So at my local gym I always noticed the guy at the front desk checking out my SS sub from king. One day a he says “hey man, nice watchâ€, I reply thanks, but didn’t bother to tell him it’s a rep because I didn’t want to get into a big conversation. Anyway, yesterday I went into the gym and he is wearing a TT sub. He says “hey man, I finally went all out and bought a submariner like you, but I went a step up and got the gold one, See!†He pushes his wrist toward me and I notice immediately that it’s a rep. Looks like an un-worked rep from one of our dealers. Decent pearl, but not gen, wrong crown guards. “Nice replica†I reply. “No, no it’s authentic, I bought it from an Rolex AD, I have the box and papers to prove it!†I replied that I was sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but If I were him I would march back to that dealer immediately and demand a refund, because he was sold a rep. “Ok, lucky guess, it’s a replica, but one so perfect that no one could tell, it’s what they call Grade AA+ Swiss made. I could take this to a jeweler and sell it as a gen and they wouldn’t know. You see, the workers at the Rolex factory go off on the side and make their own watches to sell for their own profit, so it’s the exact same thing as the real one, except not licensed.†I explained to him that this was a scam, that his rep was made in China, but might have a Swiss ETA movement, but it doesn’t match the quality of a gen, and there is no perfect rep that can fool everyone. I asked him how much he paid and he replied $1200. For a rep. Wow. He said it was worth is because the gen was 6K so he got a deal. I explained to him that he was scammed and he paid waaay to much. He said the company was in new York, but he sent a cashier’s check. He was gonna send it back for a refund, but I said that he might as well keep it because there was no way they would refund his money and he would lose the watch also. I directed him to this forum and told him to be more careful next time. I guess he felt a bit foolish but I think that we should try and do something about these scammers. People are being swindled out of their money and its wrong.
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Guy at my gym got scammed
- Thread starter sawalke4
- Start date
Good story. That could have been me a year ago. I spent months worrying over whether to by the expensive Grade AAA or get the $500 one. Luckily I found these forums in time. Now I have a watch box full for the same price.
TwoTone said:
Not sure I agree with you here TT. Doesn't sound like he was embarassed in front of a group of his peers. Which would have been wrong. Probably saved him from a far more embarassing situation in the future. JMO
Higgy 8)
Kudos for pointing him in the right direction. I'm sure that there are more than a few members who way overpaid before finding the forums. I spent about a year or more debating whether to part with 500 or 600 for a Swiss Grade AAA rep gave up and then found the forums about a year later. If only I had found these about a year earlier I probably would have been able to get my grail watches that I can't seem to find now.
higgy said:
Higgy I'd probably agree with you here. As long as it wasn't done in front of anyone or anything like that it was simply showing him the light. Especially after he voluntered that he paid 1200 for something we can all get for a quarter of that. Just based on that I would have shared a dealer website or two with him and pointed him towards a forum or two.
wow $1200 for a two tone sub OUCH! haha i remember many many years ago when i bought a "swiss" sub for $850... but at least it was an old MBW. It lasted me about 5 years and is still a very accurate rep even by todays standards. Wait till he sees that he can get a better one from the dealers here for avg $300. I dont mind calling people out on reps but it depends on the situation. I'd be pretty sympathetic towards the guy after i found out he dumped $1200 tho. I feel bad for the guy.
dizz
dizz
During my uninformed quest for a quality rep a company here in NY called my perfect watch or some shit like that was asking $800.00 and up for DJ's and more for subs. i'll bet it's the same guy. U figure if he sells one a month, not a bad take for part time work. He does the COD thing and the whole thing smelled bad. Fast foward 1 year later and here I am.
I guess the sayings are true" a fool and his money will part company" and "there's one born every minute."
I guess the sayings are true" a fool and his money will part company" and "there's one born every minute."
Could have happened to me a few weeks ago. Was looking at all the sites about Swiss and Italian made reps for $800 to $1200. Then I found this forum and another rep forum. Come to find out some of the sites that I was looking over turn up on the scammer lists. I've ordered my first rep now for a fraction of the above price, got great service and it's cleared customer already. Thanks to everyone for sharing your knowledge and experiences with the new guys on the block!! It's really appreciated.