Sucky customers or sucky company?

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Wanted to get the boards opinion on something I just saw on Dr. Phil.

Scenario:

Man orders engagement ring for his fiance. All goes smoothly with order and he proposes to her as planned. She accepts and gets the ring. The day after the jewelry store that sold him the ring calls him and tells him they accidentally gave him the wrong ring. The one he actually got has a bigger diamond than the one he ordered and they want him to pay the $600 cost difference between the two rings.

He says the mistake was the jewelers and not his fault and the ring has "sentimental value" for his fiance and she should be allowed to keep it at no financial penalty whatsoever.

The matter was settled on the show but I am wondering who you think was right here.

(For the record, on the show the two sides settled for 50% the cost difference of the rings).

Personally I'm think I'm more in agreement with the company here. They made a mistake, contacted the customer about it and requested him to rectify it. Remember the ring he got was NOT the one he originally ordered but it was basically the same (The only difference was the bigger stone).

I think his fiance liked the big rock so much that she didn't want to give it up.

What do you think?

[Pedersen]

I'm not sure of legalities, but my instincts lean towards the guy not being required to do anything legally. A transaction occurred. The store representative gave the man goods (the ring) in exchange for money. It was completed. Going back to him after the fact seems legally shaky.

Morally, the guy should have paid the whole $600. He got more than he paid for, and should pay the full price for what he got.

A bit messy, any way you care to look at it.

[Anakah]

Everybody is human. Mistakes happen. For instance our slot department overpaid a guest by like two grand and asked for it back. The customer did but had a bitch fit and said they'd never come back. They did of course lol

But he should just either pay it or return it. I see his point of view that yeah, they gave me this one, I should be able to keep it. He probably feels horrible that his woman got to see the other ring and then later will see one drop in size.

But in doing this it puts someone's job in jeopardy. I'd give the ring back. And maybe they could offer him like a discount on his next purchase. I don't know, I am too honest of a person, I'd return it and tell them that its okay, things happen.

[PepperElf]

The day after the jewelry store that sold him the ring calls him and tells him they accidentally gave him the wrong ring.

Sucky company.

He bought the ring in good faith that it was the same ring he had ordered... and the company accepted his payment.

Instead of demanding he pay an extra $600 bucks, the most they can legally "request" is that he exchange the ring for the one he actually ordered.


and part of me says.... was it really a mistake... or a scam to get him to pay for a bigger diamond?

Would any of you like to buy a high price item, only to have the company turn around and tell you that, "we feel you should pay us $600 more".... will you want to? Or will you feel it's underhanded and rather unprofessional?


i hope the company learns to keep better track of their merchandise. and that he's never going to buy from them again.

[wanderingjoe72]

Tough call, I would give this one to the guy though. $600 difference in a diamond depending on the quality could only be one or two sizes up. And if the setting was the same, very hard for the guy to have been able to tell after getting it.

Ethically, the guy should either give it back or pay the difference, legally I would think the guy has a case if he really didn't want to pay the difference.

On a side note, try to be a guy that has to tell a woman she needs to give her ring back. It would be safer to jump off a cliff onto a pack of rabid dogs that are on fire.

[Record Store Tough Guy]

Bait and switch after the fact? Company's shady, in my opinion. Like car dealers that take your trade, then inform you that you didn't qualify for that super low interest rate after all.

[bainsidhe]

Hey mistakes happen. I didn't see the show, but did the company first request he return the ring to be reset with the correct stone? If they right off the bat insisted he pay a $600 oops fee, then major suck on the company's part. This was a pretty upsetting mistake, I think it'd be nice for the company to offer to reset the ring with the correct stone and perhaps offer an additional discount off the original ring purchase. It wouldn't have to be much, but certainly would go a ways towards showing that the company knew they messed up and felt that the inconvenience and customer's time were valuable.

Truthfully, I don't agree with customers that automatically pull the "you messed up I have to get something for free" card. I know this was a difficult situation, but the customer had no reason to expect a $600 difference for free. This was not the stone he purchased and paid for. Offering 50% off the price difference seems a fair compromise to me.

[Kiwi]

I wouldnt be paying the extra amount personally unless ordered to by the court

[hecubus]

I would think he should have been able to keep the ring and not pay any extra.

To me, I would think that the same law would apply as applies to mail-order items. I know that consumer law states that, if a company send you something you did not order, you can keep it and they cannot charge you for it. I think the same should apply here. He paid for something, was given the wrong item, therefore, he should be able to keep it.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

The company did request he return the ring back first. The customer refused, the company then demanded he pay the cost difference for the rings since he was not willing to exchange them.

[bainsidhe]

Hmm, in that case I call more suck on the customer. If you're in a department store and a cashier forgets to ring something, you might just consider it a freebee. But it isn't honest. Sounds to me like the company made an honest mistake and was making a good faith effort to fix it.

[Canarr]

Going strictly by German law, the customer would have to return the ring, and the company would have to return the money. Since the item transferred was not the one originally agreed upon between both parties, no contract exists for transfer of ownership. Any gains without a contractual basis must be returned immediately, from both sides.

I admit that, as a customer, I'd be unhappy in his situation, especially since I'm gonna be the one to explain to my fiancee that her ring won't look quite as nice afterwards as it does now. But both legally and morally, it's wrong to keep something you didn't pay for. Going 50-50 is a fair compromise, though, IMO.

[Geek King]

Hmm, tough one. Legally, I know in the US, that banks are protected from "paperwork errors", ie. if the bank drops a million dollars into your account by mistake, then they are entitled by law to have it returned. The problem is, each industry falls under different law sets. The jeweler would probably fall under the retail laws, plus any special federal or state laws that apply to jewelers. I'm not sure the same protection would apply.

Now, honestly, if I were the jeweler and made that mistake, I would just slap myself upside the head and call myself stupid for a bit, then chalk it up to lessons learned. But that's me, and I was raised around family business. Frankly, $600 is usually not a bad mistake to write off (especially when you look at the bad word of mouth in this situation), as long as you are not doing so constantly, and take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again.

[Becks]

I guess meeting halfway is the best way to go on this.

[saint]

Id agree with the guy. Their mistake, not his. He shouldn't have to pay.