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Now i know why everyone avoids returning a watch.

Bomba

I'm Pretty Popular
20/4/08
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I always try to buy second hand in the sales section as generally they're tried and tested or the faults and issues with a watch are (usually) clearly mentioned. I have had a couple arrive DOA from dealers that put me off.

Yeah until one of our members screws you. Seems like some folks are pawning off their used cast offs and not being entirely truthful. I've received two watches that were not as advertised, but I've been toying in this hobby long enough to write things off from the get-go.

One watch was a modded PAM, which I should have known would stink because the seller copied the mod/builder on the email that he sold it to me, so as to transfer the warranty. It was listed as "new" worn once. When it arrived there was a gash in the case and the big chrono second hand didn't reset to zero. And the watch was packed perfectly so there was no chance it happened in shipping. So I was out $500, plus now I needed to ship it off for service. Seller played dumb, but karma will get him in this hobby as I'm certain the watch gods will punish him with a DOA or two... LOL....

The second watch was a DSSD which had major bracelet issues. Not mentioned, not commented on, not replied to post or pre-sale. I changed to a leather strap so it's not a huge deal, but it annoyed me because I bought it to fill a slot in the stainless steel bracelet part of my collection.

Often times it's not worth getting into it, or bringing the mods into it, because the issues were not big enough to cause a scene, but even the for sale section needs to be a buyer beware zone.

Now I review everything very closely, even to the point of passing on something I really want because of some issue with the listing.

I believe BMW760 was ranting about this very issue just prior to his ban, oops I mean "gardening leave".... He's back so I'm hoping he'll chime in if it's an issue worthy of discussion or worth of it's own thread!
 

teoulennon

Renowned Member
17/5/11
514
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1 month so far to return a watch actually doesn't seem so bad to me. I ordered a watch from one of our TD's over 3 weeks ago and it still hasn't shipped yet.
 

TESLA760

Time is Money $$
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7/2/11
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Socal Wine Country
It can happen from a dealer or a member here. Yes , I've had a string of bad luck lately with a few Breitlings. I'm not ready to start throwing people under the bus quite yet. I also had a recent issue with a deceiving Ad on another forum. I bought the watch and received a 21J version of it. It was not listed as such and the topic was cleverly misleading. Fortunately, there are a lot of trustworthy members here who I deal with regularly.
 

bigdeal

I'm Pretty Popular
Supporter
Certified
21/8/10
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I always try to buy second hand in the sales section as generally they're tried and tested or the faults and issues with a watch are (usually) clearly mentioned. I have had a couple arrive DOA from dealers that put me off.

I have 3 rules when buying reps:

1. Assume that you've lost your money already, if it arrives its great, if it's fully working it's brilliant. What we are doing here is illegal and there's too many things that can go wrong, scammed, customs, postal damage, losses etc..
2. Never spend more than you can afford to lose.
3. If a watch has problems, always sort it yourself or find a trusted local watchsmith. Sending reps in and out of the country, back to China etc.. just increases your risks of a loss and at best leaves you without a watch for months.

that's great advice...
 

Bomba

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Katt is awesome, sent my noob mariner to him and had it back in under a week!

The watch smiths on this forum are among the most valuable assets we have. Between them and the mods, I truly believe our hobby would be lost.