Austen & Blake Recenzje 

Simple with no issues

My partner ordered my engagement ring from Austen & Blake nine weeks ago. We received it five weeks ago, but I’ve only actually had the ring in my possession for one week because it has spent the rest of the time being returned to them. What should have been one of the happiest and most memorable moments of our lives has instead become stressful, frustrating, and deeply disappointing.

There are three main reasons for this review:

1. Poor product knowledge and customer service

When we noticed that the cut grade on our purchase order was listed as “Excellent” while the IGI certificate stated “Ideal,” we contacted Austen & Blake for clarification. We visited the store and also called, and their consultant confidently told us that “Excellent” was the highest cut grade. I still have a recording of this conversation.

Based on their advice, they asked us to send the ring back to their technician. A week later, they came back and admitted that “Ideal” is actually the highest cut grade. This is basic diamond knowledge that a consultant selling engagement rings should know. We lost an entire week simply because their staff were unable to answer a straightforward question correctly.

2. Poor quality and extremely slow after-sales service

The ring is platinum, yet it became noticeably scratched after just one week of wearing it at home under normal daily use. Austen & Blake offered to polish it, which we initially appreciated, but advised that it would take four weeks.

It has now been four weeks since we returned the ring, and we still have no update and no ring. We have called multiple times, left voicemail messages, and received no response. For such an important purchase, this level of after-sales service is completely unacceptable. (Photos attached.)

3. Lack of transparency and integrity

Before any further work was carried out, we specifically requested that they discuss the available options with us first.

Instead, they proceeded with polishing the ring without speaking to us. We only realised this during a phone call. Although we were disappointed that they had gone ahead without our agreement, we decided not to make an issue of it because we would likely have agreed to the polishing anyway. However, a few days later, they sent us another email asking for our permission to proceed with the polishing—even though the work had already been completed. This contradictory communication was confusing and did not feel transparent or honest.

Overall, our experience has been incredibly disappointing. Buying an engagement ring should be an exciting and memorable milestone, but Austen & Blake have completely ruined what should have been one of the most special moments of our lives. Between the lack of product knowledge, poor communication, questionable product quality, and unacceptable delays, we cannot recommend Austen & Blake to anyone looking for an engagement ring.

Popped in without an appointment, and despite being busy, Amber graciously made time for us. Her customer service and attention to detail was fantastic and we were so grateful for her expert guidance in helping us choose a ring to celebrate a milestone anniversary. What makes this place stand out is that ot feels like a special experience without any weight of expectation or judgement about budget or choices - thanks Amber for such a quality experience

Had a great appointment with Will. Really appreciated the time and care he took to pick out lots of options for us to try. Was really friendly and patient with 2 indecisive people! Complimentary drinks and ring cleaning too!

Lovely service , me and my partner have the perfect rings for our special day thank you 💓

Wow. Brilliant team in Newcastle, great service to guide you through your purchase, kept updated right through the buying journey through to delivery. Would always recommend, but in the very best way, hoping I won’t need to use them for a ring again.

Alyssa was really nice - she showed my wife all the ring types that would suit her, and gave her professional opinion. Delivery was good, overall really nice environment and approach.

Perfect service in the Liverpool store. Molly was fantastic, very helpful and gave great advice. Would definitely recommend.

Very good service . Would definitely recommend. Got a beautiful ring

From order to delivery Austen and Blake were great to deal with. Communication was first class. My son wanted his order before a particular date and the customer service team were so helpful and immediately tried to meet the tight deadline. Even when it looked unlikely they offered alternative solutions. However there was no need as the delivery arrived just in time. Would highly recommend this company.

Efficient service

Asked to have a ring sizer sent rwice, and nothing, which did not start the experience as planned. Ordered my rings late (my fault), and really needed them in the shorter time frame they give on the website. Contacted them as they advertise expediting orders upon request, and I was told they would not arrive before the wedding or honeymoon! Nonetheless they arrived 2 days before the wedding and I was ecstatic! However, a little sad that one of the rings, silver, is scratching up really badly and too easily - I've owned many silver rings and they have never scratched this deep and dark, so finding it very odd. But my rose gold ring is perfect and a lovely warm tone. So, overall happy, and would recommend, but wished the communication had been a little nicer over my worries and wished they didnt advertise ring sizers or speeding up orders if they can't offer this.

Excellent experience choosing an engagement ring for my partner.
Alanna was brilliant and took away a lot of stress from the process. She talked through designs and sizing and provided some great suggestions to fit with what I was looking for. The ring arrived on time (within 3 weeks of ordering around Easter period too) and it's beautiful, my partner is delighted with it!
Can't recommend highly enough from start to finish if you're unsure how to get started or what you are looking for in an engagement ring.
Thank you very much!

I am extremely disappointed with my experience.
I placed an order worth over £700 on 17 May and was advised that delivery would take between 2 and 4 weeks. More than 6 weeks later, I am still waiting for the ring.

While I understand that delays can happen, the main issue has been the lack of communication throughout the process. I was not proactively informed of any problems or delays and instead had to repeatedly contact customer service for updates. The only information I received was when I chased the company myself.

To make matters worse, I received conflicting information from different members of staff regarding the status of my order and expected delivery date. I was also promised a callback that never happened, and my formal complaint took 12 days to receive a response.

Only after escalating the matter was I informed that there had been issues sourcing suitable stones and that the original stones were rejected during production. Had this been communicated to me at the time, the situation would have been far easier to understand and accept.

For a company selling premium jewellery, I expected far better communication and customer service. Unfortunately, my experience has been frustrating, time-consuming, and well below expectations.

I hope the ring is worth the wait, but based on my experience so far, I would be hesitant to recommend Austen & Blake.

Friendly staff in the Glasgow store, easy choosing and buying process, good communications and great product, my wife was very pleased with her anniversary present!

Bought an eternity ring for my wife, arrived at the time promised (the earlier side of the delivery window, which was nice!) and all seems to be exactly as described. Excellent packaging for delivery as well, quite discreet and doesn't give away the details/value of the item contained with any obvious livery on the envelope. Wife is happy, so thats a good sign, right!

Great service very happy with everything

Great customer care and excellent product. My fiancé was so very happy with her engagement ring.

While the buying experience is easy and staff are friendly it’s important to be honest. The staff understand the products they sell, hut lack the knowledge to truly advise you on the types of pieces and things to look out for. It’s quite obvious when choosing a diamond as they don't really know more outside of the choices on screen.

Since this I’ve been to other jewellers who at least have lab diamonds and a few natural for example. Here they were all cubic zircona on dirty place mats. The overall experience n the London store felt cheap but appeared better because of the store design. Look closely and you can see the cheapness of it all.

It’s more a sales experience rather than a tailored, thought through ring picking experience. They want to close a sale, not ensure you get the best thing.

This was evident with the ring sizing which became the downfall. A few evident things about the ring; after shopping around the rings appear dainty, but they’re actually quite fragile. They aren’t thick at all which for a ring, is concerning. Needed a resize which should’ve been easy. Worker tested the resize and recommended going a half size down. After going to another jeweller I know this recommendation wasn’t even right.

This is where it all goes wrong. For a company of the size this is, the most simple of things fails. 21 working days later there was no update. What followed was daily chases for myself, only to find out they messed up the resize. Gave them a second chance and again, it failed their own quality checks. This was the last straw. I’m really shocked that a company of this scale can’t do a simple resize correctly. In hindsight, every single review that’s negative highlights aftercare being the failure, not the buying process. It took days of pushing back and discussing between customer service and in store staff to secure a refund when I ultimately decided it was not worth the hassle.

Even then, the apology in store was non existent, and customer service staff, while helpful, didn’t seem to be concerned that it was going back and forth between warehouse and quality checks, showing this is probably the norm after purchase.

Prices may seem low, and the overall options better than other stores, but this low price comes at the cost of low customer service and poor workmanship and support if ever needed.

If you’re really looking for an engagement ring and want the experience to be truly special, and your purchase valued, go elsewhere.

If you have any concerns that you may not be buying the right size or may need changes, do not use them. Go elsewhere. This is what they do worst, even though it’s one of their largest selling points. Don’t put yourself through the stress.

3 months later I have a refund, but all the horror stories show this is almost always an uphill battle filled with empty promises and them claiming ‘this fell below their high standards’. These are the standards and they aren’t even high.

Do not shop at Austen Blake.

Can’t praise them more. Patient, supportive, picked the prefect rings, beautiful quality, made time for us and got us a brilliant deal! Thank you!