Wedding rings fraud

[rpalmer]

Prior to getting married, my wife and I shopped extensively for wedding bands that combined 14k gold and platinum. We found that rings that we liked at a large mall jewelry chain and purchased them and exchanged them during our wedding. During our honeymoon my wife scratched her ring. When we returned she took it to a jeweler that was a friend of the family to see if they could buff out the scratch, and they informed her that our rings WEREN'T platinum, they were yellow gold and white gold, they could tell this because white gold is softer than platinum. We went back to the store and spoke to the manager and he acknowledged the mistake and he only offered to replace them with rings of a similar style that were made with platinum. . We decided to not have the rings replaced because they wouldn't be the rings that we exchanged during our ceremony, we also inquired with another jeweler about the possibility of having the white gold removed and replaced with platinum, but we were told this would be impossible due to the style of the rings. The amount we paid for the rings was the correct amount for the yellow and white gold rings. The rings were represented as being platinum during the entire shopping process, no assumption was made on our part and we have a receit that states that the rings are "14K Gold & Platinum" that is signed by us and by the salesperson. This has caused extreme emotional trauma to both me and my wife because there is obviously no why to undo this screw up. I want to know if there is any precedent for sueing the jewelry chain for monetary damages for being defrauded and for for the emotion trauma this continues to cause us. We live in Indiana. Thanks for your help.

 

[ALawyer]

You have a contract claim for the difference in value, that could be handled in small claims court.

If this is part of a pattern, then there could be a major consumer fraud claim that might lend itself to a class action. But who is at fault, the manufacturer, or the importer or the jeweller or all of them?

Was it falsely labeled platinum? If so the local police, consumer fraud bureau of the IN state Attorney General's office or the FBI may be interested.

There are some cases in a few states that have allowed punitive damages in some otherwise pure contract cases where the subject matter is highly personal, like funerals. This might qualify, but as the jeweller will claim it was a mistake I doubt you'd get far.

 

[rpalmer]

Thanks for the feedback. The amount paid isn't really in question because we paid the correct amount for the rings we were given, the rings were just mis-represented as being platinum. The fault lies with the salesperson. She mistook the rings for platinum rings of similar syle from the same manufactuer. I don't believe there was any intentional effort to mislead, but the end result is the same. Is the defense that it was a "mistake" enough to get them out of any punitive damages. Any advice on where I could review similar cases involving mistakes in products involved in weddings, or as you had said, funerals. Thanks again.