I found some great deals at www.benzigerhorlogerie.com on the Planet Ocean - but after them taking a credit card online for a watch that's listed as "in stock", and choosing to pay an additional $30 for overnight shipping, they emailed back today saying,

"Thank you for your interest in our watches.

The watch is currently in stock at our branch in Spain and available for immediate delivery. We can start the shipping process within 24 hours and it will take up to 4 business days to receive it in Colorado Springs.

Due to accounting purposes the payment must be made by bank wire transfer directly to our branch in Spain. (Please note that your credit card was not charged and will not be charged.)

Please let us know if you want to go ahead with the purchase and we will forward the necessary payment details."

This made me worry about a scam, but they have a very extensive website that is very well done, and they come up in Google as selling Omega and Breitling on Amazon. But I can't find any feedback on Amazon because they are an external seller and Amazon sends you to their website to buy.

Note - they are not spelled Benzinger as in the German watch company (Benziger like the wine co.). When I do a google search there is almost nothing else related to this company. Only 5-6 links related to this company pop up, and none are related to feedback or customer's posting anything about them.

And, Watchuseek forums, Omegaforums, and Rolexforums have NOTHING come up with a search for this company, just people talking about the Benziger wine or people who misspelled Benzinger watches without the second "n" but were talking about the german watches.

When I call them there is a recording (woman with fake British accent) saying all operators are busy or it's after hours, and to use the online contact us form or online chat. But I can't find a live chat feature on their site.

So, tell me, Scam or No Scam?

 

I will also be interested if someone has bought from them before. I too have been looking at their website on a couple occasions the last several weeks. They do respond to emails, but I have not tried to call them. Your story of the bank transfer request made me pause in my tracks. They do provide a physical address too, but when you google it the map shows a very nice house. Not that it means anything as I realize many businesses operate out of their house, just strange. Some of their prices are great and others average. If it is a scam website it is very elaborate and nicely done, and they would obviously be a grey market dealer, but in some cases that is fine if they are legit.

 

Omg bank wire, forget that. There are plenty of good AD's to get fair prices and papers.
It's a personal thing but when buying a watch over $500 I never buy grey market.

 

I am moving on, after inquiring about a watch that they would source for me I asked about payment and she said wire transfer only. Not gonna happen.

 

Also, they responded to an emailed question about the watch this AM within 15-30 minutes, but they have ignored my next email a few minutes later at 11:30AM, saying that they need to use my credit card and that I wont do a wire transfer. I sent a followup to that email at 3PM and still no answer 5 hours later. And I could never get through on the phone with them.

I feel foolish because they do have my credit card number, when I ordered last night thinking they were legit. I hope they don't sell my number, but if it gets out there in the wild I will report them to VISA and the authorities. Their website clearly says they accept VISA/MC/DISCOVER, but then only wire transfers after fishing us in ?

 

Alert your credit card company now and tell them to decline any transactions with this company.

 

Thanks, but do you have any information about this company to share with us? Did you have a bad experience with them, or directly know of someone who did? Is their physical address real? Are they real but unreliable? etc... Any information would be helpful.

 

I also thought I was purchasing a watch from this company today after days of looking for an anniversary gift for my husband and got the exact same email response. I searched all over the web and got nothing except that the website was less than 6 mos old. I was not about to wire money to Spain!

 

I have a Seamaster Pro ceramic bezel that came from Spain last March, where someone in one of the other forums had bought it, and sold it, and then I bought it from the second owner - as far as I can tell it's from a legit authorized dealer in Spain and it has 2 more years of warranty, but it only cost me $2600 (Jared was asking $4K at the time). So, this may be legit and a great deal from Spain, but it sounds fishy - hence why I'm looking for anyone who's ever bought from them and their feedback.

If they had answered their phones any of the 4 times I called and answered my questions I might not have doubted them. If they had replied to my emails declining to send a wire transfer, I might have trusted them more. Even if they had said, the 10% instant rebate doesn't apply to VISA transactions, and cut it to 5-7% rebate, I might have thought them honest.

I could not find out how old the website was, but they seem to copyright the site 2005-now - I guess I could have checked WHOIS database. Thanks!

 

I just looked it up and it says the domain was created Dec 30 2014, and was also the last date it was updated. Sure they could have had a different domain before, but nothing is evident.

 

With everything mentioned on this thread......it would be enough red flags for me.

 

Agreed, plus the fact that as large of a community that this forum is and that nobody has spoken stating they have bought and received a single watch form then is telling.

 

site is no longer working

 

The link above didn't direct me to the site either, but if you type the address in it is still active.

 

Either way I think we have decided to walk the other way.

 

My iPad autocorrected the word Benziger in the link above to Benzinger, so the link never did work. Sorry. They don't respond to any emails, and they never pick up their phone.

Stay Away.

 

Scams ville....on tin ternet, you never know whom you are dealing with, a so called mega co can be a shed in garden...

 

Now we will have to be on the lookout for the next company name and website they decide to use.