Austen & Blake - Nottingham Avis 221

Shivarni helped us find our wedding bands, and it was a quick and easy process with her. She’d already helped us find my fiancée’s engagement ring, so it was good to see a trustworthy face help us through the journey! Very excited to pick up the rings!

Staff were great with excellent customer service and knowledge. They took the time to search and advise on a better grade natural diamond for a similar price to my first one chosen to make my ring a one off piece.

What a great experience we had in the Nottingham branch, Kirsty was excellent, very informative and helpful. The ring arrived 4 weeks as promised and looks amazing, packaging very impressive too, we will definitely be back!

Kirsty was great, she explained everything very well and was very patient with us. She also showed us a variety of options and was very honest with her suggestions which we appreciated. She also kept me up to date on the progress of my order! Thanks

Great service, was a helpful guide. Talked through everything with me felt like a diamond expert by the time i left. Mitchell was very helpful when ordering and Trevor was great to do make the purchase with on collecting. Cant fault the service. Shopper around before hand and seemed like very good value aswell.

Superb welcome and customer service throughout. Shirvani was so helpful, kind, polite and brilliant with responding to emails and queries, she made our whole experience of finding the right engagement ring completely hassle and stress free, what a credit to the company she is, thank you so much.

Great service by A. and B. Nottingham branch,due to long wait time we received brand new pair of earrings and part refund,we are more than happy!

From start to finish Kirsty at Austen and Blake was
Professional, informative , knowledgable and friendly.
Helping me choose the perfect ring.
The after service was very good too.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Austen and Blake…

Great service within Nottingham shop and was given plenty of time to look and decide. No time pressure. Beautiful ring and a good price. Would shop there again

Avoid if wanting to receive a ring as ordered!

Engagement ring purchase but on collection discovered the main features for the style choosen were completely different and the gold band thickness that I had paid for was clearly 15% thinner, than was even on the generic specification listed. Despite these significant mistakes at escalating the complaint to 'Head of operations'. I was only offered an equivalent £30 compensation*

The two main reasons for purchasing the gold Casey style ring was the petal style ring setting. Having the cavity gaps throughout the circumference of the claw setting. which I felt was unique but a key feature to my choice.

The ring I received was not as seen in the store previously or as shown online. The petal design appeared crimped and moulded together, so no diamond spacings around the ring setting. This substantially changes the appearance of the ring. Secondly the 18k gold band appeared thin and not as hoped/expected. Upon taking the ring home, it quickly became apparent, when measuring that the thickness was 15% below it's listed specification that I had paid for, with the diamond selected.

After highlighting these issues with the Austen and Blake Nottingham store, I travelled to Nottingham again to have this confirmed in store that the thickness and style I received was incorrect. This is more appalling given that the ring chosen was standard, It's not like the factory had missed a unique request. The store general management was on annual leave for 2 weeks, however I was given the 3 options by the sales consultant. These options were standard and the bare minimum expected given the obvious mistakes by factory. None of the options are suitable.

In store, it was mentioned that the ring was correct as per the pictures on the website but not the video. However, this information was false, as it's also clear on one of the pictures for the spacings. I was also told this ring on the video is obsolete, and the poorly crimped design, is the current design. However, I also seen the Casey ring in person, in silver with the spacings around. I was also disappointed as it's only at the end of the store visit I highlighted that not only is the ring 15% thinner gold than it should be, but I had also paid additional for the thicker gold band. As the cost automatically increased when selecting a diamond above 0.7carat. Had I not highlighted this, I would have overpaid for a product that I'd not received and many would go unnoticed.

During the process of ring purchases through Austen and Blake Nottingham, I have now visited the store 4 times which is nearly a 2 hour round trip from Derby and a parking cost each time. The quality of the gold band was also poor and had scorching all over the band. Obviously, this would be expected once worn for a period of time. However, this shouldn't be obvious on the eye, prior to being worn.

As I had no other option but to purpose on holiday with this poorly made ring, that I'd actually spent many hours selecting. Obviously, my girlfriend was very upset, when I discussed with her how I hadn't actually selected that ring. The design and band thickness were completely incorrect. This unfortunately had a negative effect on the whole occasion and holiday. As our option is to either keep the ring. Which wasn't the one I'd chosen or she'll have to go a couple of weeks without any engagement ring at all. At a time where all family and friends will be seeing for the first time.

Due to the significance of the issues, it can only be negatively publicised to others, that Diamonds Factory/Austen and Blake made multiple obvious mistakes at my expense. Having an option of no ring for a period of time and then a ring I didn't actually propose with or keeping a ring, I never chosen or wanted is a difficult position for us both to be in. One I wouldn't have ever envisaged when using reputable diamond stores.

Whilst I find the whole situation and resolution options appalling, I'm also concerned that if the information received in store was correct about the ring being obsolete and a different style replaced, that this still hasn't been updated on the website 8 weeks later! A clear breach of the consumer rights act 2015.

Due to very low compensation value offered and originally rejected and still wanting to escalate the complaint further. I was advised to contact to thier independent regulator NAJ. I wasted more valued time in raising this case, only to be informed by the NAJ, they don't deal with compensation values.

*The £400 maximum compensation value offered, despite highlighting only equated to around £30. Due to the ring now having an additional £285 sale, whilst still during our returns period. Plus the £84 cost of the less gold received.

Matt helped me from start to finish, and provided excellent service when selecting a ring! I had two visits and plenty of email exchanges, and he was genuine and extremely helpful throughout! Thanks so much, Matt!

Kirsty at the Nottingham store was brilliant from minute 1. Will definitely recommend to anyone !

I was looked after from the moment I ordered the ring to the moment I walked out with it on the day of collection.

Thank you to the Nottingham team for taking care of me and ensuring my needs were met.

Excellent perfect staff, very helpful

I arranged a face to face appointment with Kirsty to have a look at a couple of engagement rings that I was interested in. She was so helpful and so insightful with the types of rings that were available and the reasons to buy a certain type. I was in the shop for almost 3 hours with my partner as as we tried different rings. Kirsty was so helpful and emailed me later to what was discussed at the appointment. Within a couple of months, I ordered the recommended ring and it arrived in store within a month. Collecting the ring was very smooth and generally had a lovely experience. I would definitely recommend this place and would not hesitate buying other products.

Staff everyone was absolutely amazing very happy with the service nothing was a issue great communication kept me up to date simply brilliant thanks Mitch & Kirsty superstars 😄

I first saw Austen & Blake online and was interested in their rings as they offer the option to completely design your own. Due to the cost of an engagement ring I wanted to see the products first hand and I made an appointment at the Nottingham showroom. Shivarni was really helpful and able to take my rough ideas of what I was after and turn them in to a ring that both my fiancée and I love. She showed me a range of cuts, clarity, colour and sizes so that I was able to see exactly what each element of the ring would look like but still end up with a bespoke personalised ring. Shivarni and Mitch were both really helpful and personable and came back to me quickly with any queries I had throughout the whole process. 5 out of 5. Would recommend

Couldn’t recommend them enough. Shivani was knowledgeable and thoughtful

I ordered an engagement ring with Shivarni, after spending a while looking through all of the options with her. Austen and Blake offer a huge array of customisation, so the ring can be made to meet your exact requirements, which is very unique. I was hesitant about paying and ordering a ring that I had not seen in person, as it was based on images and a mould in store, but upon receipt of the ring, I was delighted with how it looked.

The team at AB were very accommodating, and allowed me to make changes to the design during the procurement process which was fantastic too.

Overall, I’d recommend Austen and Blake to anybody wishing to do a bit more with their jewellery design, and have it made bespoke without paying an extortionate amount.

Very friendly and helpful. Never felt rushed or pressure. Allowed us to look at a variety of rings in our own time.