Class Action Lawsuit Says Helzberg Sold Underweight Diamonds

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Class Action Lawsuit Says Helzberg Sold Underweight Diamonds

By Anne Bucher

 
A new class action lawsuit accuses Helzberg Diamond Shops Inc. of selling engagement rings with diamonds that are lighter than advertised.

According to plaintiff Michael Ian Caprarola, Helzberg “materially misrepresented” the total weight of diamonds in some of its engagement rings. When he purchased a $2,000 “Handel” engagement ring for his fiancée in August 2012, he found that the total weight of the diamonds was 25 percent lighter than the one carat weight advertised by Helzberg. His class action lawsuit accuses Helzberg of misrepresenting the weight of the diamonds it sells at its 230 U.S. stores.

Caprarola says that he received a letter from Helzberg last month informing him that the diamonds he purchased weighed only three-quarters of a carat. The jewelry retailer gave him until August 31, 2013 to return the ring for a refund or to accept a $300 Helzberg gift card. “As an additional condition of receiving either a refund or a gift card, Plaintiff is required to sign a document purporting to release defendant from any and all liability stemming from its misrepresentation of the Handel engagement ring set diamond weight,” the class action lawsuit said.

“Plaintiff is not interested in returning for a refund the engagement ring set he has given to his fiancé. Nor is he interested in a $300 credit that can only be used at defendants’ jewelry stores,” the class action lawsuit says. He simply wants either a ring with diamonds that weigh one carat or a refund of the price difference. Caprarola says that he considered the one carat “threshold a critical benchmark in his search for an engagement ring set.” According to his class action lawsuit, he spent approximately six months shopping for an engagement ring set before purchasing the set from Helzberg.

Caprarola says that he has talked to Helzberg’s customer service representatives three or four times, but the company never offered to provide him with the one carat ring that he paid for or to pay the price difference between the item he was promised and the one he paid for. According to the class action lawsuit, the ring set that Caprarola bought is now properly advertised as three-quarters of a carat, but is now being sold for $2,799.

By filing the class action lawsuit, Caprarola seeks to represent anyone in the U.S. who purchased an engagement ring from Helzberg with a total diamond weight that was less than advertised. He is bringing claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, and for violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Caprarola seeks injunctive relief, restitution and unspecified damages.

Caprarola is represented by Clinton A. Krislov, Michael R. Karnuth and Christopher M. Hack of Krislov & Associates Ltd.

The Helzberg Diamond Class Action Lawsuit is Michael Ian Caprarola v. Helzberg’s Diamond Shops Inc., Case No. 2013-CH-18976, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.

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