Wedding ring broken :(

Equaliser123

gordikin wrote: »

Equaliser123 can I claim for loss of enjoyment on any purchases then?

Afraid not. The law is very strict on this point. It arose out of disappointment from poor holidays where Courts felt that simply refunding the money wasn't sufficient.

It has also been found to apply to, say, a gift of flowers.

Given the nature of a wedding ring and the sentimentality attached, I think there is a very good case that the same principles apply.

Carrera74

WolfSong2000 wrote: »

hhhmmm...I used to work for the company and I have to say I think they're being fiarly reasonable on this...you could try asking nicely if they'd replace the ring (like for like).

What kind of work does your husband do? If it's manual work he would be better off getting something like a titanium ring.

DH's job isn't manual. He has a 9ct gold ring that he has worn since he was 16 (he's 32 now) and that is still in one piece so we thought a 9ct wedding band would do the job.

I am not sure I want a like for like as I guess it could happen again.

I think if they had offered the voucher and let us keep the ring I would have been happier as at least we would get to keep it.

Carrera74

carolineb23 wrote: »

To be honest I think you've done well out of them, my engagement ring broke about 18 months after I got it and I was basically accused of having done it myself and not having looked after it properly. I was utterly mortified at the way I was treated by the Hanley branch of H Samuel, they made out that they were being generous by repairing it free of charge. I feel your pain with something like a wedding ring, surely it's not fit for purpose if it doesn't last longer than 18 months! I know someone who had the exact same problem with their wedding ring and that was able to be repaired so maybe take the £100 and look around for someone who can fix it for you.

The branch we used made me feel that they were doing me a favour by offering us a refund. They tried to say it was wear and tear but surely a wedding ring should last as long as the wedding!

Carrera74

Equaliser123 wrote: »

I think there is an element of 'extra' compensation here. Clearly a wedding ring is (or should be!) an enjoyable item and its defective nature should give rise to a modest extra payment.

I will write to their head office then. I've nothing to lose I guess. Thanks everyone for your comments. I really thought this ring would last at least as long as the marriage...!!

hunnycat

Carrera74 wrote: »

DH's job isn't manual. He has a 9ct gold ring that he has worn since he was 16 (he's 32 now) and that is still in one piece so we thought a 9ct wedding band would do the job.

I am not sure I want a like for like as I guess it could happen again.

I think if they had offered the voucher and let us keep the ring I would have been happier as at least we would get to keep it.

they wont be letting you keep it as its gold and you could potentially sell it to make a profit.

Carrera74

Hi me again

I wonder if anyone can help me further with my complaint with HM Samuel.

I wrote to them using a template I found on another site referring to the sale of goods act.

They replied asking for the link to the like for like ring and when I have sent it to them they have told me that my ring has been discontinued and to take my broken ring to the store and they will fix or replace it. We already did this last May and they offered us a £90 voucher to replace the ring (I thought it was £100 when I posted here originally but hubby said they said they’d give £10 extra). We didn’t accept it as the ring that to us looks the exact same as ours cost £199 to buy then and we didn’t want to hand over our wedding ring and end up with something that isn’t even visually the same. This ring now costs £240 :S

I don’t know what to do now. Their head office are saying they will fix or replace (to the value we paid) but gold has risen so much and we can’t really afford to put anything towards it to get the ring that looks the same. And to be honest I’m pretty mad that we have bought a ring that was meant to last the rest of our lives but hasn’t and they haven’t even apologised about their fault or that we are set to lose our wedding ring L

Can we take this any further or do we need to just cut our losses and either buy ourselves a cheap wedding ring out of our pocket and keep the faulty ring?

Ideally I’d like to keep our ring and be compensated as it wasn’t fit for purpose and then use the compensation to buy something cheap and cheerful. Is this unrealistic?

Any input would be really appreciated x

zppp

Carrera74 wrote: »

Ideally I’d like to keep our ring and be compensated as it wasn’t fit for purpose and then use the compensation to buy something cheap and cheerful. Is this unrealistic?

Very unrealistic I'm afraifd. They offered a replacement at the time over an above the value you paid for the item. You refused this and you are now complaining a year later, when gold prices have risen substantially.

All you can do is make a choice. Keep the ring and cut your losses, or ask H Samuel to repair/replace or give you a voucher/refund for the £80ish you originally spent.

stugib

Carrera74 wrote: »

Ideally I’d like to keep our ring and be compensated as it wasn’t fit for purpose and then use the compensation to buy something cheap and cheerful. Is this unrealistic?

The law hasn't changed since your OP - you were offered compensation - a full refund of the cost of the ring and a bit more. You don't get a refund and to keep the goods though!

Equaliser123

zppp wrote: »

Very unrealistic I'm afraifd. They offered a replacement at the time over an above the value you paid for the item. You refused this and you are now complaining a year later, when gold prices have risen substantially.

All you can do is make a choice. Keep the ring and cut your losses, or ask H Samuel to repair/replace or give you a voucher/refund for the £80ish you originally spent.

I'm not so sure.

If the price of a replacement has gone up then contractual damages are designed to put you in the position you would have been in had the contract been performed correctly. Therefore, in theory, you could claim the extra for a replacement of the same type.

Carrera74

Thanks guys.

I'm going to reply to their email and ask them for a replacement of the same type and see what they reply. No harm in asking I guess. I really don't want to lose the ring we had blessed