Yea, lost my Pam 111 that I was looking forward to ringing in the New Year with.

An excerpt from eBay:
Our third-party Authenticator has notified us that they received the item from the seller on December 30th, but that it was lost while in their possession. Both you and your seller are fully protected in this unfortunate circumstance. You will be receiving a refund in full from us for this transaction. This should appear in your account in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Events like this are extremely rare and are not the seller's fault. I'd ask you to consider this if you wish to leave feedback for your seller.

 

Unbelievable.

Well, not really - it’s eBay.

 

Sorry for the question: what is a "third-party Authenticator"?

 

And the seller informed me that eBay somehow issued the same tracking number to another seller in Canada. When the Panerai arrived it did not match that seller’s order so they returned it to him. A guy in Canada got a free Pam 111.

 

For a complete watch to go missing, maybe, but for @sgrossma, they have gone through this twice now. A bracelet went missing after the authenticator handled it:
https://omegaforums.net/threads/eba...to-come-up-missing-parts.123968/#post-1670602

And the dust cover went missing from a different order after another authenticator handled it:
https://omegaforums.net/threads/ebay-watch-authentication-missing-parts-again.125134/

 

in this situation, should the watch be listed on the Stolen Watch databases?

And, if it turns up at a later time, shouldn't the Buyer have first right to buy it at the prior eBay deal agreed-to price?

.

 

That’s one greedy authenticate...
I wonder who they are... if they are just random watchmakers anyone can “lose” a valuable watch that’s worth more than it was sold for...
Even if they have to cover its price they can still profit from a higher sell later.

 

Good freaking grief. I can't even wrap my brain around how this would happen. Even when I was shipping multiple packages in a batch, each tracking number was more than 3 digits off of the next.

 

Just when you thought it was safe to trust eBay again...

 

Wow... clearly this has to be some kind of foul play?

OP did you get it a good price?

Like another commenter said I wonder if there is a “rogue” authenticator picking and choosing what he wants. 1 in every hundred or something...

How can anyone trust this service?!

 

Guess the authenticator really liked the watch.

Condolences to you and the seller.

 

I don't want to sound too conspiracy-minded, but I'll note here I've bought 2 Datejusts, both of which went through the Authentication process just fine.

Given the likelihood that the Authenticity program itself was probably nudged by Rolex more than any other company, I wonder if the authenticators are truly, epically bad with any brand *other* than Rolex. This was my first fear, honestly: that it's less about authentication, and more about appeasing a single (huge) company.

It's shocking to read of how they're messing things up; I imagine it will get much worse as it continues. Good lord.

 

I had a similar but was on the other side, as far as the tracking goes. Buyer contacted me and said tracking said it was delivered Oct 1, but transaction was on Nov 20th. Not sure if this is eBay shipping or USPS. Look at the final tracking, it is in reverse order;

Tracking provided Nov 20th but arrived in GA on Sept 29?!? Next one changed after delivery, it originally showed just the early delivery date, the Nov info was added after the “second” delivery.

 

Something strange is up with eBay's tracking right now - I keep getting "Item Delivered" notifications for something I ordered (and received) in like November.

 

I think they have issues at the moment.

 

I have items that haven’t updated for weeks on eBay but here they are in my house. I just go directly to the couriers website and track from there at the moment.

 

I would never consider buying a watch online or anywhere else where some third party would be touching the thing without my direct supervision. I wouldn't allow it for any reason, let alone examining and potentially opening the watch. The entire premise makes me cringe. I'll stick to my boots on the ground method of collecting.

 

Photo changed for sensitivity purposes!

great reference by the way. Mine says Hello!

 

Salt in the wounds there Serge.

 

Oh shit, sorry. Wasn’t thinking straight.