Refund on ring under warranty?

OLeary165

My husband and I bought my engagement ring in May 2017 from a H Samuel store. We paid £800 for the ring (via debit card) and took out a 5 year warranty that covers repairs for accidental damage. It's a trilogy ring with small diamonds around the perimeter.

On five occasions (including today) a small diamond has fallen out, and we have taken it for repair four times. Twice diamond-A has fallen out, once diamond-B has fallen out, and twice diamond-C has fallen out (a few weeks apart). I only received the ring back from repair less than a week ago, and I am getting tired of taking it back and waiting 2-3 weeks for it to be repaired.

Would we be able to ask for a refund? Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 I'd say it's 'not fit for purpose'. It's tricky to say it's not satisfactory quality as I've accepted 4 repairs, but it's the fact that I've had to have it repaired so frequently that is the issue. It's making me consider only wearing it on special occasions, but I didn't pay £800 for that. I believe the exact ring is discontinued so a replacement wouldn't be an option.

I'm not doing anything extreme when it breaks, it seems to happen randomly. Sometimes I'll catch it on something and think a stone will have gone and it's actually fine. Other times I'll do nothing strenuous and there'll be a stone missing. They've had to give us an extra page for our warranty ('premier care') booklet the most recent time as they must not have expected more than 3 repairs. Surely they're losing money on this - each repair is usually charged at ~£100 though it's of course free for us with the warranty.

Thanks in advance.

JJ_Egan

Warranty is not your Consumer Rights .
Bought 2017 then under CR you are going to have to prove your not fit claim .
Under CR they can replace repair or refund at their choice . Any refund will be pro rata for usage .

DoaM

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Any refund will be pro rata for usage .

Jewellery is one of those cases where it's more than just time that matters. If the price of gold and diamonds has increased (or decreased) then the value of the raw materials may have a greater impact on the refund amount.

OLeary165

JJ Egan - Thanks. When you say warranty is not consumer rights, do you mean regardless of the warranty, my rights still stand? How would I prove my 'not fit' claim? Needing five repairs in 2 years for a ring that should last a lifetime doesn't look very good.
You say they can repair or refund - would I be able to het a partial refund and keep the ring? It clearly isn't worth the price we paid for it.
Do you know how pro rata refunds work? What lifespan is an engagement ring usually given?

Thanks DoaM, that's helpful. Hopefully gold and diamonds have kept their price since I bought this!

My husband also thinks he saw one of the small diamonds come up as sapphire when they were testing them in the shop with their little gadget last time we sent it for repair. It was sold to us as a diamond ring (I also saw the listing online and don't recall it saying sapphire), if all the small stones are sapphires masquerading as diamonds, would we be able to say it's 'not as described'?

sheramber

Catching it on something could weaken the claw. The stone may not fall out then but will at a later random date