Watchfinder - A Rant

[Danstone]

I've always been a supporter of Watchfinder but that has just changed thanks to a thoroughly unpleasant experience in thr Royal Exchange boutique.

I've been trying to offload two watches recently and, thanks to the delight that is ebay non payers I had made the decision, knowing I would take a hit, to offload as a cash sale to Watchfinder, who I have bought from and sold to/through many times. I had submitted the details of the watches online so knew roughly the hit I would take and was happy with this.

Fast forward to today and I take the watches to the boutique to be met by Oliver. We had a brief discussion where I mentioned that I had received quotes. I did say that, half jokingly, due to the fact that I have a reasonably large buying history with them that I would hope that the offers would be at the higher end of the quotes but was told that it doesn't matter how much I had bought, the offer will be the offer and he wouldn't do me any favours.

Oliver examined the watches and took them away to check the timekeeping. On his return he told me that both watches required a service as both had timekeeping issues and one was losing twenty seconds a day. Now, the watch allegedly losing twenty seconds a day was last serviced two years ago and I would know if timekeeping was off by that amount. The other was serviced three months ago before I purchased it and timekeeping is pretty much spot on (as far as I can tell with no second hand). When I questioned the need for a service Olivers response was "Well you clearly know more than me sir so I don't think I'd like to buy your watches". He then repackaged them, slid them across the desk and said "Goodbye sir".

There was no more talking to him and, to be honest, the situation seemed like something out of a sitcom and has left me a little shocked. As I said, I expected to take a hit on the sale so I hope that this doesn't come across as a typical battering as I didn't like the offer, especially as I didn't receive an offer. I was prepared to take a hit but I was in no way prepared for the attitude and the way I was spoken to.

[GrandS]

I've always been a supporter of Watchfinder but that has just changed thanks to a thoroughly unpleasant experience in thr Royal Exchange boutique.

I've been trying to offload two watches recently and, thanks to the delight that is ebay non payers I had made the decision, knowing I would take a hit, to offload as a cash sale to Watchfinder, who I have bought from and sold to/through many times. I had submitted the details of the watches online so knew roughly the hit I would take and was happy with this.

Fast forward to today and I take the watches to the boutique to be met by Oliver. We had a brief discussion where I mentioned that I had received quotes. I did say that, half jokingly, due to the fact that I have a reasonably large buying history with them that I would hope that the offers would be at the higher end of the quotes but was told that it doesn't matter how much I had bought, the offer will be the offer and he wouldn't do me any favours.

Oliver examined the watches and took them away to check the timekeeping. On his return he told me that both watches required a service as both had timekeeping issues and one was losing twenty seconds a day. Now, the watch allegedly losing twenty seconds a day was last serviced two years ago and I would know if timekeeping was off by that amount. The other was serviced three months ago before I purchased it and timekeeping is pretty much spot on (as far as I can tell with no second hand). When I questioned the need for a service Olivers response was "Well you clearly know more than me sir so I don't think I'd like to buy your watches". He then repackaged them, slid them across the desk and said "Goodbye sir".

There was no more talking to him and, to be honest, the situation seemed like something out of a sitcom and has left me a little shocked. As I said, I expected to take a hit on the sale so I hope that this doesn't come across as a typical battering as I didn't like the offer, especially as I didn't receive an offer. I was prepared to take a hit but I was in no way prepared for the attitude and the way I was spoken to.

Well, you learned something and it did not cost you anything so never mind. Just never talk to those people again.

[poppy]

maybe he was embarresed by his own tactics failing and thought behaving like a real winner would save face!

it doesnt sound like much fun to recieve such "service"

i have bought from them before and really enjoyed the experience (albeit online) and have liaised with them about watches i fancy but havent pulled the trigger on. it does seem they can be less than excellent sometimes. if i had encountered your experience, i wouldnt be going back again.

[walkerwek1958]

I`ve never met these guys, I`ve heard various stories (good and bad) about them.

What seems odd is the attitude! I`m no salesman, but I`d expect Oliver to be far more cordial; it would've cost him nothing to say 'we'll give you the best price we can'....even if he knew that the offer would be the offer with no favours.

As to the timekeeping, that makes me suspicious. Was he willing to show the full set of figures from the timing machine, with amplitude and positional variance?.......I`ll bet he wasn`t. Both watches may have needed regulating but no more; given the service history that's what I would expect.

There's a way to be cordial and firm at the same time. A good dealer can still play hardball and still maintain a pleasant manner, it costs nothing. Why risk pissing someone off?

When I was a young man I fell out with a well-regarded local car dealer because of his attitude when making a derisory offer on my car. 15 years later, when he was trying to sell me something expensive, I quoted the incident and reminded him that customers have long memories. Why treat people badly just because you can`t meet their expectations on price?

Maybe Watchfinder don`t have enough competition?

Paul

[MadeOfCheese]

It does seem to be the case with a lot of the pre-owned watch shops that their service is exemplary when selling, but less than stellar when being asked to buy. I guess we shouldn't be that surprised by that.

We all know it's a buyer's market, but we also know that most of us end up buying more watches than we sell. Once they've lost you as a seller, they've definitely lost you as a buyer as well.

They're not all like that though. In my experience, the best attitude I've found was with David Duggan in Burlington Arcade and WatchCentre on Bond St. I didn't end up accepting the offer from either, but they were extremely gracious and professional in their attitude.

[Barton Red]

There was a similar thread on here fairly recently

http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ht=watchfinder

This one seems to have been resolved - it may be worth a read and contacting the same person?

I think we all accept a business is going to pay low rates and telling someone their property is worth less than they imagine must be pretty difficult, in this case it seems to me the guy was just rude and needs to work on his peronal skills - so as I say worth taking it up a bit further up the food chain?

[Thom4711]

[diver527]

Lol what would Larry David say to that Salesman??

Not good, Ive heard enough bad comments to keep me away from these guys.

[Enoch]

Doesn't surprise me one bit....... Before I knew better, I'd asked for a trade in price on a Panerai.... Without even seeing it I was told it would need a service and a refurb etc etc and therefor they could only pay £xxx

Had the same discussion with blowers, and the offer off the bat was £800 more... Yes £800 quid, with a promise that if the watch was exactly as I'd described they might go a bit more...

On inspection they gave me another £50 quid...... Covered my petrol to get there...

[Dave+63]

I had a similar problem with them a couple of years ago when selling on commission. I questioned the need for a new crystal and bezel on a watch I'd sent them and then asked for the old ones to be returned to me.
Their response was along the lines of "if you don't trust us then we don't want your business"!

[SlimJim16v]

Rude and dishonest. Wouldn't touch them with a barge pole now.

[christech81]

Sorry to hear of your bad experience, most of the dealers that I have dealt with have had "bad attitude" at times, it's great when I'm buying as I can walk, not so good when selling to them, can leave a bitter taste.

It's always upsetting to get a low ball offer but this quite often happens unless you have the right watch, i.e. one that is in demand or has a buoyant marketplace.

Being pragmatic, Watchfinder don't have to take your watch, you tried to sell it elsewhere and failed, they probably feel that if they bought it might languish in stock for a while, using words like "trying to offload" don't help either, perhaps they felt that you were wanting to pass the watches on quickly without hassle?

When dealing with these companies what you must realize is that a dealer does not owe anybody special treatment because they have purchased watches from them in the past, there does seem to be an attitude on a few posts here that think otherwise ("anyway the dealer owes me a favour").

Put the watches on SC or try another dealer, plenty out there.

[Gomers]

Oliver's a bit of a wanker, think you should have got the manager involved, condescending git. Have bought a couple from the WF site before with no issues. Kieran was good to deal with.

[mycroft]

Oliver's a bit of a wanker, think you should have got the manager involved, condescending git. Have bought a couple from the WF site before with no issues. Kieran was good to deal with.

I shouldn't have read this while drinking coffee - I laughed so much I spat it all over my keyboard.

There is no excuse for poor manners, and if he has such poor interpersonal skills then he should not be customer-facing (irresepective of whether he's buying or selling). I've spent 17 years training people in professional business skills, and frankly Gomers' evaluation seems spot-on.

Simon

[Cinch]

Doesn't surprise me one bit....... Before I knew better, I'd asked for a trade in price on a Panerai.... Without even seeing it I was told it would need a service and a refurb etc etc and therefor they could only pay £xxx

Had the same discussion with blowers, and the offer off the bat was £800 more... Yes £800 quid, with a promise that if the watch was exactly as I'd described they might go a bit more...

On inspection they gave me another £50 quid...... Covered my petrol to get there...

Going off track a bit but I traded in my Rolex LV in at Blowers and they gave me a great deal, much better than I expected and were very nice to deal with.

[Osian85]

I had a strange selling experience with them a few short months ago, they offered an estimate of Y to Z, then upon inspection only offered X to which I said hang on a minute you offered Y to Z and the watch requires no work! The sales guy then gave me a sugar coated 'bugger off then' thats the end of that I thought, but a few days later somebody higher up in the organisation contacted me with an apology and offered the original Z (purely for stock levels I believe) that seems to be their only driving factor; How many of this watch or that watch do we have/need, "if you dont have what were looking for right this second then bugger off".

Im sure it wouldn't cost them anything to be nice in any scenario - definately costs them if their not!

[DB9yeti]

I don't know who Oilver is, but the manager is Simon Moody (who will >not< be happy when he reads this) and the other guys in there I have dealt with are Martin and Michael; they genuinely can not do enough to help. I think I have bought 6 watches from them in the last year and half and sold them several, a great team and I enjoy my visits just to chat.

Sorry to hear about this :(

- - - Updated - - -

Im sure it wouldn't cost them anything to be nice in any scenario - definately costs them if their not!

^^ Spot on.

[learningtofly]

Oliver's a bit of a wanker, think you should have got the manager involved, condescending git. Have bought a couple from the WF site before with no issues. Kieran was good to deal with.

Is Oliver the guy with very closely cropped hair? If so, that's the chappy I had issues with too.

[burnsey66]

Is Oliver the guy with very closely cropped hair?

http://www.watchfinder.co.uk/info/People

Rather long and bouncy, it seems...

Edit: They don't half have a lot of employees with the role of 'Watch Polisher'.

[PreacherCain]

I once posted the watch to their main office for outright sale upon agreement of value. They received & said cosmetically everything is okay but require to go through timing test and so on. A few hours later, emailed to inform that the said watch is losing 1 minute a day (serviced by AP 7 months ago) & they advise to go for consignment sale if I would like to achieve the agreed value (I already declined their consignment offer on numerous occasions). I then requested the watch to be returned over the phone & the sales person said he would try to work out something with his manager & call me back.

Havent heard anything over 2 days & surprised to find out they have listed my watch for sale on their website (double the price of our agreed figure but it's another story). I called them again to explain everything and had my watch back following day without original box & paper. Another phone call for them to be returned back to me following day.

Their outright sale often gives you a value & undercuts you again. Well, least it's 2 out of 2 for me.

Good grief. That, plus sundry other stories on here, has put me off selling to or buying from them. I've noticed that the staff in the shop don't go in for the "hello, can I help you/are you looking for anything specific?" approach when I've been in there browsing, which (to me) doesn't seem particularly welcoming or engaging, but the stories on here reflact a lack of professionalism which is a colossal turn-off. Why support a business which behaves like that?

[100thmonkey]

http://www.watchfinder.co.uk/info/People

Is Alex Stonely Having a wee in his profile picture?

[100thmonkey]

Also smaller than Blowers with 10x the staff!

The strength of a wheel can be determined by the spokes, but put too many spokes in and it becomes cumbersome and heavy. The real skill is with the wheel maker who knows the right amount and the space required between them

[golfg60]

Is Alex Stonely Having a wee in his profile picture?

He's deff having a pee lol

[Danstone]

I've dealt with Michael and Martin before and I've been very impressed even had chats about watches with Michael when it has been clear that I'm not buying. I've spoken to two people over lunch, who were also both regular Watchfinder customers, and it seems that I'm not the only one that Oliver has pissed off. One no longer visits Watchfinder after an encounter with Oliver, and the other will walk out if Oliver is the only sales guy available. I find it a real shame for myself as I truely did believe that customer service was important to them and that I had built up quite a good relationship with them over the years. The boutique was also convenient for me as I work just over the road.

[seadog1408]

but the manager is Simon Moody (who will >not< be happy when he reads this) and the other guys in there I have dealt with are Martin and Michael

Is Simon a member here?

[100thmonkey]

Tom Holland wasnt ready either as he is still adjusting his tie

Sean Dawson has clearly been Papped as he is leaving the building

And has sarah Jayne King had a Tracheostomy or is that an eyeglass around her neck, if so poor choice of fashion accessory with that dress

[PJ S]

The strength of a wheel can be determined by the spokes, but put too many spokes in and it becomes cumbersome and heavy. The real skill is with the wheel maker who knows the right amount and the space required between them

You've been overdosing your meds again, haven't you?

[learningtofly]

I've dealt with Michael and Martin before and I've been very impressed even had chats about watches with Michael when it has been clear that I'm not buying. I've spoken to two people over lunch, who were also both regular Watchfinder customers, and it seems that I'm not the only one that Oliver has pissed off. One no longer visits Watchfinder after an encounter with Oliver, and the other will walk out if Oliver is the only sales guy available. I find it a real shame for myself as I truely did believe that customer service was important to them and that I had built up quite a good relationship with them over the years. The boutique was also convenient for me as I work just over the road.

I have a similar attitude towards Martin - in fact, I've walked in and walked straight out again a few times after seeing him sitting on his throne with no-one else available, as I simply won't deal with him again.

Two other things worthy of mention. Firstly, they have a lot of hotties on the payroll. Secondly, who wears lead watches, FFS

[Enoch]

Don't care about the others..... But Lydia can polish my watch any time...:)

[Dave+63]

http://www.watchfinder.co.uk/info/People

Rather long and bouncy, it seems...

Edit: They don't half have a lot of employees with the role of 'Watch Polisher'.

It seems to take a lot of people to run such a poor website!

[Incredible Sulk]

http://www.watchfinder.co.uk/info/People

Rather long and bouncy, it seems...

Edit: They don't half have a lot of employees with the role of 'Watch Polisher'.

It seems to take a lot of people to run such a poor website!

Pop up on the website says 'We're hiring'

[burnsey66]

Pop up on the website says 'We're hiring'

Perhaps they should change the 'h' to an 'f'...

[learningtofly]

You clearly need to spend more time out of Borehamwood.

You may have a point there.

[100thmonkey]

http://www.watchfinder.co.uk/info/People

Rather long and bouncy, it seems...

Edit: They don't half have a lot of employees with the role of 'Watch Polisher'.

With that many polishers they should rebrand to 'WatchGrinder'

[Incredible Sulk]

With that many polishers they should rebrand to 'WatchGrinder'

They could go and work for Rolex. They aren't averse to a bit of case grinding.

[Kakadu]

Just had an email with latest offerings.....must say the pictures of the watches seem "unreal" maybe over
shopped.....the 806 they have for sale made me wonder how much they gave the poor bloke against his
new watch.......I would reckon nearer a grand than 1500.

[Neely8]

I've noticed that the staff in the shop don't go in for the "hello, can I help you/are you looking for anything specific?" approach when I've been in there browsing, which (to me) doesn't seem particularly welcoming or engaging

My experience exactly; completely ignored me when I walked in. Blowers are the complete opposite.

[CVByrne]

I assume they make most of their sales via their site. ie Nobody really walking in and has a look then buys something. Which could explain why they're not very welcoming.

They probably have to deal with a lot of people who know a lot about watches and so there is probably plenty of this charade where they're never going to offer a fair price for this particular watch and you're never going to accept their lowball offer. So it probably becomes a bit tedious or irritating to go through the same thing over and over.

Not making excuses for them, I've not had any good experience with them at all really.

[FellBasher]

That's awful and would make me as angry as it must've made you. I also approached them when I wanted to sell my PO 45.5, was given a min - max range valuation and based on the fact that the watch a few weeks before had a full Omega service and re-furb, was hoping for the top end of the their valuation.

I chased them up as I did not hear from them within the timescales they gave to be told they could offer me the very bottom valuation. When I explained my disappointment and the reasons, to their credit they did reconsider but could only better it by £50. I had it posted back to me and sold it for £50 more than their max valuation to Swiss Watch Trader which although I understand didn't exactly do himself any favours on here, gave a very good and smooth service and very prompt payment.

Going back to your experience, I'd have complained. I'd still suggest you complain in writing to their head office / CEO.

Jon

[TikTokTrev]

A few years back I drove to Maidstone with a view to buying a watch from them.
Described as mint, but was nowhere near....a wasted journey.
The atmosphere in their office was a little pushy for my liking.
This thread reinforces the decision I made at the time not to deal with them again.

[Foxy100]

http://www.watchfinder.co.uk/info/People

Why do so many of them have issues with looking at a camera?

[Dave+63]

Why do so many of them have issues with looking at a camera?

Habit.

And they're not allowed to wear hoodies!

[MFB Scotland]

Happy to view the talent. 2 positive experiences with them. I suppose I had two happy endings :)

[jchlu]

The staff gallery is hilarious.
Emily has the cheekiest grin I've seen in a long time and is obviously going to cover the staff toilet seats in cellophane and put laxatives in the coffee machine on her last day after one too many jokes about her surname.

[GrandS]

Good grief, with all that staff on the payroll/gravy train, no wonder they need to sell high and buy low.

I have read this thread and I understand that they are a poorly run business. What I struggle to get my head around is that people actually return there, having been treated badly before and knowing the kind of operation that they run. Masochism perhaps?

[seabiscuit]

Jonathan Gill, one of the directors, looks so like Mel Smith, it's uncanny.

[ArghZombies]

Good grief, with all that staff on the payroll/gravy train, no wonder they need to sell high and buy low.

I have read this thread and I understand that they are a poorly run business. What I struggle to get my head around is that people actually return there, having been treated badly before and knowing the kind of operation that they run. Masochism perhaps?

It's good for viewing some nice watches pretty close up. Plus, if you're as obviously unlikely to buy anything as I am then all the sales staff leave you well alone, so you can browse totally unharrassed!

[scarto]

Sorry to hear of your bad experience, most of the dealers that I have dealt with have had "bad attitude" at times, it's great when I'm buying as I can walk, not so good when selling to them, can leave a bitter taste.

It's always upsetting to get a low ball offer but this quite often happens unless you have the right watch, i.e. one that is in demand or has a buoyant marketplace.

Being pragmatic, Watchfinder don't have to take your watch, you tried to sell it elsewhere and failed, they probably feel that if they bought it might languish in stock for a while, using words like "trying to offload" don't help either, perhaps they felt that you were wanting to pass the watches on quickly without hassle?

When dealing with these companies what you must realize is that a dealer does not owe anybody special treatment because they have purchased watches from them in the past, there does seem to be an attitude on a few posts here that think otherwise ("anyway the dealer owes me a favour").

Put the watches on SC or try another dealer, plenty out there.

All that being said, this Oliver character seems to have been unnecessarily rude for no good reason. There is NO excuse for that.

[scarto]

Good grief. That, plus sundry other stories on here, has put me off selling to or buying from them. I've noticed that the staff in the shop don't go in for the "hello, can I help you/are you looking for anything specific?" approach when I've been in there browsing, which (to me) doesn't seem particularly welcoming or engaging, but the stories on here reflact a lack of professionalism which is a colossal turn-off. Why support a business which behaves like that?

Literally a couple of hours ago, I was considering taking a watch there for a quote. This story has put me right off.

I have bought from them once and had conversations about sourcing pieces a couple of times - even went to their opening event at Royal Exchange that a few other TZers were at. I recognise this Oliver person from that night.

Hearing stuff like this definitely makes a difference to me though.

[bokbok]

Similar thing happen to a mate of mine with 2 rolexs both well in warranty, time keeping is out so they offered him below the bottom valuation that he received by email. But when I requested a valuation a week or so ago it does state you will get a final offer on inspection, so the offer by email means nothing till you send the watch in for the final offer !!!