Giving the small guy a chance. Order experience.

[GIG]

Like my title says I am hoping to build a relationship with a smaller TD. I found Steve (Theonewatches) while looking for the new RAF 16610 release. Only a few TDs have this particular watch listed and Steve had a competitive price and also agreed to help me source additional parts for other builds.

Very happy with the service so far and I will update as things progress

11/18- I reached out to Steve on whatsapp to confirm availability
11/18- placed order with PayPal payment option
11/19- received email to send my RWI screen name for PayPal payment info
11/20- was informed PayPal would not actually be an option because I had not been registered 1 year on RWI
11/20- was asked to reorder using CC
11/21- I confirmed that I would retain spot in que for watch if I reordered.
11/22- reordered using Credit Card as payment

 

[xerofirex]

Did you buy the full 16610 or only parts of it? What other parts did you source?

 

[GIG]

Did you buy the full 16610 or only parts of it? What other parts did you source?

Yes a complete 16610lv. The other parts are in the works and Steve let me know it would take him some time to source. Him being willing to make that effort is what ultimately made me buy the complete LV from him.

 

[GIG]

Did you buy the full 16610 or only parts of it? What other parts did you source?

Yes a complete 16610lv. The other parts are in the works and Steve let me know it would take him some time to source. Him being willing to make that effort is what ultimately made me buy the complete LV from him.

 

[GIG]

11/23- received email from Steve that CC processor rejected payment. Steve asked me to send a picture of my credit card so that he could claim funds from processor.

Under normal circumstances I would have walked away from deal at this point but I reluctantly sent the picture of CC as it expired in less then a year and I have pretty solid fraud protection.

 

[Procurator]

Regardless of who youre dealing with, or your fraud protections (which wont help you here btw), you NEVER, i repeat NEVER send a picture of your credit card to ANYONE.
This wasnt a smart decision and I can only hope, that it wont end badly for you.

 

[GIG]

I appreciate your concern and for the most part I agree with you. But how do you figure that fraud protection won't help me here?

 

[Procurator]

General rule of thumb with banks and financial houses regarding fraud protection is “catch it before it happens”. Thats what the protocols and databases are for there.
If it goes through and by all accounts it appears as a legitimate transaction, which this would, you will have a very hard time convincing them otherwise. Especially since you actually shared pictures of your card. And when they do launch an investigation, they usually dig pretty deep and again you will be SOL.

You may have a different system where you are, or you may have some additional blankets, but that should not allow you to even think about such foolish act as taking and then sharing pictures of your card.

I do hope everythings gonna be ok, but this wasnt smart by any definition and from any angle. Please do weigh the risks more carefully next time.

 

[GIG]

Again I appreciate your concern and frankly I did weigh the risk. I've been on the hunt for a 16610 for a LONG time so that did factor into me making a decision that I normally would not have.

I get purchase alerts to my phone with every single transaction. Out of character payments usually require an authorization on my end before being processed. And if a unauthorized charge does get threw, I just call my credit card company to dispute the charge.

If I dispute any charges they would have been unauthorized and an investigation would lead them to that conclusion.

20 years ago I had a friend who worked at a gas station, this was before camera phones. He would walk I the back and write down the info. In today's world any clerk that handles your card can snap a picture. Granted I'm not suggesting it's a good idea to send a picture of your CC to TDs, I too would advise against it.

 

[GIG]

11/23- Steve has informed me that me that my payment has been processed and I await QC

 

[MJH89]

I look forward to a review of this, given the new factory, to see how it compares with ARF

 

[GIG]

Me too. I can finally stop checking M2M for a 16610 case. But I'm still on the hunt for a TC

 

[MJH89]

Me too. I can finally stop checking M2M for a 16610 case. But I'm still on the hunt for a TC

You'll be exceptionally lucky to find one of those

 

[GIG]

Still waiting on QC. Communication has been prompt. I would have expected to have a QC by now but im trying to be patient.

Heres an update on communications:

11/28/22- I asked Steve for update on QC. He responded that they have not recieved watch and "Please wait for a few days"

12/4/22 - Asked Steve if QC was available yet. He responded that they do not have QC yet and "Will let you know once we get it"

 

[GIG]

12/9/22 - QC received with 10 photos and a video! (will review them in the next few hours.

 

[GIG]

12/10/22 - QC approved. Watch looks great!

 

[GIG]

12/12/22 - Tracking number received!

 

[Evox]

Steve sounds like the kind of guy you want to do business with.

 

[GIG]

Steve sounds like the kind of guy you want to do business with.

He's top notch!

 

[GIG]

12/29/22- Package has arrived in US and I should have I'm next few days!

Very happy with THEONEWATCHES so far