Advice on action against a Jewellers

[Mrpickle]

Hello all,

Just after a little bit of advice really on the following issue. Any thoughts greatly appreciated!

I bought my wedding ring from a big well known national Jewelry chain (however issue isn't with them!)

When the ring arrived, I realised that the measurement I had done was obviously wrong and I needed the ring resized. Contacted the chain who said they could do it, but would take them 8-12 weeks. As the wedding was in 5 weeks time from this date I had to do something else.

I took the ring to a local jewellers that had good reviews and have a workshop onsite to get them to resize the ring.

I showed them the rings, the saleswoman measured my finger and called the store manager over to check his opinion on what size to take the ring down to.

I'll explain at this point, the ring is an 18k gold band which has a centre section with a horizontal brush on it, then above and below a band of polish finish.

They took the ring and told me it would be ready later on that afternoon and it would be £100.

I cam back to collect it later on, first thing I noticed about where the resize had happened was that there was quite a dip in the profile of the ring that meant it would rock when placed on a flat surface. I wasn't happy with the quality of the work and pointed this out to the GM and saleswoman. He apologised and said they would fix it by filing the whole ring down. I said I wanted them to take time and fix it properly and there was no rush.

Whilst in the shop, I had been distracted by the poor work that I noticed (I think) that the ring had been given an all over matte finish. But I didn't say anything and left the shop.

Shop closed on Sunday so phoned and left a message with a different saleswoman to confirm that I was expecting the ring back to the original finish.

Got a call later (Monday) from the GM who then said they only had one kind of mop tool and they couldn't give it a brush finish and only a matte. I responded with my expectations of it being as originally dropped off. He said they would talk to their other branch and see what they could do.

Call from the jewellers on the Friday asking that I come in to the store on Saturday 'for a proper chat'. Took my fiancee with me, then was presented with the ring (now straightened) with an all over matte finish. The GM then proceeded to tell me the original finish on my ring wasn't possible to achieve as it had to be done at point of manufacture. Both myself and partner very cross and expressed that if they weren't going to be able to achieve the original finish they should have turned down the work. GM said that they should have turned down the work.

They then said that all good jewellers would take back the ring, indicating that the chain I bought from would refund me. I said I doubted it. He then said they would take it round the jewelry quarter the following week to see if anyone could get the finish. I said I would contact the chain and check return policy.

Had a conversation with the chain and checked the return policy that day and phoned the store (saleswoman) to tell them they wouldn't accept a return if the ring had been worked on. I said the two options were to either get the ring returned to original finish or give me the value I paid for the ring and they could keep it and do whatever. She said that she would check with GM and call back.

Monday afternoon GM phoned, said they found a jeweller who could apply the brush finish all over but not return it to the original state. I said I wanted the money instead and was refused. He then said that they had completed the contract they had with me to resize the ring and there was nothing else they could do or would be prepared to do. We went round with him repeatedly saying I brought in a ring to be resized and that work had been completed. I asked for him to get the owner to call me (promised for today, but no call so far).

Spoke to C.A.B. and advised that under consumer rights act I could ask for them to do the work or a refund of the charge for resizing under lack of due care.

They then said to go through formally to complain to the company, see if they were part of a dispute resolution service and if all else fails take them forward to the next stage and to call CAB back if no luck.

Read through the consumer rights act and I think I have a case and it does appear when receiving a service you have rights to a refund (not relevant here as they still have ring and I haven't paid for any work), have a right to repair - unless this is impossible, which seems to be the case here and that in one of the subsections it suggests a right to compensation.

My question to the forum, obviously a wedding ring is an emotive topic and am I getting too carried away and should accept the ring back in the best condition and move on with my life or is this something that legally following through the correct procedures I actually have a case for?

Recorded delivery letter detailing issues asking for a formal response and asking for independent resolution.

Notice of filing a small claims case.

Small claims court.

Obviously would appreciate your thoughts.

PS getting married in 2.5 weeks currently without a ring...

[echat11]

Hi MrPickles

Welcome to LB

How did you pay for the work that was carried out on the ring? Debit Card / Credit Card?

If you paid by Credit Card, then contact your card provider, see if a Section 75 claim can help you resolve the issue (the jeweller who carried out the alterations to the ring) including the original cost of the ring.

The Section 75 route isn't quick, unless your card provider pulls out all the stops to resolve.

Court will be a much longer route to resolve.

[DE DOGS]

E. I think she states that they have not paid as yet for the alteration.

[echat11]

E. I think she states that they have not paid as yet for the alteration.

'Spoke to C.A.B. and advised that under consumer rights act I could ask for them to do the work or a refund of the charge for resizing under lack of due care.'

If they haven't then the Section 75 is a non starter under the circumstances.

I think, the to be married couple need to concentrate on the wedding, hire a ring or something, see if the jeweller can loan you a ring, then try to sort out the purchased / altered ring / after the wedding.

[Mrpickle]

Thanks for your replies, I haven't yet paid for the alterations to the ring so I think you are right.

Funnily I did ask when I took the ring in if they wanted to have payment up front which they said no need for until collection.

At the moment the plan is exactly as ECHAT says, we are going to look for a low cost alternative for the actual day. Obviously trying to avoid sinking more money into rings until I can be sure of the outcome of this issue .

If it doesn't sound like legally it will go favourably in my direction I have to consider cutting the loses and just taking it back back in the condition it is in now.

The CAB explained the burden of proof was on me to prove the ring I supplied was different in appearance to the the state the ring is now. I think I can get the evidence together, it's trying to understand if there is any wording that indicates how different they have to be.

My best analogy at the moment is the difference to my mind that you have a metallic red car, took it to a body shop to have a bumper respray and on collection you get a car with a non metallic red bumper back. With the body shop saying they only had one red paint and can't get any of the correct colour.

Yes it has been resprayed and yes it has been resprayed in the same basic colour IE red, but not the correct shade or finish.

Pretty sure if that was the situation it would legally be cut and dry and hoping that would extrapolate out to jewelry as well.

[echat11]

What you need to do is check the T's and C's of the jeweller's that carried alterations, see what the T's and C's say..

(just because they have T's and C's doesn't mean they are fair)

[Mrpickle]

I'll edit the T&C's to remove the name of the company and post later but paraphrasing it says:

We offer no guarantee/warranty/assurance or quality for our products and services.

You deal with us at your own risk, where a law gives you rights these will be minimised in all areas where these T&C's are in conflict.

[Manxman]

Mrpickle - as you've discovered the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk) isn't particularly helpful to you as the only two remedies it provides in respect of a sub-standard service is a repeat performance or a price reduction.

If you can't reach a satisfactory resolution with the resizing jeweller you'll probably have to sue them for the damage to your ring. Question would be: "What is your loss?" Would you only be able to claim for the loss in value for your ring, or could you claim for more bearing in mind it's a wedding ring and its absence will ruin the big day? Could you even claim the full cost of a suitable replacement?

Regarding the exclusion clause(s) in their T&Cs you could argue that they were unfair under Part 2 and Schedule 2 of the legislation linked to above. A service provider can't evade all liabilty for a sub-standard service simply by putting an exclusion clause in their T&Cs.

Under the legislation they must exercise reasonable care and skill in performing the service (s49) and any exclusion clauses must not have "... the object or effect of inappropriately excluding or limiting the legal rights of the consumer in relation to the trader or another party in the event of total or partial non-performance or inadequate performance [my bold] by the trader of any of the contractual obligations... " (see Schedule 2, Part 1, para 2).

You could argue that they have inadequately performed the contracted service, that their exclusion clause inappropriately attempts to limit or exclude their liability to you, and that therefore it is unfair and not binding on you.

Before you agreed to the resizing, did you specify that you wanted the finish to be retained and did they tell you that they could retain it? Obviously, if that happened it would strengthen your case. If it didn't it would weaken your case.

Even if you didn't ask for finish to be retained but they knew that they couldn't guarantee to retain it, my opinion is that they should have warned you of that possibilty beforehand. If they didn't, I'd suggest they were clearly at fault.

So if it comes to it you might have a chance of winning a court claim against them. But court cases can always go either way and you can never guarantee a win...

If I were you, what I'd do now is go back to the jeweller who did the resizing and put the above arguments to them. Imply that you think you have a strong legal case against them (despite their purported exclusion clause and explain why you think the law would deem the exclusion unfair) and suggest to them that they provide you with a suitable replacement ring, or the funds to buy one. You could also point out to them that if it ever got to court, a judge might look quite favourably on a bridal couple who'd had their wedding ring ruined by a jeweller who refused to accept responsibility for damage they had caused.

Or, depending on how you paid, try a s75 claim or a chargeback if appropriate.


[However, note that I'm not a lawyer and I'm not giving legal advice. That's my valid and fair exclusion clause. It's up to you whether you decide to follow what I suggest or not]


Edit: I'm not very clear on what you mean by a brush finish and a matt finish in the context of jewellery. I'm assuming that you have a real and substantive basis for your complaint and you aren't just being picky.