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Original poster

Done over by jeweller - anything I can do?

226 replies

Puzzledandpissedoff · 14/12/2020 14:18

Posting here for traffic, and yes I know it's a first world problem but I'd appreciate any advice

My 18ct yellow gold rope chain broke, and the jeweller I took it to for repair has substituted a 9ct chain (very clear just by the weight and colour). Obviously I queried this at the time, and equally obviously he denied it while avoiding my eyes and then scuttling into the back of the shop

The chain was my late mum's so I don't have a receipt, but the 18ct is stamped on the clasp - only now it doesn't match the chain itself
I'm not sure there's much I can do TBH, but if anyone has any suggestions I'd be grateful

OP posts:
ScreamingBeans · 14/12/2020 17:14

Blimey this does sound like it's widespread.

Is there any difference between independent and chains in terms of likelihood of ripping you off?

This would be a good subject for an investigative journalist to take up. Or Which. It never even occurred to me before, that a jeweller would do that. (Well it has, but I'd dismissed it as being a ridiculous idea.)

SpaceOp · 14/12/2020 17:17

£35 doesn't sound excessive.

With jewellers, anything you hand in should have a detailed receipt before they accept it. I had to send my watch for a battery replacement recently and forgot the lengthy process of them checking and documenting every scratch and market etc before they'll accept it - I was nearly late to pick up DC from school.

Agree with others - make it clear that if he doesn't solve this, you'll take it further. You could ring the police but I doubt they can do anything. But you can go on social media and slag him off, if he's in a mall, make a complaint to them to, if there's any kind of jewellery association, complain to them. Social media etc. I'd be threatening to stand outside with flyers detailing the issue to every customer who walks in....

Zilla1 · 14/12/2020 17:18

@ScreamingBeans, the large chains will often just have the work done off site/outsource it so you would be paying inflated prices, arguably with no more confidence in the work that going direct to trade yourself. We had an acquaintance who'd been quoted c£850! for a reasonably complex resizing which we sorted for c£80 - passed to a trade contact as we don't work in that metal.

A recommendation would normally be enough though in that respect though I know the OP here had, in effect, a recommendation from her DM.

ScreamingBeans · 14/12/2020 17:28

Shock @ Zilla - 10 times the price!

Zilla1 · 14/12/2020 17:28

FWIW, the disreputable high street jewellers tend to be known in the trade. One local one seems to be very 'unlucky' in that most stolen jewellery locally gets fenced, sorry sold to him.

Zilla1 · 14/12/2020 17:31

@ScreamingBeans, I must admit I coughed when I was told the price. To be fair, the resizing was mildly complex because of the size and nature of the mount (represented a huge proportion of the ring) so stretching wouldn't work. Was straightforward (to trade contact, not me) and everyone went away happy. Acquaintance said the High Street store called half a dozen times to chase up so I presume there was some margin in it for them. That and engagement and wedding rings have eye watering margins though, to be fair, overheads on the High Street can be high.

Yohoheaveho · 14/12/2020 17:35

dreadful:(
I doubt it will be the first time they've duped customers

BrummyMum1 · 14/12/2020 17:43

Surely taking it back in to the jeweller and asking for it to be put right is the first step.

cologne4711 · 14/12/2020 17:44

Oh well two lessons from this thread - always take some good close-up photos of any item you give to a jeweller for repair, resizing etc, and get a detailed receipt.

xoxogossipgirl2020 · 14/12/2020 17:46

I’d be standing outside the shop all day every day warning each and every customer, he’ll soon suffer a much bigger loss when he has no custom!

This is horrific. Especially given the sentimental value and I would be devastated. I don’t think anybody would have thought of this happening and made sure specifics were on the receipt so please don’t think there was something you could have done to prevent it, not your fault at all xxx

Ohtherewearethen · 14/12/2020 17:47

Oh this is infuriating, I'm mad for you! Definitely go back one more time and tell him you know your necklace and will not be fobbed off with an inferior one. That you will give him 24 hours to replace your necklace and tell him not to insult your intelligence or risk his reputation on this. Tell him you will not let this drop. If he, as a jeweller, doesn't recognise the difference in quality between 18 and 9ct gold then he shouldn't be in the business he's in. Point out that he didn't give you a detailed receipt and that it seems most convenient that he failed to do this on this occasion. Almost as though it was part of the plan all along...
Thriving bastard. I've had similar things (although with nowhere near such sentimental items) happen and I made it very clear to them that as jewellers they should be well aware of the sentimentality of jewellery. My engagement ring went in to have the stone secured and when I saw it I actually gasped. Not only was the stone completely different and much smaller, the mount was appalling and the band itself was a completely different colour! They said they'd 'dipped' it. On whose authority I never found out. They really buggered up the ring. It was a hideous mess. I told them if they thought this was acceptable they'd have no problem with reselling it for its full value so they could refund me the cost of the ring and the repairs. Utter arseholes. It's so hard to know who you can trust. I hope you get your chain back.

MeridianB · 14/12/2020 17:52

Definitely do as suggested about his chance to rectify an error before you go tot the police.

I also think the repair bill was extortionate.

This would be ideal for one of the national newspaper consumer champions - Telegraph would be interested I reckon - as it is something everyone fears.

Invisimamma · 14/12/2020 17:57

This is awful. I'm sorry this has happened to you OP.

I work with trading standards and in our area they are only dealing with covid compliance issues at the moment. They are also all working from home so you might get a better response by email than phone. Most areas will have an email hotline where you can report issues, this should still be being monitored.

Zestie · 14/12/2020 18:02

Hvae you ever had it insured before?

Sorry not RTFT - but details of original may be on there (or your mum
s insurane?)

Elphame · 14/12/2020 18:04

That is dreadful

It's also why my engagement ring sits in the safe unworn. It's too small now but it's a very high quality diamond and I've always been afraid of it being switched.

ThatIsNotMyUsername · 14/12/2020 18:09

When mum died we couldn’t find her eternity ring and I never remember seeing her without it.

She had had it taken into a local jeweller to have it shrunk as she lost a load of weight, then she went into the hospital unexpectedly and died suddenly.

We still don’t know what happened to it - the jewellers said it had been collected (but didn’t have a receipt to show collection) and the only person we knew who would have run this errand for her (a sort of handyman) was adamant that he hasn’t collected it (turns out he was pretty horrible too - actually believed he was going to get a huge inheritance from mum).

Some people just suck.

Benjispruce2 · 14/12/2020 18:09

Absolutely take it further. Trading standards. Do you have any photos of the original chain?

Newwayofthinking · 14/12/2020 18:11

@Europilgrim

I would go back and say (without accusing anyone) that the chain is not the same chain that you brought in and so you are going to report it to the police and to your insurance company. However, you would like to ask him if, perhaps it might have "accidentally" have been mixed up and would he like to check one last time before you do that.
Do this ...

Police WILL be interested

caringcarer · 14/12/2020 18:11

How upsetting for you just before Xmas. If you have a photo of you wearing it could it be blown up? I would go back and tell them you will be taking them to a small claim court and tweeting on teitter about the incident.

SpongeBobJudgeyPants · 14/12/2020 18:21

@Shodan

If you have one, use a magnifying glass to see if you can spot any signs of a repair. A rope chain is quite difficult to solder neatly- if there's no sign of repair that would be extra evidence.
Just what I was coming on to say. I worked for a silversmith for a while, and this is what I would suspect. When dodgy jeweller knows you know something about the process, things may alter for you.
SunshineCake · 14/12/2020 18:29

I am so sorry this has happened. I have only read the Op and really hope someone has been able to help you get it back.

We had similar when dh bought me a chain. We were charged for an 18ct but given a nine carat but didn't realise until many years later.

crosstalk · 14/12/2020 18:36

Good luck OP. Even if you have a photo of you wearing it, it might show the generic link and length which could be useful expanded. Agree with PP suggesting to see if there's a solder mark which is what you had agreed to pay for. Not sure about social media - you're publishing what could be libel.

Reminds me of a luckier woman who turned up on ANtiques Roadshow last season with a huge jewel (Burmese emerald?). She'd been left it, taken it to a local jeweler who told her it was false but would pay her £50 for it. Since it was of sentimental value she luckily refused. AR were hugely excited - it was worth tens of thousands. I wish she'd named the jeweler, but I guess he could have claimed incompetence rather than attempt at defrauding a customer.

Original poster
Puzzledandpissedoff · 14/12/2020 18:37

Apologies for disappearing for a while - how depressing to learn this seems to be pretty widespread
To be clear I do realise Trading Standards don't deal with "individual" cases, but thought it might stop it going on and on

As said in my OP it was pretty clear this guy knew exactly what he'd done, so tempting as it is I'm not sure about going back; he might even try to claim I'd swapped the chain myself after leaving his place, and I'm painfully aware that I can't prove it used to be a fully 18ct item
I've also had a magnifier on it as suggested and I can't see any repair at all (though admittedly I'm no expert)

No surprise to hear the criminals are known by the trade, but this guy's been going for years (it's 17 years just since my mum died) so I honestly didn't expect it

I'm certainly going to plaster it all over Facebook and local chat sites though ...

OP posts:
moonbells · 14/12/2020 18:39

OP I'm so sorry. This sort of thing makes me so upset.

I've several tales I'm afraid. As a result I don't tend to trust people easily.

On one of my Mum's last hospital stays (when she wasn't 'with it' some of the time) her own mother's 24ct wedding ring vanished. She wore it because her own ring was way too small. We hadn't removed nana's ring because we couldn't get it off - but someone flipping did! The only good thing about it was that because I'd taken macro photos of all the family ring hallmarks, I could tell my upset parents that it definitely wasn't Mum's own wedding ring, which was the one still in the house.

I take very close-up photos of everything now. Especially any stone or hallmark I can see... and keep the photos in a spreadsheet detailing where it was from, how much and what carat etc. And I have a loupe to look very closely... I am a magpie

moonbells · 14/12/2020 18:42

Then there was the one about the replaced opal which I knew wasn't the stone I'd left with them. Jeweller was very puzzled and kept asking if I was sure (damn right I was) and he phoned the setter... who owned up that he'd broken the stone (not uncommon with opals) and hoped I wouldn't notice.

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