New York woman takes Pandora bracelet for cleaning. She didn’t expect them to destroy it: ‘Some of my charms were new too’
A New York woman took a Pandora bracelet in for cleaning, only for the company to accidentally destroy it in the process. Despite this, it doesn’t seem as though the company offered her a replacement or compensation based on her TikTok posts.
Jasmine Rabelo, @jasminerabelo, went to the store to get some of the charms on her bracelet cleaned. Then, she forgot to tell a store associate that she only wanted her charms cleaned. They then worked with the entire bracelet, removing a majority of its polish and shine, leaving her with a dull, used-looking piece of jewelry.
How did Pandora jewelry ‘break’ her bracelet?
Break may be a strong way to phrase what happened to Rabelo’s bracelet, but it does appear as though Pandora tarnished the jewelry.
In the comments, Rabelo posted a number of photos of her bracelet. She mentioned that it was hard to see the damage in pictures, but that they had accidentally polished the shine out of the main piece of jewelry.
The piece appears to have less of a gold finish to it in pictures posted after the cleaning.
How should jewelry owners clean their pieces?
Some Pandora locations offer free cosmetic cleaning for pieces based on online threads like Reddit. There, regular Pandora customers discussed getting free cleanings from the store, although some posters warned against bringing in a bracelet with its charms still attached.
As one Reddit user stated, “I take my bracelet to a Pandora store for a free cleaning about twice a year. I remove all non-Pandora charms beforehand. Usually, I shop while I’m waiting and usually make a purchase too. But you don’t have to. It’s about 5–10 minutes.”
Pandora also sells cleaning kits, which are specifically made for Pandora products. These kits typically include a soft brush, a handling tray, and a polishing cloth.
Other commenters on Rabelo’s video urged her to consider cleaning her pieces at home next time, despite Pandora’s offerings.
“I clean mine at home. I feel like they don’t take the time to clean it right at the store,” said one viewer. Some recommend using DIY tricks to clean Pandora jewelry, like cleaning with aluminum foil, baking soda and hot water. These methods, however, aren’t necessarily recommended by the company.
Does Pandora offer replacements when they accidentally damage jewelry?
Pandora does offer a limited warranty for defective items and damages that occur during cleaning and repairs. But that limited warranty typically lasts one year after purchase. For damages that occur to older pieces in-store, there isn’t a specific policy in place that states that Pandora will explicitly replace or refurbish an item that they damaged during optional cosmetic services.
Ultimately, the way a Pandora store approaches damages that occur due to their own services may vary between different stores. One Pandora location may have immediately offered to replace the item, while another, like Rabelo’s, may place responsibility on the owner.
For more severe breaks and major repair issues, a Pandora location may be more willing to replace an item that they damage. But for a cosmetic issue, it’s genuinely up to the store’s discretion to consider the request.
Despite this, commenters claimed that Rabelo should get a replacement for her jewelry and charms.
“They were supposed to replace your bracelet on the spot. You need to go back to the store and speak to the manager about replacing it and don’t wait too long, because they will say you wait[ed] too long to make a claim,” said one commenter.
Considering Pandora’s lack of action when Rabelo first brought up the issue, however, many commenters urged her to switch to James Avery in the future. A few viewers even shared horror stories with Pandora, where they were blamed for issues that arose from regular maintenance and cleaning of Pandora and they couldn’t receive compensation for obvious jewelry defects.
@jasminerabelo @Pandora ♬ son original – out of context hannah montana
The Mary Sue has reached out to Pandora Jewelry via email and Rabelo via TikTok direct message for comment. We’ll let you if either party responds.
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