Selling Watch to Preown Shop

[DUCADOS]

Bad experience with 2nd hand watch dealer.

Went around ask price before I decide to sell my watch to which shop.
So come across this shop located at paya lebar mrt.
Went in let the auntie check the watch as every shop will ask to bring watch for them to c before they can quote price.
After seeing, she quoted me "A$", so I told auntie will come back again if her price is the best.
Came back 2nd day and auntie did as promise yesterday. After verifying quite long inside, dunno doing what (can't see also) and eventually watch is authentic.
As promise, she paid me A$.
Money took and inside pocket liao...
Guess what? Call me back after a while, told me the pearl dial bla bla bla. Not as nice etc.
Say sorry to me cannot pay me A$ and demand me to pay her back.
End day only can pay me B$ which is 1k lesser than suppose to be.
I was like wtf?
And show me the flaws etc on the watch dial etc... Returned her the money and left the unpleasant shop.
1st time deal and already so unpleasant.
Careful when u guys visit there. I careless too. Normally shop owner should open customer's watch to verify in front of customer unless Rolex centre.
Maybe this is their ways or tactics to gain more profit etc for their business...

[xbai87]

[watchdogsg]

Don't worry folks, I have not let this experience totally put me off buying off forum ads. I have bought and sold camera equipment and hifi off local forums. I would say that my negative experience is about 1 in 10 on average. You take it all in your stride.

[xbai87]

what i feel that this incident has thought me that to prevent any misunderstanding, send in the watch to a watch technician before completing transaction to prevent any issues.

exactly! like i said, unless u cock sure that $50-100 is unnecessary, what's that paltry sum for peace of mind? put things in perspective, u can spend $30 eating bak kut teh, $100 one night of drinking, and $140 for just 10seconds of speeding .. what is $50-100 for nights of restful sleep for as long as u have the watch?

[triton]

like most people we look @ the bright side that seller offer to do full refund and/or service.

why say no issue with water proofing? surely running water over the watch can cause fog, swimming with it would have resulted in not just fogging.

20seconds in 2 hours. that is close to +6 mins a day.

but the question is - if the seller is truly genuinely wanting to settle, it would have been immediate. why wait till 6 days later?

recently i know of another seller who sold the watch and later someone complained about fogging issue. seller immediate attempt to fix the issue. if im not mistaken, seller refund the watch almost immediate. seller did not delay. i feel that after 6 days, then do about u-turn is a tad late considering that seller initially 'denied' that the watch went through swimming and no issues.

i understand why buyer chose not to return the watch for refund because he has already fix the watch issues. what is the point of refunding and then go about looking for another piece not knowing if the same issues would pop up.

however, cannot discount that the buyer did not screw in the crown tightly after adjusting the time.

what i feel that this incident has thought me that to prevent any misunderstanding, send in the watch to a watch technician before completing transaction to prevent any issues.

I put the watch briefly under a running tap and wiped it dry - this is my standard test for simple water proofing. After about half an hour, condensation began to appear. At the same time, I had synchronised the watch with my quartz clock and began timing it dial up. The timing was quite distressing, gaining 20 sec in the two hours I timed it.

I immediately sent a SMS to the seller asking for a refund since the watch was not waterproof anymore and had timing issues. The exchange was not rude but the bottomline message was clear. He never had water proof issues with it, even after he claimed to have went swimming with it. He also said that he never represented how accurate the watch would be.

For reasons unknown to me, the seller contacted me 6 days after the transaction offering me a full refund. I told him it was rather late to do this, and I had also sent the watch for a full service. I told him that he could make it right if he wanted by paying for the cost of service. He offered to refund both the purchase price and service. I replied that I only wanted a refund of the service. He did a refund later that evening.

[xbai87]

in the interest of healthy discussion, i would like to share my 2cents. firstly though, to be fair and transparent, let me state that i have never dealt with ngweiyang or watchdogsg, and have no idea who lies behind those monikers.

having bought and sold quite a few watches from dealers, i can say that many, if not all, of them will represent that they have done an in-house servicing. while there are some who really do service all watches going through their doors (how competent their technical skills with any given make/model is ... another point of contention), others are merely exercising questionable sales tactics. caveat emptor.

if ngweiyang really did buy from a dealer, then he might have been as much a victim as watchdogsg.

having been a seller myself, i must say that beyond the point of sale, any form of reprieve is a matter of goodwill, which i think ngweiyang has extended beyond levels i myself would be comfortable with. i'm being very honest here. rolex parts are .. i've seen endlinks go for $100. what's to say nothing's been swapped out? i'm not a dealer who can make a 100% inspection on an incoming piece, especially a piece with so many AAA+++ replica parts available. can i trust the buyer to be as honest as i am? i think the lessno to be learned is this, buyers should always pay for authentication either at RSC or other reputable dealers like JW watch. what's $50-100 for a piece of mind, trouble saved, and above all healthy social relations? unless u r cock sure u know what u r doing, don't take that risk, especially with private sellers. caveat emptor.

that said, i feel bad for watchdogsg. watchdogsg, i hope this has not soured your experience with ***/sg-r o c. i think ngweiyang has not done anything grossly underhanded, and if anything, i think he has done more than his fair share in offering to take it back in.

i posted this same reply on *** because i think it's important that these issues be discussed and not swept under the rug.

[Explorer Reporting]

Yeah, I actually respect that he paid u the servicing back. At least he did that.

[sshark]

That's the spirit. Keep it going

[atoyman]

This is informative indeed, tnx for sharing!

[Darkangel]

I m glad things took a turn in the positive way and you maintained a positive mindset. I understand that you maybe alittle paranoid as it wasn't the most pleasant experience you had but everyone's experience is different, don't take it too hard by placing too many barriers.

Enjoy your horological journey

[watchdogsg]

Thank you all for your well wishes. I'll post some pictures of my Sub to share when I get it back from service.

[Oceanklassik]

Tx for sharing your experience. Those who read will benefit.

[dmitri]

Thanks for the information. Good to know that at least the watch was genuine and that the worst is over for you.

[pegasi]

Thanks for sharing your experience. At least the seller is gentleman enough to eventually refund you the money.

And now you have a fully serviced, verified genuine rolex sub! Enjoy your watch!

[Humble]

Since like we have a good buyer and a good seller! Thumbs up for both of you!