ninjagaiden Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Folks, Just got a letter from an organisation called Detain UK saying my two watches have been seized and will be destroyed by UKBA in 10 days. Says they are working on behalf of LVMH. Got that sick in the stomach feeling of being caught with my hand in the sweetie jar. I've told Josh what has happened but I don't know what he can do if Detain UK noe have me on their books. I don't know what impact Detain UK will have on UK shipments and UK to EU trans-shipments. Right now, it feels like it's time to cut my losses and go Gen. I've ordered a nice Christopher Ward diver with a Sellita movement, and gone back to my watch box to gaze lovingly at all the reps that have made it through over the last 3 years... BW N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aero_Dave Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Sorry to hear the news. Not good for you guys across-the-pond at all. So did they just xray the box, open-it-up and them decide they are fakes and keep them? Dave... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialvat Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Time to have them shipped to work mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjagaiden Posted June 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Yes it looks that way. Maybe two watches in a box was the tell tale. May not even need an x-ray machine. Most folks on the forum could spot a polystyrene box wrapped completely in yellow adhesive tape coming down the conveyor belt. The company must be small as the letter was sent with a colour logo printed badly on an inkjet printer, a reply address which was a hotmail account, and the envelope had a stamp on it rather than being franked. Could be a single guy. One of the watches was a Hublot. I wonder what would have happened if there had been, say a Rolex and a Sinn. Would they still have destroyed it? Who knows. Will see what Josh says. N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rek001 Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Ugh, that really sucks. So you think you'll be on some flagged list from now on? @specialvat, how would having them sent to work help? Still have to have his name on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest leon@stella's Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 UK was a good country for re-rout rep things from two years ago, but NOW there just a pain in the ass! Best open and rep friendly countrys in EU is Sweden, Soumi (Finland) and Danmark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjagaiden Posted June 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Ugh, that really sucks. So you think you'll be on some flagged list from now on? @specialvat, how would having them sent to work help? Still have to have his name on it. I don't know to be honest. The letter from DETAIN UK had 3 reference codes on it, one next to my address, one which was the parcel tracking no, and one which started HUBxxxxx which I took to represent the protected mark (Hublot). I'm waiting to hear if anyone else has had letters from DETAIN UK recently (or anyone who has received items from a GZ dealer whithour interference). N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 I just had a delivery of two watches from WatchInternational.Came in a plastic EMS bag and had "watch, value $20" written in the description and it had not been opened.Lately I've bought loads of watches and loads of other stuff from China and not had a problem with anything. (Touches wood!)Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSTEEL Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Sorry to hear about this mate, but from what I read, they do not have permission to destroy your watches unless they don't hear back from you in those 10 days. There is a thread over on RWI I think, where a member Frog something is giving advice, which seems successful too, on how to get your watches released. Failing that, the best thing to do if they are crushed, or taken by some spotty face young scum to show off to his friends, is email Josh a copy of the letter, and he will resend to a different address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjagaiden Posted June 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Well Josh has kindly agreed to re-send via DHL. I have asked him if he can send to his UK agent and then mail UK to UK, and also said I am happy to just receive the Sinn U1 as the Hublot is an LVMH trade mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fijikid Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 This is no fun, of course, but calling Christopher Ward "gen" is kind of funny. Probably has parts made in the same factories as reps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjagaiden Posted June 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 This is no fun, of course, but calling Christopher Ward "gen" is kind of funny. Probably has parts made in the same factories as reps. With the Selly movement you mean? Well I guess that might well be the case. I have an SW200 in my PP Nautilus and I have to say it's buttery smooth and given me zero problems. I like the finish and styling of the Makaira, and to be honest, rep, gen or homage, that's been the key thing for me. As for what is Gen and what is not, Maybe I'll try telling my wife that calling her IPhone 5 'gen' is funny, as it has Foxconn parts made in the same factories as Baidu reps. N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B3nj4min3 Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 This certainly is problematic and if it's a sign of things to come as more-and-more manufacturers start to employ these private individuals/companies then we could end-up having a fairly serious problem. One solution could be following the Amazon approach and having warehouses based in Europe. The watches could be shipped over in containers and from there the watches can be distributed to other EU countries. This would obviously be a mid-to-long term solution and would certainly increase the cost of the watches somewhat (which could be partially offset by reduced delivery cost), however it would provide a near-guarantee for the safe receipt of the watches. I'm just throwing a potential solution out there and I am not sure as to it's viability however I would hate for these issues to mean that our precious hobby dies (at least for us in the UK/EU) over the coming years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjagaiden Posted June 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 The thing is the volumes going to the EU from the TDs must be small (in the larger scale of things), and would not justify the risk and expense of setting up an EU warehouse. There is a Chinese RC model company called Hobbyking that has done just what you said, but the motivation is to reduce shipping costs and times for customers. This increases uptake of their products and in turn gives them better buying power. I don't think the model applies to the TD's. I suspect the TD's margin must factor in the replacement of seized items from time to time. N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbh Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 That company is a farce. It's a man and wife team with no legal standings. They cannot steal your property without a court order. The original thread about it is over on RWG.biz and has some very good information from Baldrick about what to tell them. So far everyone that has challenged them using the information posted there has gotten their watches released. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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