What a cluster-f this is...thoughts and suggestions.

[retroleds]

A gentleman buys a P2 #2975(solid 14k bezel) of me with no questions asked - I wake up one morning and there is money. Cool. Day after he gets it he writes asking if he can return it and take a $200 loss and get 5 lesser items for variety. I figured sure, no harm, I like have the eye candy on my site. Upon opening the box when returned.....well, here is what I wrote him.

I just opened the box - what the heck happened here? I get the watch back and the connecting link is completely off the band with one end pulled off, which isn't easy to do. I'm guessing you tried to remove a link without pulling a pin from the clasp so the ends were free. But even worse directly above the broken connecting link I see a dent in the case which someone tried to blend in but that's pretty much impossible while the glass is in. And there is a needle-point sized, bright point of freshly exposed gold directly next to the glass on the left and at the bottom - was someone trying to get the glass out or something? Without saying anything else to her I handed it to my wife and asked her if she saw anything "off" with it - she found all three of those deficits in less than 10 seconds. So now I am faced with: removing the glass, trying to work the dent out, re-installing the glass, fixing or replacing the band and I lost the sale to someone who actually wanted it and understood what they were getting.

I'm inclined to fix the band for you strictly as a courtesy and send it back - I see no reason to make this my problem. I'm stepping out for a bit, I look forward to hearing your side of it.

[retrowrist]

Hi,

Interesting. I just returned a watch the other day, after I discovered the module in it had a defect, and believe that the condition I returned it in, was almost "EXACTLY" the same condition as I had received. There may have been a "Couple" of scuffs around the battery hatch, as it was a monster to get back on, so I used a special tool made of copper (not penny) to do the job. Before returning the watch, I looked it over and could honestly say that the watch was in pretty much the same condition as I received it.

Here is the deal...if you are a buyer, and wish to return an item, then there is a general unwritten rule that it is only acceptable to return a watch in the condition that it was sold in. If this person made the bold decision to try and remove the crystal successfully or unsuccessfully, then they should have also made the same decision that they are forever the owner of that piece.

Anyway that is what I have experienced.

- Patrick

[bucko170]

Wow - some people

I would be tempted to offer one of the following options.

1. Lesser watches to the value of the original watch minus the cost of the repair work!

2. Return the watch as it is and stick to the original deal.

3. Scrub any further deals, refund his money minus the cost of the repair work.

4. Charge the repair costs and return the original watch to him.

Unless a reasonable reason is given for the state of the watch (customs?) I would be tempted to go for option 3 if he can make a cluster-f of one watch what problems is he likely to cause in the future when he has more than one to mess up.

[retroleds]

Hi,

Interesting. I just returned a watch the other day, after I discovered the module in it had a defect, and believe that the condition I returned it in, was almost "EXACTLY" the same condition as I had received. There may have been a "Couple" of scuffs around the battery hatch, as it was a monster to get back on, so I used a special tool made of copper (not penny) to do the job. Before returning the watch, I looked it over and could honestly say that the watch was in pretty much the same condition as I received it.

Here is the deal...if you are a buyer, and wish to return an item, then there is a general unwritten rule that it is only acceptable to return a watch in the condition that it was sold in.
- Patrick

Patrick - agreed on all points. Some minor handling marks I could understand. Yeah, screw battery hatchs can be temperamental...sometimes you have to first turn the wrong way half a turn to "feel" when it drops cleanly into the threads. Ditto with Pulsar rings sometimes. A large screwdriver with the tip ground with a slight radius like a penny is what I use - the long handle helps you judge easily when you are at a nice perpendicular to the case-back.~

Well, my customer denies any knowledge of what happened, says he took to a jeweler and watched while the man removed the link and then he wore the watch for 5 hours before re-boxing.

The band and the dent are what really appall me - an absolutely perfect band has been molested and while the case dent is not monstrous I suspect it will take an hour or two of very careful work to make "right".

I am going to see what I can make of this - not terrible but irritating to have someone return something that was so well wrapped and than act like they don't know what happened. He used my packing which included a nice chunk of bubble wrap inside the box so the watch can't move around at all.

I sent him this advice so hopefully he or his jeweler don't manhandle another P2 just to remove a link.

I'm guessing most or all of this occurred over the removal of one link - if you aren't familiar with Pulsar bands you can really struggle to get the links back together. It is a slightly un-intuitive process as many would think that sliding one link into the other from above/below would be the way to do it - it is not unless the band is extremely worn out and loose. They are easiest re-attached in the same direction they butt together.....you stand the pin(spring-bar) up in the hole of the link closest to the band, gently slide the other piece over it and push/tip the links toward each other. When the top of the pin hits the adjoining link it is easy to push the pin down and finish pushing the links together. Mere seconds for one familiar, frustration for one who is not. Maybe you could give these suggestions to the jeweler so he doesn't manhandle another $250 band. On the slight chance he gets another P2.

I will honor my original deal with him, with the caveat that if the glass break on removal or replacement I will charge him $50 for another NOS piece. That's as generous as I can get.

[retroleds]

Wow - some people

I would be tempted to offer one of the following options.

1. Lesser watches to the value of the original watch minus the cost of the repair work!

2. Return the watch as it is and stick to the original deal.

3. Scrub any further deals, refund his money minus the cost of the repair work.

4. Charge the repair costs and return the original watch to him.

Unless a reasonable reason is given for the state of the watch (customs?) I would be tempted to go for option 3 if he can make a cluster-f of one watch what problems is he likely to cause in the future when he has more than one to mess up.

I'm basically going with #1 Mick. Sadly, the watch was only shipped about 75 miles from me, and you know how neurotically well I pack. And it was in a Pulsar box, with bubble,etc.

[retrowrist]

That person got off easy if you ask me.

It is about perception. "Mint" is not so "mint" condition to me 80% of the time. Or that unreliable scale of 1-10 and sellers always use "8" to describe their very very nice condition item, and don't even go there with the NOS description! That description needs a 1-10 scale within it just to describe the degree of NOS.

When the buyer returned the watch to you Ed, he or she probably thought that detracting you with wanting other items after a return would lead you to not notice a link missing or a nick in the bezel. Whatever the case, a simple sale has grown into what you described in the title of this thread. I hope everything works out for you as you have a good collection from a neat website and you a a fair salesman to boot.

- Patrick

[SASM]

Hi Ed,

sorry to hear about this sale. The motivation of these buyers is sometimes hard to understand. Last month I had a paypal complaint because an overseas - buyer did not receive his item 5 days after the sale. The best thing was that paypal wanted to freeze my account without checking the complaint. So I had to release the funds and up to now it seems that I lost watch and money. Thanks!

Anyway if you are searching for a new buyer of your P2... I´ve seen the watch on your website and I do not have a P2 yet. Just let me know.

Thanks, Hanno.

[egomon]

Hi. I had a customer in Italy who tried to open up the watch as soon as one of the Synchronar switchers did not work properly (magnet problem) and ruined the back of the watch when trying to open it and demanded then money back!! I'v got the watch back added new back and recharged the magnet and it was off to Italy. He was willing to pay the new bottom so all good here

The point is. Contact seller first, not ruin the watch and then asking money back!!

Best regards

Egon