I regularly recommend James Allen to the visitors of my website because in general it is a very reliable diamond vendor and the customer service is good. Especially the fact that you can see magnified high definition 360° videos of all its diamonds makes it easy to check the appearance and quality of the diamond you are about to buy.

However, I have also received some James Allen diamonds complaints from several people which I wanted to let you know about. After all, I am committed to giving you the best possible knowledge for you to make the right decision.

Please bear in mind that these are the only complaints I have personally received from visitors of my website. All in all people tend to be very satisfied with James Allen.

Complaint #1: Delivery took longer than expected

Stan from Jacksonville, Florida: “I ordered a 1.05 carat diamond set in a three stone setting both on 26.01.2015. The customer service told me that it would take one week for the complete diamond ring to arrive. However the diamond ring only arrived on 06.02.2015. When I called the customer service on 02.01.2015 it told me that the engagement ring is just about to be sent out.

All in all my ring arrived 4 days later than promised by James Allen! Now, for me that was not a problem because I proposed one month later but still I like to have a reliable company where I can count on the word when the ring is going to arrive. I received an apology by James Allen for the delay and my fiancé and me were satisfied with the quality of the ring and the diamond. I feel it might be risky to buy a complete self designed engagement ring at James Allen if badly need it within one week!”

Complaint #2: The diamond I wanted was snatched away from under my nose

Peter from Fresno, California: “I did my research on James Allen and found that you can reserve diamonds through the customer service. After doing a lot of browsing on the website I found a round cut diamond that I wanted to reserve. The customer service told me however that his was not possible due to a policy change. I was a bit disappointed about that but thought that I could still order the diamonds some days later when having settled my money issues.

4 days later however the diamond was already sold to someone else. I had to do even more extensive research to find a new diamond that was to my liking. That got me pretty enraged. I think that the new policy is screwed and not customer friendly. After all, when you make the commitment of contacting the customer service for reserving the diamond you are highly likely to buy, too.”

NOTE by Your Diamond Teacher: According to James Allen’s new policy guidelines of 2015 it is not possible to reserve any diamonds anymore. The only exception are fancy shaped diamonds when an ASET analysis is requested for up to three diamonds.

Complaint #3: You cannot ship the diamond to someone else

Jack from Denver, Colorado: “I wanted to ship the order to my best friend who lives in New York. As I was about to visit him for 3 weeks that made the most sense. However, James Allen does not allow to ship to people different from the person on the credit card. Therefore, I had to make complicated money transactions to my friend so that he could buy the ring with his own credit card. I don’t get why it has to be so complicated.”

NOTE by Your Diamond Teacher: Please note that for security reasons James Allen requires the billing address and the shipping address to be exactly the same. There always has to be an adult who signs the package upon receiving it.

Complaint #4: I had to pay the return fees

Jerome from Paris, France: “I did not quite like the fancy shaped diamond I have bought. Or better said, my girlfriend’s best friend convinced me that another diamond shape would be better. So, I had to return the entire ring and wanted to have my money back. I only got the return code 3 days later and had to pay for the entire secured shipping via Fedex International Priority which cost me around 110$ for a diamond that was worth around 4500$. James Allen is advertising that returns are for free but I did not realize that this was only within the US. I think that James Allen could advertise this fact more clearly! ”

NOTE by Your Diamond Teacher: Customers outside the US have to be aware that they will have to pay for the secured return shipping via Fedex International Priority. The price of the return shipping will vary according to the value of the order.

Conclusion of all James Allen diamonds complaints

Most of the complaints that I have personally received about James Allen so far are things that are within their policy guidelines. I can understand that for some people it is a nuisance to go through James Allen’s entire policy guidelines though. Please read James Allen’s general policies here.

The only complaint outside the James Allen’s policy guidelines I have received is that the delivery took 4 days longer than promised by James Allen. Although I think that this is a rare case it shows that it might happen. Therefore, in some cases it might be risky to order with James Allen if you badly need the ring within a short period of time. For instance if you have an event planned for the proposal or something.

Still, go and check out James Allen and its revolutionary 360° high definition video technology and make up your own mind!

By the way, did you know that James Allen will provide you with a Free Ring Sizer? They will ship it to you for free as long as you live in the United States.

If you should have bought at James Allen and be dissatisfied with the purchase for whatever reason please drop me a mail and I will add your complaint here.