OPINION
*1 Upon consent of both parties, a trial was held before an arbitrator of the Civil Court. (22 NYCRR §208.41[n][2]). The Claimant, Maria Tan, sought damages in the amount of $2,000.00 for the Defendant, JC Penny’s, breach of an express warranty in the sale of earrings and for punitive damages. Based upon the evidence presented, the Claimant is awarded $1,224.83. The FactsOn October 15, 2017, the Claimant went to a JC Penny store to make a payment on her line of credit and to browse the store. A JC Penny employee accepted the payment to her line of credit and then informed the Claimant that she could use her line of credit to purchase a pair of 1.5-karat diamond earrings at a two-third discount. The JC Penny employee aggressively pursued the sale with the Claimant. The JC Penny employee presented certificate H1430292 that warranted the earrings as 1.5-karat diamonds set in at 14k white gold stud. As a long-standing customer of JC Penny, the Claimant believed that she could rely upon the representation made by the JC Penny employee and the certificate that warranted the earrings as genuine 1.5-karat diamonds. The Claimant then purchased the earrings with her line of credit. The original retail price was $3,749.98. However, the Claimant purchased the earrings for the sum of $1,224.83, along with a “total care” package to cover future care of the earrings for an additional $125.00.On December 12, 2017, the Claimant took the earrings to an independent jeweler to be appraised. The jeweler informed the Claimant that the earrings were not diamonds but were actually worthless fakes. On January 3, 2018, the Claimant had a second appraisal done with a different independent jeweler, who confirmed that the earrings were not diamonds and had no value. On the same day as the second appraisal, the Claimant returned to JC Penny with both appraisals and demanded a full refund because the earrings were not real diamonds as warranted. JC Penny examined the earrings, determined that they were not 1.5-karat diamond earrings, refused to refund any money, and informed the Claimant that she was responsible for the jewelry once she left the store. The Claimant initiated the instant claim and continued to make monthly payments on her line of credit to avoid damaging her credit.In support of her claim, the Claimant placed in evidence the following: the earrings, the original sales tag, a receipt for the purchase of the earrings, a receipt for the “total care” package, the JC Penny certificate, and the appraisals from each of the independent jewelers. The Claimant expressly stated that she sought a full refund for the cost of the diamonds, the cost of the appraisals and the balance of her claim was for punitive damages. The Claimant, did not have proof of payment for the two appraisals, did not testify to the cost of the appraisals, did not
