American Express has long been the credit card of choice for those who want preferential treatment. It’s a small step, but we’ve added it to our list of payment choices for both online and telephone payments at Make Me Beautiful and Make Me Sexy. We still accept many other forms of payment including:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• Visa Debit
• Maestro
• Switch
• JCB
• Diners
• Electron
• PayPal
• Cheque
• Postal Order

It’s always been our commitment to make online shopping safe, secure and simple. Our inclusion of Amex amongst our payment choices is another step towards being the online retail jeweller of choice and we look forwards to introducing many further small steps and innovations this year.

We’re pleased to announce that we recently took full membership of The British Jewellers’ Association or the BJA. We joined because we are believe in what the British Jewellers’ Association stands for and were already doing everything they expect of members. Their Code of Ethics is something we wholeheartedly stand by, endorse and strive to uphold:

The British Jewellers’ Association Code of Ethics

1 – To maintain the highest level of personal integrity, honesty and business ethics

2 – To comply with all Government laws and regulations relating to the jewellery, watches and related industries

3 – To support and abide by the Articles of Association and objectives of the British Jewellers’ Association and this Code of Ethics

4 – To provide a standard of product and service of the higest possible quality commensurate with price

5 – To establish clearly the guarantee or service policy regarding all merchandise and to fulfill that policy.

6 – To provide knowledgeable and competent expertise and clearly indicate the true quality of products offered for sale

7 – To adhere to sound business practices and thus ensure continuing service to customers and suppliers alike

8 – To refrain from all forms of design copyright and trademark infringement

9 – To refrain from trading in Conflict Diamonds

The following is our personal British Jewellers’ Association member bade with our member number. You can click it to see our verified details on the British Jewellers’ Association website:

We’re really happy to be working with The British Jewellers’ Association in making a strong and vibrant industry with a focus on standards and quality for the customer. It was a joy to celebrate our first decade in the business this year and we hope that as we enter the second we can work to build a better and more beautiful jewellery industry for everyone.

Some of our customers have noted a new logo that’s started appearing on our websites. It says Sofort ueberweisung.de… but what is it?

sofortueberweisung.de logo

For a long while we’ve had some customers in Europe who’ve said they’d prefer to make a bank transfer than pay by credit card. We’ve chosen German bank Sofort as our partner in enabling this so now we can accept a direct bank transfer if you bank in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium or the UK. That means you don’t have to have a credit or debit card to buy online.

Simply register with Sofort by selecting the “Bank Transfer via DIRECTebanking.com” payment option during checkout as shown:

Bank transfer payment selection

Then when you check out you’ll be transferred to Sofort’s 128bit secure payment servers. To pay you’ll need your sort code and account details. It’s like logging on to your online banking, as this example of paying whilst using a HSBC account shows:

The Sofort payment process

Sofort are insured against fraud claims up to 5,000 Euros per claim yet there has still not been a single instance of a consumer suffering fraud as a result of making a bank transfer. The whole process is run to the highest standards, in fact since launching Sofort have processed many million transactions and have not had a single fraud case, making it one the safest ways to pay online. We do not see any of your banking details ever, we simple receive a payment from you together with a notification that your order is paid for.

It also costs a lot less to perform a bank transfer than it does make a credit card payment. In respect of that, we’re giving a free pair of clip on earring cushions to every order paid for by Sofort! It’s never been more comfortable to shop online!

It’d be pretty shoddy if you stepped into Harrods and were told you needed to take a hike up the street to the nearest phone box if you wanted to ask customer service something, right? We just wanted to give you a quick heads up about something we’ve added to our sites – live customer service. It stops you having to go away and get your phone or wait for the delay of sending an email if you just want to ask a quick question like “is this in stock?”, “when would it arrive?” or “I just wanted to tell you…”. Here’s how it works:

The Live Customer Panel whilst docked at the right corner of the window (click to enlarge)

The Live Customer Service Panel is a black bar that appears at the bottom right of the screen. It’ll tell you on it whether someone is online. Typically we’re open from 9am to 6pm but sometimes we’re in the office much later working on new releases in which case there may still be someone on. Also, if all the operators are taken or we are out of hours it’ll say. You’ll be invited to drop an email for when we’re next available.

If you do want to chat, simply open the chat window by clicking on the title or up arrow to maximise it, then type your message:

Live customer service chat

We get your message in real time, although it may take a second or two for an operator to pick up the chat, just like it takes a moment or two to realise the phone is ringing and respond. Once we’re there with you, you’ll get replies back in real time too. There’s no need to log on, no registration, no fuss and no waiting. So if you’ve a simple question you just want to ask, this will be the easiest way for you to get an answer. Let us know what you think – it’s good to talk!

Isn’t amazing how quickly time flies? It seems like only just the other day Prince was telling us we were going to party like it was 1999. We did that and we liked it so much we started our company in 2000. Now the naughty noughties have gone, we’re launching for a new look for the decadent decade. You’ll notice our sites will start to show these changes over the coming weeks.

What will change?
Initially, most of the changes are cosmetic as we’d like to have a more unified approach to what we’re doing. We’d like you to recognise us wherever you see us, particularly since advances in technology have made it easier for people to share information about us outside of our websites. Having a consistent look and feel will help make sure you always get the quality experience you’ve come to expect. So expect to start seeing small tweaks to our logos and packaging.

What will stay the same?
We’ll continue to stock a large number of lines that no-one else provides and we’ll continue to focus on providing you the best service we can. We’ll still be reachable on the same office number, Monday to Friday as always. You’ll still continue to see our gear on celebrities and television.

What else will happen?
We’ve become very proud of the talent we’ve seen in London and elsewhere in Britain and Europe and we’ll be launching new themed collections. These will give you exclusive access to short runs comissioned by us from up and coming talented designers. It’ll be a way in which we can help fresh talent get started, to support the British economy and to let you get your hands on to-die-for styles that you can’t get on the High Street.

Will you be part of it?
We love it when you talk to us. Your feedback has helped us to refine our service and to select the items you want to define your identity. We’re not all ears – we have eyes, noses, mouths and faces too – but we do listen and really value your opinions. If any of the changes we make spark off something within you, share it with us!

We’re very grateful to all the support we’ve had from customers in Europe, the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. These days the internet makes it easier for all of to be close together, and aside from the occasional act of God like the Iceland Volcanic ash grounding all flights, airmail is normally a very efficient service taking only a few days.

In order to support our customers in the USA and Australia, we’ve set up Customer Service lines for your country so that you can call us at National Rates rather than International. Do note however that we haven’t yet been able to move to your country so Customer Service is still only open the same hours as usual – from 9am to 6pm GMT (London) time from Monday to Friday.

• Our US Customer Service number is New York City (646) 736-7768
• Our Australian Customer Service number is Perth (08) 9467 9819
• You can also Skype us from anywhere using our Skype address which is minxy881

You’re more than welcome to leave a message out of hours if need be, or send us an email, otherwise we’ll look forward to speaking with you.

In response to customer requests, we now offer 3 levels of postal service:

1. Standard 1st Class Royal Mail Post – this is the cheapest option, and it’s also untracked. Whilst the vast majority turn up within a day or two, in the minority of cases where there is a delay, we will not have a tracking code for you. The Royal Mail classes post as lost if it does not arrive after 28 days. In that time we will be unable to help you.

   For International Orders we offer Royal Mail 1st Class Airmail as the equivalent. The majority of the world is reached within 10 days by this service, although your local customs can sometimes cause delays. Like Royal Mail 1st Class, Royal Mail Airmail offers no tracking and we are unable to offer assistance should there be delayed mail until it has reached the time frame Royal Mail officially class it as lost when making a delivery to your country.

2. Royal Mail 1st Class Recorded Post – this is slightly more expensive than standard 1st class and it comes with a tracking code that you use online at http://track.royalmail.com or with their customer service lines. Due to it being tracked it’s rarer for it to get lost although the service is no faster than standard 1st class.

   For International Deliveries we use Royal Mail’s International Signed For service. This does provide tracking and is passed as Priority mail to your country’s postal service for delivery. Most countries now support tracking for the entirety of the route however some will only be able to tell you it’s whereabouts once delivery has been attempted.

3. Royal Mail Special Delivery – this is a priority service. We will try our utmost to ship your order promptly and once shipped, it will be delivered on the next working day by 1pm guaranteed. You will have a tracking code emailed to you upon dispatch.

   If you require a Saturday Special Delivery, you must choose this in the shipping options at checkout, otherwise orders shipped Special Delivery on a Friday will arrive on Monday. If we are unable to ship your order in time, we will refund the delivery charges down to standard Special Delivery.

   Special Delivery is only available to UK mainland customers.

If you have any questions about shipping, feel free to call us on 0208 123 9800.

Royal Mail have announced that due to the volcanic ash clouds from Iceland there are delays to some services. This may affect some of our customers.

The services most likely to be affected are international orders and some UK Special Deliveries. We apologise for any inconvenience. The Royal Mail are offering full details on their website of service disruptions and are striving to ensure that and delays are minimised.

Thanks for your patience.