Reply With QuoteTell them that you need it sized for you 8” wrist at no extra cost. If they refuse, buy from a dealer who will sell you a watch that you can actually wear.
I just called Watchfinder because I’m interested in a watch they have advertised for sale on their website. I was told that the watch in question was sized for a 6.5 inch wrist and that although it had arrived with them with several spare links, these would not be included in the sale, rather I’d have to pay extra if I needed the bracelet to be bigger. Is that other people’s experience? Seems rather odd to me. The chap on the phone suggested that if I wanted extra links - which I think most people would because a 6.5 inch wrist is rather small - then I would have to buy them. It’s an old watch (20+ years) and I’d prefer the original bracelet links to get some continuity in condition, but they appeared not to be able to guarantee that either, even if I did pay extra. Interested in other people’s experiences of this company, specifically in relation to this links issue. Thanks.
Tell them that you need it sized for you 8” wrist at no extra cost. If they refuse, buy from a dealer who will sell you a watch that you can actually wear.
Yes, problem is it’s not that common a watch, I’ve been looking for a quite a while for one. I’ll likely call back and see if someone can establish whether the links are still in the box or they’ve already separated them. I don’t mind paying more to get it to fit, I was just surprised at what seemed like an odd policy.
If you search on Ebay for watchfinder you will find they have plenty of links for sale.....it appears they split up full sets,links & straps to sell separately. Missing or taking links is quite a common con for grey dealers.
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That’s extraordinary. What a swindle. Personally it’d be enough for me to walk away, but I guess if they won’t budge and you have to have the watch, you’ll have to eat the cost. Cheeky as hell though, IMO.
It has never been my experience with WF.
I have always requested enough links for an 8" wrist on any watch I have purchased from them and they have been provided.
What I thought most odd was that the guy on the phone readily explained the procedure to me. He said they normally had links for all kinds of brands floating about that they’d removed from watches for sale and they could normally dig something out - at cost - if a particular bracelet needed to be bigger. I wish I could remember exactly what he said now … but it was something along those lines. Which is a bit cheeky. Anyway, I will - boringly - probably have to swallow it because the watch I’m after isn’t that commonplace. If it was anything that I could easily source elsewhere I’d be doing exactly that.
Unfortunately not my experience. I’ll call them again and see what they say.Originally Posted by boring_sandwich
if true, it's pretty sharp practice. I can just about tolerate the fact that they'll sell spare links, but to charge you for links already taken so the watch you're buying off them actually fits. WTH??
They seem to want to make a profit from the customer at every angle. IMHO that's not a strategy to ensure repeat business. Would leave a nasty taste in my mouth if they tried that with me.
Of course with my own 6.75inch wrist there's a good chance that every watch would fit me! I'm thinking about the inevitable resale though should I get bored and move it on.
I agree. Sharp practice, but you're either prepared to pay the total price, or you're not. Even if I was, I'd be asking to speak to a manager & say this was leaving a bad taste that would put me off buying from them again.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Just in case anyone points fingers, I too have an eBay store selling spare links -- among other things like AP, IWC, JLC and Patek booklets, TAG Heuer boxes etc. These items almost exclusively come from insurance salvage lots that I buy. It can be well illustrated that I don't deal in those AP, IWC, JLC or Patek watches and so I haven't stripped the accessories from them !
As for Watchfinder, they can do what they like with property which is theirs, although I'm not sure trying to sell a watch at 6.5" is ideal if they have removed the spare links from that very watch. By the way, to the best of my knowledge Rolex and perhaps some other brands will now charge extra for additional links if you have an especially large wrist or just wish to wear it very loose #gangsta.
H
Last edited by Haywood_Milton; 13th November 2023 at 12:58.
Ive bought links from watchfinder on ebay and had watches sourced from them that lacked the full set of links so I assumed long ago that they harvested the links to make a few extra bob.
Keith
When I’ve spoken to them before they’ve stated they supply enough links to fit your wrist regardless of how many links that is but they would be precious for a TT or PM watch. Never actually bought or sold via WF but it would also be enough for me to walk away.
Quick update - I called Watchfinder back and spoke to someone else. He said that they would size the watch to fit my wrist at no extra charge. I told him what his colleague had said earlier this morning and he thought that perhaps that person might have been confused … possibly around what gets supplied with watches physically in stock vs watches being held by third party sellers through their relatively new Marketplace inventory. He said his experience was that they’d always do their best to fit a watch for a buyer’s wrist without incurring an extra charge (as a poster has already mentioned here). So, that’s different info from two different people but from that last conversation my gut feeling is the first guy had got it wrong. Either that or I misunderstood but I’m pretty sure I didn’t, he was fairly clear. The plot thickens. Meanwhile, I’ve bought the watch and managed to negotiate a discount so Watchfinder have gone from no thanks to yes please and all’s well in the end. I shall post pictures when it arrives!
This. I always research how many links the bracelet should have and tell them I have an 8 incher so I'll need all the links. Nice little earner for them in the link supply business.
It's how they keep the prices down so low.
I agree.
In fact if the watch was sold as standard 8" then I would price up the links from a supplier then offer their price minus the links price.
I have done this before with another place and they had a procedure in place that all offers had to be reviewed by "my manager" so I spoke to the manager and he had to agree with my logic otherwise they were selling an incomplete watch.
Give it a go.
B
Is that why your watches are always so expensive? *
*for anyone not aware of Haywood’s business, his prices are probably the keenest you will get from a dealer and the watch will be far better than the description suggests.
Enquired about this as great watches and asked why 16.5 ? As wont fit me
Reply.
Having looked into the notes I can confirm this is however the previous owner supplied the watch to us, we will however always endeavour to make the watch to the requested wrist size, if you have your wrist measurements to hand I can speak to our parts department.
https://www.watchfinder.co.uk/IWC/Pi...77/item/260429
Im convinced they do take links and stuff out and resell on fleabay very odd practice but hey it’s WF
Can be quite lucrative
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364157228...UAAOSwF1djdMnn
Last edited by TKH; 13th November 2023 at 14:36.
First impressions indeed, that's WF off my list, such poor grammar for a prestige luxury goods company. [On topic, I now have an 8"" wrist when buying watches remotely.]
lol :)
It's just a matter of time...
I'm convinced they strip out extra links, straps etc to sell on their eBay store. They even separate buckles from straps. As noted above, they can do as they wish with the items they have bought, they're theirs after all, but it's hardly likely to endear them to customers I'd think...
I purchased a planet ocean from them and I requested an additional link which they provided at no extra charge.
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Exactly this.
They didnt even bother to return my calls,go elsewhere is my advice.
Unfortunately this is similar to my experience with Watchfinder. I bought a watch from them and they stripped the bracelet of most of the usable links before shipping it; I know this because I downloaded pictures of the watch from their website before purchasing it.
Needless to say when the watch arrived it was far too small to fit my wrist. After several telephone calls and heated exchanges I gave up with them and ordered a couple of new links from the manufacturer. The complication I had was that I part exchanged a watch which they had sold on.
Additional cost to me was £70 but I was more annoyed with the fact that Watchfinder felt they could penny pinch to the detriment of good customer service. Haven’t purchased from them since and I’ll think twice about dealing with them again in the future.
^ I would have returned as not sold as seen. I assume you got an excellent deal to not stand your ground.
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Not particularly, low balled px offer bumped by a couple of hundred at point of sale.
If they are not selling the full set but wish to charge above a full set price, that would be a ‘get stuffed’ from me and a walk away.
Disgraceful behaviour, and I'm surprised they are not capable of taking a wider view on this. You would think that the reputational damage and loss of repeat custom would more than outweigh the benefit of making a few quid flogging links.
There again, you'd also think common sense would tell them that if they are going to take links out of a bracelet before selling the watch, they should take the pictures of the watch they will use to sell it after taking out the links.
Spivs, and not even particularly clever spivs, it would appear.
Last edited by Fullbreakfast; 14th November 2023 at 17:57.
The website always seems to state 'this is a picture of the actual watch'....that should mean you receive at least the links in the picture
Just as a counter, I bought from them for the first time a few weeks ago.
They were attentive and helpful, were happy to haggle, and I had a generally great experience.
I even had a concern over the manufacturers warranty that should have been in place (totally my fault, I had misread paperwork) and they did very quickly offered to extend their own warranty from 2 to 4 years if I wanted.
I also asked a question over spare links, as the bracelet was a perfect fit but perhaps in the hot weather may be tight - and they are going to send me one out at no cost.
I dealt with one salesman throughout, and we seemed to get on. Maybe it comes down the individual and the day.
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Last edited by notenoughwrists; 20th November 2023 at 23:09.
A watch should ideally be sold with the number of links originally supplied from new, if not all links are available the price should drop to reflect this. Watchfinder are taking advantage of buyers, their prices are high to start with and they’re trying to squeeze more profit by selling spare links separately.
Unfortunately there are idiots who buy an expensive watch but are incapable of looking after the spare links, they start off in the box which ends up getting lost. I’ve no issues buying a watch without box and papers but all too often the watch is short of links too because the bozo who bought it originally lost the lot.
Watchfinder will buy in such watches, box, papers and spare links are missing, so they address this by taking spare links from other similar watches if required.
I posted earlier on in this thread that, after being told I’d have to pay extra for links by someone manning the Watchfinder phones, I’d managed to get through to someone else who offered to size the watch properly for me at no extra cost and even give me a small discount. The purchase process was simple, he said - he’d email me a payment link with the promised discount applied and I’d settle the bill by bank transfer. Great I thought.
But the email didn’t arrive, so I called to chase and when it did finally land in my inbox, several hours later, the discount hadn’t been applied. So I called back to ask for a fresh link and someone said they’d resend it. Only they never did, because as I discovered later, the watch had already been bought by someone else.
Perhaps their system doesn’t allow you to reserve a watch, which is fine, but then don’t take 2+ hours to organise a sale after having offered a discount on a particular piece. Pretty crap actually. So that’s me out.
...and not only that, the bloke who does their YouTube videos is just a cut rate version of John Osborne playing Cyril Kinnear in Get Carter.
Last edited by Fullbreakfast; 21st November 2023 at 13:46.
He does have quite an annoying voice. Not quite as annoying as T “I promise to update daily” Mosso at the watchbox dot com. I can only watch his videos with the sound turned down.
Have to say that the final domino has tumbled.
No buys big reductions. Top trade to trade dealers holding no stock and seeking other commodities and watchfinder offering another grand off their already £1k reduced watch just ices the cake on values.
Scavenging links and afterselling offline spares. All a perfect storm
RIAC
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