Enough is Enough with QC issues

[FxrAndy]

You could buy a $2.99 walmart watch and it will tell the time, but it wont have the name or looks of what we want to wear. I bought my wife an 200 euro citizen auto with guarantee ect, well after the 3rd time taking it back to the shop i just got my money back and bought her a rep!

[southcoast68]

I think it all depends on what QC issues one experiences. Some folks point out issues with a mis-aligned pearl, or a date font not being just right, all of these IMO are not really QC issues, just par for the course in reps. However, receiving a watch with a messed up crown and tube, bezel falling off, stripped bracelet screws, doa movement, hands falling off, IS well worthy of complaint. Some reps today cost well over the $300 dollar mark, and for that, they SHOULD at least be in one peice when you get them.

Now with that being said, we must always remember that this hobby deals with items that are illegal in most places on earth, and that buying reps is akin to playing the lottery sometimes, sometimes you win - sometimes you loose. Based on this, we reailize that getting real good QC from most dealers is a pipe dream, especially from the ones who drop ship. Of course, the dealers that DO carry out QC checks on what they sell usually have a better track record with thier customers, so it all comes back to "pick your dealer - then pick your watch"

Of course, the high cost of some reps and thier QC (or lack thereof), is a direct result of what we the consumers are willing to pay. Paying close to a grand for a HBB is crazy as far as I am concerned, but to each his own, some folks will go down that road for a super rep, and the dealers know that. Therefore, QC falls by the wayside in favor of getting the order out, they know that we will pay for another one at some point no matter what.

It could be as simple as the dealer looking the watch over, unscrewing the crown, winding, setting the time and date, and letting it run for a few hours. Those are the same steps I run on a new watch I get and in just the first 5 minutes that it is in my hand, I will find out if there is anything severely wrong, and so would they, as they toss the bad one aside and ship a good one to thier PAYING CUSTOMER. So, IMO, a few minutes in the dealers hands for a basic once over would go along way to prevent the shipment of a watch that is already falling apart in some way, but if it is dropped shipped, forget about it, QC won't happen.

Anyone getting a defective watch, especially after paying a few hundred bucs, should get a replacement from the dealer, or at lease some assistance in getting it right. If a dealer does what I consider to be a reasonable effort to fix a problem, I have no complaint. If they don't make an effort, I do not return to them, period. Make no mistake about it, a lot of these watches are manufactured for a fraction of what we pay for them, there is a large markup and therefore a dealer replacing a watch should be no hardship on them, especially if they have close contact with the factory. In most cases, it is most productive to get a break on price with your next order, of course, if your not satisfied, does that matter? I am not likely to return to a bad restaurant just because they offered me free food on my next visit.

I also buy a lot of used peices from other members, as others suggested. Usually, any problems it may have had may have already been resolved, either way, I save money over the cost of a new one. Something to consider in the world of reps, our little wild wild west.

Peace

[Jawo]

You are right. Stuff like a misaligned pearl or date font are intricacies of a rep and the reason people get those kind of things modded so that they become close to the gen. What I am talking about are things like broken crowns, lume that is globbed over the markers, crystals falling off, pubic hairs in the movement...the list goes on. Like I said, I don't expect them to be perfect. What I am concerned with are dealers who claim hand inspection and have these type of problems pass through over to us. How can this be if they are personally inspected? If they are not hand inspected, don't market your business that way, and I am cool with the dropshipping. I just don't agree with paying more for the same product from another dealer because they advertise quality assurance when it is not carried out.

[plaifender]

Since rep collecting just over a year now, I have purchased more than 50 reps from many of the dealers on this forum......

Damn... Do you really purchase more than one watch per week? with the normal prices of reps these days.. that's could easily approach $10,000 on replica watches for the year.......

Is that excessive for a year of collecting or is it just me? (probably just me haha)

[crystalcranium]

Reps for fun, gens for life?

Well said

[MAHLER]

Uhm... overpriced watch without QC... this is not "the nature of the game" only one of the possible other methods to make money with drop-ship!!

Many members ask quality over quantity... than many also ask quality dealers over quantity... but I think many other don't share this simple point of view...

[Jawo]

You hit it about right. Roughly 10k in reps. I own lots of gens too but the reps have been an addiction.

Damn... Do you really purchase more than one watch per week? with the normal prices of reps these days.. that's could easily approach $10,000 on replica watches for the year.......

Is that excessive for a year of collecting or is it just me? (probably just me haha)

[AMK000]

Well said

Fun 300 Usd ????

[ryaku]

Fun 300 Usd ???? (even with the dollar that low)

Fun for 50 usd yes. But 300 and 600 USD ..no, .. that's not fun.

Not for me any way.

After almost 7 years collecting reps ... and with a "buying rythm" of 4 reps a year , with more than 50 reps passing from my hands , I found out (the hard way) that 2 out of 5 reps (sometimes 3 out of 5) have a kind of a annoying ( to malfunction) defect.

We definately paying too much money for getting defective watches.

If is not the movement , is tha case or the dial or the crown ... you name it.

I know... its a grey market .... but the risk of getting defective watches is getting high

er and higher.

If they do not start improving their QC soon I will start switching to genuines.

Lets see if I can make it to buy one genuine a year (1000 usd price range) rather tha

n 3 reps.

Time will tell.

..... and my banner says it all.

Totally agreed.

[b16a2]

I don't think much has changed though. The movements are getting better, and the quality of the watches is far better than when I first started collecting reps. I don't see that the watches these days are any less reliable, in fact I would say on the contrary.

I think it is our expectations that have increased. The dollar is weak, so prices seem to have gone up, the quality of the watches is improving almost to gen standard now, so we expect more.

When we start buying reps thinking we will get reliable genuine like watches, that is when this hobby becomes worthless. I truely believe we should only buy reps for fun, otherwise one will always be disappointed.

[Mickey Padge]

I don't think much has changed though. The movements are getting better, and the quality of the watches is far better than when I first started collecting reps. I don't see that the watches these days are any less reliable, in fact I would say on the contrary.

I think it is our expectations that have increased. The dollar is weak, so prices seem to have gone up, the quality of the watches is improving almost to gen standard now, so we expect more.

When we start buying reps thinking we will get reliable genuine like watches, that is when this hobby becomes worthless. I truely believe we should only buy reps for fun, otherwise one will always be disappointed.

That is so right, you just have to look at the new Chopard to see how far the quality has come........

These watches are not constructed in clean rooms, far from it!

Most if not all dealers will put right any glaring faults or problems.....

[_brian_]

Fun 300 Usd ???? (even with the dollar that low)

Fun for 50 usd yes. But 300 and 600 USD ..no, .. that's not fun.

Not for me any way.

After almost 7 years collecting reps ... and with a "buying rythm" of 4 reps a year , with more than 50 reps passing from my hands , I found out (the hard way) that 2 out of 5 reps (sometimes 3 out of 5) have a kind of a annoying ( to malfunction) defect.

We definately paying too much money for getting defective watches.

If is not the movement , is tha case or the dial or the crown ... you name it.

I know... its a grey market .... but the risk of getting defective watches is getting high

er and higher.

If they do not start improving their QC soon I will start switching to genuines.

Lets see if I can make it to buy one genuine a year (1000 usd price range) rather tha

n 3 reps.

Time will tell.

That

[steve123456789]

The Quality is not there. . Lume poor, hands falling off, Indexes falling off etc. IT doesn't matter the Rep make etc.

I will never buy from a Dealer who drops shiops. To send it back to China etc is #0 each way. The Dealers should go over each watch prior to accepting the watch from the factory. Sad fact. The Owner of the Factory will see that 50 % of his watches are rejected and will make inprovements. If you get drop shipped you are at the mercy of poor qualtiy of the factory. The dealer does not deserve the profit. You might as well oder direct from the factory and cut out the Dealer.

[Guest Carl]

Here is how you do it.

It's been discussed previously in other threads.

If I get a watch for under say $100 which does not meet the promise for whatever reason, it goes back by uninsured unregistered airmail.

Costs about $4 USD. Never had a problem.

If it's over $100 USD then I send it by registered airmail for $15 USD or less.

Never had a problem there either.

If you are spending $50 USD to send back a rep watch to someone who has not gotten the correct goods to you, you need to rethink the whole process.

Carl

[azerbyjam]

Azerbyjam Jr and Snr have only been on the boards just shy of 18 months. In that time we've bought from five dealers - three Asian, two Euro. Of the five, only one has consistently performed and so the majority of our custom goes through them. Their products haven't been perfect, which has caused frustrations, but their professionalism and service is. If there's a problem with a product, it costs

[Jawo]

This is an example of one of the watches in question. Most of you probably know where I got it from. It is the Oris Carlos Coste LE Chrono. Notice the lume flaw at the 4 o'clock marker and the bubbling of lume on the minute hand. This watch keep in mind was the new quality inspected piece after the intial batch was rejected by the dealer because of QC issues. I had to wait a month to get the watch you are looking at. How would you react?

[Pugwash]

You seem to have an argumentative style reminiscent of TeeJay... maybe even shades of a Pugwash

Is that a bad thing?

[crystalcranium]

Is that a bad thing?

There are some dealers here who have suffered and withstood attacks to their reputations, deserved or not, over the last 18 months for pricing, misrepresentation and gouging etc. We've been over that ad infinitum...but these "reputable" dealers are the only vendors in this black market who take some sense of responsibility for their product. I have had several watches that were less than perfect for one reason or another serviced to my satisfaction by the seller or refunded/credited. Yes, I agree...$400 is a lot of money for a watch...you would expect a Tissot for that much to perform flawlessly and stand up to close inspection but...we all know what we're buying here. Stay with the long timers for the best insurance and customer service.

[omegaunit]

Most of the reps I have purchased from recommended dealers have had flaws.

The worst was this one from Trusty...

This is totally unacceptable. It is quite obvious someone tried to pull a fast one on me.

Needless to say, I won't be buying from that dealer again.

A rep watch that costs 200 to 400 or more should be flawless or at least close to it.

Everyone should post pictures of these defective watches and name the dealer it was purchased from, maybe the QC would improve.

[UncleJay]

I agree 10000000000000000000000000000000%. I've bought 3 reps from members without a problem. Bought a Josh vintage Rolex GMT and a BIG order from DSN and nothing but problems. Below are links to my posts.

DSN

JOSH

[EuroTimez]

I genuinely do QC, as you can read in my signature. This is an very interesting post, I just made some policy regarding what to expect and what -- not.

As some things are just a part of buying a rep.

I must honestly admit however, I did made a few minor mistakes dispite my QC -which I took full responsibility of and has been taken care of already--.

As I inspect and know out of my head all the standard flaws which comes with a rep I tend to look at it first, but then there was came an better upgraded version of this rollie which had a slightly different dail. So I inspected for all obvious flaws which I knew from experience was an issue, but then one "small" word on the dial wasn't printed straight ---in all my years handling reps this was never an issue before so I never noticed it--- I even took quick pics of the watch prior to shipping, and it had to get send asap. Because I wanted to satisfy the customer in my haste I didn't even notice that flaw.

So when it arrived, the customer notified me and was obviously "rightfully" a bit upset --as I garantee QC-- thankfully I worked it out already and offered replacement and some extra as compensation for the loss of time. I will never knowingly / intentionally send an watch I wouldn't wear myself. So if it has bad lume I personally wouldn't wear it --- so I wouldn't sell it....

I now made some guidelines/policies which I will abide by, so I won't make these kind of mistakes because I'm in a hurry to satisfy the customer in a timely matter. I also want to let you know that dispite QC mistakes can be made (we're all human), but that would be in rare instances, the chance of getting a flawed rep is significantly reduced by QC! And if a mistake is made I think taking full responsibility for it and reply in an timely matter would solve most if not all problems. And of course shipping a replacement as soon as "possible".

Sometimes you won't get a refund from the factory, like for instance I bought an SOSF ETA (real new ETA) which is very very expensive for a client, the lume was totally crap and the factory wouldn't accept it back. Of course I cannot get it in this state shipped to my client, so I notified him it would take longer. Tried everything, even trying to swap the dail from another factory--which didn't fit-- and asked the client to choose another one as this factory is known for the bad lume. (see picture below)

So this is a loss which I have to accept and is a part of dealing, I told him I rather sell him nothing...... than crap! He's a very nice guy and understands it compelety so he choose for a TAG AQUARACER instead.

So I think, as long as the client understand that QC takes time, and understands that there are risks involved and sometimes it would be wiser to wait or change order,...... things could/would be worked out for the better between dealer and buyer. Comes down to clear and honest communication.

If you want to know more about the repworld can read more in my signature, about 60-70% watches aren't "perfect" (whatever you define by that is another story) out of the box. It needs fine-tuning next to the QC...

Edited May 6, 2008 by EuroTimez

[Jawo]

All I can say that it is fantastic and refreshing to have a dealer like you onboard. I know there have been a few dealers in the past that have undergone hand inspections, but I use the word few very lightly. I look forward to doing some business with you in the near future.

[littleme]

(I have bought watches from many of the dealer here so I'm fairly aware of what can happen and not an anxious beginner). I have a QC issuse at present witha dealer on this board (not named) I ordered a watch in march it arrived quickly and I had to return it the same day as the min hand had come loose.The second watch went back the same day I received it as the chrono would not work .Now in may ,I have no watch and light over

[AllergyDoc]

This watch keep in mind was the new quality inspected piece after the intial batch was rejected by the dealer because of QC issues. I had to wait a month to get the watch you are looking at. How would you react?

Silix.

I've been told that on EVERY order.

He/she told me that on a SS Daytona, then sent me one with a "running-hours-at-nine" dial and gouged crown guards:

Plus, look at the "3" on the dial:

(Already deleted the crown guard pics.)

I sent the "QC'ed" watch back and they did send me a new one, a different Daytona.

But the replacement was the wrong one!

I have to laugh every time someone posts that Silix told them the first watch didn't pass QC. Used to make me feel good, like they were actually checking the watches.

Until I got the Daytona.

It was a shame. The 1st seconds-at-nine Daytona I got from Silix is one of the best made replicas I own. Different "factory," I guess.

[Rolexman]

I genuinely do QC, as you can read in my signature. This is an very interesting post, I just made some policy regarding what to expect and what -- not.

Isn't this guy GREAT! He's setting a whole new standard!!

Believe me Chris, you're going to need 5 assistants .

Edited May 6, 2008 by Rolexman