To be disappointed by Tiffany’s?

[rivertoskateaway]

In December, my husband bought me a silver bracelet from Tiffany’s which he gave to me for my birthday in January. It’s the bead type, and one of the beads has a heart charm attached to it. At the start of April, I noticed one day that the charm had fallen off at some point while I was wearing it.

I contacted Tiffany’s to be told that there is no guarantee on their products (except engagement rings) and that I needed to send the bracelet to them so that they can look at repairing it. They have now contacted me to say that they can do so, but it will be at a cost of £135.

Am I right to be very annoyed by this? I have only been wearing it less than four months! How do I know that once I’ve paid the £135, it won’t happen again? They have said repairs are guaranteed for 12 months, but why isn’t the bracelet guaranteed at all?!

I seem to be hitting a brick wall when I talk to Tiffany’s, so I just wanted to see if I am being unreasonable by expecting the bracelet to be repaired free of charge.

How bizarre - the chain on my Tiffany necklace snapped after c 5 years (entirely my fault, it got caught on my hair and I pulled it)

I bought it in New York, but I was able to send it to a London address to get it repaired, took 3 weeks and cost £35 including insured postage.

My only complaint was that I’m sure the new chain is a few cm longer than it was… but I can’t prove it!

I'm not a big Tiffany fan, people but the name rather than anything else.

We visited the shop on 5th Avenue in New York and the quality of their stuff appears to vary greatly and the floors are divided into type of jewellery but they also have what's in effect a "budget floor" suffice to say that's where we were!!!

You can claim these things on your house insurance if it's worth it in terms of your excess etc although Tiffany should definitely be doing the decent thing and fixing or replacing it.

That repair would take less than a phone call to report it broken.what a cheek to charge you that for a poorly made bracelet.

Dear rivertoskateaway,

thank you for contacting Tiffany & co.

I am sorry but i must confirm what previously advised. We will be happy to assist you with your repair, but we cannot lift the charges that our workshop advised.

Please kindly let me know if you would like to proceed with the repair at the cost of £135 or if you would like us to return the item to you as it is, free of charge.

I am sorry if this is not what you were hoping for,

Kind regards.

I used a Which? template to send them an email stating the legislation, and this is the response that I’ve had!

How do I reply? I will ask about how to escalate the decision further, I’m so cross I don’t even want the bracelet anymore. It’s the principle I’m so cross about, it’s not an insignificant amount of money- I would have had better customer support at Claire’s Accessories.

Open a credit card claim. If it is only 3/4 months old you are within your rights to have it repaired free or replaced.

I had to argue this point vehemently with John Lewis over a watch. I eventually won the argument and they replaced it.

I firmly believe they knew they were in the wrong but were just hoping I would back off if they repeated themselves often enough.

Thanks @CheltenhamLady I think that’s my only recourse now as I’ve tried and I’m getting nowhere. It’s so frustrating though and really put me off ever buying from them again!

Are you able to show a pic of the bracelet? Or describe what needs to be done? How much was it to start with if the repair is £135?

I have the exact bracelet as you and the heart came off.
I cant T&Co and they said I can send it back for repair but I have to pay for it.
I don't wear it anymore and it's stuck in my drawer.
However I have other Tiffany's silver pieces, chains and bracelets and rings, also my engagement ring and these are all ok, got them when silver Tiffany's was in fashion in 2002, everyone has these so I bought lots at that time and prices were low compared to nowadays prices. Still love them.

Their perfume is awful too

I have this bracelet. I caught the heart in the radiator and pulled and the beads went EVERYWHERE. I took it into Tiffany’s flagship in London and they fixed it for free and sent to me

So there is a heart that came off and is lost, so the cost is to replace the charm itself and attach it to the bracelet.

I’m sorry that others have had the same experience, it’s so frustrating! Some have said about the beads coming off and getting repairs for free, maybe it is different if you have all the parts and they only have to reassemble.

I have other Tiffany’s pieces, including a necklace that I’ve had for 11 years so I was expecting better quality.

The customer services rep that I’m talking to has basically said that they can’t fix it for free because of the time and craftsmanship that goes into the repair, and essentially I shouldn’t expect the repairman to work for free. As if someone would pay out of their own pocket.

Fingers crossed I have more luck with the credit card angle.

Not sure that anyone is invested enough in this to warrant an update, but I’ll give one anyway!

So after getting nowhere with Tiffany, I filed a Section 75 order with the credit card provider. We didn’t get around to doing this straight away, so it had been over a week since my last correspondence with Tiffany. Then, the following morning, I got an email out of the blue to say that they had decided to waive the fee “as a gesture of goodwill”!

I have no idea if they would have been informed so quickly about the Section 75, or if it was a coincidence. I was getting some emails from the servicing department about whether I wanted my broken bracelet back, or to pay the £135, which I kept ignoring. Maybe they got fed up of waiting for me to reply!

So good news in that I will be getting the bracelet repaired and returned, although I am definitely a bit wary of wearing it and the same thing happening again!

Thank you again to everyone who posted for your advice, and for reinforcing my belief that they were in the wrong!

Bloody chancers, I hate it went companies do this. Glad you're going to get it fixed as you rightly should.

Good news OP, I'm pleased for you!