Advice with unhallmarked silver sold to us by wholesaler

[HarliquinCat]

Hi there, I am looking for some advice on some recent silver rings we bought - They were bought from an online UK company and were sold as sterling silver, however they weigh approx 10 grams, and are not hallmarked (just stamped 925)

So as far as i can see these can not be sold as silver, and must be referred to as white metal?

Most of the rings we bought had the full hallmarks as required and otherwise the company has been great, but we have been left with about 20 rings that we cannot sell as silver but were sold to us as such.

Does anyone know my rights on this matter? was I miss sold these? Any specific steps I should take to resolve this?

Thank you for your help:)

[Dennis]

You can have them assayed and hallmarked yourself, but they cannot be sold in the UK and described as silver without. Dennis.

[HarliquinCat]

Thank you Dennis, that is inline with my concerns. I think said company is breaking hallmarking laws by selling these as sterling silver and I should be entitled to my money back. It is also worth mentioning I bought these over 28 days ago, but do have a receipt.

[Aurarius]

I'd ask them to accept a return (postage at their expense) on the unhallmarked rings on the understanding that they will either replace them with hallmarked substitutes or arrange for the hallmarking of the returned batch, again at their expense. If they get sniffy, you have a receipt proving purchase and can let the seller know you intend to take the matter up with Trading Standards. Unless they intend to do a runner next week, I'd like to bet they will be obliging.

[pearlescence]

Try contacting trading standards these days. Impossible.
If these items were sold as wholesale then surely they do not need to be hallmarked - although being marked could be a condition of any contract you may have with the seller

[Dennis]

Yes, you're right Wendy,. We missed the point there. Dennis.

[HarliquinCat]

Thank you for the replys, The ring was sold with the title "Sterling silver ring 50p per gram £5.50" yet it is unhallmarked, it did not say in the description if it was hallmarked or not..So they did not say it was hallmarked, So are wholesalers exempt from having silver rings hallmarked and can sell it as sterling silver if over 7.78grams?

[Dennis]

From past experience, discussions on hallmarking are of intense interest to members and can go on and on, round and round, with everyone giving their opinion and asking a new question.

However the official hallmark guidance does not cover all eventualities, and ultimately can only be interpreted by a call to an assay office. My excerpt below from the Hallmark Guidance PDF listing exemptions to the hallmarking requirement is a good example of ambiguity.

Applying exemption 8, you are really asked whether you judge an item to be complete or whether it requires further manufacture.
There is no mention of a wholesalers exemption. So I plead guilty to wavering and was probably right the first time. Dennis.

[Tabby66]

I didn't realise that Dennis, but I'm guessing that they would claim number 8 applies too.

For ring blanks, chains etc, cooksons, Betts state whether they are hallmarked or not.......buyer beware I guess.....