HYANNIS, MASS. (WHDH) - They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but for Meredith Hudson her precious stone meant even more.
“It was special to me,” says Meredith. “The diamond in the pendant, it was my mother’s diamond.”
When Meredith’s mother passed away a few years ago she left the diamond to her. The sentimental stone was in a pendant that Meredith didn’t wear very often, so she decided to make a change.
“I had the pendant and the setting that I wanted the diamond put in,” Meredith said.
Meredith took the pendant and ring setting to Cape Cod Jewelers in Hyannis, a place she’d done business with in the past.
“He said they could do it. I wanted to know how much and he said he’d call me that night with a price and he did,” Meredith said.
The price was right, so Meredith agreed to have the work done. But when she went to pick up her ring about two weeks later, she was thrown for a loop.
“They said that the ring had been misplaced,” Meredith responds, shaking her head.
Meredith says the store owner had the pendant, but couldn’t find her diamond ring.
“So your ring was missing. What was going through your mind,” asks 7’s Kris Anderson.
“They said they were sure it was in the store and I really didn’t think too much of it. I just thought it would be found, it just got mixed up with something else,” Meredith says.
Meredith waited a week, then called the store, but still no ring. She says that went on for weeks.
“Every time I contacted them they were still looking for it,” she says.
With the ring still missing, Meredith says a representative from the store called her to try and work out a deal. They offered $2,500 as compensation. She says the initial offer was for the $2,500, which Meredith rejected.
“I felt that the stone was worth more than that,” Meredith says, after rejecting that offer.
She was able to track down an old appraisal for the diamond from 1975, valued at $1,500, 41 years ago. She gave that information to a local appraiser, who put together a hypothetical appraisal for the ring, a little more than $5,000.
“So I sent Cape Cod jewelers a letter,” Meredith says. “I never heard from them. He never responded.”
So that’s when Meredith called Solve It 7.
We wondered if a hypothetical appraisal carries any legal weight.
“She’s entitled to the fair market value, which is the value of the diamond as we speak today, not when she bought it,” Former President of the Massachusetts Bar Association Bob Harnais says.
We reached out to the owner of Cape Cod Jewelers over the phone, and in person. He told us that he felt bad about misplacing Meredith’s ring and is still hoping he can find it, but he wanted to make her happy, so he significantly increased his offer.
“Thank you very much. Very good thank you,” Meredith smiles, as she receives the new check.
Meredith and the owner agreed on $4,000 to replace the misplaced ring.
“Before you got involved in it, we weren’t communicating at all. I have the check from Cape Cod Jewelers for $4,000. Thank you to Solve it 7,” Meredith beams.
Cape Cod Jewelers has been making its customers sparkle for more than thirty years, and the store’s owner is happy he was able to put a smile back on Meredith’s face.
Got a problem? Maybe we can turn your frown upside down; give us a ring at 617-367-7777 or send us an email to SolveIt7@whdh.com.
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