A few years ago I gave my OH a ring, and recently it needed a repair plus an alteration. So 11 weeks ago I took it to a local jeweller - a small independent 1-man place - I'd heard he did good work. How I wish I hadn't!
He admired the ring and I asked him what he would guess its value to be, for insurance - he said "at least £800".
We also paid him a 3 figure sum in advance for the work, which he said would take "a couple of weeks" and he'd ring when it was ready.
Since then he's never rung, we have been in a few times and it's always "next week". He was closed for 3 weeks due to illhealth - fair enough, but a lot more than a couple of weeks have passed even allowing for that. The last time we went in, 2 weeks ago, he couldn't find the ring! He went through his box of "work pending" in front of us and it wasn't there. He actually loooked quite panicked. Nonetheless he said he'd get it done and call before the end of last week. He hasn't.
(On the same day that I left the ring with him, I also left a bracelet for alteration and I've got that back).
I strongly suspect that the ring has gone missing and I don't know how to proceed from here. If he can locate it and hasn't started work on it, I want to take it and ask for a refund of the money we've already paid. Can I do that? If he can't find it, then we are going to have to start some sort of reparative process, for the value of the ring plus the sum paid for the work on it -- so not far off a grand.
I've no idea what my rights are here or how to go about seeking redress. Advice gratefully received!