Consumer complaint received 2016-07-11
Company: STERLING JEWELERS, INC.
State: CA
Product: Consumer Loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Taking out the loan or lease

Complaint:
My fianc and I came in to Jared jewelry store and XXXX XXXX told us that he could put a diamond stone on a band they had in store ( which would make the ring custom ) and if I did n't ' like it, I did n't have to keep it as long as I returned it within 30 days. According to their pamphlet, anything custom can not be returned. He lied to us about this. I did n't want to return my ring. I loved it, but I 'm informing you about this to show a pattern. When he talked to us about financing, I told him that I do n't like to finance because I do n't want to pay interest. He said that they had a program right now for 0 % interest for 12 months. He never mentioned a down payment and he stated if we needed a little more time we could go with an 18 month loan that was 0 % for the first 12 months and 9.99 % for the last 6 months. We were at the store for quite some time and XXXX stated it was taking longer because he was trying to make it so we would n't have to put any money down. Had he told us at any point we would have to put money down, we would have been out of the store empty handed. However, that was n't the case, so we thought and we ordered our rings believing we were getting 0 % for 12 months. I received the first bill due XXXX/XXXX/16 but no payment was due on the paper statement. I made an account online because I pay all my bills online. When I did that, it stated I needed to make a payment of {$690.00}, which I paid by the due date. The amount was about right, in store the calculation was about {$700.00} a month. However, when I got the next months statement, it stated I had {$270.00} in interest. I called the XXXX number and XXXX at ext XXXX said that I did not have the account for 0 % for 12 months, I had a regular account with an interest rate of 24.99 %. I told her that is not what XXXX told us. She said she could change it to 0 % but my monthly payment would be {$1100.00} per month. I told her that I could n't afford that much per month and that XXXX never told us that. She stated she would call XXXX at the store. She came back on the phone and stated XXXX would be calling me because he wanted to handle this since we were his customer. We called XXXX and he told us that he did n't sign us up for the 0 % but that we could change it to 0 % for 12 months for {$900.00} and change per month or 18 months, etc. I told XXXX that he did not tell us this in store and he misled us. I hung up. I called Jared XXXX # back and asked to be set up for the 18 month plan. She stated that we would have to put 20 % down in order to do that. I was appalled, XXXX had not informed us of this either. I looked through my paperwork and I was not given a copy of the credit application or any information regarding the credit agreement. On my receipt it merely states reg credit plan. I take responsibility for not reading thoroughly and making sure the verbal information given to us matched the written, but we were misled. Also, when I spoke to XXXX, I told him I just wanted to return the rings. He said I could not because the 30 days had passed. Perhaps that is the reason no bill is due until 60 days after a purchase. It 's not that I do n't want to pay for the rings, it 's just that we were misled with the credit terms. I can email you all the documents I have.

Company public response: Company believes the complaint is the result of a misunderstanding
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief