Sold ring to jeweller now he wants his money back

[Chopsticks2829]

Hi can anyone give me advice for a friend…
My friends mum enjoys buying bits and bobs of costume jewellery and beads from eBay as she enjoys arts and crafts and making things.
She bought a bag full of rings, beads and other bits and bobs recently, and inside it was a men’s gold ring. My friend took it to her local jeweller, she signed paperwork to say she had the right to sell the ring and was given £425 for it.
The jeweller has now come back to her several weeks later and said he wants his money back as the ring isn’t what he though and is just heavily plated.
The ring was sold to an experienced jeweller in good faith. The price was agreed and the deal was done. Had the opposite happened, and the jeweller made a mint, my friend would have had no come back.
Is the jeweller within his rights to ask for the money back? He’s been sending my friend screenshots from the internet about sale of counterfeit and fake goods which I don’t think applies to this case.
Thank you for reading 🙏🏻

Do as others have said. He is in the wrong. Don't transfer him any money. That sounds like a scammer. Not professional at all.

This person doesn’t sound like a professional jeweller at all if he didn’t know what he was buying and thinks he can get a refund from someone who walked in off the street. I don’t know how he got your friend’s contact info but presumably he doesn’t have her address to be able to report her to anyone. I’d just not respond or block him

I agree with others who say block him.
It sounds like a scam.
When I have sold jewellery to cash places they have a machine, it tells them whether the hallmark is accurate.
Can you Google his shop/business/name/phone number to see if anyone else has complained?

As previously said, Caveat Emptor.

The "jeweller" is trying it on. It was due to his/her incompetence.

If he couldn't do a proper valuation he should have asked your friend to come back after the ring had been properly tested; or else got her to enter into a written contract under which he would be entitled to a refund if the ring was worth less than his valuation. The problem from his point of view is that that sort of agreement would also have required him to pay extra if it was worth more

As he did neither of those things, he chose to take the risk. I'd suggest your friend reverse his threats and refers him to Trading Standards.

lol no that sounds like a him problem. Tell your friend to stop explaining herself and block him.

just block him and let him do his worst , which will in all likelihood be nothing

Don't reply. The jeweller knows they can't get their money back any other way so they are having a go at scaring you into just handing it over. Just block. They can contact small claims and lose if they want. Trading standards and your bank will not be interested.

@Chopsticks2829 I agree with everyone else that your friend has no cause to worry but if you ask MN to move this thread to Legal, you will also get qualified lawyers giving you additional reassurance. (Some people who have already answered may of course be lawyers but haven't said so!)

Scam jeweller.

He must be a crap jeweler. He should have looked for hallmarks.

I guarantee he'll give her a lower value ring back.

Has she searched the jewellers name online to see if anyone else has had similar issues with him?

This. Your friend is not a business. I'd tell him straight, just go ahead and report it you won't get anywhere. It was sold in good faith. You agreed the price.

The guy is an idiot.

Trading standards don’t have anything to do with individual members of the public who have no business activities. Trading standards also do not investigate individual complaints in order to get a resolution for the person making the complaint. Trading standards take complaints and may investigate a company and issue fines or shut them down, but they don’t do anything for the person who complained. They will literally do nothing.

Whats happened here is a member of the public has brought an item to a jeweller for valuation and sale; the jeweller valued it and offered a price. Everything is on the jeweller, and they cannot ask for the money back nor is there any method to do do. He is the expert, she didn’t misrepresent anything, fake anything or forge anything. She asked for a valuation and an offer to sell it. The jeweller takes all responsibility.

I would send one final message just copying and pasting this, and then tell him that any further contact from him will result in him being reported for harassment. I’d also then tell her to call her bank to inform them that he may try and get the money back and send them all the info so they can refuse it.

OP - did anything in the paperwork your friend signed imply that its value was dependent upon sale, or anything like that?

Block & ignore. He’s trying his luck and poorly at that.

Might be worth checking their reviews for similar stories.

He sounds mad - is he confused?

Does he mean he's going to report himself to Trading Standards for posing as a professional competent jeweller and making offers based on his experienced judgment - when he's nothing of the sort?

As for saying that they can only check so far in their premises (and I would have thought that a highly-trained eye would be your main 'tool'), they either need to invest in the necessary equipment/facilities to enable them to check fully, or otherwise stop making offers to purchase if they aren't in a position to establish the value on which to base their price.

It's very simple - it would be like opening up a tyre sales place and then complaining to all the customers who turn up that it's just soooo difficult to change tyres armed with your tin opener, because you haven't bothered to buy one of those strong hydraulic purpose-built machines that does it effortlessly in a minute or two.

He reminds me of that scene in Bottom where Richie angrily phones the BBC to complain about a programme - and then, after a pause, he says "Yeah, well put me through to ITV, then!"

He cant report you to trading standards because of his incompetence. If anything you should be reporting him to trading standards.

In all likelihood, he was the one who suggested the price and expressed a wish to buy the ring for that price.

He's actually trying to call the cops because he bought something at a clearly agreed price and has now changed his mind!

At any rate, 'value' is dependent on a lot of things and can be highly subjective. If it's worth it to you, then it's worth it; regardless of whether it would be worth that to somebody else or if that might be reckoned as its 'market' value.

I assume your friend runs a little business buying and selling through ebay or car boots etc? He still gave his professional valuation and agreed the sale. Unless she gave any false info about the ring, he is in the wrong.

Stop giving him details about the friend being bed bound etc. That's telling him they're vulnerable and that you're worried enough to want to explain yourselves.

Send one short message, such as

As you know, we are not responsible for your evaluation and purchase. We cannot accept any item from your stock in exchange for the cash you agreed to pay us. We will be blocking your number. Please don't contact us again.

And block. Don't engage. Don't emote. Let him know you're on to him.

This could have ended very badly if he had used his supposed professional judgment to value the ring at a certain price and the owner had sold it to somebody else, based on that supposed value.

You could end up paying a hefty insurance premium every year to cover something supposedly valuable (according to the 'expert') that is, in fact, only worth a couple of quid.

Not strictly relevant to the question but if your friend's mum just buys bits and bobs for craft, was it not a bit unfair to the original seller not to let them know they appeared to have accidentally included an expensive gold ring?

I'd just reply and say - If that is what you need to do then I understand. The ring was sold to you at the price that you agreed. I won't be engaging any further on this matter.

Then block his number.