Rejected diamond nets full refund, but not cost of engagement ring

The diamond wasn’t forever.

Now, a West Vancouver jewelry shop has been ordered to pay the full cost of a rejected diamond. But the customer will be stuck with the cost of the ring.

According to a Civil Resolutions Tribunal decision Feb. 7, Anzi Gems Inc. of West Vancouver has been ordered to pay back a customer more than $400 – on top of $23,000 already refunded – after a customer returned an engagement ring his fiancée didn’t like.

The dispute arose after Shahab Asgari bought a ring from Anzi Gems Inc. in West Vancouver in October 2022 for just under $25,000. Ultimately, Asgari’s fiancée decided the ring wasn’t to her taste, and Asgari decided to return it.

Asgari filed a civil claim for just under $2,000 after the jeweller refunded the price of the gemstone but not the ring itself.

In a decision handed down by the Civil Resolution Tribunal, tribunal member Megan Stewart ruled the refund policy did only cover the price paid for the rock itself.

But the jewelry company said it couldn’t find the email with the gemstone’s price.

“As a jeweller offering custom diamond engagement rings, I would expect the [jewelry company] to keep accurate records of the diamonds used to make their rings, including the diamonds’ prices,” wrote Stewart in the decision, especially considering the store’s refund policy.

Instead, the jeweller pegged the diamond’s value at $18,621, based on prices of comparable diamonds.

Stewart rejected that approach, instead subtracting the $1,460 price of a “brand new ring” without the diamond referenced in an email from the amount paid by the customer.

The jeweller should have refunded $353 more, she concluded, plus interest and the customer’s cost of filing the dispute.