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M'Bob
·It seems very possible he is stealing rare watches under the guise of a fake repair shop. That would make it a serious criminal matter
Simon Freese watchmaker
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jolyon
·Simon’s behavior has been documented as horrendous, and I do appreciate how annoying this is, but l think it might be more productive to stick to facts and not speculate without proof.
I’m trying to get the facts together so I can decide how to handle this. I’m reading about people who have allegedly been years without their watches which is deeply concerning. That’s why I want to know if anybody has already filed a police report.
Multiple addresses in London, none of which he can be found at? Rare watches that he’s had for years without contact? There could be a plausible explanation, but it really doesn’t look good. I would rather overreact and get my property back safely than under react and wish I had done something sooner.
I would appreciate if somebody can help me get up to speed on this situation since my thread was closed down and I was told to join here. I’ve got a nice 1940’s Angelus Chronodato on the line which I don’t have any intention of losing.
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JimInOz
··Melbourne AustraliaI was told to join here.
If we have one thread documenting issues with Simon Freese, it's a lot easier for other people to find and also to research similar problems.
Some of the other threads became cluttered with opinions and general discussion which made it difficult for people affected by the issues to sort the sound advice from the noise.
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fm
·check the list of directors on the directors registrar , you should get home addresses and you have a start .
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Fallout Boy
·If you have time and want to try something:Transfer/wire him one euro, send him a registered letter with nothing inside, and see what happens.
And: the police should be informed if strange guys are sneaking around his house and you see it. (irony off)
And: the police should be informed if strange guys are sneaking around his house and you see it. (irony off)
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fm
·If you have time and want to try something:Transfer/wire him one euro, send him a registered letter with nothing inside, and see what happens.
And: the police should be informed if strange guys are sneaking around his house and you see it. (irony off)
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fm
·It's a current and very real issue not a dead horse .I was very lucky to get my watch back .Lesson learned .Anyone and everyone should be warned.
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MrSloth
·Thought I'd add mine. Sent my Speedmaster to Simon for a service because it kept stopping. Got it back within a month so can't complain on time, but the stopping was the whole reason I sent it and it's not fixed. If anything it's worse now, slows or stops after an hour or two, sometimes just stops randomly.
Asked what he'd checked or done and never got an answer. Bracelet came back still dirty too, so not sure how much was actually done to it.
Emailed a few times and tried ringing, nothing back.
Not sure I'd recommend him to be honest.
Asked what he'd checked or done and never got an answer. Bracelet came back still dirty too, so not sure how much was actually done to it.
Emailed a few times and tried ringing, nothing back.
Not sure I'd recommend him to be honest.
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fm
·
I settled for that and was lucky , didnt trust the watch after it's return , sent straight to omega for service. Trusted this guy's reputation.Ended up sending to Omega anyway . Don't send this guy your watch .Anybody selling watch with a Simon freese service , I will not touch .
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M'Bob
·What’s so troubling about this thread is seeing numerous examples of how one can destroy their fine reputation. And, we can learn a lot about how to preserve it, and expand it, by doing the opposite: answer emails and calls; stand behind your work; provide your service in a timely manner, and insure that it’s right the first time.
These constructs seem so straightforward and simple, one has to wonder what has happened to Simon. Although I clearly do not know, I’m hoping it’s not nefarious. Perhaps significant personal, health, or family struggles? Sad for him, and all affected by his unfortunate behavior.
These constructs seem so straightforward and simple, one has to wonder what has happened to Simon. Although I clearly do not know, I’m hoping it’s not nefarious. Perhaps significant personal, health, or family struggles? Sad for him, and all affected by his unfortunate behavior.
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fm
·Have taken advise Simon Freese has not completed the contract to service my watch .I have paid the invoice , got watch back , it was not a satisfactory, he has not returned communications , I sent watch to Omega to service watch .My thoughts are to raise actions against SF for outstanding costs ,what are the thoughts of the community?
Edited:
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Walrus
·What’s so troubling about this thread is seeing numerous examples of how one can destroy their fine reputation. And, we can learn a lot about how to preserve it, and expand it, by doing the opposite: answer emails and calls; stand behind your work; provide your service in a timely manner, and insure that it’s right the first time.
These constructs seem so straightforward and simple, one has to wonder what has happened to Simon. Although I clearly do not know, I’m hoping it’s not nefarious. Perhaps significant personal, health, or family struggles? Sad for him, and all affected by his unfortunate behavior.
I was worked at one rehab that would often have the press lining the streets outside as word got out we had a famous client. Most of the time it was a rumor a few times they got it right. Even people who accomplish great things fall on their ass and make a mess of things.
I’m not implying that’s what happened here. I just notice the kicks really come when you’re down. All I know of Mr Freese is I liked to watch his seiko videos.
I remember the aforementioned watch maker was freaking out about the inventory he had while in our facility but there just wasn’t much he could do at the time as we didn’t allow patients to leave the grounds and phone calls were limited.
I’m not bringing this up for any particular reason other than observing prominent people in bad spots. I hope everything gets sorted for everyone and if Mr Freese had some kind of unpleasant event it gets resolved. Life can be a funny old dog. I’m wondering now how that watch maker is doing. I know he came back voluntarily and would tell his story to the new people coming in. That’s always a good sign. Mr. Freese taught me how to adjust those seiko bracelets with the pain in the asstubes so I hope things turn out well in the end.
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Archer
·These constructs seem so straightforward and simple, one has to wonder what has happened to Simon. Although I clearly do not know, I’m hoping it’s not nefarious. Perhaps significant personal, health, or family struggles? Sad for him, and all affected by his unfortunate behavior.
I do hope the watch owners all get their watches back...at the least.
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glownyc
·What’s so troubling about this thread is seeing numerous examples of how one can destroy their fine reputation. And, we can learn a lot about how to preserve it, and expand it, by doing the opposite: answer emails and calls; stand behind your work; provide your service in a timely manner, and insure that it’s right the first time.
These constructs seem so straightforward and simple, one has to wonder what has happened to Simon. Although I clearly do not know, I’m hoping it’s not nefarious. Perhaps significant personal, health, or family struggles? Sad for him, and all affected by his unfortunate behavior.
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Walrus
·It's often when unexpected difficulties arise that a person's true character is revealed. This has been going on for years and is continuing to happen to this day, seemingly without any effort to remedy. Regardless of any circumstances this is who Simon is actively choosing to be.
I’m not sticking up for Simon just sayin words are being thrown around perhaps without realizing how truly deep things can go on people. I’ve had the surgeons telling me I might not make it followed by the surgeries tbh I still don’t know if I realize my true character as others have had it worse.
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M'Bob
·It's often when unexpected difficulties arise that a person's true character is revealed. This has been going on for years and is continuing to happen to this day, seemingly without any effort to remedy. Regardless of any circumstances this is who Simon is actively choosing to be.
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Archer
·condemning judgment when one doesn’t know all the circumstances
As I have said in other threads on this, I understand his situation more than most here. Trying to run a new watch business and a repair business at the same time spreads you very thin, and in fact so thin for me that I gave up the new watch business as I didn't want it to affect the repair side.
Still, shit happens - watches get delayed for various reasons. Sometimes the reason is there is no reason, but the watchmaker just dropped the ball. I've done so, but have admitted when it happened and the customer is usually understanding. Communicating can solve a lot of the issues - I don't see people coming on here who have had issues with Simon saying that he has explained what happened to cause the delays. I think if he had taken the time to explain things, this thread would be a lot smaller...
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Tu13alcane
·He has just done the same to me. Total silence now he has my watch. Has anyone filed a police report against Simon yet? It seems very possible he is stealing rare watches under the guise of a fake repair shop. That would make it a serious criminal matter.
