My engagement ring was swapped with a fake while under the store's care.!

Question

Desperate to make a mortgage payment, my last resort was to pawn my engagement ring. When I got it back, I soon realized that I had been given the wrong ring. Although it was very similiar to mine, when I put it on, I knew something was horribly wrong. It didnt' fit. Confused, I studied it more closely and noticed the band was broken from the setting. Then I noticed that the band was a different shape entirely.Also, the setting no longer sat flush against my wedding band as it had for over seven years. Then my heart hit the floor when I saw that the diamond itself was all wrong.

Although there is a slight chance that an oversight was made and they will correct it, I have a very strong feeling that this was not a mistake and someone within their employ intentionally acted to commit this fraud. How could I have gotten back the wrong ring when they place it in an envelope with a ticket number, and then place it in a safe. There should have been no reason for it to have become mixed up with anything else, not to mention with a very poor look a like.

How am I going to prove that this happened? What can I do?

Should I press charges? Call the newspaper? What if they are doing this with everyone's jewelry that they get? I'm so sick! Nothing can ever replace how much that ring means to me. I should not have even done it in the first place, but I just had no other choice. I have not said anything to my husband and I hope I never have too. I'm desperate. Anybody have an idea as to how I should handle this? I've already come to terms with the fact that there is a very slim chance my ring will be returned to me. But I have to try everything I can.

Answer 1

Sorry to hear of your predicatment- But first it will be a sensible to tell your husband As a guy , he will be less emotional and think betterr-Yes maybe he will get MAD at you, but you did not do it for fun! he wil soon realize your concern and reason-The fact that the pawn shop gave you a sum of money for your ring and you must have that receipt in a small way you have proof,Or if you have any picture of ot, in a photograph wearing it- the other thing is to make a police report and let them know much before  you go to the shop , maybe they will ask one of their officers to go with you?The next thing is to try and find the receipt of your original ring if U can

And the final advise I can give you and all those who plan to pawn their stuff is to have a picture of the jewelry and make the pawn shop sign on  it or make a copy and then store it in their shop-did you have  any  insurance for the ring? of so maybe you can claim it from them after notifying them

Good Luck

Answer 2

pawn shop owners take great care in ensuring that everyone gets their stuff back that they pay for when they pay off the loan.

normally these items are photographed.  Do you have photographs of the ring that you had given them???

The other thing is that the tickets that are there are not to prove with is in them , there is a human there that will sometimes misplace things and put them in the wrong bag with that tag on them.  So with this in mind.

Go to the store and confront them about it, but do it in a tactful way.

Simply explain that you did not give them the ring that they gave you, and they will act very accordingly to how you act.  They are audited every once in a while as how they are keeping their collateral and they can lose their pawnbrokers license. when situations like this arise, or at least be fined a substantial amount by the state.

Present them with the photographs of the ring that you had given them. But make sure that they are on your finger and are visible enough to show the ring.

Once and if you get your ring back, you need to photograph everything on that ring, and also if it is a custom ring it should have a serial number pressed into the inside of the band, you should photocopy this too.  Keep the photos in a safe place for future use.

Answer 3

Have you even gone to the store yet? You have NO reason to be freaking out, you are jumping to conclusions. It is very easy to make a mix-up like this. YOU should have inspected the ring when it was given back to you to make sure it was YOUR ring.

Answer 4

You and your husband are suppossed to be a team and deal with whatever in life. Without that sort of honestly and trust you really have nothing.

You tell him what happened. He is part and party to not being able to pay the mortgage right? Two minds are better than one.

My wife is brilliant in the work that she does and can handle contract totaling millions. But with any home based issues a male voice calling a company usually means that they snap to. In this day and age it is wrong of course for it to be so.

Your husband calls and alludes (calmly) that he is very unhappy, says little (got to let the other guy think you know more) and waits for an explaination. Could turn out that the pawnshops owner is just as concerned.  

Answer 5

First of all you need to calm down and realize you may never get your ring back.

Then consider your journey to find your ring a adventure. It's just a ring, get a new one. Plus how can you pawn a ring and then get it back?

Answer 6

Maybe it wasn't the store. Maybe your husband needed some money and pawned the real one. You have no proof, so live and learn.

Did you ask him about it?

Answer 7

sue the store

Answer 8

A couple of years ago 20/20 or 24 hours or some show like that had a segment on just that thing.  Women would take their expensive diamond rings to jewelry stores to have them cleaned or whatever and the jewelry people would swap the diamond for a less expensive diamond.  And if you didn't really know about diamonds or didn't have some kind of etched numbers on it, you couldn't tell the difference that's how advanced ths scheme was until the show caught them.  What you need to do is go get your papers for your ring and then go to the pawn shop and tell them they must have made a mistake and to please give you the real ring.  If they refuse tell them you will call the Police and you have the proof on you.  That may shake them up a bit and think twice about what they will get themselves into.