Purchase from newbie TRF member: A Sad Story

[Saoirse32]

Hi Everyone,
I debated sharing this story but another TRF member encouraged me to tell this tale in order to possibly protect those now and in the future who plan on purchasing a pre-owned watch from this unnamed seller. I’m sure there are also some obscure rules which prevent me from “outing” this not-so-honest member so I will not name him or his alleged location. However, if the Mods and others are interested, I’m sure you can PM me and I would gladly tell you, especially if you are planning to purchase from him. As you can clearly see from my profile, I’ve only been a member for approximately two years. However, in that time, I’ve come to know, meet, and have successful relationships with other members both on here and WUS. This includes buying and selling watches, including Rolex and others, which have always had positive outcomes.
Please note that the details below are used to provide a narrative and do not include every fact and aspect involving this transaction and seller but merely enough to establish what had really happened (and to keep this post as short as possible):
The problem began a little more than a week ago when I began negotiations with this member to purchase a preowned Rolex. As it was told to me, the watch was approximately five months old and had been purchased by the seller from the AD in Canada while he was there on a business trip. The seller had paid cash, the card was stamped with the date (unnamed buyer) and had the Rolex AD stamped on it as well. The pictures looked great, the seller appeared to be a collector, owner, and flipper (had a decent amount of posts not unlike many of us), and the price was in the reasonable range of other Rolex watches in like condition for sale. We agreed on price and I paid. The communication was great and I was really excited. The seller shipped the watch promptly and I received it in a few days. As I went through the package and watch, this is where my true curiosity peeked and I began to be suspicious. So the complete package contained a bezel protector that seemed old for a newer watch and paperwork from Rolex Italia, including some legalese card about the fact the bracelet contains nickel and an instructional booklet for that particular model in Italian. The warranty card was moderately damaged, the word “oyster” was nearly completely rubbed off and the anti-counterfeiting printing on the back of the card where the AD is stamped was partially rubbed off, damaged/missing as well. I was confused and suspicious at this point- something didn’t feel right, especially because this Rolex came from an AD in Canada. I immediately contacted the seller to inform him of my issues. His response was basically a hodgepodge of fairly “believable” reasons for these issues but still had no explanation for the Italian booklet. I still wasn’t satisfied. He insisted the watch was legitimate and told me to contact the AD where it was purchased. So the next morning I did and they were very helpful. Basically, they confirmed via the serial number that the watch was sold by them to a very regular customer who owns a business buying and selling Rolex (among others) watches. Here, the story still didn’t jive because per the AD, the original buyer of my watch was a regular (see above) but the seller in question and subject of this post stated this was the only watch he had ever purchased outside the U.S. I quickly confronted him with this fact (why would a Rolex AD tell me false info) and he again didn’t have an answer for it. I requested a full refund-at this point, I was pretty sure the watch was legit but it wasn’t worth my time or stress to take any chances. The seller refused due to the fact I had had the watch in my possession for, in his words “a few days,” (actually it was less than 24 hours) and claimed I just wanted a refund because of “buyer’s remorse.” In the meantime, I started to really inspect the watch and noticed a less than 1mm gap on the right side where the bracelet meets the lug. It’s very, very subtle and I’m so particular that I was mad I didn’t notice it before. I began to research my seller extremely thoroughly (something I should have done before I bought it). To my surprise and stress, I saw that he had the same profile(s) on another forum and had been banned. My heart sank! My schedule didn’t permit me to go to a Rolex Service Center till yesterday (Thursday, two days after being in possession of the watch) but since he wouldn’t take it back, I figured I needed it checked out and after seeing how he had multiple profiles on different forums selling all kinds of watches (all with different stories), I needed to be sure. In addition, the watch was keeping poor time, losing almost 6 seconds per 12 hours (completely unacceptable). Longest story short, Rolex Service Center confirmed that the watch and movement were real; however, the bottom part of the movement had been damaged due to some type of jarring “drop” and/or “banging” (they couldn’t say for sure) and they confirmed that the watch was not keeping time within acceptable Rolex specs, (although it was only a few seconds off specs where my timing was about 6). They also informed me that the slight gap where the bracelet meets the right lug was basically caused by a “botch job” polishing of the bracelet and case. RSC even pointed out where there was a ding under the bracelet and that I would have to live with it until it was serviced next. Thankfully, they honored the warranty even though how it was damaged as they diagnosed it is not normally covered. All in all, I have nothing but praise for the RSC in LA-they were informative and awesome and they would not have kept the watch for service if they’re wasn’t a true issue. As far as the polishing, I was pretty pissed because this was never disclosed to me by the seller and I certainly wouldn’t have purchased it had I had know that a less than six month old watch was in need of polishing. In the end, the RSC has my watch for at least the next couple of weeks to get it right, I’m out time and stress, and the seller goes on selling watches to unsuspecting members. Although some may take the “who cares, it’s real,” route, I care about a watch’s history as well as it’s authenticity, it goes toward the whole story. I guess buying pre-owned comes with risks, I just never expected these issues but hopefully my story will help others. Thank you!