(My silver ring is very dear to me, because it was the last birthday gift I got from my dad before he died. It now has a crack in the band, so I take it to the local jeweler for repairs. A week after I drop it off, I get a phone call saying their silversmith has been sick, so it is taking a bit longer. I don’t think much of it when it does take a while, but after two weeks I decide to call. I get the store manager on the phone. He says he can’t find my order, so he’ll have to call me back. A few minutes later, he calls.)

Jeweler: “Hi. I am calling about the silver ring you inquired about. And, um… I really don’t know how to tell you this, but the ring was sent to our workshop, and it was already done and on its way back to the store… but it got lost in the mail.”

Me: “What? What do you mean, ‘lost in the mail?’”

(At this point, he has to explain it to me again, as I can’t believe my ears. It turns out that the one package that was missing from the postal service truck was the one containing my ring. The jeweler on the phone is stuttering with nerves, and it slowly dawns on me what the case is. I’m in tears at this point.)

Jeweler: “I will get a call from the postal services tomorrow, and see if they have found it yet. But it has been several days already, so I wouldn’t count on it…”

(This gives me a slight spark of hope. But the day after comes and goes, and no call. I go by the store the next day, and I meet with the manager. He explains to me that there has even been a full investigation looking into where the package went. The jeweler himself has searched the postal truck, and basically moved heaven and earth to find it. But no luck… the package is gone. I’m crushed by this news, and the jeweler keeps apologizing. I keep telling him he isn’t to blame. The poor guy is shaking with nerves.)

Jeweler: “I understand that the value of this ring to you can not be expressed in numbers. But I do want to ask you want you think it was worth in the first place, so I can at least compensate you.”

Me: *crying* “I don’t think any price you name can fill the gap for this loss… It wasn’t even a fancy ring. Honestly, it wouldn’t feel right to demand money from you for this.”

Jeweler: “I see where you want to go with this… but I can’t just let you walk away with nothing. Let me at least give you a gift card.”

Me: “Really, sir, you have done all you could to find it back. With all due respect, I’m in no mood to go shop for another ring, or anything else for that matter, right now.”

Jeweler: *with the most defeated face I have ever seen* “It would be so much easier for me if you just shouted at me…”

Me: “Why would I shout at you? Again, this isn’t your fault. It’s the postal service’s fault. I feel so sorry for you…”

Jeweler: “Don’t feel sorry for me! This isn’t about me, it’s about you! But I can’t let you walk away just like that. No.. no this won’t do. Let me just… hold on.”

(He gets up, gets a gift card from the counter, and writes a figure on it.)

Jeweler: “I won’t write an expiration date on it, so you can use this, unlimited. Again, I feel terrible for what happened.”

(He wrote quite a sum on that gift card… I still feel so sorry for the poor jeweler. I’m still heartbroken for never getting my ring back, but the service and compassion from this jeweler was unbelievable! I hope he quit beating himself up about it.)

(I work in a mid-range jewelry and handbag store. We have these giant faux fur pom poms that are meant to hang on your handbag as charms, but they also have a portable charger built in, which actually is pretty cool. A customer brings one of these to the register.)

Customer: “What is this?”

Me: “Well, it’s a purse charm that can charge your phone.”

Customer: “Oh, that’s cool. How does it work?”

Me: “Like any other portable charger, you have to plug it in and charge it before you leave, and then when you’re out, you can just plug your phone in whenever it’s low.”

Customer: “Oh. I don’t want it if I have to charge it, too.”

Me: “Okay, I’ll take it back then. Have a good day.”

(This lady thought that we were selling unlimited electricity for $12. Sure.)

(The December before I got married, my parents let me go to the optometrist one last time while I was still on their insurance. They had $1000 on their plan to use up or it would be lost on January 1st, so I was told to go nuts on a pair of glasses. I ended up with a very nice pair of flex-steel glasses that were very thin, especially along the bridge of the nose. Cue five years later and that very thin bridge has finally broken. I tape them up but the metal has actually curled in slightly so both sides are poking me in the nose and they are incredibly uncomfortable since the glasses don’t want to stay straight and want to fold in on themselves. I bring them to a chain glasses store and get told that the metal stresses as it ages and gets weaker, so they are shot. They can’t fix them, only get me a new pair, but since my prescription is more than two years old I have to get an exam as well. They tell me my only other option is to go to a jewelry store and have them laser weld the pieces back together. I go to a local jewelry store and thankfully the clerk is able to get them welded together for $35. About two months later, things in my life have taken a downturn. My hours were slashed from thirty-five a week to less than nine; my wife’s hours were also cut (we worked at the same restaurant). We have just signed up with WIC, cancelled everything but our cell phones and the most basic Internet package, and are still wondering how we are going to pay our bills. Sitting on the couch one night, my toddler throws his head back and breaks my glasses again. This time we don’t have $35 to fix them but I can’t work or drive without them so I go back to the jewelry store.)

Me: *hands over glasses to same clerk as before* “Sorry, I got a toddler head-butt to the face and they broke again.”

Clerk: “Well, the machine hasn’t been powered on yet today so it’s going to be the better part of an hour before these are fixed since it takes a while to warm up.”

(The place is downtown so I go and squint-browse at some of the other stores for an hour.)

Clerk: “Here you go. Try them on and see if they fit correctly.”

Me: *after verifying they fit* “So it’s $35?”

Clerk: “No charge. You were honest about it up front. You didn’t lie or try to blame us or demand anything. Kids happen, but I’d get them replaced sooner rather than later.”

(Thank you, Clerk, for helping a struggling family out! He saved us not having to stretch an immensely strained budget further. Two months later, my wife got a job with benefits and I got new glasses, and three months after that I found a full-time job with benefits of my own.)

(I recently moved to Canada from the UK and am still adjusting to some Canadian quirks.)

Me: “[Coworker], where’s the manager? A guest wants a refund.”

Coworker: “He’s in [Popular Electronic Store] watching the Stanley Cup playoffs.”

Me: “So watching the playoffs is more important than doing his job?”

Coworker: “Welcome to Canada!”

(This story comes from my now-fiance when he went to buy my engagement ring. Throughout our dating, I made no secret of the fact that I never wanted to own a diamond because of artificial market inflation, and their connections to human rights violations. So, naturally, he goes into his conversation with the jeweler knowing that.)

Fiancé: “I’m interested in looking at engagement rings.”

Jeweler: “Absolutely. Let me take you to look at our selection. We’ll find the perfect one to make her say yes.”

Fiancé: “So, I’m not interested at diamonds at all, and I’d really prefer manufactured gemstones, rather than mined ones.”

Jeweler: “You may not be interested in diamonds, but she is.”

Fiancé: “She actually isn’t. She’s made that fairly clear.”

Jeweler: “Girls say that. But they don’t mean it. They don’t really know what they want.”

Fiancé: “That may true. Thing is, she isn’t a girl; she’s a woman, and perfectly capable of making up her own mind.”

(I couldn’t be prouder of him. And yes, this is confirmed as having happened by my best friend who was ring shopping with him to give opinions and browsing nearby.)