Pandora- Fabulous or a Rip Off

The photo is my own, so naturally as you can guess, I love my Pandora! I got a bracelet off my friend and so I was very excited to get started! She bought the bracelet from Florida, and it cost her £25/$40, while here in the UK they were £55/$88!! UK Pandora is over double the price it is in the USA! And for the UK fans it just got a whole lot worse, as tax has been risen by 2.5% which seems to have given them an excuse to raise their prices by silly amounts that exceed the 2.5% inflation! The £23 charms are now £30, the safety chain I wanted was £75 and it is now £100. I feel like they are taking advantage of the tax situation, that and their growing popularity. So with all these high end prices you can expect a high end service, right? Well no! My bracelet broke, and I was truly heartbroken. The screw that you put the charms over, and put a clip on to separate the charms, came away from the bracelet and was just sliding around. So I went to Pandora, and because it was a gift I didn't have a receipt, so I was prepared to pay for them to fix it, however they didn't even offer me that. They pretty much said that even though it was a Pandora bracelet, if I didn't buy it from that particular store then they wouldn't do anything. Very nice customer service. So I went to a jewelers that have resized a few rings for me and have done it very well, they also sell Pandora, so I thought they would be able to fix it for me, and they wouldn't charge me a huge amount. They did better then that, they exchanged my bracelet because Pandora does free repairs so they could take my bracelet and get it fixed and then sell it, and that would replace the bracelet they gave me. So I not only got a new bracelet then and there, I didn't pay a penny! Now that is high end customer service that I should have received from Pandora. It's like when they have your money they no longer care whether the product lasts or not! So why do people like Pandora, when they whop the prices up but don't have customer service to match? I think their charms are beautiful, the detail is fabulous, and the metal is good quality. They have a lovely range of charms, and it really could be classed as an investment. It is also nice to get an expensive piece of jewelery that is personal to you, but also one that family and friends can add to, so it is very sentimental. So is the sentimental nature, and quality of their jewelery worth the huge price hikes? My personal thoughts are that although I received bad customer service, and their price hikes are ridiculous, my bracelet means a lot to me, it is very sentimental and personal to me, so I will grudgingly carry on buying the charms, however not nearly as many as I would have with the previous prices! Leave a comment with your thoughts :]