Do I have any stance against a company who sold a diamond to me that is 4 grades lower in quality than stated?

Get Legal Help Today

Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption

Do I have any stance against a company who sold a diamond to me that is 4 grades lower in quality than stated?

I bought a diamond engagement ring online. The company I bought it from stated
the diamond is SI1 clarity. My jeweler says it is more of an I1 or an I2 and
showed me another SI1/SI2 diamond as a comparison. The company will not provide
me with any paperwork showing the EGL lab report that it was supposedly graded
on. What do I do?

Asked on October 8, 2016 under Business Law, Pennsylvania

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 7 years ago | Contributor

You can sue them: you would sue based on fraud (lying about a material, or important fact, to get you to enter into the sale) and breach of contract (violating the agreement as to what they would sell you). In the course of the lawsuit, you could use the legal mechanisms or procedures of "discovery," such as document production requests and written questions ("interrogatories") to get the paperwork and other information/evidence from them; and you could also submit your own evidence, such as by having a gemologist or experienced jeweler testify for you that he/she examined the stone and found it to not be SI1 clarity. If you can convince the court that it is more likely than not that (i.e. by a "preponderance of the evidence") that the stone is not what they advertised and you paid for, you could force them to take the stone back and refund your money, or else get monetary compensation, such as the difference in value between the stone you paid for and the stone you got. 
Unfortunately, only if you sue, can you force them to provide information and hold them accountable; and lawsuits take time and cost money. Depending on the difference in value beween what you thought you were gettting and what you did get, it may or may not be economically worthwhile to take legal action.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

Get Legal Help Today

Find the right lawyer for your legal issue.

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption