I went to Denny Lesser Jewelers because I had trusted them for over a decade…read more
Recently, though, Denny himself seems increasingly unavailable and heavily gatekept by staff.
I brought in a ring for prong tightening and three bracelets to have one link removed from each. One bracelet was especially important: a vintage aquamarine bracelet passed down through three generations on my mother's side. My mother passed away last year, and I wanted to wear it because I miss her.
I explained to Charlotte that I wanted the link that is not attached to the clasp removed in order to preserve the bracelet's integrity. I was brushed off with, "They'll know what to do."
A couple weeks later I picked up my jewelry. The other pieces were acceptable, but when I examined the aquamarine bracelet, I discovered the clasp was missing. Both ends looked hacked, cut, twisted, and mangled.
I pointed this out. Charlotte appeared surprised and called over Raz -- the jeweler who had worked on it.
Raz admitted he had begun cutting off the wrong end before realizing the clasp was attached.
My heart sank.
He casually said he could "fix it no problem" by making a new clasp. I reluctantly agreed but stressed multiple times that the bracelet was 18k gold and that any replacement must be 18k to match the original. He repeatedly assured me it would be.
They said it would take only a few days.
A week later, after hearing nothing, I called. I was met with a dismissive, "If it were ready, we would have called you." I reminded them this repair existed only because their jeweler damaged the bracelet. They still made no effort to prioritize it.
Days later, it still wasn't done.
I had a male friend call to ask for the status and thirty minutes later, I suddenly received a call saying the bracelet was finished. But Raz decided to play what he called a "bad joke" by pretending he had bad news about the bracelet before revealing it was ready. After he got his jollies, he told me the clasp had actually been there all along -- merely bent backward -- and that he had simply re-soldered it.
Relieved, I rushed over.
The moment I saw the bracelet, I knew something was wrong. The clasp was shinier and a different color than the bracelet. I flipped it over and saw "14k" stamped on it.
I asked why 14k gold had been used after I had repeatedly (like six times) requested 18k to match the original piece that he cut off and kept. (This also directly contradicted his claim that he had reused the original clasp.)
He acted confused, tested the gold himself, and admitted: "You're right, it's 14k. I don't know how that happened."
I also pointed out that the bracelet ends were still twisted, rough, and sharp. He casually offered to file them down -- which he did.
After seeing how upset I was, he offered to redo the work in the 18k gold that he had said that he would before and didn't. But after already having my bracelet for three weeks, being reckless and damaging it, putting cheaper material on it, lying and contradicting himself, and not doing what he promised, I no longer trusted leaving it there. Still, I asked how long it would take, he said another two weeks. (Because fixing his mistake was not a priority and he wouldn't be making any more money off of it unless he made another 18k piece 'disappear'.)
I took the bracelet home.
I left devastated and in tears. When I can stomach it, I've decided to take the bracelet to another jeweler and absorb the cost of trying to repair and restore the damage.
I will never ever return to Denny Lesser Jewelers.
First and foremost - it's not the place that it used to be. I don't think that Denny owns the shop anymore. I think this guy Raz is the new owner. And Denny appears not be involved in much of the transactions (other than changing watch batteries in the back room). The standard of quality control that Denny used to have with every customer no longer exists.
So if you were a customer of Dennys for decades, or if you've heard from a family member or a friend that this shop is a trusted place to bring your jewelry, I'm warning you - this is essentially a different shop - with a different jeweler doing the work.
I want to point out that Raz STOLE a piece of my late mother's 18k gold bracelet and replaced it with 14k gold - while gold is at an all time historic high. And that he tried to justify the theft by saying that 14k is stronger.
And then tried to pretend he was doing me a favor by fixing what he mangled for free. He is insane.
If you're considering bringing meaningful or valuable jewelry here -- especially family heirlooms -- I strongly urge you to find a different place.
My late mother's bracelet was damaged, altered against my explicit instructions, and swapped with 14k gold after repeated promises that 18k would be used. I was met with delays, contradictions, dismissiveness, and excuses throughout the process.
I don't want anyone else to experience what I experienced. I am filled with such regret.
