Every gift begins with Kay...and ends with a trade-in?

Talk about word of mouth, one of the things I spread the word most about is Kay Jewelers and their Lifetime Diamond Guarantee. Two years ago on my birthday, my parents bought me a beautiful diamond pendant and that's how I learned about this guarantee. My stepmom gave me all the paperwork and explained that as long as I had my necklace cleaned and inspected every 6 months and had those inspections documented, if anything happened to one of the diamonds it would be repaired or replaced free of charge. I thought this was a fabulous guarantee and tell practically everyone I know whenever they comment on my necklace.

My months for inspection are April and October, so before October ended, I headed down to Kay with my necklace and paperwork for the inspection. I arrived and told the salesperson I was there to have my necklace inspected...and without missing a beat, she asked me if I would be interested in trading it in for an upgrade. I nearly did a double take. I realize this person must work on commission and was just trying to make a living, but she obviously must realize that jewlery is extremely sentimental and often given as a gift. I doubt most people are that willing to give up diamonds that easily. Imagine you gave someone a nice pair of earrings and then you noticed they stopped wearing them and you found out they traded them in for something "better." I politely declined and let her know all I needed was the inspection. This necklace was a gift for my 25th birthday, from my parents, it's as much a memory as it is an object. I would never trade it in. All of my jewelry is sentimental and symbolic...I could probably tell you when and why I recieved every piece. So needless to say, Kay went from being a company I praised constantly, to one I might not be speaking so highly of in the future.