Initially, we were pretty happy with our experience at the Diamond House. My then-boyfriend and I stopped by to check them out because I had driven by and saw a "50% off all loose diamonds" sign in their window. Turns out that was kind of a load of crap as the sign is ALWAYS in their window and they price their diamonds at a normal price always rather than at the inflated mall jewelry store prices and then knock them down 50%. Stacey, one of the owners, said she could have her diamond dealer bring in a couple diamonds in the price range/size we were interested in, and we could stop by again in a few days or so. We did that, and ultimately my now husband was so happy with the diamond we saw that he bought it on the spot. Stacey agreed to $50 less when he offered to pay it in full rather than do layaway. This was appreciated.
Another thing we liked from our first few visits was that they have numerous catalogs you can go through to find engagement ring styles you like. This means you get the band you want with the diamond you want, which is much better than the "everything's already together" styles you find at mall jewelry stores.
After the diamond was purchased and I had chosen a couple settings I liked, my then boyfriend decided I would be removed from the process so that he could at least sort of surprise me with the proposal. He ordered the engagement ring setting about 6 weeks later (I did not know until later when it was ordered). They told him it would take 2-3 weeks for it to arrive and for their goldsmith to set the diamond in it. It took over a month, which was irritating. Because we had initially given them both of our phone numbers when we first stopped by, they had both... and erroneously called me when the setting was in. This upset my then boyfriend as he didn't want me to know when the setting arrived since he wanted the proposal timing to be a secret. This was sloppy on their part, as HE was the one who ordered and paid for both the diamond and setting, so they should have had HIS phone number and name attached to these purchases. He is from Kalamazoo so his cell phone number had a different area code and was completely different from my number, so it should not have been an issue of our numbers being similar or something along those lines.
My now husband proposed with the ring on August 1st. From that day on, I wore the ring constantly with the exception of showering and getting ready for the day/night. Also with the exception of a week shortly after our engagement because I had to take it in to be polished and to have one of the prongs fixed. There were already a couple tiny scratches on the band and the diamond had been set a little off kilter. One of the prongs was a bit lower than the other three, so I brought it in to be fixed. When I got it back a week later, the tiny scratches were gone bu the diamond still looked a bit off kilter. Since I had just gotten engaged and everyone was asking to see the ring, I decided to just forget about it and wear the ring. It wasn't that off kilter, but enough that it bugged me and it just shouldn't be like that when you're spending thousands on a piece of jewelry you intend to wear every day for the rest of your life.
Less than 3 months later, on October 23rd, two of the prong tips broke off and the diamond almost fell out. The only reason it didn't is because I was still in the stage of looking at my ring constantly and I had noticed it looked different, since the tips had fallen off. Thankfully, I noticed and put the ring and diamond in a plastic baggie until I took it into the Diamond House. When I brought it in, they did not apologize nor seem very alarmed... even though I almost lost the diamond because THEIR goldsmith does shoddy work. They merely took the ring and diamond and said it would be fixed in a week for free.
When I received the ring back after the prongs were reset, the diamond was even more off kilter than previously. Now 2 of the prongs were a bit shorter than the other 2. Since I didn't want to be without my ring and at this point I didn't trust their goldsmith with anything, I didn't bother asking to have it fixed. Since then, I have taken it to Medawar Jewelers down the street and they quoted $200 for a brand new prong head since the current prong head is too damaged to repair. Thanks, Diamond House, for adding an extra $200 to our ring cost! Now that the wedding is done, we will have this done as I still constantly worry about a prong tip breaking and losing the diamond. Their goldsmith is CRAP.
This past spring, we stopped in to get a price quote on the matching wedding band and to look at men's wedding bands for my now husband. We stopped by on a Saturday, so they couldn't call the manufacturers to get the prices, so they said they would call on Monday and then call me with the price quotes. Since they don't keep very good records, they needed to get my phone number again. It was written down by Neishia (the other owner) on a piece of paper, along with the details about the ring we wanted a price for. She promised she would call on Monday. When it was Wednesday and I still hadn't received a call, I stopped by because I was in the area. Neishia said she had lost my number and was hoping I'd call or stop by (WTF?! Shouldn't they have this ON RECORD?).
At that point, given everything that had happened thus far, I wanted to be done with them but wanted to have the matching wedding band to my engagement ring. So we ordered it, with delivery promised in 2 weeks. Again, it took almost a month, which we should have expected, but it was getting close to the date and I was getting nervous.
For weeks, we would try to call them to check on the status of the wedding ring, and it would ring and ring for minutes and minutes, with no voicemail/answering machine pick up. At one point, I posted on their Facebook page wall explaining I needed information ASAP due to my wedding coming up in 2 weeks but that their phone number wasn't working. I tried calling again 20 minutes later and Stacey picked up... she said her son saw the post and had alerted her to it, and she had no idea they were having phone problems. She blamed it on their security company....
After receiving the matching wedding band, I noticed how much my 14k white gold engagement ring had lost its silver-ness especially behind the tiny side diamonds. I contacted the Diamond House about rhodium replating, since I figured this would make the rings match each other and thus would look nice in wedding day photos. They said I should come no later than Tuesday, July 5th, to ensure it would be ready before the wedding, since their crappy goldsmith only comes once a week. I decided I'd take a chance on the goldsmith since it just involved rhodium replating, so I arrived on Tuesday, July 5th, at 5:51 p.m., a full 9 minutes before their advertised closing time. THEY HAD CLOSED EARLY. I drove all the way from Cutlerville (131 and M-6) to Plainfield and 5 Mile just to give them my ring in time to be rhodium replated. That is 18 miles one way! I had no other reason to be on that side of town. I was absolutely FURIOUS. I left an angry, but civil, voicemail for them while standing outside their store. I banged on the door in the hopes that maybe they were still there, just packing up. NOPE. So I went down the street and had Medawar Jewelers replate the rhodium for $5 more, but it was done the following morning. Later that evening, I left a final voicemail for the Diamond House letting them know I was no longer in need of their services.
Ultimately, I think we got a pretty good price on my rings and diamond from the Diamond House, but that is the only pro. If you want a really great price and that's all you care about, you might want to consider using the Diamond House, but I'd recommend taking the ring and loose stone elsewhere since their goldsmith is absolute crap and does shoddy work.
