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wsfarrell
·I recently bought on eBay a Squale Subino. Amsterdam Watch Company got hold of some NOS cases/bezels from the 1950's that Squale had made for Blancpain, and had Squale outfit them with new dial/hands/movement.
The watch went through the eBay authentication program. When it arrived, I gently pulled out the crown to set the time. The crown came out of the watch with part of the stem attached: the stem was broken.
This was disconcerting. I put in a return request at eBay which was IMMEDIATELY rejected: "We’re sorry to hear you aren’t happy with your purchase. However, items covered by Authenticity Guarantee can’t be returned if the seller doesn’t accept returns."
I took the watch to my watchmaker and he opened it up. Sorry I don't have photos of this, but he noted that there are no movement clamps in this case. Because of the design of the cap that holds the movement in place, the act of unscrewing the split caseback rotates the movement and puts torque on the stem: he believes this is how the stem got broken.
I wrote to eBay again and laid out the scenario. (1) The watch arrived broken. (2) If it came intact to the authenticator, he broke the stem while opening (or closing) the caseback. (3) If it came broken to the authenticator, he failed to note this. That is, he didn't even pull the crown to set the time. Over the course of several emails with several different eBay "authentic sneakers" reps (yes, that's what they're called), the stone wall became apparent. Here's an example:
"After reviewing the notes from the Authenticator for return case id: xxxxxx I have determined that item passed the authentication checks. Our third-party authenticators physically inspect all eligible items before they are shipped to the buyer. We weren't able to grant your appeal because we determined the original decision was correct."
So: (a) if an eBay seller doesn't accept returns, and (b) the watch goes through an authenticator, you have ZERO recourse no matter what the condition of the watch when you receive it. Please note: before the authentication program existed, I successfully returned a couple of "seller does not accept returns" watches where there were obvious problems that hadn't been disclosed.
As a guess, eBay had to completely indemnify their authenticators to get them to sign up for the program. Thus they are as gods, and nothing they do (or fail to do) can come back to hurt them.
The watch went through the eBay authentication program. When it arrived, I gently pulled out the crown to set the time. The crown came out of the watch with part of the stem attached: the stem was broken.
This was disconcerting. I put in a return request at eBay which was IMMEDIATELY rejected: "We’re sorry to hear you aren’t happy with your purchase. However, items covered by Authenticity Guarantee can’t be returned if the seller doesn’t accept returns."
I took the watch to my watchmaker and he opened it up. Sorry I don't have photos of this, but he noted that there are no movement clamps in this case. Because of the design of the cap that holds the movement in place, the act of unscrewing the split caseback rotates the movement and puts torque on the stem: he believes this is how the stem got broken.
I wrote to eBay again and laid out the scenario. (1) The watch arrived broken. (2) If it came intact to the authenticator, he broke the stem while opening (or closing) the caseback. (3) If it came broken to the authenticator, he failed to note this. That is, he didn't even pull the crown to set the time. Over the course of several emails with several different eBay "authentic sneakers" reps (yes, that's what they're called), the stone wall became apparent. Here's an example:
"After reviewing the notes from the Authenticator for return case id: xxxxxx I have determined that item passed the authentication checks. Our third-party authenticators physically inspect all eligible items before they are shipped to the buyer. We weren't able to grant your appeal because we determined the original decision was correct."
So: (a) if an eBay seller doesn't accept returns, and (b) the watch goes through an authenticator, you have ZERO recourse no matter what the condition of the watch when you receive it. Please note: before the authentication program existed, I successfully returned a couple of "seller does not accept returns" watches where there were obvious problems that hadn't been disclosed.
As a guess, eBay had to completely indemnify their authenticators to get them to sign up for the program. Thus they are as gods, and nothing they do (or fail to do) can come back to hurt them.
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