Murrey’s Jewelers

Gave them one star because I had to in order to write a review. Murrey’s doesn’t even deserve the one star, however.
My story starts over 27 years ago when my husband bought my engagement ring at Murrey’s. We were young and, apparently, gullible. We thought we were at a reputable business. We weren’t.
We bought a smallish diamond solitaire ring with baguettes on each side. I loved it. Have had it for the past 27+ years of our marriage, only to find out just recently that we were sold a diamond that had been mounted in its setting to cover a crack in the diamond.
Obviously, we were never told the diamond ring was so flawed. In fact, our receipt extols the diamond’s virtues and makes no mention of the crack, but the jeweler we just took it to be reset says the diamond was mounted this way deliberately to hide the flaw. It’s a common practice, and reputable jewelers disclose the flaw and what’s been done to hide it.
Bottom line… the folks at Murrey’s haven’t been honest or reputable since the 80’s. I remember the father giving his son a strange look when we asked to look at another ring in the window and how much he discouraged us from continuing to browse. Now I know why.
I recommend spending your hard-​earned money elsewhere.

Wow — I just had the most distressing visit to Murrey’s. Here are the facts. About one month ago I brought my husbands Skagen watch in to be repaired because the crystal on the watch cracked. I was told that they could not guarantee that the watch will work when repaired — which was fine because it was working condition. I paid $ 100.00. I thought this was reasonable and we were all good.
Two weeks later — the crystal just exploded — spontaneous combustion. My husband could not believe it. We thought perhaps the crystal was a smidgen bigger than the frame of the watch but who knows? I brought the watch back this is what I was told —-
They have never heard of this happening in 75 years. They clearly insinuated that I had lied about this. I definitely did not. Then they said they never guarantee crystal repairs and offered to do it again for $ 100.00. Are they kidding? The owner and his daughter reconsidered and offered to replace the crystal again for $ 50.00 — Still do they seriously think after spending $ 100.00 for a repair that lasted two weeks — having it explode by spontaneously combustion that I would pay more money to do this again. The work that they had done was faulty and instead of absorbing the cost and repairing it again –they made me feel like I was the unreasonable one.
I took it to Murrey’s because I thought they were reputable but definitely would not recommend this establishment,

I Am So Happy that People are putting Reviews on what a Lying, Dishonest, Over Priced Con Artist Thieves these People are!
BEWARE!
It’s Not Worth even entering this place of business I do Not Think they Have Ever Done Right by Anyone and I am Shocked it is still in business!
I was very Trusting of the owner for 10 YEARS! And All along I found out he was ripping me off! From 1993 to 2003!
Lying about anything and Everything to get a sale from me.
I would bring pieces in to be repaired and Months went by and they were taken apart but never repaired.
This is One of many stories!
I bought a Cartier Panther Encrusted Diamond Watch for $ 21,000 and told I was getting a deal! EVERYTHING on the watch was Cartier he said!
Shortly after picking it up I had to sell it. I was also 8 months pregnant and so upset he would not give me my deceased mothers clock I had put in for repair and Still was never fixed. So I sent my husband in.
Turns out the Diamonds on this watch were SECOND HAND! Not real Cartier diamonds. He tells my husband I Knew they were second hand! My husband looked at him and said You Know And I know My wife Would Never Buy Second hand diamonds on this watch!
He would not give me a refund and I got about $ 4,000 I sold it for on $ 21,000 I spent.
I bought a Cameo he said was Vintage and it isn’t. I’m not even sure it’s real yellow gold.
These are a few stories of many!
I was A Fool but I trusted them and did not question them because I was a client so many years.
I’m still Sick to my Stomach over what they did to me!
MURREYS JEWELERS ARE FRAUDS, THIEVES AND THERE IS A SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL FOR THEM FOR ALL THE PEOPLE THEY TOOK ADVANTAGE OF FOR MONEY!
Those Owners are Horrible Evil People!
And I can’t wait till they get Want They Deserve!

It has been a few years. Broke my watch simply replacing the plastic face. Then, my daughter tried to return pearl earrings with too short studs, that I gave her as a gift. She returned pass the date for a full refund, since she was sick during her pregnancy and had to do bed rest. They neither would return it nor offer her an exchange. Too mean spirited.

This place has amazingly competent jewelers. I’m not sure why the reviews single out the owner for providing poor service. He resized our wedding rings perfectly for a good price, and peppered us with stories of the business and the neighborhood. There is a jewelry lab in the back where you can see the jewellers working away. Cool place.

I was browsing and happened upon these extremely negative reviews of Murrey’s.. I was shocked! Of course, I feel bad for the people who have written about these experiences, but I feel compelled to offer mine.
I have never, not once come close to having any such encounter at Murrey’s and I’ve been going there for many, many years. I have had polite and cordial interactions with staff, even friendly encounters! I have always been waited on promptly, or someone has called out from the back that he would be right out!
All work was well done and done promptly. I received postcards AND phone calls when work was ready – AND friendly reminder phone calls if I didn’t pick up.
I don’t understand how having a small store is so worthy of a damaging report. This is NYC. I’ve been in stores smaller than my closet in this town! I didn’t really think it so small for the kind of business it was. Every sq ft of NYC real estate is serious$$! BTW, I thought their prices were fair.
Lori MaRose Jackson

STAY AWAY, FAR AWAY unless you want to be taken ADVANTAGE of…
I really wish I had read some reviews before heading to Murrey’s for some simple repairs. A friend had told me that they were very good. All I needed was 2 clasps on necklaces since they were broken. These weren’t super high end necklaces obviously, or I would have gone to a jeweler I know.
First off, I brought my necklaces in a Jennifer Miller jewelry bag, so right away the older woman told me that all my jewelry was fake. The 2 necklaces that I brought are not fake! Fine, I moved on and left the necklaces for 2 new clasps. I think it was $ 75 or 85 for both, which I thought was reasonable along with the 1 week to finish the repairs. I then asked if she could change my watch band since it is easier to have someone else do it and I’m sick of going to Hermes… she told me my watch was fake!!!
Fast forward 2 weeks (I was away, so I didn’t have a chance to pick up my necklaces), I pick up the 2 necklaces, paid the balance and left. The store is very unpleasant, uninviting and chaotic, so you don’t really want to hang out there by choice. My friend met me there so we could go to brunch afterwards. At brunch, I decided to show my friend the necklaces. I found out that they hadn’t repaired the necklaces at all!!! They were both still broken and unpolished, etc. I was so SHOCKED! CROOKS — It’s a good thing I checked because I would have been even more ticked if I tried to wear the necklace the following week and found out then. SO, I called them from the restaurant and kind of freaked out on them, they apologized and told me I had to come back. This is so annoying, I had to walk back there and go into that horrible horrible shop again. I was so aggravated and they hardly apologized, the old lady who was helping me said she thought they were fixed — unbelievable. So, they put the 2 new clasps on in a matter of 5 minutes!!! They did a huge «FAVOR» by polishing one of the necklaces… gee thanks. I’ve never been to a jeweler that hands you back an unpolished piece of jewelry. They should have credited my card back for all this inconvenience, if it were my business I would have insisted.
Bottom line, these people do not know the first thing about jewelry. I would imagine that when you are in a family business and you are at least in your 60s, you should be able to eyeball these sorts of things, I can, and I’m not a jeweler. They are LIARS and CROOKS as many other reviewers have stated. I would never go back there, even if it was free!!!
STAY AWAY AND BEWARE

I have been to Murrey’s a number of times over the years for repairs and consignment.
Previously my experiences were just OK. Today I stopped by and had a horrible experience. I believe it is time for Mr. Murrey to retire and this shop to close.
Murrey is so curt, nasty and belligerent. Apparently he does not like dealing with the general public any longer.
I went in with a Art Deco Diamond and platinum ring to inquire about. I was yelled out of the store and barely got a word in edgewise.
AVOID THIS PLACE. There are plenty of establishments that value being polite to customers who walk in. Why have a negative experience?
See all other bad reviews.

Some of these reviews mention rudeness, and I have also had that experience here, but on the whole they do an excellent job. I have had many items repaired and cleaned with no problems. They have repaired a Cartier watchband for me several times and charged me a very fair price. Far less than they charge at Cartier!

The owner’s daughter is so rude, abrupt and arrogant. It was shocking how terribly she treats customers. When she finally stopped raising her voice and giving me an attitude, I asked her to give me back my necklace as I would take my business elsewhere. Another salesperson then stepped in who was marginally more polite. I listened to their thoughts about how my necklace was poorly made and the stones would fall apart any given day and that I needed to spend at least $ 500 to have it repaired. (Another jeweler completely disagreed with their opinion and simply fixed the necklace)
Awful. Awful. Awful.

The owner is mean and rude. I am the son of a retailer and I remember how well my father would treat his customers. I have been in this store several times, bought from them twice and each time the owner was not very nice. I was there some time ago and thinking of selling a diamond I had. I asked the owner if I could use his «loop» to look at my diamond and all of a sudden he started to yell at me. He said this is my equipment, how dare you ask me to use it. It was also the look in his eyes. Very scary. Not that I would know what I was looking at anyway, it’s just I wanted to look through a magnification at something I was looking to sell him. Anyhow, I tried to leave the store, but he told the security guard not to let me out. I said if you don’t buzz the door open, I will put my fist through the glass. This guy has a way of bringing out evil in people. Stay away from them.

Crooks! This jewelry shop has to be the worst in the entire city. Not only are Murrey’s prices at least 3 times that of other shops for similar items, but the whole staff there is so rude and seem completely disinterested in waiting on customers.
The place is smaller than some closets in peoples’ apartments, yet trying to get someone in there to acknowledge you when you walk in is nearly impossible. Once you accomplish that, congratulate yourself and get ready for the sticker-​shock that is about to follow.
I asked the gentleman in there to give me prices on a set of platinum wedding bands, sizes 6 and 13. He tried to talk me into white gold instead, but we needed platinum, so I insisted. Turns out he didn’t even carry platinum (which is why he so conveniently tried to talk me into the gold instead) but said he could order them for me. He said, however, that he would have to have «the full amount up front» before placing an order. Huh? Since when do jewelers demand full payment before the item even arrives? Now, I can see perhaps with personalized, engraved jewelry, since it can’t be returned, but these were just 2 simple wedding bands that, if not acceptable to the customer, could easily be sent back. I initially said ok to this, however, but that was before he turned to his little calculator to figure out the cost. Whoa!
We’d gone around pricing platinum bands long before stepping into Murrey’s little crackerbox jewelry outfit, so we roughly knew how much they go for, but his figure was a total joke: For the size 6 band (at a skinny 3 mm width, no less), Murrey wanted $ 3,750, and for the size 13 band (simple 5 mm width) he wanted $ 7,265! Is this guy for real??? That’s over $ 11,000 for 2 simple platinum bands with no diamonds, no engraving, nothing! That figure is over 3x the average figure we’d gotten for the same rings at other shops in the same area! We fled the store so quickly that onlookers might have though we’d robbed the joint. We ran right back to one of the previous jewelry shops we’d been to, and made a nice, drama-​free purchase at ¹⁄₃ the price.
«Murrey, go and get your head examined! You’ve been staring into that little loupe thing so long that you obviously have lost your mind!»

I couldnt agree more with the other readers. I went in for the first time and got practically yelled at when i had questions. Saleslady had poor knowledge and they charged me too much. i have alot more business that they have lost

Recently went here to have a clasp repaired on a silver necklace. I walked into the store and there were two sales people, one currently helping someone, the other blatantly ignoring me. Once the occupied sales person basically yelled at the other girl to help me, she finally did. I told her what I needed done, handed over my necklace and left. I came back later that day, when they said it would be ready, and the store was closing down. There were a slew of older gentlemen (I’m assuming this is a family business, and the girl who helped me must have been the daughter of one of the gentlemen). I was the only customer in the store, yet the woman still did not want to help me. One of the men, once again basically had to yell at her to get her to assist me. She made a fairly rude comment about the jewelry I brought in, but I didn’t care because I love the piece so much. Her attitude was seriously the WORST. If she hates her job/​life so much, she should make changes, not take it out on the customers who come into the store. 2 stars because the work seems to be good, otherwise it would have only been one.

Don’t go! Don’t do it. They’re rude, condescending, and unwelcoming of the little man. If you need something small, go to Canal Street. If you need something big, shop elsewhere.
Never again will I return. Period. I would curse here if it wouldn’t get it flagged and taken down.
I’m a priest and they were rude.

The co-​owners are the rudest, least professional merchants I’ve ever encountered. I’ve lived in NYC my whole life and consider myself a pretty savvy customer. It’s completely bewildering how these people stay in business when they treat their customers the way they do. They are rude, they arbitrarily price their work, then arbitrarily change the price then they don’t give a rat’s behind if their customers are displeased. No matter how much we argued they would not fix a ring that was clearly made too large. Clearly someone told them to live by the philosophy that the customer is always wrong. STAY AWAY. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR!

Rude and dishonest is a understatement and this appears to stem from the owner, Mr. Murrey himself. The way he speaks to his customers is nothing short of criminal. For an established, family owned business the art of customer service is completely lost, which is a shame. They do a decent job but nothing worth the service or lack thereof. Whatever the issue or concern on their part, nothing warrants being spoken to in that manner around the holidays or any day, for that matter. Very sad.

THIEVES! STAY AWAY!
Murrey’s (or more specifically Earl R. Kahn) sold some things for me on commission and he won’t pay me. Every time I go in he feeds me a different line and last week he actually wrote me a bogus check, with a signature he knew the bank would reject! DO NOT TRUST THIS MAN!!!
They still owe me $ 10,000 and I am considering legal action!

I had a lovely pair of silver earrings, squares suspended from posts, with delicate crocheted silver netting and beads inside the squares. (Um, they are much prettier than that description sounds). These were special to me because my husband bought them at a little Palermo boutique while we were in Buenos Aires and proposed to me with them. Unfortunately, one of the squares separated from the post, so I needed to have them repaired.
I took them to Murrey’s, having read somewhere that they’re repair experts. The shop was small and crowded and looked old-​school, in a good way. The guy I spoke to wanted $ 15 for the repair. I clearly remember the $ 15 because at the time it seemed like a lot to me and I almost didn’t want to pay it. Looking back, $ 15 doesn’t seem that much at all; I only mention it because it becomes important later that I really dwelled on that number, $ 15. Anyway, I really wanted the earrings repaired, so I left them (both) with him. He told me they’d mail me a postcard when the earrings were ready.
No postcard arrived, and no one called me. When I called them, whoever answered the phone sounded annoyed and said they’d been ready for a couple of days. I went to pick them up.
This time it was a woman dealing with me, and she told me the charge was $ 20. Wait, the other person told me $ 15. Nope, it’s $ 20, and she pointed to a little handwritten scrawl on my receipt that apparently was a number 20. I told her I’d been told $ 15 and she just shrugged. Ok… fine… perhaps a misunderstanding? Still, why so rude and unsympathetic about it?
Ok, I paid the $ 20 and got my earrings back and was ready to move on and forget about it… it’s just $ 5, right? I’m engaged, my earrings are fixed, It’s a lovely autumn day in NYC, I’m happy.
But wait.
Upon closer inspection at home, the silvery stuff they used to solder the post back to the earring was gloppy and noticeable, and even worse, had obviously dripped onto the delicate crocheted webbing and beads inside the earring and had been partially scrubbed off, leaving scratch marks on the beads and bits of solder on the web that couldn’t be removed. Ruined. Oh man, I was pissed. Idiot me for not looking closer while still in the shop.
And then to add insult to injury, in a couple of months the soldering material turned GREEN.
I could have dealt with just the (possible) price shenanigans, or just the lack of promised notification, or just the rudeness, but all three on top of ruining my earrings? Nope. Will never go here again and will anti-​recommend it to anyone who asks.
There was an old, trembly, rheumy-​eyed man sitting behind the counter, not helping anyone but smiling at all the customers. Murrey, was that you? Were those people your kids? They are ruining your business, Murrey. Ruining it.

DON’T USE — THEY CAN’T BE TRUSTED!!! I went to Murrey’s with a family heirloom that needed a repair. Unfortunately they lied to me multiple times — twice about when it would be ready, once about why there was a delay, once about their closing hours. They were dishonest, rude and unapologetic when I called them on it. If they’re dishonest about these things who knows what else they’re doing — swapping stones? replacing gold? They’re not to be trusted.