Is it just me? AKA Recent quality complaints

[Benben]

I'm also pretty late in the game. During one of my business trip to Beijing, I bought one that is about US$25 piece of junk ( I guess you can call that super low end). That was about 5 years back and I probably worn it twice since. It still runs with just a few swirls. It has a moon dial and 24 hours counter so its not really the very basic movement.

 

[hk45ca]

there are lots of posts about price fixing and artificial price inflation.

 

[coop]

The quality of the mainstream reps has become better and better over the last 2 years.
What the problem is are peoples expectations are sometimes too high .
I get emails from members who are complaining about a mark on a dial marker that is not visable under a 5x loupe but they manage to photograph it at about 1000x and it's obvious.
Now I really am at a loss as to what people expect as QC apart from running the watch for 12-24 hours and checking time keeping and the functiond.
Not much more a dealer can do obviously look at the case etc for obvious flaws but thats about it.
I think people need to remember that dealers are like anyother buisness and there is only so much time you can spend checking a $99 watch before it is no longer viable to sell it at the price
They also need to remember that the dealer is not going to spend hours and hours looking lovingly with a loupe to their eye at the fake watch you have just bought just not going to happen not enough hours in the day

Considering the nature of the hobby the return rate for watches is very low. You have to remember that QC is not an exact science and humans can sometimes miss something .
Goodness it happens with companies like GM/Ford who spend $100's of millions a year on QC and still don't always get it right,so how are people expecting a dealer or factory in illigal goods to get it right all the time

a couple of years ago when the prices started going up i said right then when the prices go up people's expectations would go up also and there would be big problems.

nobody wanted to hear it. now everybody is just acting like people expect too much. i disagree, i paid 102.00 for my seiko monster brand new and there isn't a rep in the world that can hold a candle to it's quality or craftsmanship.

who ever is driving the prices up will either have to step up the quality or lower the prices if they want this trend to stop and that is a fact.

HK, I remember way back when you said that. There is another thread going about DSSD that I made a similar comment in.

 

[coop]

a couple of years ago when the prices started going up i said right then when the prices go up people's expectations would go up also and there would be big problems.

nobody wanted to hear it. now everybody is just acting like people expect too much. i disagree, i paid 102.00 for my seiko monster brand new and there isn't a rep in the world that can hold a candle to it's quality or craftsmanship.

who ever is driving the prices up will either have to step up the quality or lower the prices if they want this trend to stop and that is a fact.

I came in late in the game.. i am just wondering but what were the prices like? i guess its kinda hard to explain without examples but maybe using a low end rep, to standard, to high end example prices. i guess nowadays low end = 108, standard = 200ish, high end = 300+

If you look you can find a pretty decent Rollie reps very much like a noobmariner for $50. A ceramic bezel submariner for $75. The mark up even on the cheaper stuff is very high. I found a supplier on beltal.com once that had what looked like noobmariners, even had solid end links on the bracelets, and she offered them as low as 11.99 each if you bought enough.

 

[fakemaster]

All that is true HK. But many people are expecting gen quality even on $99 watches.

 

[hk45ca]

All that is true HK. But many people are expecting gen quality even on $99 watches.

once again, my seiko monster was 102.00.

 

[replica80]

Imo many of the recent posts about quality are saying more about the high expectations of replicas, than of the actual product itself.

We all have different standards of what is 'good enough' and that's fair, but if you expect gen quality - you should buy a gen, period.

Just my 2 cents :wink:

 

[Positive]

Maybe people need to recognise that the dealers on this site are trusted dealers rather than trusted manufacturers. They just sell the watches, they don't make them and often don't see every watch they sell. If you want someone to build your watch you can't go wrong with Fakemaster.

 

[askibum]

I think many of us expect a watch made from a true factory, and have been used to expecting that quality. I.e. a Casio or Seiko will run you less than $100, but their distribution and supply chain methods almost guarantee that 99.9%+ of the product is perfect - and that is what many of us are used to.

The trouble with reps is that they are not built in a standard clean room production factory. Many of the factories for rep watches seem to be assembled by rooms that might resemble a sweatshop, or by family's (including kids), one by one. When you have things being assembled by hand as fast as possible, then being labeled and sealed in a bag and dropped in the mail, there is room for error. Given that there is no QC department or ISO 9000 quality department in the familys - we have to take what we get

 

[R2D4]

I think many of us expect a watch made from a true factory, and have been used to expecting that quality. I.e. a Casio or Seiko will run you less than $100, but their distribution and supply chain methods almost guarantee that 99.9%+ of the product is perfect - and that is what many of us are used to.

The trouble with reps is that they are not built in a standard clean room production factory. Many of the factories for rep watches seem to be assembled by rooms that might resemble a sweatshop, or by family's (including kids), one by one. When you have things being assembled by hand as fast as possible, then being labeled and sealed in a bag and dropped in the mail, there is room for error. Given that there is no QC department or ISO 9000 quality department in the familys - we have to take what we get

Okay that's a good argument and I agree with it up until you charge me 358 bucks for so called SFSO or 788.00 for an Ultimate 7750 watch. That's outrageous for fake watch and it's flirting with gen territory. I know we all have choices to make and this is supposed to be fun, but if my math is correct, you can get a good used gen Steel fish for 1700. With freight and incidentals on the Rep SFSO your right on or about 400. These reps, even some of the so called super closed factory reps were 1/10th to 1/16th the price of a "NEW" gen. Now they are 1/4th of a used one? Something went wrong somewhere. :wink:

 

[747]

R2D4- "Something went wrong somewhere"- I guesse thats what happens in any market when demand becomes strong. Prices inflate, production increases and quality goes down.
Would we ever be able to deal with 1 factory directly, that way you can dictate directly that the quality of the products isn't good enough.
If I'm spending big dollars on reps then I would use "experts" on this forum (Vac, FM etc)..
Cheers
747
I would love to one day be able to buy all the individual parts and make my own timepiece, but thats a long way off.

 

[R2D4]

R2D4- "Something went wrong somewhere"- I guesse thats what happens in any market when demand becomes strong. Prices inflate, production increases and quality goes down.
Would we ever be able to deal with 1 factory directly, that way you can dictate directly that the quality of the products isn't good enough.
If I'm spending big dollars on reps then I would use "experts" on this forum (Vac, FM etc)..
Cheers
747
I would love to one day be able to buy all the individual parts and make my own timepiece, but thats a long way off.

Yes that is true too. All of you have very valid points and deductions, I just wanted to vent because I am tight with the money anyway. :wink:

 

[askibum]

R2D4- "Something went wrong somewhere"- I guesse thats what happens in any market when demand becomes strong. Prices inflate, production increases and quality goes down.

Keep in mind this isn't a true supply and demand marketplace. It can be influenced by the cartel/josh/andrew who have been rumoured to have purchased the remaining inventory of certain watch versions to keep the prices high. Other than the occasional deal from Hont, all of the prices are suspiciously close to each other.

Does anyone want to go out and start a new walmart of replicas with lower prices?

 

[hk45ca]

R2D4- "Something went wrong somewhere"- I guesse thats what happens in any market when demand becomes strong. Prices inflate, production increases and quality goes down.

Keep in mind this isn't a true supply and demand marketplace. It can be influenced by the cartel/josh/andrew who have been rumoured to have purchased the remaining inventory of certain watch versions to keep the prices high. Other than the occasional deal from Hont, all of the prices are suspiciously close to each other.

Does anyone want to go out and start a new walmart of replicas with lower prices?

you my friend are no newbie. :wink:

 

[morkelkey]

a couple of years ago when the prices started going up i said right then when the prices go up people's expectations would go up also and there would be big problems.

nobody wanted to hear it. now everybody is just acting like people expect too much. i disagree, i paid 102.00 for my seiko monster brand new and there isn't a rep in the world that can hold a candle to it's quality or craftsmanship.

who ever is driving the prices up will either have to step up the quality or lower the prices if they want this trend to stop and that is a fact.

I came in late in the game.. i am just wondering but what were the prices like? i guess its kinda hard to explain without examples but maybe using a low end rep, to standard, to high end example prices. i guess nowadays low end = 108, standard = 200ish, high end = 300+

If you look you can find a pretty decent Rollie reps very much like a noobmariner for $50. A ceramic bezel submariner for $75. The mark up even on the cheaper stuff is very high. I found a supplier on beltal.com once that had what looked like noobmariners, even had solid end links on the bracelets, and she offered them as low as 11.99 each if you bought enough.

I have personally experienced the great service offered by Steinhart. This is my opinion on the categories I rate the quality of a watch.