Advice sought on how to respond to the following:
A quasi-good customer bought a link bracelet in December; yesterday
she returned to the store, calm but clearly not happy, stating that
the bracelet she bought simply “fell off her wrist”.
Customer says she was out w/ friends one night, looked down, and
realized that the bracelet was gone. She says she has no idea where
it fell off, looked around in the car, restaurant, house, driveway,
etc., but could not find it.
She said that she understands that this is a touchy situation for
both of us and that there might not be an obviously fair way to
handle the situation. She says, however, that she was concerned about
the clasp when she bought the bracelet but was reassured by the
salesperson that the clasp was secure; She thinks the clasp was not
as strong as it should have been & stated that it should have had two
safety clasps on it (one on each side), not just one.
I’ve had this situation occur before, but with an inexpensive silver
charm bracelet w/ toggle clasp. Have any of you had to deal w/ a
similar situation? How do you suggest I handle this?
Doug
This falls under mysterious disappearance. No one can say whether
she closed the clasp correctly, or it did fail, or if it
inadvertently was damaged in some way. You are not responsible for
the use of the bracelet after the sale. If the piece was valuable it
would have been her responsibility to insure against loss.
Homeowner’s may cover it automatically, she should check with her
agent. You would be happy to work with her insurer to replace it.
I would look up the record of the sale and speak with the
salesperson who allegedly reassured the customer about the catch.
This sales associate may go on the defensive and deny or not
remember. make it clear there will be no repercussions, you just need
the facts.
But, its good to make some sort of satisfactory arrangement with
her. If the insurance gambit doesn’t work why not suggest that since
this IS a mystery, and there are no known facts, just assumptions and
assertions (after all, she didn’t say she watched it fall off her
wrist and into the ocean)…offer to replace the bracelet at half
regular price. If you’re lucky you’ll break even. Don’t suggest
replacement at cost…no no. Ask that she report the loss to the
local police( get the report…no report, no deal), ostensibly in
case its found, but more Machiavellian, she may not wish to make a
false statement to police (a crime) if this whole thing is a setup.
Hey, “trust, but verify”.
Diplomacy should be part of the curriculum.
Good luck and keep us informed.