From jewelry claim to replacement in one week at Geiger’s Fine Jewelry
June 17th, 2020
Geiger’s Fine Jewelry
Rick and Yvonne Geiger started Geiger’s Jewelers in 1983 in a small 700 sq. ft. shop in Turlock, California. Over the years, the Geiger family – with help from Rick’s father, Oren, and his brother, Rob – earned a reputation for providing quality, unique jewelry pieces at prices that gave their customers real value. In 2000 Rick’s two daughters, Kindrea and Marissa, joined the Geiger’s team, helping the store to grow and expand into a 4000 sq. ft. jewelry showroom.
How BriteCo insurance saved the day for a newly engaged couple in California
Bob Hill has been in the jewelry business for more than 40 years, of which the past 20 have been with Geiger’s Fine Jewelry in Turlock, California, located in the Central Valley south of Modesto. He fulfills many roles, including doing appraisals, at the full-service jeweler.
Established by the Geiger family in 1983, the store had been a BriteCo jeweler partner for only a few months when the benefits to its customers became clear – with an insurance claim by an engaged couple.
“We had a young man, Steve, who bought an engagement ring with us for his fiancé Ashley,” Hill recalled. “I used the BriteCo appraisal software to do his appraisal and when I finalized it, Steve got a text from BriteCo offering insurance coverage for the ring.”
Steve debated whether to get the insurance right away, according to Hill, but decided he really didn’t have the extra time to try and add it to his homeowner’s policy. He bought the BriteCo policy in a matter of minutes on his cell phone and added his fiancé Ashley as a co-insured party.
“I think Steve was really pleased with the ring, and Ashley loved it,” said Hill. “Unfortunately,” he said, “she brought the ring in to us about a month later and the diamond had gotten chipped.”
Submitting a claim easily online
Ashley used the BriteCo online form on a Friday to submit her insurance claim for a replacement. With most BriteCo claims filed via smartphone, the claim process typically takes less than 3 minutes. While filling out the form she had a question and used BriteCo’s online chat function, eventually speaking by phone with Conor Redmond at BriteCo. Conor explained the replacement process and told Ashley that all she had to do at this point was stop by Geiger’s to pick out a replacement diamond.
Closed Sundays and Mondays, Ashley visited Geiger’s on Tuesday. Bob Hill helped her to choose a new diamond from two that he had available. Bob told her he’d have the restored ring ready for her on Friday. She picked up the ring, and with it, she got a new BriteCo appraisal as well. There were no deductibles and no out-of-pocket expenses for Steve and Ashley.
Geiger’s received a check for the replacement stone from BriteCo soon thereafter. Completing the cycle from claim to replacement all happened within a week, “making for a very happy customer,” Hill said.
“I’ve been doing appraisals and handling personal insurance claims for many years,” he remarked, “and in all that time, I remember only one other instance where I was able to get our customer taken care of with a replacement in only a week.”
Hill described how most jewelry insurance claims with some of the larger carriers typically require two to three weeks or more to resolve. In some cases, the insurance company will send a replacement stone directly to the customer from a preferred network, he explained, rather than send them back to the jeweler who sold them the ring.
“Our experience with BriteCo’s appraisal and insurance has been fantastic,” Hill emphasized. “We’ve even had several customers do a cost comparison for insurance and found BriteCo to be a lot more affordable.”
~ Bob Hill, Geiger’s Fine Jewelry
Praise for the BriteCo appraisal software
Creating more than 200 appraisals a year, Bob was using a typewriter with paper copies and spending up to an hour per appraisal.
“I saw an article in Instore magazine about BriteCo,” he recalled, “and I called the office and talked to Dustin, the CEO. I’m not a big computer person but I had it set up on my computer at work in a day—nothing to it. It was easy enough to do a couple of sample appraisals and I thought, ‘Wow, this is really fast.’
“BriteCo’s appraisal system saves me hours every week. I don’t have to spend all that time looking up prices for diamonds and stones, and if I get interrupted during an appraisal I just save where I’m at and come back to it later.
“I’ve recommended BriteCo to a couple of jeweler friends already. It’s super-fast and super-professional in the finished appraisal – too bad they didn’t have BriteCo 20 years ago.”
~ Bob Hill, Geiger’s Fine Jewelry
