In May I bought from a member here an Omega end piece no 6 to a 7912 bracelet. At the time I had no reason to believe that it could be anything wrong with it. I was not aware of, that there fakes floating around.

Given my recent experience, when I bought a pair of end pieces no 6 on eBay, that proved to be counterfeit, I had reason to check the other day, upon the end piece I bought from the member here, earlier this year. I was stunned to realize that it too was a fake!

I then contacted the seller, showing him pictures, and explaining to him that he´d sold me a counterfeit end piece, and not an genuine Omega item. I demanded that he should either replace it, or give me a refund. The seller replied, very polite, that unfortunately, given it had been 6 months since the transaction, he was "unable" to make good on this. His advice was to move the piece to another home, or to destroy it.

In the picture below, showing end pieces lying on a brown table, the end piece bought on the forum is the bottom one. The top one is a genuine piece that I have had in my collection for a long time.



Here´s comparison involving one of the fake end pieces I bought on eBay:




Now, since the other forum member and I, seems to have a very deviated standpoint here, where I think that if you have sold a counterfeit item to a fellow collector and watch enthusiast, you make good regardless of the time that has gone since the transaction, and where he thinks, the problem is now mine, since he showed me pictures of the piece before I bought it, and since it has been 6 month since the deal.

Am I out of bounds with my claim do you think? Is it the common sense here, that I have myself to blame?

I´m equally much creating this thread to warn others. Of course it´s not fun to stand with one´s pants down, admitting to have done a newbie mistake...

 

I don't think there should be a limited return period between members and collectors on here, when a fake item is involved.

If you are right, and you can prove that the same item you just discovered it's a fake, is the same one being sold, I think you're right asking a return; a fake is a fake no matter how long after you discover it.

Similar thing happened to honorable member seamonster on eBay, where he discovered his rolex clasp was a fake after the eBay protection period was expired. Fortunatetly he got refund after a long fight.

Moving it to another home is not the option at all.

 

How about the Solomon solution? Has a partial refund (maybe 50%) been discussed?

 

http://omegaforums.net/threads/dont-fall-for-a-fake-vintage-omega.6235/page-4#post-100868

If i was to find a member was to pass something to me that was fake i would use the above post to inform all.

 

What possible use could you have of a counterfeit item? I cannot think of any.

 

The same use you had when you thought it was genuine.

Guess it's time to be blunt since it's my specialty. FIRST: I'm not condoning fakes, nor am I excusing the seller…… but, you bought the end links for a purpose and they were fine for 6 months until you found out they were counterfeit. SECOND: I get it - I'd be upset too. (edit: let me change 'upset' to 'fuming') However, if the seller did not know they were fakes, he didn't intend on bilking you. THIRD: part of this is on you for not knowing exactly what you were buying.

I still say that the seller should refund you 50% of the purchase price since I think there's equal culpability. Like they say, a good solution is one that neither party is totally happy about.

 

+1 I would like to think that 99.9% of our members would feel the same.

 

Judgement of Solomon aka Dennis Seems a fair reolution.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I don´t disagree with any of you.

I was hoping, though, that the seller would come forward to give his view to the matter.

And other members opinions too, maybe? After all, It seems to be just Mods interested in this.

 

I bet there's a lot of people interested, just not sure if they want to share their opinion.

 

How much was the part out of curiosity?

 

Generally, noticing that an item might be or is fake should not take half a year.
But If I was the seller, I would care more for my reputation than for the money. The 50% solution was ok for me.

 

I agree with the Solomon solution, which would put aside "blame" and reconcile the issue.

I will take issue with finding out about fakes right away; those of us new to the hobby/passion/addiction only learn things as we participate in these fora or read. While amassing our collections, how many of us have bought pieces which later we find out have some issues with them-mismatched parts, redone dials, etc? I now realize I have a few vintage pieces that I now realize are not wholly kosher, but would not sell them off as genuine. And we can share these experiences for the newer members as well, so that they can take note and not repeat mistakes.
I also agree with gator-not all suppliers are as exacting as the OEM. Variations in size and shape will exist; as well, time takes its toll on metal, and it is not unusual to find genuine parts which show wear or misalignment.

Last word: I personally thank all of you veterans for your opinions and input. My own knowledge base has grown at least 10x since I joined OF.

 

+1

 

As a seller here and on eBay I have a pretty liberal return policy in addition to including a 6-month warranty on my watches.

Most recently I ate the cost of replacing a balance staff on a Hamilton with the 982 movement. Buyer claimed the watch simply stopped while wearing it, well balance staffs simply don't just break, I know with a fair amount of certainty that the watch was dropped, breaking the balance.

Having said this, 6-months is a bit of a stretch to decide something isn't right.

Gator's point about manufacturing differences certainly bears further examination. Are the two fake parts truly fake or were they simply made by a different supplier? They look awfully similar, were they made by the same counterfeiter or by the same manufacturer? As we've seen time and time again with all things Omega, there are so many exceptions to the "rules", this may simply be another.

Add me to the Solomon solution on this one.