Warren James accused of selling poor-quality jewellery

The Warren James wedding ring that twice became tarnished

A dissatisfied customer has warned potential customers about purchasing jewellery from Warren James in Rochdale.

The complainant said the companies ‘poor quality jewellery’ has put a dampener on his wedding day, after purchasing a wedding ring that twice became tarnished just weeks later.

Dave Jenkins said: “I bought my wedding ring from Warren James Jewellers in Rochdale and after two weeks' wear it started to tarnish. I returned the ring and it was promptly replaced. I asked what would happen if the second ring were to tarnish in the same way, to which I was told to simply return it again.

“It did happen again and I did return the ring, but this time they refused to give me a replacement or refund, saying that the tarnishing was my fault – and the ring must have come into contact with chemicals. I work in an office five days a week, so, unless my computer emits chemical substances, there is no way this can happen.

“They have really put a dampener on my wedding day and, unless the ombudsman can help me, I will need to purchase a new ring. I will never buy jewellery from this store again and would like to warn off other potential customers from spending their money on such poor-quality jewellery.

“The original price of the ring I purchased was £250. This was then reduced to £159 and has now been further reduced to £99. Why would they reduce and reduce if it was a good quality ring?

“I collected my ring from Warren James on Sunday 13 November, and it has been returned to me in a considerably worse state than it was when I took it in. I have emailed their head office in Stockport and surprisingly they have not responded.

“The ring has black marks all around the rim and horrible staining on the inside.”

Warren James Rochdale declined to comment.

A spokesperson for Warren James said: "Warren James go to extraordinary lengths to ensure our jewellery is manufactured using the best materials available.

"All items sold by Warren James are hallmarked by an independent Assay Office in line with Her Majesty’s Hallmarking Act of 1973 - as indeed is this particular ring.

"This ring is made of both gold and silver.

"It is a well-documented fact that silver can tarnish but this does not reflect on the quality of the jewellery. The tarnish occurs at different rates on different people and under different conditions and may be accelerated by contact with general household cleaners, cosmetics, certain medications or even perspiration.

"The ring in question has been sold by us for several years, during which time we have sold many thousands, and has a return rate of only 1.34% - thus emphasising how good a product this really is. Mr Jenkins' wife has the same style ring and has had no reported problems.

"The allegation that he had no response is utterly false and misleading, and we refute this fact entirely.

"Mr Jenkins first contacted our Customer Service Department by e-mail on 01/10/16 and we issued a response to this on 04/10/16. We have an e-mail trail throughout October detailing our various responses to Mr Jenkins."