Engagement Ring Woes!
Discussion
I am hoping for some advice regarding the below, sorry if its long winded!
On the 29th March I ordered an Engagement Ring from a well known 'premuim' high street brand for my fiancee, costing circa £1500. She had found this particular ring and fallen in love with it. She has small fingers and needed a size 'I' which most retailers do not stock. We ordered the ring from retailer who ordered the ring from the manufacturer (also a well known brand) with a lead time of 6-8 weeks. 5 year insurance was also taken out at this time (circa £150 iirc). The ring turned up mid May and was still slightly to big; being top heavy it moved around abit, so we had an alteration done by the retailer. This took another 3-4 weeks to have done and was done at our cost (rightly so).
It came back perfect!...... but unfortunately after wearing the ring once, she lost a stone from the side of the ring. (The ring has one big sapphire and around 50 smaller diamonds around the sapphire and down the shoulders). Obviously my fiancee was not happy (neither was I) as she had waited months for this ring and lost a stone almost immediately. This was just a trip to the cinema so the ring wasnt worn in the shower or doing the washing up etc (anything that could potentially damage the ring or be our/her fault). She wore the ring again the next day to meet some friends and another stone was lost!
We decided to apply for a refund of the ring as it was not fit for purpose. The retailer sent it to the manufacturer for investigation and remarked on the as new condition of the ring and suggested that it must be a mnaufacturing defect. Now 3 weeks later, the retailer says the manufacturer will not give us a refund for the ring as it has been altered. Instead the manufacturer has offered to replace the diamonds and repair the ring FOC. My fiancee no longer wants the ring and wouldnt dare wear it even if it was repaired because of whats happened. Shes just wants us to get our money back and forget about the whole experience - she doesnt even want a different ring.
I am going go speak to the retailer this weekend and just wondered if anybody had any advice especially because the alteration is complicating things. I assume the Sale of Goods act applies and the "contract" is with the retailer not the manufacturer?
I accept that I will not get the cost of the alteration back but I still think the ring is obviously faulty from purchase and although it could potentially now be completely fault fee, I would like a full refund of the ring and partial refund of the insurance, is this reasonable?
On the 29th March I ordered an Engagement Ring from a well known 'premuim' high street brand for my fiancee, costing circa £1500. She had found this particular ring and fallen in love with it. She has small fingers and needed a size 'I' which most retailers do not stock. We ordered the ring from retailer who ordered the ring from the manufacturer (also a well known brand) with a lead time of 6-8 weeks. 5 year insurance was also taken out at this time (circa £150 iirc). The ring turned up mid May and was still slightly to big; being top heavy it moved around abit, so we had an alteration done by the retailer. This took another 3-4 weeks to have done and was done at our cost (rightly so).
It came back perfect!...... but unfortunately after wearing the ring once, she lost a stone from the side of the ring. (The ring has one big sapphire and around 50 smaller diamonds around the sapphire and down the shoulders). Obviously my fiancee was not happy (neither was I) as she had waited months for this ring and lost a stone almost immediately. This was just a trip to the cinema so the ring wasnt worn in the shower or doing the washing up etc (anything that could potentially damage the ring or be our/her fault). She wore the ring again the next day to meet some friends and another stone was lost!
We decided to apply for a refund of the ring as it was not fit for purpose. The retailer sent it to the manufacturer for investigation and remarked on the as new condition of the ring and suggested that it must be a mnaufacturing defect. Now 3 weeks later, the retailer says the manufacturer will not give us a refund for the ring as it has been altered. Instead the manufacturer has offered to replace the diamonds and repair the ring FOC. My fiancee no longer wants the ring and wouldnt dare wear it even if it was repaired because of whats happened. Shes just wants us to get our money back and forget about the whole experience - she doesnt even want a different ring.
I am going go speak to the retailer this weekend and just wondered if anybody had any advice especially because the alteration is complicating things. I assume the Sale of Goods act applies and the "contract" is with the retailer not the manufacturer?
I accept that I will not get the cost of the alteration back but I still think the ring is obviously faulty from purchase and although it could potentially now be completely fault fee, I would like a full refund of the ring and partial refund of the insurance, is this reasonable?
Edited by cH3wY on Friday 3rd July 17:21
ED209 said:
You only paid £1500 for a wedding ring? This is piston heads you know! everyone spends at least 20k
I am an accountant so I'd rather put £18k saving into my investments portfolio 
calibrax said:
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've talked the SWMBO into giving them a chance to sort it out. Worst case scenario, I'll take them to small claims court if it happens again and they don't play ball.
Thanks for the link to ecain63, I know nightmare is an expert too. Nightmare summed up my thoughts tbh. The alteration wasn't done near the diamonds, its just a rubbish excuse and poor customer service. The problem is that its causing a lot of upset for the fiancee!
Thanks again and I'll update if there are any developments!
Edited by cH3wY on Saturday 4th July 20:32
Thread resurrection!
Another stone has fallen out. I agree with most of the comments so far. I think it's one of them items that has a large emotional element attached to it. The ring is modified, but not in a way that effects the stone settings. I appreciate it will be harder for them to resell or they will have to re-work the ring again if they accepted a return etc. Anyway, they've had their chance to fix this now - time for refund on the ring?
Another stone has fallen out. I agree with most of the comments so far. I think it's one of them items that has a large emotional element attached to it. The ring is modified, but not in a way that effects the stone settings. I appreciate it will be harder for them to resell or they will have to re-work the ring again if they accepted a return etc. Anyway, they've had their chance to fix this now - time for refund on the ring?
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