Toolman 0 Posted January 3, 2011 I am here to tell a story about watchsaleshop.com. I seek NO sympathy, I just want somebody else who searches for experience with this company to find my story, because when I searched, I found NO information about them at all. Before I ordered from them, it crossed my mind to find a forum talking about replica watches. I found RWI, and while they weren't on the approved-vendor list, they also were NOT on the scammer list. I also looked at how long the domain had been around; it was created on 03-21-10, and I hoped that if they had been scamming people left and right over the course of 7 months there should be people talking about them, and there were not any to be found (via google). I first fell in love with an exact model of replica, then found the cheapest one. Since the company wasn't on the scammer list, and the website showed the watch to be in stock, I ordered it. On 12-10-10. 12-11-10 - the company sent me an email saying the watch was NOT in stock, but they have one with a 7750 movement. That's when I figured out that I had probably ordered a 21j movement, and the super fancy lever for the chronograph would have been non-functional. (I wanted a Graham Chronofighter Overlord Mark III.) They didn't mention any price difference, but their site showed a $100 price difference. Every time I asked a question, it took 1 or 2 days for them to answer. I know there is a HUGE time difference, but it was a bit frustrating. And indeed, they wanted another $100 for the 7750 movement. We negotiated the price difference to me paying an additional $60, which I PayPal'd to them. (The initial payment was on my debit card.) I said either I'd pay another $60 or I just wanted my money back - they sent me a PayPal invoice for $60 and said they would take that. They assured me they had the one I wanted in a 7750 movement. 12-13-10, 2 days later they came back with a second picture of a completely different watch, and wanted to confirm that's what I wanted before they sent it. I sent them the first picture THEY had sent to ME, and said no, I want the exact 7750 they said they had in stock and that we agreed on a price for. They said okay, they understand and will "follow your idea". 12-16-10, they tell me the watch I want in the 7750 is too expensive, and they can't sell it for the price we agreed on, I either need to pay another $160, or they'll give me the watch I did not want or ask for and refund my extra $60 PayPal payment. I won't keep going day by day. But we exchanged 76 emails from beginning to end. I asked about another watch on their site, asking if it really was a quartz like the description said, and they said no, it was not. I then concentrated on getting a refund, which at some point they had said they would do. Every time I asked about the refund, they assured me they had already refunded me, it would just take some time to update, please check my account later. First, they refunded $127 of my initial $136 on 12-28-10. Again I kept asking about my other $60, and told them they could keep the $9 difference, if they would just refund my other $60 PayPal payment. Every time I asked about it, they gave me the same story about it already having been done, and to check my account later. Finally, on 1-2-10, I got my other $60. And I learned ALL sorts of lessons along the way. I noticed that EVERY watch on their site shows "in stock". And obviously the descriptions are not accurate - since I asked about a quartz watch - which they said was not quartz. In the end, after some 4 weeks, I got all but $9 of my money back, so they are not complete and total scammers. I can't help but wonder if the 'company' isn't a few people in an apartment with a website, and when someone orders a watch they go find some place to buy it from. That would explain their site showing everything in stock, and how they kept telling me they had something in stock and then changing their story. I'll never know for sure. If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and sorry for such a long story. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sconehead 5 Posted January 3, 2011 Welcome to the board Tman...sounds like you had a close scrape there mate...you lost $9 but it could have been much worse. Put it behind you and try to stick to a dealer that is at least on one of the trusted lists of the main forums... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toolman 0 Posted January 3, 2011 Welcome to the board Tman...sounds like you had a close scrape there mate...you lost $9 but it could have been much worse. Put it behind you and try to stick to a dealer that is at least on one of the trusted lists of the main forums... Absolutely, it's behind me now! I only shared so someone else searching would find it. I agree, sconehead, it felt like it was going to much worse thru the whole thing, and I feel very lucky to have gotten all but $9. I paid for what I learned over the last month - at least I'll never forget the lesson! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,437 Posted January 3, 2011 Hello and welcome . Lucky escape you had there. Hope it hasn't put you off trying one of our Trusted Dealers - these guys are worth trying . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 81 Posted January 3, 2011 Welcome to RWG! There's so many scammers out there it's not possible to keep track of 'em all - new ones pop up almost daily and the bad outweighs the good by at least 1000 to 1; which is why the scammer lists you see around (yes, including Fakemaster's over at RWI) are of of pretty much zero use (ours is there as much for purposes of Google as anything else). As you've found out (and I'm glad you've not lost much dough; you've done well - some guys are out hundreds of dollars) a safe general rule of thumb: if the site isn't on the trusted list, then assume it's a scam For what it's worth - most of these sellers (even many of the good ones) work the way they describe. They take orders from buyers and then try and source the watch. Few of even the good dealers can afford to hold much in the way of stock. Anyhow, have a good read of the board and don't hesitate to yell if you have any questions. Again, welcome Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toolman 0 Posted January 3, 2011 Hello and welcome . Lucky escape you had there. Hope it hasn't put you off trying one of our Trusted Dealers - these guys are worth trying . No, it hasn't put me off at all. I will try one of the trusted dealers, although I believe I'll stick with QUARTZ movements for now! I cannot get behind the idea of buying a watch, then paying someone the same amount all over again to 'service' it in hopes that it will last longer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Member X 91 Posted January 3, 2011 Have you read the Movements Guide on here yet? It is worth a read I would say do not be scared of buying Automatic movements - if you only stick to quartz then you will be missing out on a LOT of nice watches! Most auto watches will be fine for a least a couple of years, by which time you will know if you like it enough to keep it and service it, or move it on and buy something else Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dingle 57 Posted January 3, 2011 Have you read the Movements Guide on here yet? It is worth a read I would say do not be scared of buying Automatic movements - if you only stick to quartz then you will be missing out on a LOT of nice watches! Most auto watches will be fine for a least a couple of years, by which time you will know if you like it enough to keep it and service it, or move it on and buy something else +1 there is a link in my signature to the movements thread Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fiddo 0 Posted January 3, 2011 Hello Toolman! Welcome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
djprone 0 Posted January 4, 2011 Well, at least you learned without too much heart ache. I wouldn't consider them scammers - just very a disorganised two bit company. If i were you i would still bug them for the final $9 though - you never know, they may even give you that back. Anyway, welcome mate and i'm sure you'll find this place usefull - i know i certainly do! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baldrick 1 Posted January 4, 2011 Welcome Toolman, you'll do alright here, the dealers are all good, in fact better than good, and members here will help you all along the way. It's a good idea to start off with quartz reps, a lot of them use the same cases etc as the more expensive models and are great buys, it'll also give you time to evaluate the watches / dealers and your future requirements, as the guys above have stated, stay within the confines of the board and you won't go wrong, there are rich pickings here and I'm sure you'll be well catered for. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
