Legal Question in Consumer Law in California

I want to take a national jewelry store to small claims court.

In Feb 2008 purchased wedding ring. Before the ring was due for the 6 month inspection, a diamond fell out. The ring was sent in for warranty repairs but ultimately lost. The store issued a new ring (same exact ring out of the display case) because at that point it was the only thing they could do provided in their warranty agreement.

The ring was taken for inspections Feb 09, Aug 09 and Feb 2010. In June 2010 another diamond fell out. Took it in and they said it was covered under warranty or extended service plan and gave me a slip and sent it on its way. The following day, got a call and they asked me if I had a copy of the paper work because they ''thought it might have been mailed off without any documentation."

The next day, they called and said I had to pay for the repairs because there was no record in the computer for inspections. I told them that I have at least one hard copy of the inspection slip, which I had to beg for at the time, so obviously their information doesn't get put into the computer. The store associate told me ''inspection notes get lost all the time'' and another associate told me that this particular ring, which I did not see in their cases anymore, is going to lose a diamond every 1-2 years and a jeweler from a completely different store as well as their own store both told me that the design of the ring is basically bad and it's going to keep breaking. After the ring lost the diamond the first time, I stopped wearing it - only for special occasions when going out. I barely ever wore it. I did not wear it to bed or in the shower or while washing my hands or anything of that sort.

The ring was sold as a wedding ring and should be able to be worn as such without falling apart. It was NEVER mentioned that the design would fail and cause it to break constantly with even minimal usage. Now that we own the ring and are dealing with this issue, they freely admit it's going to keep breaking. Also, they have no records in their system even showing they had to give us a new ring.

They have proven time and time again that their record system is not accurate and that they sold an essentially defective product and will not stand behind it. We even stated that if they went ahead and repaired it this time under warranty, as it should be under warranty since we fulfilled our end of the agreement by having it inspected, that we would be more than willing to upgrade the ring (having to spend double the purchase price) in order to have a ring that will truly last.

A wedding ring is meant to last forever and we feel this is a sham. Can we sue them in small claims court for the cost of the ring? What can we do because this is not right and we have tried rationalizing with them many many times.


Asked on 7/28/10, 3:08 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Scott Brear Law Practice of Scott Irvin Brear

Before you sue in any court, you must establish your damages. Other than the terrible annoyance of having to get the ring re-set, etc, are you out of pocket any money? Have you actually lost a stone that was not recovered and for which you were asked to pay? You can sue up to $5000 in California small claims courts. You can not get "pain and suffering" or emotional damages in small claims court. My suggestion to you is to get another setting for your diamond so you can be sure of not losing the diamond. Sooner or later, yet again, and perhaps forever, you might have the stone come lose even if you only were the ring once a year. Why take the risk....get a new setting and stop worrying!

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Answered on 8/02/10, 3:20 pm


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