Great product, but diamond inventory is inaccurate and you must manage entire fulfillment process

Full Review
On the whole I was dissatisfied with Mondera.com.  The actual resulting engagement ring I received was perfect (so that's a MAJOR win, obviously) but the process to receive that ring was very delayed and stressful for me.   

WEBSITE: The website is easy to use and informative.  The slider functionality is awesome!  It really lets you hone in the exact specifications you're looking for.  Plus the comparison functionality for loose diamonds is really slick.

RING SETTINGS:  Great selection and nice pictures.  I loved how I could superimpose different diamond cuts on top of the ring with a simple click of the mouse.

LOOSE DIAMONDS:  The loose diamond inventory is frankly inaccurate, so most diamonds available to select are not actually available in reality.  The first time I tried to order the ring, my credit wasn't approved (it was supposed to be within 24 hours).  I waited a week expecting them to call me, but they never did.  When I contacted them on the eighth day, they informed (after ten minutes of calling their suppliers) that the diamond I'd selected was not available.  That night I chose a different diamond from the website.  Two days later I saw my credit had not been approved so I called back and again discovered that the diamond wasn't available.  When it happened the third time, I finally called them and made them give me a list of diamonds that were actually on site that fell into my parameters.  I chose a diamond from the list and the order finally placed successfully.

BILLING:  The "Credit Approved Date" field represents things broader than mere credit approval.  I pre-authorized my ring purchase (every time) by calling CITI ahead of time to make sure they'd approve any transactions from Mondera.com.  In truth, whenever I saw that the "Credit Approved Date" field wasn't populated with a date, it was because they were unable to find the diamond I had ordered.  It's misleading.

SHIPPING:  My ring was supposed to ship seven days after my credit was approved.  When it hadn't shipped after eight days, I called the Customer Service.  After ten minutes of them calling around internally, the rep notified me that my order would go out that night.  The ring arrived in great condition the next day.

CUSTOMER SERVICE:  Mondera.com's Customer Service is friendly on the phone, but only if you're actually able to reach them.  The service rep (Briana) was in California, but the business is in New York, so I had all kinds of time zone issues.  Many days I could not reach anyone during their regular business hours.  They also never returned any calls to me, so if they tell you they will call you back be sure to insist that you will instead call them back after a set amount of time has elapsed.  (e.g.  I will call you back in 2 hours).  This seemed to be the best way to get results. 

Bottom line:  Mondera.com's Customer Service habits are reactive--not preventative.  For example, I had to call them to tell them my order hadn't shipped (per information visible on their own website) and only then did they package and ship my order.  Why did it take a telephone call from me to get the ring shipped?