My husband bought a watch from H Samuel which cost just under £400. He has sadly died before the watch was delivered. I have now contacted this store on several occasions to try to seek a way of returning this item. It is expensive, has not been taken out of the box and I certainly do not want it with the memories of the order etc.
My husband's bank account is now locked in accordance with UK process and can't receive money into it while the probate process continues. H Samuel have asked me to provide death certificate (ok, reasonable), but have then said they need a Power of Attorney - not possible as we did not have one - I have explained that not everyone does. They have then come back with requiring a legal notification that I have notarised rights over my husband's estate. That means they are asking me to pay for a lawyer's letter. Then they say they will decide and review my request as to whether to take it forward. I find all this at such a distressing time to be way over the top. They are presumably trying to run down the clock so that I am out of the 30 days return period.
If this is the way this company treats its customers when they are in grief, shock, and willing to give sight of a scanned copy of death certificate and to let them have a clear photo of my passport - well this is not a company worth anybody's trust or custom. Be warned about the ethics of H Samuel everyone out there.
I'm now updating my review as of today Friday 13th, 2026. I have now had various replies and calls from H Samuel. One email from a supposedly senior colleague dealing with complaints didn't even bother to read any of my other many emails and told me to send the watch back and that the refund would be put into my late husband's account.
I have now stated more times than I care to imagine that his account is now locked as per the law ion UK. However she didn't even bother to read those emails, or to even try to engage with the fact that NOBODY can deposit money into his now locked account.
They have now moved on from asking for a Power of Attorney to be somehow obtained for an already dead person. This is the totally ignorant capacity for the law on display here. I have explained until I am blue in the face that a Power of Attorney is not a required legal entity, but a chosen one. It is painfully obvious that H Samuel do not have legal capacity in the slightest, and just have various unqualified members of staff sending out pseudo sounding legal requirements in order to perhaps confuse grieving relatives.
Now as of later today, there is a new request From their staff purporting to understand legal process. They are asking for a Grant of Probate!!! Yes, a high street jeweller is asking to see a Grant of `Probate for a watch under £400.00. To the uninitiated Probate takes anywhere around 6 months to be granted. Yet they feel that they 'need' to have sight of this.
Next it is a letter attesting to my authority over the estate. So I have to incur a fee for a lawyer's letter to satisfy them.
To be clear, I have offered a death certificate - the original - as obviously H Samuel would never accept a copy. Perish the thought! I have also offered a photo sent to them of my own passport. They can verify from the electoral roll that both my husband and myself have lived at this address for 30 years almost in November this year.
They can also have a photograph copy of our marriage certificate - again married for nearly 40 years.
Please everyone, if you have stuck with reading this so far - appreciated - this is how H Samuel treats its customers who are bereaved. They have no lawyers advising them on these requirements. I fully understand that they need some sort of 'proof' from me given that the usual method of returning money to the account it was paid from is not available. But really? Is this a decent way for a company to behave? I think not. Also what about others who do not know the law, and what are reasonable demands and which are totally spurious?
Thank you for reading - and beware this company.
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