** Now With Improved Spelling**
H Samuels / Ratners (part of the same company - or were! don’t know now can anyone enlighten me?) Anyway! The name for many years conjured up the image of Mr Ratner confessing that his stock was "crap!"
That must have hurt! Hurt sales, the staff, the profits ... Read review
Advantages: many Disadvantages: Depends where you go! see text
...Improved Spelling**
H Samuels / Ratners (part of the same company - or were! don’t know now can anyone enlighten me?) Anyway! The name for many years conjured up the image of Mr Ratner confessing that his stock was "crap!"
That must have hurt! Hurt sales, the staff, the profits - everything.
Since then it seems to me that H-Samuels has come on in leaps and bounds. I have a few rings (that I hardly ever ... ...we have 3 yes 3! H Samuels one on Bridge St town centre, one in Queensgate shopping centre town centre and one in the Tesco's (op available for Tesco’s) on the outskirt of Peterborough – I never found the staff in Queensgate attentive to Customers or particularly knowledgeable! Possibly because its in the prime spot and is generally the busiest.
I usually go to Bridge Street for my Jewellery needs; the staff has always been friendly ... more
** Now With Improved Spelling**
H Samuels / Ratners (part of the same company - or were! don’t know now can anyone enlighten me?) Anyway! The name for many years conjured up the image of Mr Ratner confessing that his stock was "crap!" That must have hurt! Hurt sales, the staff, the profits - everything.
Since then it seems to me that H-Samuels has come on in leaps and bounds. I have a few rings (that I hardly ever wear) 5 watches and a rather nice white gold chain, all from Samuels.
The shops themselves are all similar in appearance, and they all pretty much carry the same stock - some larger branches sometimes have specialist items (Top end in Rings, watches etc.). But they all cater to people of all price ranges. They do a lot of services from '"free" jewellery cleaning' to fitting of batteries in watches, minor repairs to jewellery, valuations and fitting of watchstraps and a lot more besides. What they cant or won’t do in store can be sent away to specialist agencies for repair etc - depending on what needs doing it can take a week or more. The staff I know are very friendly, and knowledgeable, but then again in Peterborough we have 3 yes 3! H Samuels one on Bridge St town centre, one in Queensgate shopping centre town centre and one in the Tesco's (op available for Tesco’s) on the outskirt of Peterborough – I never found the staff in Queensgate attentive to Customers or particularly knowledgeable! Possibly because its in the prime spot and is generally the busiest.
I usually go to Bridge Street for my Jewellery needs; the staff has always been friendly and have dealt with me very well. My latest visit was when my poor Seiko kinetic felt poorly, so I took it in, it needed to go in for a service anyway, as the second hand was double ticking that meant the charge was low – but the watch is in constant use – so there was a problem inside the “gubbins!” Technical speak for the internal workings – honest! Luckily I spend £35.00 every 2 years to cover the watch through Samuels ‘Premier Care’ I am so glad I do this, as the cost for repair was £123.00!! Money well spent methinks! Especially as the watch cost £325.00. Having handed over the watch and receiving the Ticket to prove they have the watch 10 days later I get a phone call saying that it was back – they had checked over the watch to make sure it was working fine and keeping time, and had checked to make sure it had nor received any cosmetic damage from the repair centre.
Most of my watches are fairly high priced – I also bought another Seiko from them a Seiko world timer (my one is no longer available as I bought it in 1989), they are sending that back to Seiko, to see how much it will cost to get the gold plate re-plated and to replace the crystal (glass!). This service is free – but the cost of carrying out the work will I’m sure be expensive the watch was £250.00 when I bought it in 89 and I love it, I wear it for best. My other pride and joy is my Tommy Hilfiger watch £169.00 – I do like decent watches, TJ has a Baby G (G – Shock for girls – for my sake don’t tell him that) it’s a perfect size for him and is practically bomb proof! And Sam has an Action Man watch, which is really too big for him but he loves.
H Samuel covers practically every occasion, christening presents, wedding, anniversary, engagements etc. it’s all there. They (in most branches that I’m aware of) have people who are trained to pierce ears, I personally find Samuels useful if I need a gift for a family member, especially if I forget my mums birthday (as I tend to) soz mum! You can get comparable items for higher costs at independent jewellers, but I now trust Samuels, I have a good rapport with the staff and they offer what I need.
One thing I didn’t know till they mentioned, if you see a chain you like (etc rings as well) but you want it in a different metal – they can have it specially made! I believe they have a service for designing rings as well – I’ll have to check on that – not that I’ll need it though.
One thing I would suggest though! – If you buy something expensive or something, which could break easily– get the Premier Care! It’s 10% of the price of the item and covers the item for 2 years! (so if you buy an item at £100.00 the cover costs £10.00) It covers the item for any damage, theft etc. I was sceptical at first, but I’m glad I took it out – once the cover is almost up I go and get the items recovered! After all! It’s cheaper than making a claim on my contents insurance!
Overall Peterborough Bridge St is a good shop, friendly helpful staff, good range of products, I’d recommend them! :0)
Advantages: Good selection and value for money. Wide stock and price range. Nice watches. Disadvantages: Horrible horrible horrible staff
...that I’ve only found in H Samuels so of course I spent half of my lunch break yesterday trying to buy one.
The last time I was in this shop, I was 12. My horrible Auntie game to visit and she made me get a ring. Never having one before, the lady in the shop had to figure out my ring size! I have never screamed so hard in my entire life. After the salesclerk had tried to break my finger by pulling off a round piece of metal that was two sizes too ... ...As a jewellery store, H Samuels sells the things you would expect, rings, necklaces, watches (they have some nice Swatch watches), porcelain and jewellery boxes. They have a nice selection, with a wide price range so it is pretty easy to find what you want depending on how much you want to pay. Prices are pretty reasonable too when compared to other Jewellery shops. There is also a repair service at the back of the store too, and if the item you ...
sarahbethy 23.04.2001 (13.06.2001)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of H Samuel (Shop)
Advantages: Fantastic stores, helpful staff, clean & tidy, lots of different pieces on offer. Disadvantages: None.
Some aspects of my review may be based on shopping experiences in my local store in Harlow, Essex.
H.Samuel are a jewellery store and they also sell watches & miscellaneous other gifts such as crystal items, wedding gifts, candlesticks etc and although I've never brought any of these particular gifts they look very well made and are always beautifully displayed.
The store has glass windows all the way around and in the window miscellaneous items ... ...and these display cabinets are normally set out in sections such as gold, silver, platinum, titanium, engagement rings, wedding rings, eternity rings etc and it's nice and easy to locate the pad of jewellery that you want to browse and then pop inside the store and ask a member of staff if you can view something you've seen in the window.
I got engaged May 30th 2008 and Tom, my Fiancé, had expressed an interest in wearing an engagement ring himself ...
katyeverett 17.11.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of H Samuel (Shop)
Advantages: good stock Disadvantages: poor sales technique
Being from Leeds, and having lived here almost 17 years, I've bought quite a lot from the H.Samuels in the city centre, but I don't know much about other stores, so take into account only the Leeds store!
I think the first time i bought anything from H.Samuel was when I was 13, I bought a dark blue Baby G watch for about £60. I remembed going in with my friend, really excited because I'd wanted one for so long, and being looked at like a thief! ... ...it and was ignored for a while, eventually though, they gave it to me in its little box, and off I went a happy customer.
As I've grown a bit older, service has come more apparent to me, so when somebody is looking down on me, I won't stand for it. Anyway, December last year marked my 'first anniversary' with my boyfriend, Lyall. He wanted to get me a ring as a present so I went with him to have a look for one I liked. I looked everywhere for something ...
Celia86 23.03.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of H Samuel (Shop)
Advantages: Smiley, friendly, happy, non pressurising staff Disadvantages: A bit overwhelming!
...then we spotted it! H Samuel.
Its only a small branch, to match the small town centre I suppose. The one in Northampton (where I'm from) is huge in comparisson. I have lots of beautiful necklaces and earings from Samuels, and so I felt positive it was going to be a winner!
Having never actually been into a Samuels myself, I was pleasently suprised with how it was all set out. from the outside it looks how you expect a jewelers. A big red H Samuel ... ...In Summary I think visiting H Samuel was all in all a good experience. They more or less understood what we wanted, and provided they service without too much sales pressure. The only thing I would say is that they have so much to choose from, and give you so much attention, that you become completely overwhelmed!!!
Maybe its becuase I got such a beautiful ring that I'm so happy with them, but still, I'd go there again! ...
big_dirty_em_n_that 18.01.2006
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of H Samuel (Shop)
Value for money
Selection & range
Availability
Quality
In store customer service
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "H Samuel (Shop)"
Advantages: Free parking, out of the city centre Disadvantages: Often crowded
next to the perfume area in Debenhams. I have also noticed that there are cash machines in the car parks next to the entrances to the centre although this is not the case at all entrances.
Shops
There are at least 100 shops in the White Rose centre and that includes all major high street stores (except M&S for some reason). There are many clothes shops including Dorothy Perkins, TopShop/TopMan, Burtons, Principles, Warehouse, Ciro Citterio and a substantially sized Debenhams that offers clothes, house ware, kids toys etc.
Other shops include gift shops such as Clintons, the Discovery Store, Peter Jones, HSamuel and the Perfume Shop.
The food court offers a range of foods from Burger king and Spud U Like to a nice cafe called Massarella's offering Italian style snacks and breads. Some of the shops such as BHS also have their own ...
Advantages: Warm & dry Disadvantages: Can be very crowded, same old shops
, which did detract from my visit.
The other main problem with West Quay is the traffic - although, to be fair, this is a problem with Southampton city centre overall, rather than with the shopping centre itself. If you are not careful, you can still find yourself sitting in long queues as you approach or leave the centre.
Most of the popular chains in Southampton have now moved into West Quay, including clothes shops (Gap, H&M, Monsoon, Warehouse and Next), jewellery (HSamuels, Ernest Jones, Swarovski), sports shops (Nike and AllSports) plus a large John Lewis store and Marks and Spencers too.
There's also a choice of places to eat, from coffee shops (Starbucks & Costa Coffee) to restaurants (Pizza Hut, Harry Ramsden's and Cafe Giardino).
Overall, I thought that the centre was pretty well thought-out, and a nice place to be. I ...
Advantages: Saves money from your shopping Disadvantages: None so far
tickets to India via the BA Travel Shop. Then I got 1 air mile for each GBP 5 spent. But now the BA Travel Shop has discontinued the scheme.
I also get air miles from purchases at Homebase.
Now Tesco has started offering air miles in exchange for Clubcard vouchers.
You get 40 air miles for every GBP 2.50 worth of Clubcard vouchers.
Also you get 4 air miles for every additional 25 pence worth of Clubcard vouchers.
The Clubcard vouchers for air miles scheme is quite reasonable but I shall keep on using my Clubcard vouchers for discounts on the weekly shopping bill.
HSAMUEL
My watch battery died recently at a most inconvenient time. So I went to HSamuel in Turnham Green couple of weeks ago. On entering the store I found that HSamuel accepts Tesco Clubcard as a loyalty card scheme. The battery cost GBP 5.99 and I got 5 ...
mrpaella 24.05.2001 (02.06.2002)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Tesco Clubcard
