trustytime/andrew scam

[jhcom]

Does anyone else have experience with trusty time? I feel like I got completely scammed. The watch arrived broken and they refuse to repair it or give me my money back. It's not just 1 thing which is broken, but almost everything. Can't change the day, moon cycle is off and there is a brown spot. Battery is depleted after 1 day. The second counter doesn't work, but I guess that was in the description. The year jumps on december instead of january. The only option they give me to ship it back is via illegal means proclaiming it as a toy watch.

[capre]

So you joined the forum to post this on new year? Im afraid there will always be a chance of a watch malfunctioning when shipped world wide. I recommend that you find a watchmaker who will fix it close by since shipping the watch back will probably mean that the watch will be siezed by customs.

[Sogeha]

TrustyTime has been around for a very long time. I guess you would know that and that most of us have dealt with them if you had done any prior reading. They are TDs here for a reason, which brings me to my next question: are you sure you used the real Trustytime and not a scam site using his name? Yes it is common, which is why we always advise using known links and not an internet search

“Illegal means”
Your sense of moral outrage did not prevent you from buying a counterfeit watch friend


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

I just looked on Trusty’s site and I can’t find that watch. He has an IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar, but I don’t see a quartz version 

 

Your quartz

 

 

Trusty’s mechanical

 

[thom.son]

3 hours ago, Sogeha said:

are you sure you used the real Trustytime and not a scam site using his name?

 

Bang bang bang you hear that OP? What website did you order it from?

[Ben]

Watch isn't quartz, you can hear it winding it in the video. To get more than a day out of it wind it more/keep it worn to keep the rotor spinning.

 

Sounds like the moon cycle and month wheel have been misaligned - a watchmaker in your country can sort that out.

 

For reference - I bought a genuine perpetual calendar (montblanc) that was misaligned in a similar way, the month changed over on the 24th.

I was the second owner and bought it from a high street dealer who had it fully inspected before sale - no one but me noticed so I wouldn't expect this to be perfect on a chinese rep.

 

The day, if it's a working indicator will be changed from a recessed pusher on the side of the case most likely.

 

I don't see a brown spot but did Andrew send you QC photos? 

 

You bought a rep watch - if you expect perfection prepare to be disappointed.

[bhduck]

People seem a bit harsh to me on this.

OP doesn’t have to have had unrealistic expectations to expect better than this. It’s not so much that the watch has a fault, more that the dealer might not be responding as we’d all want.

Although, OP, I’m a little confused. Has Andrew offered to take the watch back or not? As one of the posters above pointed out, none of this process is legit so it seems daft to complain if you’re being asked to disguise the shipment back for a repair. If Andrew has agreed to take it back, what’s the problem exactly?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sogeha]

Joining a forum after a purchase to complain is like
Fire, Ready, Aim


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[jhcom]

Hello everyone! I was actually trying to get advice, see if people experienced something similar. I bought it from trustytime . io and I apologise if this post was quite bad timed with new year and I wish everyone the best!

 

The long story!

The reason I found it odd was that it was promoted and explained to me by Andrew that replica watches are not illegal and that shipping it would be fine. So I expected a fair replica for that price, at least with the day cycle working as they promoted on the video when purchasing. Watches can contain faults of course and I never expected a perfect watch, but I did expect basic functionality to be working, such as a day change. I was curious about the replica watch world and bought it a bit to see if it would become a new hobby. A big reason reason I bought it is also because I got guaranteed by Andrew that shipping it would be no issue and that it's not illegal if custom takes it and I read that it was safe on a forum.

 

Then lots of problems happened with the shipment. Basically DHL tracking only said that the tracking info was registered, never shipped. I sent andrew 10 emails over the span of 2 months that I think there is an issue, but he just told me, "everything is alright, package has been shipped, I will check to be sure and contact you if there is an issue". Nothing happened in these 2 months, till DHL send me a message about the package. Then I contacted Andrew again, and I got sent a new watch from Saudi Emerates. Another 1-2 months later, I received it after paying a 50 euro import fee.

 

On opening, I realize the watch has several issues and I asked Andrew if they can repair it or give me a refund. I even offered as a solution to return to me half the purchase price and I'll just get it sorted out myself at a watch repair place. Andrew then said that they would reimburse some of the repair costs if I get it fixed here and asked me to go to a watch repair place(sorry, don't know the official name of this). I asked around several of them in Amsterdam and they told me the watch has quite a lot of issues, "automat not working" whatever this means. They also confirmed that the day cycle doesn't work, nor the year change and they told me that they even find it risky taking this on as an assignment, afraid the watch would break down often to which they would have to fix it. This based on sight, not opening it up since that would cost 20 euro to check on the watch. So I emailed this to Andrew and Andrew just refused to reimburse anything. The whole option was shut down when I mentioned the 20 euro it feels like. Then I received only 1 option, and that was to ship it via air mail, proclaiming it as a toy watch. I have never heard of airmail and I don't have an option nearby me for this. There was no flexibility other forms of shipping, purely airmail, even though it was sent to me via DHL.

 

As for the QC pics, I did check it out! But the change of date, year jumping on December 1 instead of January, you can not see on the photos right? Also because of the angle of the photos, the brown spot on the moon cycle was not shown properly and I missed it.

 

I apologize for the long message! I really was just trying to get some advice on how to manage this. Maybe I'm ignorant, but I honestly thought that this all was legal. I think I'm just going to accept this as a 400 euro loss, even if I do ship it via airmail, I would have to pay another 50 euro import fees, assuming the watch wouldn't have any issue.

 

Thank you all for the replies and help, may 2021 be a great year!

 

[capre]

Hello everyone! I was actually trying to get advice, see if people experienced something similar. I bought it from trustytime . io and I apologise if this post was quite bad timed with new year and I wish everyone the best!
 
The long story!
The reason I found it odd was that it was promoted and explained to me by Andrew that replica watches are not illegal and that shipping it would be fine. So I expected a fair replica for that price, at least with the day cycle working as they promoted on the video when purchasing. Watches can contain faults of course and I never expected a perfect watch, but I did expect basic functionality to be working, such as a day change. I was curious about the replica watch world and bought it a bit to see if it would become a new hobby. A big reason reason I bought it is also because I got guaranteed by Andrew that shipping it would be no issue and that it's not illegal if custom takes it and I read that it was safe on a forum.
 
Then lots of problems happened with the shipment. Basically DHL tracking only said that the tracking info was registered, never shipped. I sent andrew 10 emails over the span of 2 months that I think there is an issue, but he just told me, "everything is alright, package has been shipped, I will check to be sure and contact you if there is an issue". Nothing happened in these 2 months, till DHL send me a message about the package. Then I contacted Andrew again, and I got sent a new watch from Saudi Emerates. Another 1-2 months later, I received it after paying a 50 euro import fee.
 
On opening, I realize the watch has several issues and I asked Andrew if they can repair it or give me a refund. I even offered as a solution to return to me half the purchase price and I'll just get it sorted out myself at a watch repair place. Andrew then said that they would reimburse some of the repair costs if I get it fixed here and asked me to go to a watch repair place(sorry, don't know the official name of this). I asked around several of them in Amsterdam and they told me the watch has quite a lot of issues, "automat not working" whatever this means. They also confirmed that the day cycle doesn't work, nor the year change and they told me that they even find it risky taking this on as an assignment, afraid the watch would break down often to which they would have to fix it. This based on sight, not opening it up since that would cost 20 euro to check on the watch. So I emailed this to Andrew and Andrew just refused to reimburse anything. The whole option was shut down when I mentioned the 20 euro it feels like. Then I received only 1 option, and that was to ship it via air mail, proclaiming it as a toy watch. I have never heard of airmail and I don't have an option nearby me for this. There was no flexibility other forms of shipping, purely airmail, even though it was sent to me via DHL.
 
As for the QC pics, I did check it out! But the change of date, year jumping on December 1 instead of January, you can not see on the photos right? Also because of the angle of the photos, the brown spot on the moon cycle was not shown properly and I missed it.
 
I apologize for the long message! I really was just trying to get some advice on how to manage this. Maybe I'm ignorant, but I honestly thought that this all was legal. I think I'm just going to accept this as a 400 euro loss, even if I do ship it via airmail, I would have to pay another 50 euro import fees, assuming the watch wouldn't have any issue.
 
Thank you all for the replies and help, may 2021 be a great year!
 

As i mentioned shipping the watch back is the last thing i would do. Its just too risky. You could take a look at the modders here on the forum or leave it in a drawyer as a reminder to steer away from complicated reps.

Generally rep movements are full of dirt and often lacking proper oil when leaving the factory. Add in more complications than a date function and you have a recipe for failure. They will make sure that the watch is in working order when they ship and that it arrives, thats about it. If you intend to use it and expecting it to work properly i recommend sending it to a modder for a full teardown, cleaning and oiling the movement.

[Sogeha]

Well the whole forum is packed full of advice and help on all things replica watch. One of those pieces of advice is that there is much less frustration to buying simple three hand watches rather than expecting a grand complication to be perfectly replicated in China for a tiny fraction of the cost of the genuine. I have an iwc Petit Prince that’s has worked faultlessly for several years, if it does comprehensively fail, replacing the movement is simple and affordable 

 

While as far as I know it is not illegally to own a replica watch in Holland, it is illegal to sell them or manufacturer them. I find it hard to believe you are unaware of this

 

By the number of messages you state you sent to Andrew, you seem to have been expecting an Amazon purchase  experience, again reading any of the rep fora would have given you a realistic idea of what to expect. Furthermore buying from a TD through a forum gives us as Moderators the ability to negotiate solutions to issues on your behalf. This again is something a little prior research would have quickly uncovered 

 

i understand and and sympathise with your frustration at the situation you find yourself in, but regrettably you have made a number of beginners mistakes. It is also deeply frustrating to us when we provide our time and knowledge freely to everyone with an internet connection, to see train wreck after train wreck because that resource was not availed of

 

As stated above, your best options are to either throw the watch in a drawer as a reminder to be more informed in future or to contact a modder to resolve the issues the watch has. Taking it around mainstream watch repairers is going to be another exercise in futility as many are little more than battery and strap technicians and those that do actually have skills to service a mechanical movement generally lack the skills and experience needed to work on rep watches

[jdr66]

I have bought quite a few watches from Andrew myself. Up til now, no big problems whatsoever. Shipping to me in The Netherlands always did go well with DHL. Somehow, Andrew has changed couriers. He says because China checks if reps are being exported and he had to find another way of shipping. Ok, but now shipping takes twice as much time for the same $45. Too much money imho. But ok.
Also, I feel that Andrew is the nicest person in the world, and quickly answering, when you want to buy. After that, I have the feeling that it’s not as good anymore as it used to be. Asking for new QC pics 3 times, and getting the same pics 3 times is not good.
On the other hand, one shouldn’t expect good after sales. That’s one of the risks. I had to get used to that as well. It’s not good that the watch was broken, but it’s always a risk. Even for the really high prices you pay for which you can buy a good brand normal watch like a Seiko. Good luck!


Verzonden vanaf mijn iPad met Tapatalk

[alligoat]

You CAN send the watch back to Andrew. It may cost you $30-40 but it's probably your best option. Send it registered airmail, it will take a while but it's easier that trying to find someone who can work on it in your country. Real watchmakers typically don't like to work on reps and often times won't. Especially a rep with a complicated movement, which I would recommend staying away from anyway. 

[Navi fan]

Dear Folks,

 

Andrew from TrustyTime now use a new trick: Before sending ordered watches to  you, he send to you some photos. At one of photos is digital measurement device which show divergence 10 sec/day at piece exactly chosen for you. 

 

Of course, after watches arrived to you, you executed some tests, which show divergence 21 to 22 sec/day. Andrew refused to share his horlogerie secret recipe, how to keep divergence at 10 sec/day. It is his business secret or mystery.

 

So from this point of view, take Andrew's photos of specifically your ordered piece with some grain of salt.

[Sogeha]

1 hour ago, Navi fan said:

Dear Folks,

 

Andrew from TrustyTime now use a new trick: Before sending ordered watches to  you, he send to you some photos. At one of photos is digital measurement device which show divergence 10 sec/day at piece exactly chosen for you. 

 

Of course, after watches arrived to you, you executed some tests, which show divergence 21 to 22 sec/day. Andrew refused to share his horlogerie secret recipe, how to keep divergence at 10 sec/day. It is his business secret or mystery.

 

So from this point of view, take Andrew's photos of specifically your ordered piece with some grain of salt.

 

I always question the motives of anyone who joins a forum simply to complain. Obvious I understand that if you were to sell a watch that was bounced around in the post halfway across the world, you would absolutely guarantee it wouldn’t be affected by that. 

I have also deleted your redundant post on a long dead thread. Please resist the temptation to post exactly the same post in different places again, you are just wasting forum bandwidth doing that

[rionrlty]

Hi folks, many of you know me well as I've been around for a long time and have also worked on many of your watches. I doubt that I can be of use to someone so far away, but just a few comments to add to those already offered. Andrew and Trusty Time are indeed easy people to deal with and as far as my own experience are straight shooters, at least by Chinese standards. We are located in Southern California and have been both collecting and working on replicas for nearly 20 years now. From my own experience I estimate that as much as 25% of replicas arrive either DOA or with serious problems. There may be many factors that cause this, dirt from unclean assembly, improper assembly, over or under oiling plus defective parts. As far as incorrect time-keeping results shown on the timegrapher in QC pictures there is a good explanation. The picture only shows the watch in one position, usually face up. Most timegraphers have an articulated mount that enables up to 6 positions for the watch. A watchmaker knows, that to properly regulate a watch, readings must be taken in at least 5 of these positions and adjustments made to average out the final result. Just because the timegrapher reads +-10 secs/day face up doesn't mean that it will perform to the same specs when worn by the owner. At best this is simply window dressing to convince novice buyers of something that is probably not accurate. 

 

For those of you a bit closer to the US we welcome all work on replica watches. You may contact me by PM here on the forum, or you can talk to or text me on my cellphone at 951-313-5119.

 

Best Regards, Mike Rion 

[mrcardlc]

Andrew at trusty time is a stand up man. There are so many variations of his domaine name that are riding off his coat tales. If you didn’t pm him directly your not dealing with him. Frankly your lucky to have got a watch period ordering off the fake trusty sites.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fergulator72]

No way he's a scam,he's a trusted TD on all the forums

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[swdivad]

On 6/11/2021 at 7:00 PM, mrcardlc said:

Andrew at trusty time is a stand up man. There are so many variations of his domaine name that are riding off his coat tales. If you didn’t pm him directly your not dealing with him. Frankly your lucky to have got a watch period ordering off the fake trusty sites.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

I secondyour sentiments... I've been dealing with Andrew (and Joshua) for well over 10 years and they are stand-up guys.

 

I believe you've been to an 'alternative' (fake) trustytime website... I'm amazed you got a watch at all!

[Chockablock]

I'll add my voice to those who have had good experiences with Trusty Time. I have made two watch purchases from TT. Andrew has always responded to emails promptly, worked with me on payment methods, answered all my questions, told me what's in stock, answered more questions, told me again what's in stock when I changed my mind, sent QC pics within a reasonable timeframe, and shipped promptly. Both my watches arrived well-packed and in good condition within 10 days.