Consumer Issue

leebaby

Hi, just wondering if anyone has had the same experience or what you think of this. Basically we bought engagement ring in jewellers which cost just €1000 & that was half price in their sale. After 3 weeks of modest wearing the ring bent at the bottom (out of shape). brought back to jewellers & they asked did i damage it in any way which i did not so they said they would resize my finger which it turned out i was sized wrong first time. (ring was a size & half to big). Asked me to come back in an hour and they would have it fixed. came back & right enough ring was fixed & nice & shiny. I was not 100% happy as could not understand as why it went like this in first place. I accepted anyway & was happy to have my ring back. On leaving shop i asked should this happen again & she said no that a platnium ring should not go like this atall. The ring was supposed to be white gold as we thought, our receipt & valuation stated white gold. she said this was an error so gave me new receipt & valuation stating it was infact platnium.
The following evening i attended a local community play for about 3/4 hours in which i wore my ring & when i came back going to bed taking ring off the shank of the ring had bent AGAIN. needless to say i was furious. Went back to shop next day & they said they never seen anything like it & would have to send it to there workman to look at. I advised that i wanted a full refund as i was not happy with the ring & it was obviously faulty. I am so upset at this that they rang me back couple days later saying that I must of damaged the ring in some way. I was so upset to think that they could say this to me & advised them that i did nothing to that ring, why would i ??
girl said owner would have to ring which he did the following day & spoke with my fiance. he was nothing but rude & implied that in his opinion someone put a pliers to the ring....
We are at our wits end with this. We rang consumer agency & they advised to send in letter of complaint which we did & we also rang 3 times to try & resolve this but he will not accept or return our calls.
Sorry if post is long but i would love peoples advice on this. Can they get away with this, not giving a refund, slandering us by saying we did something to the ring !!! :mad::mad::mad: Thank you.

By the way i went to another jewellers to aske there opinion & they said no way should platium ring go like this & they sent it off to there workman who said that the ring would need to be restored, rebuilt & the ban thickened which would cost US €980 to repair. All this after 4 weeks !!!:mad::mad:

noodler

Assuming everything is as you say..

1) If there is a head office or someone higer up then chat to them

2)Threaten Legal action. I think a grand is enough for you not to let it go.

Whats the small claims court limit anyone know?

leebaby

Thanks for reply
All is true...

Spoke to the owner of the shop himself & it was him who said someone put pliers to ring. So cant go any higher.
Consumer agency advised to proceed to small claims court which we will have to do but cant believe we have to this & he wont even speak to us. cant understand.
limit is €2000 in small claims court.

just so stressed about the whole thing to think your engagement is supposed to be a happy time. waited so long & all this then happens. Diaster.
just want it resolved & feel he should do something to resolve it for us. we have done nothing wrong !!!

keithclancy

leebaby wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if anyone has had the same experience or what you think of this. Basically we bought engagement ring in jewellers which cost just €1000 & that was half price in their sale. After 3 weeks of modest wearing the ring bent at the bottom (out of shape). brought back to jewellers & they asked did i damage it in any way which i did not so they said they would resize my finger which it turned out i was sized wrong first time. (ring was a size & half to big). Asked me to come back in an hour and they would have it fixed. came back & right enough ring was fixed & nice & shiny. I was not 100% happy as could not understand as why it went like this in first place. I accepted anyway & was happy to have my ring back. On leaving shop i asked should this happen again & she said no that a platnium ring should not go like this atall. The ring was supposed to be white gold as we thought, our receipt & valuation stated white gold. she said this was an error so gave me new receipt & valuation stating it was infact platnium.
The following evening i attended a local community play for about 3/4 hours in which i wore my ring & when i came back going to bed taking ring off the shank of the ring had bent AGAIN. needless to say i was furious. Went back to shop next day & they said they never seen anything like it & would have to send it to there workman to look at. I advised that i wanted a full refund as i was not happy with the ring & it was obviously faulty. I am so upset at this that they rang me back couple days later saying that I must of damaged the ring in some way. I was so upset to think that they could say this to me & advised them that i did nothing to that ring, why would i ??
girl said owner would have to ring which he did the following day & spoke with my fiance. he was nothing but rude & implied that in his opinion someone put a pliers to the ring....
We are at our wits end with this. We rang consumer agency & they advised to send in letter of complaint which we did & we also rang 3 times to try & resolve this but he will not accept or return our calls.
Sorry if post is long but i would love peoples advice on this. Can they get away with this, not giving a refund, slandering us by saying we did something to the ring !!! :mad::mad::mad: Thank you.

By the way i went to another jewellers to aske there opinion & they said no way should platium ring go like this & they sent it off to there workman who said that the ring would need to be restored, rebuilt & the ban thickened which would cost US €980 to repair. All this after 4 weeks !!!:mad::mad:

Is it just platinum or does it have a Diamond as well ?

Extremely cheap if so .. a platinum ring on its own would be around 800 euros before you even put a stone in it and also shouldn't deform like that either.

Bring it to another Jewelers and get them to have a look at it.

slimjimmc

keithclancy wrote: »

Bring it to another Jewelers and get them to have a look at it.

She did, and they confirmed it is too flimsy.

jap gt

if going to court make sure you keep a record of all calls made to the shop, and of the times the wont answer

keithclancy

slimjimmc wrote: »

She did, and they confirmed it is too flimsy.

AFAIK for a decent platinum ring you add on 600 - 800 euros depending on the quality, buying cheaper rings only results in a mounting you'll have to replace in a few years.

http://www.diamondlandselection.com/mountings

your talking 200 - 400 euros for a basic White gold mounting and with platinum the price is much hire.

It should retain the same thickness as before and can only be sized down, not up.

It shouldn't warp under normal every day usage and doesnt suffer from the same discoloration issues as white gold.

ha-ya-said-what

keithclancy wrote: »

AFAIK for a decent platinum ring you add on 600 - 800 euros depending on the quality, buying cheaper rings only results in a mounting you'll have to replace in a few years.

http://www.diamondlandselection.com/mountings

your talking 200 - 400 euros for a basic White gold mounting and with platinum the price is much hire.

It should retain the same thickness as before and can only be sized down, not up.

It shouldn't warp under normal every day usage and doesnt suffer from the same discoloration issues as white gold.

Have you noticed the ring was half price, she got it in a sale at €1,000... original cost of the ring would have been €2,000 therefore.

Which is why I have to ask OP would the ring have been known to be defective by the jeweller?

Secondly you sold a the ring under false & misleading information, your were sold the ring on the understanding it was white gold, when they later said there was an "error" & gave you the right info, you had every right there & then to demand a refund or exchange as you were not sold the stated item.

They had already fixed it once, told you it was platinum & you still agreed to keep it so it shows that you loved the style of the ring as your engagement ring & were not going to part with it, for it to bend the 2nd time & to be accused just shows a defective item & shoddy business .. pliers leave marks so harsh that in order to bend a ring they would leave lines groved into the band.

Can you get the other jewellers to give you that estimate on paper for you to have a copy of the cost to bring the ring up to the standard it should be? If so then take it back the the jewellers you bought the ring in with you partner & do not back down, state it was sold under misleading info, you only agreed to keep it when infomed it wasn't white gold but platinum as it was your engagment ring & that you were assured that the ring should not bend like that & it did a 2nd time, therefore it shows very poor quaility & leaves the jewellers with a questionable reputation. If you do not come to an agreement when there, thank him for his time & inform him you are taking the matter to the courts & someone will be in contact with him shortly. Ring the national consumer agency, ask what they would advise now as the jeweller has exhausted all means of communication with you, even have your solicitor write a letter to the jeweller if needs be, & proceed to the small claims court then if he doesn't give in.

keithclancy

ha-ya-said-what wrote: »

Have you noticed the ring was half price, she got it in a sale at €1,000... original cost of the ring would have been €2,000 therefore.

Which is why I have to ask OP would the ring have been known to be defective by the jeweller?

Secondly you sold a the ring under false & misleading information, your were sold the ring on the understanding it was white gold, when they later said there was an "error" & gave you the right info, you had every right there & then to demand a refund or exchange as you were not sold the stated item.

They had already fixed it once, told you it was platinum & you still agreed to keep it so it shows that you loved the style of the ring as your engagement ring & were not going to part with it, for it to bend the 2nd time & to be accused just shows a defective item & shoddy business .. pliers leave marks so harsh that in order to bend a ring they would leave lines groved into the band.

Can you get the other jewellers to give you that estimate on paper for you to have a copy of the cost to bring the ring up to the standard it should be? If so then take it back the the jewellers you bought the ring in with you partner & do not back down, state it was sold under misleading info, you only agreed to keep it when infomed it wasn't white gold but platinum as it was your engagment ring & that you were assured that the ring should not bend like that & it did a 2nd time, therefore it shows very poor quaility & leaves the jewellers with a questionable reputation. If you do not come to an agreement when there, thank him for his time & inform him you are taking the matter to the courts & someone will be in contact with him shortly. Ring the national consumer agency, ask what they would advise now as the jeweller has exhausted all means of communication with you, even have your solicitor write a letter to the jeweller if needs be, & proceed to the small claims court then if he doesn't give in.

Half price means nothing, most Jewelers in Ireland constantly have stuff at 'half price' in a 'closing down sale'. You just need the Diamond Cert + Weight of the ring to work out the value.

Platinum is Platinum, it never goes for Half price, if the ring cost that much either the Diamond was on the very low end of the scale, or the ring is very light or isn't platinum at all.

PLATINUM

* will give you a greater level of finish on jewellery than gold will
* has a greater level of strength, malleability and durability for making jewellery than gold does
* is best suited for the crafting of diamond and gemstone settings
* is 35 times rarer than gold
* will still scratch and dent but the platinum will remain whole, it will not scratch or dent like gold does in-so-far-as that you loose a small amount of gold when ever it is scratched or damaged
* will take longer to show the signs of wear and tear than gold does
* needs regular upkeep by a qualified jeweller


Platinum and Gold have been going up in Value over the past year (Hence all the crap "POST YOUR GOLD" ads on TV:
http://www.kitco.com/LFgif/pt0365nyb.gif

No Jeweler is selling at a loss and buying at an increased price.

A colleague of mine has been searching everywhere for Platinum Wedding rings and the ones he's looking at, without any stones at all are 1100 euros each.

ha-ya-said-what

As you said : Platinum is Platinum, it never goes for Half price, if the ring cost that much either the Diamond was on the very low end of the scale, or the ring is very light or isn't platinum at all.


Which is why I have to ask did the Jeweller know the ring was defective & sell it as white gold so no questions would be asked with regards to the price of €1,000

bongi69

ha-ya-said-what wrote: »

Which is why I have to ask did the Jeweller know the ring was defective & sell it as white gold so no questions would be asked with regards to the price of €1,000

I'd be asking this question too. If the retailer is not willing to budge here you have an almost perfect case for small claims. Its only €15, and since you only paid €1000, the €2000 cap won't really matter.

If I were you, I'd write a letter to the retailer detailing all your concerns, and using a timeline to explain whats happened, and that if you dont get a response in a week you'll be going to small claims, on advice of the consumer agency etc. Send it by registered post.

jap gt

bongi69 wrote: »

I'd be asking this question too. If the retailer is not willing to budge here you have an almost perfect case for small claims. Its only €15, and since you only paid €1000, the €2000 cap won't really matter.

If I were you, I'd write a letter to the retailer detailing all your concerns, and using a timeline to explain whats happened, and that if you dont get a response in a week you'll be going to small claims, on advice of the consumer agency etc. Send it by registered post.

good advice here, if the shop if anyway legit they will want to settle before court

slave1

Small Claims Court all the way, this is exactly what it's for.
You will need to send them a registered letter summarising everything to date and requesting a refund first, giving them a reasonable time period to respond say, 7 working days. In the letter stick to the facts, try an keep your emotions out of it as it could ultimately end up in a judge's hand. Then SCC.
Once you win come back and name and shame.

leebaby

Hi lads tks a mil for all your advice. it is really appreciated.
At the momemnt where we stand is that we did send a registered letter to shop as per consumer agency's advice noting our complaint. we tried to ring 3 times after them receiving this letter but would not take or return our calls. Then just yesterday after seven days of receiving our registered letter we received one from them refusing to accept any liability, that they sold the ring in prestige condition blah blah blah. its a disgrace that he wont even speak to us so it seems that he just does not care and as you said it must be a shody business to treat customers in this way.
slo now we have to proceed to the SCC.
i think personally the ring was sold before & returned to shop & it has been messed about with so much that it is weak or it was faulty to begin with.
can a platium ring bend in this way normally.

name & Shame them is right. cant wait for that !!!

Cabaal

In relation to going to the small claims court be sure as hell to get atleast two reports from other jewellers about their view on the ring, make sure these are written and signed by these jewellers....nice evidence against the shops claims that you did something wrong