Compliance – What Does It Look Like?

02 Nov 2021

 

Six practical checks to ensure you stay compliant and give customers peace of mind.

1. Disclosure

Treatments/terms

Be transparent with descriptions. Best practice means telling customers exactly what they’re buying from the outset. For example, a filled ruby should be described as such. Your customer shouldn’t have to ask for this information – you should give it freely. Refer to CIBJO’s Gem Book for details.

Services

If your watch repairer/jobbing jeweller works off site, inform your customer their item will leave your premises.

Sustainability and Provenance

Any environmental claims must be supported by public data. Customers should have information regarding your stance on modern slavery, ethical diamond trading, Fairtrade gold, corporate social responsibility, gender pay gap, etc. readily available to them.

 

2. Hallmarking

All items (over certain weights) sold in the UK and described as gold, silver, platinum or palladium must have a legally recognised hallmark. (Hallmarking Act 1973)

A hallmark protects buyers of precious metal items against fraud - it shows each piece has been independently tested and verified as matching descriptions and conforming to all legal standards of metal purity or fineness.

It’s a legal requirement to display The Dealer’s Notice on websites (not solely in physical stores), even not-shoppable websites; if you intend to sell precious metals, you must display the notice in a prominent place on your website and in store.

Failure to do so will result in Trading Standards officers exercising their enforcement powers under the Hallmarking Act.Members of the Created in the UK scheme should inform customers what this mark looks like and what it stands for.

 

3. RRP Pricing

Any RRP is a price that a supplier has independently recommended. When making comparisons to an RRP, tell consumers clearly the higher price is an RRP, rather than a price you have charged.

An RRP must not be false or misleading, created to present the appearance of a discount. It must represent a genuine selling price.

Don’t recommend your own RRP or influence the price at which your supplier sets the RRP. If using RRPs, consider getting substantiation from your suppliers that the RRP represents a genuine selling price.

 

Image: Robert Openshaw Jewellers sharing with their Facebook community their 2020 NAJ renewal

4. NAJ Membership

Display the up-to-date NAJ Member logo and ensure it links to your profile, so the customer can check your membership for added peace of mind. Consider displaying the reassuring NAJ Customer Charter from your membership certificate. Some members upload the certificate to their website or a photo of it in situ.

If you benefit from NAJ JET qualifications, you could display certificates and badges issued to successful students and reference the programmes on your website.

 

5. Complaints

Many members display their complaint procedure, referring to the Association’s mediation service, which is available when disputes can’t reach a resolution.

Here’s an example - making a complaint: 

On the rare occasion we receive a complaint, we always treat it seriously, tactfully and thoroughly.

If you’re unhappy with any aspect of your experience with us, you should...

1. Raise it with a member of staff. (insert contact details)

2. If unhappy with progress, please raise it via email to our management team. (insert contact details)

3. If you’re still unhappy, you can write to the (insert most senior position + contact details)

We aim to look into the complaint and report back within 14 working days. In the very unlikely case of your still being unhappy, as a member of the National Association of Jewellers, we can access its independent dispute resolution service, NAJ Resolve.

 

If you’ve exhausted all the above steps.

View NAJ Resolve 

Delivered with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, the valued NAJ benefit, NAJ Resolve, underpins that assurance, delivering a transparent and accessible forum where dissatisfied customers can seek redress while avoiding stressful confrontation.

 

 

6. Customer Guidance

Care and Repair

Remind customers how to care for their watches and jewellery.

Many assume that if they lose a diamond from a ring within a certain timeframe, the jeweller is liable to replace it, gratis, so it’s worth reminding them of their responsibility to look after their jewellery correctly.

 Jewellery valuations/insurance

For consumer reassurance, you should recommend using an expert valuer from the NAJ’s Institute of Registered Valuers (IRV), the UK’s leading body of jewellery valuers.

Regulated by the NAJ, it’s been a knowledgeable, reliable and trusted community of valuers at the cutting edge of training, educating and raising the industry standard in jewellery appraisal for three decades. A number of insurers specify jewellery valuations from a Member or Fellow of the Institute.

 

Finally, your Terms and Conditions can be extensive and cover bespoke items, consumer rights, warranty, missing parcels, cancellations, copyright, disclaimers, etc.

Contact NAJ Compliance

Source: The Jeweller