Anthonys Fine Jewellery Indooroopilly

I posted this review under the Toombul store, but I feel it's justified here also seeing as I dealt with the Carindale store, who then had it set via the Toombul store (Anthony's Head Office). I have had quite simply the worst customer experience ever at this small jewellery chain. I shall start from the beginning. I wished to set a very valuable diamond heirloom for my girlfriend. As per my request, Anthony's drew up a simple design (a round brilliant solitaire). I was a bit taken aback by the two month timeline they gave (their standard), but at that stage I was in no rush to propose so happily obliged. Around a month and a half later, Anthony's informed me that they set the ring, however it was not stable and indeed the entire design was flawed and wouldn't work. I enquired why they were not able to tell me this before they started, and indeed finished setting the diamond. Well, I received what I can only describe as a total obscure response from the store. Firstly, instead of them calling me to tell me this important news, they sent me a 1200 word email, with the highlight being the below comment: “The design that we had chosen is a popular design especially in the Asian and American market however, Australian ladies wear their pieces a lot harder (i.e. generally worn while doing dishes, generally Australian ladies less likely to have drivers or maids so a lot more cleaning duties ect..)” Again, I enquired why they couldn't have just told me that before wasting a month and half and bastardising my diamond in a setting that had to be ripped apart. I also enquired why is it I have seen this exact setting in other major retailers offering lifetime warranties. They couldn't provide answers. I decided to endure and we revised the design slightly, heightening the shoulders of the band and matching it to a setting in the Anthony's store (essentially a Tiffany setting with some sidestones). By this time I had a firm date of when I wanted to propose. Anthony's revised date still fell just within this (still over two months from when the whole process began). A week out though, I get another email. They had tried setting it again only for it to be flawed and not structurally secure again. Again, I must reinforce how simple this design is! They advised they should still be able to work within the confines of the design, but that it would take much longer to set as they would again have to rip the setting apart and try again. This is when I began to get a little distressed about my diamond and what was actually going on here. I had seen instances of their jewellery in store with imperfections; a prong leaning at an angle, inconsistent spacing between side-stones. I'd been assured that was just demo jewellery that wasn't sold to the public, however because of my now heightened concerns with the quality at which the diamond was being set, as well as fear at what the eventual outcome of all this might be, I emailed Anthony's to make them aware I would not tolerate anything less than the flawless standards of some of the third party jewellery in their store (i.e. Hearts and Arrows). A week goes by with no response. Whilst I interpreted this as them going back to work on the diamond, I receive a call from Anthony's saying they are not able to produce the diamond as they are “not able to meet my flawless expectations”. Well excuse me for wanting something of that standard that my partner will wear on her finger the rest of her life! By the end of it all, I'd come out of three months worth of pain, right back to where I started, and with a diamond that had endured two failed settings and god knows what else from what I deem to be shoddy craftsmanship from someone who wasn't capable of producing a simple, elegant ring.