically said in his email that he would arrange the refund immediately.
After the Bank Holiday Weekend the refund had not yet been received. I emailed David twice and then called David at 13:00PM on the Tuesday and said that the refund hadn’t been received, and I asked if he made the payment. He said ‘No’ – nothing more than this. To which I replied, ‘and why not’, given that he had agreed to the refund in writing before the weekend. He replied saying he ‘changed his mind’ - saying nothing further than this.
My solicitor is now taking the matter up legally.
I would never expect a jeweler based in central London to have such little disregard and be completely unable to make such minor adjustments to a piece of jewelry, especially when David states on his website how experienced the company is.
My wife has been in tears numerous times due to this man over the past few days. I would advise against using his services so you are not left out of pocket and disappointed like we are.