7 On Your Side: Engagement ring disappears

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The couple got a claim receipt, but a total stranger was somehow able to show up and walk away with a woman's ring without even providing ID. To top it off the couple says this major retailer was only refunding them for half the value the ring.

The engagement ring that sealed the high school sweethearts love is gone, and Karen Hernandez can't get over it.

But now she's apart from the 1.75 carat, "flower" ring, it was lost by Zales at the Roosevelt Field Mall during a routine repair gone wrong.

That was in early April, Karen says she left her number at the store where her husband Gaurav purchased the ring and was told by an employee they'd call her with an estimate. But she says she never got a phone call.

When she didn't hear from anyone for over two months, she dropped by the store.

She got shocking news, "She (the store attendant) said let me look in the back and see if it's here, she came back and said it's not here," Karen said.

And it gets even more baffling: Karen still has the claim receipt that's required by the store.

Karen says the Zales employees also refused to show her the security tape of the "other woman" picking up her ring.

The store offered to replace the ring with another retailing for $2,000 or refund the couple, but only for $1,000. That's half of what her husband says he paid for it.

Her husband said he paid $2,100 for the original ring, but he didn't keep the receipt and bank records expunge after seven years. Zales also couldn't provide the original sales record.

So 7 On Your Side got in touch with Zales, and within days the district manager let Karen know she could pick out a replacement worth nearly $4,000.

A Zales representative, Kim Kanary said, "At Zales, we take customer concerns very seriously and view even one issue as unacceptable. We have reviewed this guest issue, as we do all that are brought to our attention, and have resolved it in a manner that has met the expectations of the guest."

The big takeaway is to get important jewelry properly appraised by an accredited appraiser. Next, you may want to get your ring insured, through your homeowners or renters insurance. Lastly, get your ring regularly inspected for loose settings.