Dress Up Them Lobes
Posted by: Dan on Feb 09, 2008
Among the number of other wedding planning trips on Saturday Brooke and I hit Rogers & Hollands Jewelers at the mall to look at a pair of earrings for her to wear on our wedding day.
We went in to look at one pair of earrings and ended up quickly looking at a different pair (or two, or three). There was one pair that Brooke really seemed to like. I could tell this because of two reasons. 1. The look on her face as she tried them on. 2. She told me so.
Let me interject here that I don’t mind jewelery stores, in fact dealing with the people at Kesslers Diamonds was a good experience. However, I think jewelers in malls are a different breed. They come across more pushy and are always throwing out that “I can only give you that price today.” That annoys me because I know it’s not true. If you were in fact getting such a great deal they wouldn’t be in business long.
Of course the people at Rogers & Hollands did that and the funny thing about it was we didn’t get that pitch from one person, we got it from three. Yes the lady who first helped us quickly passed us along to another person who then passed us to another. If you could the payment we got passed along to a fourth person.
Anyway because of their pushy attitude I wanted to walk away a bit and talk things over with Brooke. Deep in my mind I knew we’d end up buying the earrings but I just wanted to take a walk to think things over a bit.
As I talked with Brooke I could see that she really wanted these earrings, and they looked outstanding on her. So after a brief lap of the mall we headed back and bought them. I know it made Brooke happy and that’s what matters.
For all the guys out there who maybe looking to purchase jewelery let me give you a little bit of advice. First if you can go to a jeweler that displays their lowest price (or has that “there won’t be a sale” mentality) I think you’re doing yourself a favor. You walk away with the jewelery you wanted at the same price as the next guy. You’re not sitting there going, “Did I just get ripped off?” or “Could I have gotten them to go lower?”
The other piece of advice I have is to take a walk once they throw that price out at you. Even if you think you’re dealing with a cool head you’re probably not. Walking away from the counter and taking even 5 minutes to think things over gives you time away from the push clerks who are trying to play on your softer side. “Oh she’ll just love that! Don’t you want the best for her?” We all know you want the best for her and she knows it to. But it’s not “the best” that matters… it’s what’s the best you can afford. Odds are no matter what you get for her she’ll love it. After all she loves you and the thought you’ve put into the gift – so don’t let the jewelers get you thinking that the more you spend means the more you love her.
(Sorry the image isn’t the best, I don’t have a macro lens)