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“I am annoyed when we call our vendors and there’s no one who can answer basic questions about the product, such as carat weight,” a retailer says.

Surprisingly, there are luxury vendors out there who don’t always return customer phone calls. “It’s frustrating to say the least when you call and e-mail a company and then never hear back,” another says. “Later you find out they were closed or whatever, but there’s no message or return e-mail telling you they aren’t available.”

Most retailers we talked to strive to provide exceptional service and many also say that the luxury consumer expects nothing less. So when it comes to special orders and requests, retailers really want to go the extra mile to make a customer’s dream come true. But they need the help of suppliers to do that and they often find that suppliers don’t have the same sense of urgency or tradition of service.

“It drives me crazy when somebody will not push a special order ahead of their requisite six to eight week delivery time and I lose a sale. The more service oriented the designer the more likely I am going to be loyal to that designer,” a retailer says.

“I lost a sale when a company sold me a ring that couldn’t be sized,” another retailer explains. “I called and found out to get the size I needed, it would take 6 to 12 weeks. This was for a birthday gift in a month so we lost the sale. No one seems concerned that such a long wait might impact sales.”