Engagement ring dispute with Littlewoods

chrispickford

Hi all,

I've heard a lot of good things about this forum and from reading a number of previous posts it's clear that there are a lot of very knowledgeable people here! I'm hoping that you could spare some of your time to give me some advice on my legal standing and your personal opinion regarding my dispute with Littlewoods (Shop Direct Ltd).

Firstly, a little bit of background...

I bought an engagement ring from Littlewoods on the 28th November 2011 and after biding my time I proposed to my fianc!e on 3rd January 2012. Thankfully she said yes :j. She had been wearing the ring for about 12 months when in January 2013 she noticed that the ring had physically snapped.

We contacted Littlewoods who informed us that because the ring was purchased over 12 months ago, there is nothing they will do. After to-ing and fro-ing for a while, Littlewoods emailed to say that if we acquire an independent report from a jeweller stating it was a manufacturing defect then they can look at returning the item.

Off the back of this we then took the ring to a local independant Jeweller, who kindly wrote a letter to this effect:

-- unable to attach --

Littlewoods are now claiming that this letter is not suitable and are refusing to accept it as proof that ring was not fit for purpose at point of sale.

If you follow the below link, you can see the email correspondence between myself and Littlewoods, which might explain things a bit better than I have here:

-- unable to link --

I have contacted trading standards who have advised that I am well within my rights to a refund provided the ring was not fit for purpose (which I have proven it wasn't).

Littlewoods are refusing to accept my proof and now I am stuck at a stalemate where my fiancee is without a ring (been advised not to continue wearing it) and I'm not sure how to enforce my rights.

Please, if anyone has any advice or opinions they would like to share I would be greatful!

Many thanks,

Chris

Nada666

Send them one more (posted) letter outlining (briefly) everything and tell them they will be taken to Court if they do not respond in full in a timely fashion. Proceed to making a claim against them when they don't bother.

Fire_Fox

What does Littlewoods want instead of the letter you have? Generally you pay a professional for a report, I believe you can claim the cost back from the seller if it proves the item is faulty. Is it clear what the jewellers qualifications and memberships of professional bodies are on the letter, are they just jewellery sales or manufacture?

And use formal communication from now on (snail mail).

bris

Agree with above, find out under what grounds they are rejecting the report. For instance they won't just accept a report from a jewellers if they only sell and have no qualifications regarding the manufacturing process.
A professional would need to put their reputation on the line to write a report so it is more likely to be correct, a salesman in a jewellers could write anything without knowledge of the industry, this may be why it's been rejected.