Howdy all,

It's unfortunate that I have to write this, but I figured it would help other future vintage collectors by sharing my experience with a dealer in Miami to avoid. Mods, I couldn't find any issues against sharing negative experience with sellers, but feel free to take this down if it's inappropriate.

TLDR; Cavalieri sold me a non-working vintage chronograph and when I sent it back in to get fixed, they returned it in worse condition than what I sent in.

Sept
I purchased an incredible example on Chrono24 (yeah yeah, I know). The transaction went great, shipping was fast and properly packaged. However, when I received the watch I noticed the chronograph was running and had stopped. Uh oh. Sure enough, when I reset the watch, the chrono no longer ran.

I contact the seller who responded extremely well. They would pay for shipping and have their watch service fix the watch and then return it to me. Great! Really impressed with the response and was pretty impressed with their level of customer service.

I shouldn't have jinxed it.

Oct
This is when things started getting weird. I sent the watch, but then it just sorta got stuck in limbo. Fedex kept trying to deliver it but couldn't get someone to sign for it. After about 3 weeks it was returned to me. Not a good sign.

Nov
When I reached back out to Cavalieri, there had been a mix-up in the address. That's a bit . . . concerning. However, a new label would be sent and provided . . . .ok . . . fair enough. Let's give this another shot. We killed a month, but I figured they were trying to make it right so I sent it again and this time it made properly.

December
2-3 weeks go by and no word. Finally, they tell me after taking it to 2-3 watch makers they can't fix the issue but would continue to take it to as many people as needed. At this point, it's been two months and I'm concerned more harm than good is being done with these watch makers. I recommend a partial credit for service and I'd take it to someone I trust in NYC. They agreed, and I was happy to have the watch back.

Only when I received the watch the pushers don't work. The chronograph doesn't work. The slow-chrono disc doesn't advance. Only the time portion of the watch works. Sh*t.

Now, a reasonable person would assume Cavalieri would understand that sending a watch back in WORSE condition than they received would be an issue. But no. When I reached out to Cavalieri, they said we had reached a deal and they were no longer responsible for anything that happens now.

Maybe it's just me, but if you break something you should disclose it to the god damn owner of the watch. I guess I should have been explicit that the partial refund should have been predicated on the condition of the watch being returned. I guess I should've thought about every single little thing that could go wrong and mitigated the issue.

But honestly, it seems that any proper dealer would understand their mistake and own up to it. Instead, Cavalieri seems to be saying "too bad, buyer beware".

Summary
Yes, this is a bit of a rant, but I think it's justified. Feel free to purchase from Cavalieri, but don't expect them to know how to service your watch or let you know when they've made something worse.

 

Sounds like not a great situation and they should have disclosed to you that the watch now had more issues.

But. If you sent it in as soon as it started breaking down doesn't it make sense that it could continue to break down further? Maybe already when they got it the pushers and slow chrono disc didn't work? Maybe they stopped the next time the chrono was engaged?

Have you had it checked out by a watchmaker who has given you a sense of what is going on? Is there any reason to believe the new problems are due to their negligence? Maybe the money they gave you will cover all repairs anyways?

Sounds like you are still in the middle of this story... Bring it to a competent watchmaker and see what's going on...

PS I hate FedEx because they try and deliver the same package at the same time everyday. I'm just not home at 11am. I can't sign for it then. Annoying but but the craziest thing...

 

Fed Ex has a terrible reputation among gun collectors.
It seems they go out of their way to break things.
if a WW2 era bolt action rifle stock can be broken in transit a delicate time piece is not likely to come through unscathed.

 

Appreciate your input. Before I sent it in the pushers were working. Crisp and solid. There was an issue, but a relatively minor one given that the main slow-chrono disc worked. When I got it back, I couldn't even push the chrono-pushers in anymore.

And really, what bugs me about the whole episode is the lack of courtesy behind this. Stuff happens. I get that. But if you don't have a competent service person just communicate that and we could've worked something out. I'm reasonable.

I actually have gotten it to a competent watchmaker and it needs a lot of work. A lot. The money I received will cover less than 1/4 of it. I've requested we just split it 50/50 just to be done with it.

 

What work? Does he think they tampered with it and caused more damage?

Yeah, it kind of does stink that you agreed to take a certain amount of money before having a watchmaker check it out...

Last: Have you tried to just return it? Not sure but at some point you either have to pay for the repair because you want the watch or decide it isn't worth it and return it.

 

Did you also leave detailed feedback of your experience on Chrono24? Sorry to hear of your experience. Hopefully, you can get the watch into the hands of a competent watchmaker in NYC to fix it up without too much financial burden.

 

Yeah, I think this is probably the take away I want everyone to have from my experience with this dealer. They will not take care of you when there's an issue. I don't know about you, but I don't need to be spending my time or my money with an organization like this.

 

Sorry this happened to you. Regarding Fed Ex... You can control your deliveries or pick up very precisely. Also you wont get them to admit it now but the folks at Parcel Pro told me never to use anyone but Fed Ex when I signed up. I use them a great deal. When problems do arise they are brilliant at resolving them. Having just had a trying experience with DHL I appreciate them even more.

 

Thanks. It should be noted I do not blame FedEx in this situation at all. From what I understand, the associate I was working with at Cavalieri generally does not work at the store. As a result, he was never able to sign for it and needed to send it to a completely different address in order to accept it.

You know, if I was honest the initial delay with Cavalieri didn't bother me. They realized their mistake, apologized, and resent a new label to me. I even understand that vintage watches can be tricky and they may not have the resources to properly manage it.

It's just the whole feeling that as soon as they thought they couldn't deal with it, they went into damage control mode. Poor communication. Passing the buck. Almost felt like a betrayal really.

But c'est la vie. As I said, I just wanted my own experience to educate others out there. I probably got lucky in this case. At least they didn't break a rare part. Appreciate everyone listening to my story/rant.

 

The literal thousands of watches I have shipped with FedEx that arrived without issue would cause me to disagree with you...

 

If you have reported the situation fully and accurately above, unless I've missed something you have done everything possible to accommodate the seller and have acted in good faith throughout. No reasonable person could expect you any longer to have confidence in either the seller or the watch. If this situation arose in the UK I would at this point advise them as politely as possible that I consider them to be deficient as a seller for the above reasons, that I require a legally-binding commitment to a full refund from them after which I will return the watch, and that if no such committment is received within 14 days I shall refer the matter to the courts.

 

Appreciate everyone's comments and support. Even with all these issues I think I'll still keep the watch because it's such a rarity. It's definitely a pain, but in the end I don't mind it as long as it provides some context/education for future collectors to be more wary. I know I certainly will.

By the way, apparently Chrono24 DOES NOT allow you to publish a review after a given period. Obviously, my purchase is after this period. While I didn't have a "huge" trust in Chrono24, I saw it as another platform that at least provided some level of de-risking with their escrow/reviews.

Oh well. Onwards to 2018.

 

@Ninja2789, i can't see the pics. What kind of watch is it? can you post a wrist shot (even in non-working state)?

 

You can see a picture of it on a previous post I created below. Watch in question is the blue one on the right.

 

Wow thats a funky piece

 

Hello everyone; I am wondering if anyone else has experiences with said seller. @Ninja2789 , how was the communication with the seller? How did you communicate, did you get pictures on request? What paperwork was included/ what details were given on the bill?
I'd really appreciate your help and btw, wouldn't mind getting an update how your Breitling is doing so far.
Bets wishes!

 

I’ve purchased from them before. It’s run by a guy named Dean. I didn’t have any issues with my watch. I think they get a lot of their supply from South America. He sent additional pics that I requested before buying.

His prices are already pretty competitive but depending on how long he’s had a particular watch you may have better luck on negotiations. Vintage watches can be a minefield but in my case I was satisfied

 

I've bought a watch from them - Honestly was a bit weird but they had a speedmaster I really wanted. They said their account was frozen after I sent the wire and wanted me to refund it the wire and resend it but it was impossible since I already sent it. In the end I did get the watch exactly as described but I was pretty nervous it would actually arrive.

 

That's messed up. Maybe IRS froze their account?

 

Same "dealer" was discussed in another thread as being dishonest...

https://omegaforums.net/threads/so-...atch-on-expectations-and-truthfulness.100651/