drster- 3 of 5 stars

[dchao]

My god, everybody is so high-strung here !

[mattmcmhn]

Originally Posted by dchao

My god, everybody is so high-strung here !

lol hi buffpilot...?

[stnmikita]

Looks like that review didn't go quite as expected.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by dchao

My god, everybody is so high-strung here !

Interesting first post!

[buffpilot]

The calls for a response are deafening so my response is this: My review was fair and highlighted both the positive and negatives of my transaction with Mark (aka "drster"). As much as I like a good argument, I generally find ad hominem attacks distasteful. In addition to being distasteful, ad hominem attacks are also a sign that my argument is well articulated, balanced, and sound, so it stands on its own. On a side note, the move to remove my post was a bit extreme, but based on the general tenor of the responses, not surprising.

Buffpilot

P.S. My favorite defenses were the ones that began with, "I've never dealt with him but..." Classic...

[MickCollins1916]

Originally Posted by buffpilot

As much as I like a good argument, I generally find ad hominem attacks distasteful. In addition to being distasteful, ad hominem attacks are also a sign that my argument is well articulated, balanced, and sound, so it stands on its own.
P.S. My favorite defenses were the ones that began with, "I've never dealt with him but..." Classic...

I am glad you're weighing in. I like the debate, and everyone's entitled to dissent. Your views are your views, and I would not waste my time or yours trying to convince you of their wrongheadedness. I agree that people attacking you personally is unnecessary. There's room for debate here without that.

Not sure that res ipsa works in this situation though. Your response seems a little tone deaf in the sense that you may have missed or intentionally disregarded the points some (most? all?) of us were trying to make. Many of them are worth considering.

I, for one, said above that though I have never dealt with Mark, I would gladly do so in spite of this review, based on overwhelmingly good feedback in existence. I don't think that should be dismissed, since many of us work hard for our money and are careful where we spend it. Copious numbers of happy customers are unlikely to be wrong. Nor was my statement a defense of anything, since I am uncertain there is anything to defend.

The point I was subtly trying to make - without knocking you personally, or having to spell this out explicitly - was by doing one's homework beforehand, one might be able to skip some of the prelims with some of the unquestionably trustworthy sellers here on the forum. There are many. I am not a pro and don't have all the answers, but I will gladly do business with lots of guys here.

Assuming, arguendo, that your account of the alleged problem was accurate - which is not an assumption I made - I might have gone to great lengths to resolve things far more privately. I don't know - nor do I care - what the details of the back-and-forth were, but it's merely a suggestion for the future.

Plus, I concur with the guys who have suggested that if a buyer wants the "AD experience," one should go to an AD...though in my view, the mythical AD experience is exactly that.

I've been treated far better by some great sellers here on TRF than I have at ADs. My expectations here have always been set to "get the watch I want at a great price, with little fanfare or BS," and the experiences to date have matched up. But that's just me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bzabodyn]

I agree everyone is entitled to stating their opinion of the transaction - part of keeping an "open forum" concept - but you can't be so naive that you think you can post a lukewarm/borderline negative review of a respected seller and not have the forum rally around him. Mark is a good guy, period. I have done business with him and it was in my top handful of transactions ever in smoothness and I've done well over a hundred.

BZ

[Zirotti]

Ugh. This type of buyer gives me the shakes. Nothing worse than absolutely holding up your end of the bargain as a seller but the buyer still finding something to complain about.

[Toronto Soup King]

Yet another satisfied "drster" customer here. Bought a very distressed 1016 from him a while ago, fair price, watch was exactly as described and he was a pleasure to deal with.

OP, with respect, I think you are being overly picky. I suppose you might have heard a hint of frustration from him during your interrogation; he's human. Also YOU'RE human and might have mistaken his tone. Deal with confidence with Mark Tannenbaum, I say. If I ever meet him in person I'll shake his hand and buy him a drink, and thank him for selling me a watch that so rapidly became a favourite.

[Joe.King]

I think before you buy and before you complain after you buy, go find the feedback on these sellers you wish to buy from. It doesn't take but a few minutes to see who's good and who might not be. These guys, DavidSW, Sohail, Drster and more all have great feedback. The most important part is for you to buy the seller first. And if you had done your assignment, you would have your answer.

[buffpilot]

After over a month, I am still waiting for Breitling to repair my watch to the condition advertised by Drster. I know that you all thought that I was unreasonable in my rating, but this proves my point. I am still waiting to wear the watch I paid for in good faith.

[demer03]

I have done many deals with Mark. Spoken on the phone several times.

5 out of 5

He's as good as they get, imho.

[Jidonsu]

#1. I would never consider accepting PayPal from someone with no feedback history.

#2. You were buying a used watch from an online seller, but expected AD level service. You could've chosen to wear the watch the moment you received it, but you chose to send it in for a water resistance test instead. Having the seals checked every year or even every two years is pretty common, and the fact that Breitling recommends that buyers do so should come as no surprise. The 5 year warranty was in fact intact.

#3. You wrote "I am still waiting for Breitling to repair my watch to the condition advertised by Drster." I think that statement cements what everyone already feels about this thread.

[Fleetlord]

Originally Posted by buffpilot

After over a month, I am still waiting for Breitling to repair my watch to the condition advertised by Drster. I know that you all thought that I was unreasonable in my rating, but this proves my point. I am still waiting to wear the watch I paid for in good faith.

Clearly you have no idea what you're complaining about. Since you are new at this, you must have been given bad information from the AD, or you have misunderstood it.

This is where you are WRONG:

"In order to maintain the five year warranty, the watch must be returned to Breitling at the two-year point for maintenance. Mark did not do this nor did he advertise that the watch needed this maintenance".

Here is the warranty reference on the Breitling.com website.

https://www.breitling.com/en/service...onal-warranty/


Bretling offers 2 warranties on their mechanical automatic watches.

2yrs on standard movements (Non In-house)

5yrs on "In House" Movements

The watch you purchased has a 5yr warranty since it is an in house movement.

If you read the terms of the warranty, the water resistance seals are covered in full for the entire length of the warranty in a watch with a 2yr warranty. After 2yrs, the seals and everything else are out of warranty.

In the in house movement, the warranty coverage is extended on parts OTHER than the water resistance seals (and potential damage caused by their failure) for an additional 3yrs.

The warranty coverage on water resistance ends at 2yrs. See below

Ref. The present warranty does not cover water resistance problems and their consequences if such periodic water-resistance tests have not been performed every two years after the date of purchase.

The 5yr warranty in whole is NOT contingent on having this water resistance seal maintenance done every two years, only the water resistance portion of the warranty is contingent on that.

So...if after 4yrs the chronograph failed, the watch would be fixed regardless of the maintenance status of the seals. The failure is not due to water intrusion, so it would be covered.

If you went swimming with you chronograph (bad idea regardless) and it flooded with water....here is what would happen.

Maintenance done @ yrs 2 and 4? Covered

No Maintenance done? Not covered.


So your claims against DRSTER are unfounded. The watch clearly does have a 5yr warranty, it just needs to have it's WR seals checked every 2yrs to retain that PORTION of the warranty, so your belief that the whole warranty is contingent on the maintenance is in error.

I think moving forward you should only purchase NEW from an AD. Buying pre-owned just isn't for you...

For what it's worth, If I had been presented a list of questions like you posed when inquiring to purchase the watch, I would have suggested the AD route and run for the hills.

I also think you should apologize to DRSTER for stating he misrepresented the watch. He did not.

[Sunny Arizona]

Originally Posted by Zirotti

Ugh. This type of buyer gives me the shakes. Nothing worse than absolutely holding up your end of the bargain as a seller but the buyer still finding something to complain about.

Agree, one of the reasons I rarely sell anymore.

[mattcantwin]

Originally Posted by mboverst

This whole thread should have already been deleted. I talk with and deal with Mark weekly, and he's without a doubt one of the good guys.

Saving myself a pointless rant, I'll just agree with and ditto Greg, Zack, and Maui.

The only reason I see for leaving this thread in place is to allow the huge number of people who have had flawless, positive transactions with Mark to comment.

Mark is one of my all-time favorite people to deal with and I have had many, many great sales and trades with him.

The fact that he even considered dealing with the OP is just one more indication of his desire to work with someone to insure satisfaction.

Obviously, I am not alone in my support of Mark as a seller and truly trustworthy individual.

[Cabaiguan]

Just saw this thread and needed to comment. I've dealt with Mark on more than a couple of occasions and ALWAYS had a great experience. His watches were always better than described and the deals were very smooth. FWIW.

[Knappo 1307]

Originally Posted by buffpilot

After over a month, I am still waiting for Breitling to repair my watch to the condition advertised by Drster. I know that you all thought that I was unreasonable in my rating, but this proves my point. I am still waiting to wear the watch I paid for in good faith.

Good luck trying to ever buy a watch from anyone on here again, you're a nightmare!

[Hoppyjr]

Having done several deals with "drster" I can say that any criticism is completely baseless. Mark has become a friend and he is of the utmost character and integrity. Anyone reading this thread should know he is a solid guy.

[JP Chestnut]

To the OP - thank you for outing yourself as a nightmare buyer. I would deal with Mark any time. I'd deal with you never.

[JP Chestnut]

Originally Posted by Mosco

a reacharound?

4/5 good sir. A BJ is the minimum entry to 5 star territory.

[ericf4]

BuffPilot....can't say that with out chuckling btw...if you would have asked me those questions I would have dumped you as a buyer. Any seller can see a mile away when a buyer isn't worth dealing with. Marks mistake here is that he was nice enough to do a deal with you. For that i say he should have ran away from it.

You're the kind of guy who really should buy brand new from a dealer. This way when you have a gripe, which you will I'm sure, you can see how helpful they will be for you.

I've bought and traded and sold with mark, have lunch every month or two, etc....he is one of the best, most honest sellers out there. So good luck finding anyone here who will now sell to you.

As for paypal, it's for reasons like this why many including me won't take it anymore as you can get a whack job buyer who turns out to me a nightmare. Present company excluded of course.

[dshap]

I've traded with Mark and he's an A++++ seller.

My only takeaway from this thread is to never deal with Buffpilot. He's obviously an amateur who doesn't understand that he's buying a watch from a collector, not a brick and mortar store.

Breitling's service time is Mark's problem? That's absurd!

[jraul7]

Mark is a great guy and solid seller... had the pleasure of meeting him in a GTG last year. As JP said, thanks for outing yourself as a nightmare buyer.

[smalls]

I've had nothing but great transactions with Mark and wouldn't hesitate to deal with him in the future. Watched arrived just as stated and communication was great. I've sold at least 100 watches and I don't want to offend the op but I wouldn't have even answered an email with all of those questions for fear of being scammed by the buyer.

[Heuerville]

Mark =
OP =

[toxicavenger]

Sounds like the op can't read or his compression is very limited and he is blaming Mark for this.

Too bad considering Mark is a full-time seller/trader who might stop doing this due to people like this who make dealing with more hassle than it is worth. If you have EVER done business with Mark you know he is fair and worth dealing with again.

Sorry Mark you have had to dealt with this person.

[rain_maker]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, mark is good people. I'd deal with him without hesitation.

[cdnwatchguy]

A couple of things occur to me here...

As stated the OP should buy from an AD and never used from a board such as TRF.

Over the years I have learned as a seller that some buyers aren't worth the effort of dealing with.

[Limey-]

Wow are you serious. Mark is a solid seller. I have dealt with him a number of times. He is one of the very best. In my experience Mark undersells his watches in price , and he describes them at a lower rate than they deserve.

Frankly I have walked away from many buyers like the OP and his posting here makes me even less happy about taking paypal ever again. You really need to stick to the Malls when you shop for a watch next time.