TL;DR version: bought an engagement ring from an online retailer, sent it back for re-sizing per their policy, got the wrong diamond back (different AGS number engraved, smaller by ~0.5 carats). Looking for suggestions on how best to protect myself.
I recently was fortunate enough to get engaged. Unfortunately, her fingers are even tinier than I thought and the ring I bought was a half size too large. I bought the ring from a very reputable dealer online, and their policy includes a complimentary one time ring re-sizing. I sent it back to them per their instructions, and just received it back today. However, it looked smaller, so I took it to a jeweler and they confirmed that the AGS number is different and it’s roughly 0.5 carats smaller.
I emailed them (currently store is closed), but I’m not sure what I should do to protect myself. I have no reason to think they will try to screw me (again, very reputable retailer), but juuuuuust in case I want to be sure. My google-fu is too weak to find good stories on the normal diamond forums, but I figured if anybody could help, it’d be you guys.
Does the original product page still show the original product? Save or print a copy of it. Do you have an account at the site where you can view the order retrospectively? Print a copy of that too.
Moving from MPSIMS to IMHO.
Well, first contact the retailer and tell them what you’ve found; that the ring you received is not the ring you sent in. Most likely it’s an honest mistake. If it’s not, you apparently have records showing the AGS number of the item you purchased so presumably there will be no argument. There’s no point in talking about what to do if they don’t make it right until you give them a chance to do so.
Warning: if they re-sold your ring you’re SOL as far as getting your actual ring back (though I assume this won’t be a problem since it is presumably not unique.) Congratulations on the engagement.
At least they sent you back a real diamond. A friend of mine bought an expensive stone as an investment, got engaged and took it to a jeweler in a different city to be set into a ring. Then the engagement went south. He moved to another city, met another person, took the ring in to get it put into a different setting, and the jeweler asked him why he would want to put cubic zirconium into a platinum setting. :eek:
If you get nowhere with the online retailer, issue a chargeback with your credit card. Stuff like this is why it exists.
Unless you sued a debit card, or PayPal, or direct bank transfer…then it might be a little harder.
Actually…maybe not with PayPal…their basic operating policy the past few years has been,
“If the buyer complains one tiny iota, refund money.”
$20 says the chick had it switched.
That was my same thought.
Yep. Unless it was a particularly shady fly by night jeweler. There have been enough stories (whether most are ULs or not) about diamond switching that a large percentage of people make arrangements to check (like the OP). A jeweler who switches stones is not going to get away with it for too long.
This is why you shouldn’t get rings resized. Just keep feeding her until the thing fits.
Sounds like a lazy worker didn’t want to resize the ring and just sent another ring, hoping you wouldn’t notice. I’d imagine you’ll get satisfaction from them, given that it’s a national chain.