Engagement ring a heart-breaker
A woman’s $1699 engagement ring snapped in half just six months after her fiance proposed to her.
When Ash, who did not wish to be named in full, took her diamond ring to Michael Hill to get it fixed, she was told the band had thinned and couldn’t hold the stone because of wear and tear, but she had been wearing the ring for less than a year.
But when Ash told the jeweller it was not wear and tear, Michael Hill blamed the breakage on the fact she had had the ring resized.
‘‘They said because my ring had been resized two sizes bigger that it was prone to breaking,’’ she said.
Ash said that if her fiance´ was told about the risk of the resized ring being prone to breaking, he would never have bought it.
A spokesman for Michael Hill said that while the resizing of a ring could influence the setting, the jewellers conducted ‘‘a series of specialist tests’’ to ensure the foundations of the ring and the diamond’s settings were secure before it was returned.
‘‘For the past three decades, the core foundation of the Michael Hill business has been our unrivalled commitment to quality craftsmanship and product design to deliver a unique experience for our customers in New Zealand and globally,’’ the spokesman said.
‘‘During this time, incidents of diamonds being displaced are rare. In the vast majority of cases, this can be attributed to general wear and tear, which is not unique to Michael Hill jewellery.
‘‘To ensure that the quality and value can be expertly maintained across the life of the ring, customers considering resizing or making amendments to their ring should always do so through their local Michael Hill jeweller, not an external or unauthorised representative.’’
Consumers are protected by the Consumer Guarantees Act for any defects in a ring’s quality.
If an item sold has a mechanical, structural or physical problem, the company is obligated under the act to fix or replace it, or refund the buyer’s money.
The jeweller fixed Ash’s ring in the end, as a $200 lifetime warranty covered it, but didn’t offer a refund.
‘‘For me it wasn’t about the money. This ring has sentimental value to me ... I am gutted to know that I have an engagement ring that will most likely keep breaking,’’ Ash said.
Last month the Commerce Commission said it had received 11 complaints about Michael Hill in the past two years.
In response a Michael Hill spokesman said it sold more than 500,000 items in that time, and the complaints made up only a small fraction of those sales.