Although I don't buy an awful lot of jewellery, I do love Ernest Jones and regularly browse their window display when I'm passing the shop. I have bought a few items from various branches of Ernest Jones, some for myself but mainly gifts for other people. I have always found the staff to be helpful and friendly, but you don't feel intimidated on entering the shop which is something I've found with the more expensive jewellery shops.

My most recent experience with Ernest Jones was about a month ago when my partner and I started shopping for an engagement ring. We had a day out in Liverpool and looked in the window of various jewellers before picking out a few potential rings to try on. We were on a fairly limited budget so we quickly skipped past the Beaverbrooks and Goldsmiths windows, and tried H Samuel and Ernest Jones instead. The quality of jewellery in Ernest Jones seemed the best value for the price, and I saw a couple of rings that caught my eye straight away. This restored my faith that we would be able to get a nice ring on our budget.

When we entered the shop we were asked if we needed any help, but the staff left us to browse without watching us or making us feel uncomfortable. We popped down the road to check H Samuel, and then came back to Ernest Jones to try the rings I'd seen initially. When we returned to the shop the staff assisted us promptly, and the lady who served us was very knowledgeable about the rings, telling us the details of the carat and diamonds. She also gave us some advice about getting the ring re-plated, and told us they would do this free of charge within the first year. She also gave me some advice on how to avoid excessive markings to the ring, and how to clean the diamond gently with an old toothbrush to avoid any scratches to the rest of the ring.

The ring I decided on fitted me perfectly luckily, because they only have one of each type in the store so she said if it hadn't fitted they would have had to phone round the other stores to get one in my size. It was obviously fate! She packaged it up very nicely and teased my partner about going down on one knee in the shop! She gave us a leaflet about an offer they had for future purchases (money off but you had to spend over £300, could come in handy for the wedding rings though!), and she told us they have an online feedback form which if we completed would enter us for a prize draw. She told us it was well worth doing this because most people get home and don't bother so we could be in with a chance.

I felt the customer service we received at Ernest Jones made the shopping for my engagement ring a very pleasant experience, and I didn't feel uncomfortable, intimidated or like I was getting the hard sell. I was debating between two rings at one stage, and one was quite a bit more expensive than the other one, but she left me to come to my own conclusion and didn't try to persuade me to get the more expensive one. We will definitely be going back there for the wedding rings!