Hi all.

I have recently sold a rolex GMT master 2 to a guy in Australia, the guy was a solicitor so assumed all well and good however unfortunately not. Firstly he wanted to defraud HMRC and claim the watch was £900 which I wouldn't agree to, now he wants me to pay the custom fees he's incurred!
More importantly he now claims my perfect 3 year old watch is faulty and needs a $1000 dollar service!
I feel completely conned.
My questions are
1. Would a 3 year old Rolex be covered on service?
2. What would the likely costs be on a standard service at Rolex?

Thanks

 

Tell him to send you the watch back, give him a refund once you receive in the order it was sent.

You can obviously see he is trying to get some money from you one way or another...

...and hopefully you didnt sell using Paypal..

 

I am with TTG here, and would ask the guy to send it back, it sounds like he is trying to scam you out of some of the amount he has paid.

With regards to the price of a service, if it was from a Rolex service centre I would imagine they provide a formal quote.

 

Problem I have now is that if I get it returned I'll end up paying customs charges that will outweigh a service I'm guessing! And yes I took PayPal .
Guess I've learnt a lesson the hard way !

 

A three year old Rolex does not need a service. He's trying to recover the customs fee which probably is pretty high. Agree ..have him send the watch back. If you already have payment, are you afraid that he's going to trash you on e-bay?

 

Well the money is guaranteed because it went to the verified address so i'm reasonably relaxed about that. Its the customs returning it to me that'll negate the service he wants me to pay. Damned if i do and damned if I don't. to make things worse the guy is a barrister

 

Hopefully you have the request for funds, refunds, etc., document well enough that Ebay/Paypal will be able to tell his intentions.
For the principle, I would tell him to return.
Then deal with Customs in the US on the charge of import tax as a returned good, which will be clearly documented.

 

Man, this is exactly the kinda stuff I worry about when it comes to buying and selling watches.

If you have the payment and he has the watch, as well as a chain of communications that suggest the servicing was only brought up after the customs, surely you should just tell him that sales are final and forget about it?

Also, what proof has he provided that the watch requires a service or is damaged?

 

Offer to cover a reasonable % of the customs fee. See what he says. I think the lesson learned here is managing expectations on what things cost. I believe in insured shipping an being honest in valuation.

 

He sent a video of the watch on his wrist, with what sounds like a babies rattle in the background. Makes me so mad! I want to trust people and every time I do they let me down.

 

Well he bought a mint GMT and I accepted a very fair price , the insurance with Fedex wont cover internal movement damage.

 

Horse Hockey.... I have a 2013 GMT and its my cycling, kayaking, sailing, yardwork companion and its had worse than a shipment by FedEx. (Like banging against the hulls of a sailboat in rough water as I'm cutting fishing nets off the props) I have a buddy with a 20 year old Sub that he's never serviced and rarely takes off. I'm convinced its the duty he's trying to recover. Offer him 250 bucks and tell him to f...off.

 

Couldn't agree more. Ill keep you posted!

 

just claim it stolen and rolex will return it to you at no cost.... but on a serious note, it sounds like he wants some money a full servicing for that timepiece would actually be more if being serviced by rolex, also if it needed a full servicing then it had to have taken a beating with I highly doubt, I would personally request for him to send it back or request for him to go to his local ad and have a 6 pt check done. Have you asked him why he believes it needs a servicing?

 

He thinks Ive tried to sell him a broken watch which is ludicrous ! The watch is perfect and was when I sent it. Hes been a pain since he bought it and I got bad vibes. He just wants hi customs paid. There is no way it need servicing

 

give him two options and be stern: either he sends it back, or he gets a 6 pt check done proving it needs a service.

 

Thanks for your advice.

 

He's a barrister, I wonder what his bar association would think about his attempt to evade customs.

 

Just a question - why wasn't the insurance on the package to cover the full amount?

The speedy I posted the other day has arrived damaged, but I insured it for its full value so I've no issues making a claim to have it repaired?

I'm not having a go or anything, I was just wondering why.

 

I doubt it needs service after 3 years I feel is trying it on