Can i claim compensation for wedding ring?

Mrs_Natalie_King

Good Evening to you all
I hope that you might be able to offer me some advice, as i have read some other compensation / complaints problems and you have all been so helpful!

I ordered a handmade wedding ring in May last year from Leslie Davis Jewellers in Milton Keynes from their jewellery design service, as it had to be made to fit exactly around the square edges of my engagement ring. It was made by Downey Designs in Birmingham, who Leslie Davis use for all their handmade items.
We used Leslie Davis as so many other high street stores didnt do 'this type of thing' so we were thrilled to find someone who did!

The designer we met with was rude and had a 'couldnt care less attitude' we felt bullied into buying the ring by her as it was more than our budget, but we didnt know where else to go. The store assistant even apologised later and made a complaint to the design company about her behaviour.

We collected the ring in July and and were married in the September - i obviously didnt wear the wedding ring until the wedding, so this is when all the problems started.....

To cut a very long story short i have bullet pointed the problems;
- both rings were a size too large (my engagement ring had been sized up) and the wedding ring had been badly made and the piece taken out didn't accommodate my engagement ring adequately and they kept coming apart
- Took ring back to shop, they sent both back to the design company and i waited a month for them to be returned
- Went back wedding ring had been 'hacked' at and looked awful, shop staff agreed, both rings still too large, both sent back again, wedding ring to be remade from scratch, waited another month
- Went back again, wedding ring now correct size, engagement ring had not been resized, fitted together better but wedding ring had not been rhodium plated so was yellow! both rings sent back again, waited yet another month
- called the shop as hadnt heard anything from them, was told both rings came back and were now both the right size but no longer fitted together properly so sent back again

The last time the rings were sent back is was without any consultation from me and without my permission.
Cusotmer service from Leslie Davis has been hit and miss, the shop Manager only got involved in the last two weeks and has been completely unapologetic.
I have requested a full refund of the £700 for the wedding band and will take my business elsewhere as i think i have been more than patient and they have agreed to refund the full amount

I have been married for just over 4 months and havent had my wedding and engagement rings for the majority of this.
It has affected my honeymoon, not to mention the 460 miles i have clocked up driving to and from the Leslie Davis shop over the last 4 months.
I have written a 4 page complaint letter to the head office and although im pleased ive been given the refund, i havent been offered an apology or any other compensation at any point.

Friends say that i should expect something for all the broken promises from the design company to make the ring ive paid for, the loss of trust in the company to make this ring and in Leslie Davis to help with this process and the fact that i now have to try and find someone who can make me another wedding ring which wont be the ring i married with.

Id love your thoughts - can i expect any more than the refund or should i just be happy with that?

Thank you all

Natalie

tanith

I think that you should be due something for the upset and cost to yourselves in time and money but if it were me I'd take the money , get new rings and move on... I wouldn't want to drag this whole sorry episode out anymore than it has been already.. but thats just me.. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to get something out of them...

Mrs_Natalie_King

Thank you Tanith, its been going on so long that i dont know if im making a fuss about nothing, or not!

R0bert_Sterling

Mrs_Natalie_King wrote: »

I have been married for just over 4 months and havent had my wedding and engagement rings for the majority of this.
It has affected my new marriage, :rolleyes:my honeymoon and there have been periods where i have been emotionally distrought, :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Friends say that i should expect something for all the emotional trauma, the broken promise from the design company to make the ring ive paid for, the loss of trust in the company to make this ring and in Leslie Davis to help with this process and the fact that i now have to try and find someone who can make me another wedding ring which wont be the ring i married with.

I congratulate you on a well constructed, well written post, unfortunately, that's where my sympathy stops!!

Jeez! it's a band of metal, not life and death!!:T

I think your other half should start running.....and keep running.:j

Mrs_Natalie_King

Thank you Robert for your comments
Ill be sure to pass on your thoughts to my dear husband!!
I know it all seems a bit over the top - but to me its not just a band of metal, although i realise thats not how everyone sees it.
Im pleased my first post here was well written though

sagalout1954

Mrs K - you are right to feel aggrieved and that you should be given some compensation, however, as you've had such poor service from Downey Designs and precious little better from Leslie Davis, I think your chances of getting anything more than the actual refund you already have are slim.

Personally, I'd probably walk away from this now. Get some recommendations for decent jewellery designers (maybe based in Hatton Garden) and start again. Lesson learnt from this I think - "rude, couldn't care less & bullied"........so next time take your cue from the poor attitude of customer service you initially got and walk away.

CRANKY40

An independent goldsmith may be your best bet. My husband made my wedding ring to fit my engagement ring (which he also made) and it's perfect. It took him a morning to make.....

Tozer

Clearly something like a wedding band is bought for a joyous occasion. It is not a functional item.

The law does not often allow damages for disappointment but I think you would be entitled to an additional sum in this case. I would expect about £100.

In addition, you are entitled to be compensated for reasonable losses flowing from the breach of contract - in other words the costs of attempting to put things right.

malkie76

Legally you won't be entitled to anything. You may receive a good-will gesture from the company you used, but likely credit with them which I assume you wouldn't be interested in.

Writing a 4-page letter to anyone is pointless - when complaining you must keep letters to an absolute minimum to be taken seriously, and receive appropriate feedback.

You certainly won't be entitled to anything for emotional stress, or claiming it has somehow affected your marriage - you most likely made someone in their office giggle when they read that. Sorry, but it's unlikely they'll take that seriously as it's subjective and unquantifiable.

clever1

CRANKY40 - I love that idea! I've been thinking of a way to get a unique wedding ring to go with my engagement ring without it having to cost the earth. I'll definitely be looking into that!

Freddie_Snowbits

I also have a problem with Freda's Wedding ring of some 23 years. Freda still wears it!