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Thread: Bought a watch off Horology House?

  1. #51
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    Wow, this is scary stuff. I'd watched a couple of his videos on Youtube, he seemed on the up and I would of certainly fell for it too.

  2. #52
    Master Alansmithee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Griswold View Post
    His total intake was $257,500! And that's only so far....
    Let us work on the basis that many many rubes will not be active on forums...

  3. #53
    Grand Master mart broad's Avatar
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    I FEEL LIKE I'M DIAGONALLY PARKED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE

  4. #54
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mart broad View Post
    Saw this today
    Half baked attempt at summarising TRF thread which is now locked.

  5. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alansmithee View Post
    Let us work on the basis that many many rubes will not be active on forums...
    That is what’s frightening, it could be just the tip of the iceberg.
    If he has lost all that money to whatever extracurricular activities he was doing, in light of potential jail time, I think everyone’s going to be SOL.


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  6. #56
    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    Half baked attempt at summarising TRF thread which is now locked.

    It was always going to get locked once someone had used the phrase 'escape goat'.

  7. #57
    Master ozzyb123's Avatar
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    Bought a watch off Horology House?

    Quote Originally Posted by Rob View Post
    It was always going to get locked once someone had used the phrase 'escape goat'.
    The mods on that forum are a little heavy handed

    rather than guide the thread they enforce rules through bans

    I think that thread needed to stay open for others to come out in the open and for updates on the situ


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  8. #58
    Quote Originally Posted by ozzyb123 View Post
    The mods on that forum are a little heavy handed

    rather than guide the thread they enforce rules through bans

    I think that thread needed to stay open for others to come out in the open and for updates on the situ


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    Yes, it's taken a couple of days to read and I figured it had been closed when I saw it had stuck on 52 pages all day.

    I would agree the mods were heavy handed, banning someone towards the end for 'victim shaming' for example....the banning of someone that posted their bad experience (although got their money back eventually) but somehow managed to get themselves banned 6 posts later.....good grief

  9. #59
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob View Post
    Yes, it's taken a couple of days to read and I figured it had been closed when I saw it had stuck on 52 pages all day.

    I would agree the mods were heavy handed, banning someone towards the end for 'victim shaming' for example....the banning of someone that posted their bad experience (although got their money back eventually) but somehow managed to get themselves banned 6 posts later.....good grief
    I'm shocked I'm still allowed on there. I have 3 infractions but no idea what for. They're so heavy handed at times. Separately I had an argument with a mod in DM, told him to f off but wasn't banned for it.

  10. #60
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    Scottish Watches podcast have just released an interview with the buyer of the Daytona, so chapter and verse on from one side at least

  11. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by Senninha View Post
    Scottish Watches podcast have just released an interview with the buyer of the Daytona, so chapter and verse on from one side at least
    Is it bad that at this point, this is all getting a little bit exciting?

    It’s the same kind of feeling you might get watching one of those weird murder investigation series on Netflix. Who knows when this plot will twist????


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  12. #62
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    Quote Originally Posted by davidj54 View Post
    Just been reading up on all this after seeing his half baked apology Insta post.

    In a nutshell he seems to have sold a Daytona to a guy via an Aussie FB selling page for $29,000 Aussie dollars. Issued the guy with a fake tracking number. Claimed the item had been stolen and he was chasing it via the insurers. Except the insurers he claimed he was using apparently don’t cover the postage method he said he’d used. He then offers to replace the ‘lost’ watch with one from his own persona collection (another Daytona). After some discussion the buyer agrees, and he (Chris) sends him the watch. Except the buyers mate inspects the watch and exposes it as a fake. Buyer demands a refund, Chris now says he doesn’t have the money for a refund but will have it soon.

    This saga went on for a couple of months before the guy got his money back, with Chris slow walking him and using various excuses including people he knows dying in the volcano eruption and his parents house burning down in the Aussie bushfires. It has subsequently come to light that he’s been charging a 10% goods tax which he isn’t registered for, which amounts to tax fraud. And also, somebody on Reddit reverse google imaged the pic he sent the buyer of his parents house on fire, and it turned out to be a generic news pic that he’d downloaded. As mentioned above there are now others coming out of the woodwork claiming similar experiences in their dealings with him. His YouTube channel has now vanished, and he’s locked down his social media to comments.


    Shocking really. I’ve always quite enjoyed his vids (although he himself is a bit of a dullard).
    Thanks for that clear summary.

  13. #63
    Craftsman petay993's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob View Post
    It was always going to get locked once someone had used the phrase 'escape goat'.

  14. #64
    Master davidj54's Avatar
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    The guy has ripped people off for sure, but I’m not sure we, as interested observers, will get much more out of it now. People seem to be expecting him to resurface at some point and tell us all about it. But we’re talking about accusations of fairly substantial fraud here. If he has any sense he would’ve taken some legal advice. And I’d wager part of that advice would be to lay low, not comment on it publicly and not engage on social media about it. His reputation has been destroyed beyond repair, he has nothing to gain by reappearing at this stage, just more to lose. I’d be very surprised if the watch community ever sees or hears from him again.

  15. #65
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    Bought a watch off Horology House?

    If his alleged gambling habit is true, then I expect he was involved in a big Ponzi scheme he set up to stay afloat after some escalating losses. Then he tried to get it back with the big pay day that just lead to more losses, more excuses, more delays, etc. Then finally the desperation sale of the fake Daytona. He doesn’t seem to have operated as a con man. Maybe if he really dropped off the face of the earth and took a lot more people’s money.
    That would be my guess based on the limited info available. Classic addiction behavior slowly overtaking everything in their lives and leaving a pile of rubble in their wake.
    Of course that doesn’t excuse his alleged behavior in any way. It just explains the motive for the actions.


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    Last edited by Dr.Brian; 18th February 2020 at 11:44.

  16. #66
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    Any new news on this? Can’t help but be a little curious about what happened to Chris, did he sell more fakes, did people get paid back, did he go to court, are there new allegations???


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  17. #67
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    Quote Originally Posted by ozzyb123 View Post
    Any new news on this? Can’t help but be a little curious about what happened to Chris, did he sell more fakes, did people get paid back, did he go to court, are there new allegations???


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    He registered for GST on 1st Jan 2020 and backdated it to 10th April 2017.

    How far it has been backdated to is quite telling in how far the fraud (of GST at least) must go back to.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B8gKx-gnEsz/

  18. #68
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    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    He registered for GST on 1st Jan 2020 and backdated it to 10th April 2017.

    How far it has been backdated to is quite telling in how far the fraud (of GST at least) must go back to.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B8gKx-gnEsz/
    Wait is he back on YouTube now?!


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  19. #69
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ozzyb123 View Post
    Wait is he back on YouTube now?!
    Yep! And has deleted a few choice videos. Notably the fake Vs real one/s. Amazing the balls on this guy.

  20. #70
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    Quote Originally Posted by Suds View Post
    Does make you wonder how many poor sods have just put a super fake in their safe as an investment and won't even get around to trying to service the watch?
    THIS^^^^^^
    So true, there must be 1,000s of people who have done this.

  21. #71
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    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    Yep! And has deleted a few choice videos. Notably the fake Vs real one/s. Amazing the balls on this guy.
    Wowsers - huge balls. I notice comments are disabled. He must think many people have short memories.

  22. #72
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    For those that haven't heard the interview with the customer who was sold the fake Daytona, here it is:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRb0ceZESuA&t=1s

  23. #73
    Master ozzyb123's Avatar
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    The vast majority of people probably will still watch his videos and he will keep getting tens of thousands of views per video. That will net him significant ad revenue - a few thousand $ per video.

    If he keeps comments off he’ll shield himself from the majority of public negativity.

    Big question for me is now if he brings his strap business back to life. I can’t see him being too involved in the community - probably won’t ever get any tie ins with brands or collaborations with other watch people for example.

    I think he will double down on YouTube and straps. He will still make decent money from both.


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  24. #74
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
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    Issue with reviews is he was borrowing watches off people to do the reviews. Didn't the person who loaned him the SD43 struggle to get it back? Did they get it back at all? That will limit his exposure to other watches to review.

  25. #75
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    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    Issue with reviews is he was borrowing watches off people to do the reviews. Didn't the person who loaned him the SD43 struggle to get it back? Did they get it back at all? That will limit his exposure to other watches to review.
    This. Manufacturers wont want to necessarily be seen being cosy with him so might stop event invites and loaning watches etc. Without the stream of varied content the channel might suffer.

  26. #76
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    Quote Originally Posted by ozzyb123 View Post
    The vast majority of people probably will still watch his videos and he will keep getting tens of thousands of views per video. That will net him significant ad revenue - a few thousand $ per video.
    You’re massively over estimating how much YouTube pays out.

  27. #77
    Master ozzyb123's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    Issue with reviews is he was borrowing watches off people to do the reviews. Didn't the person who loaned him the SD43 struggle to get it back? Did they get it back at all? That will limit his exposure to other watches to review.
    I hadn’t heard about that. This guy is a gift that keeps on giving.

    He will have friends I’m sure who he can borrow watches from

    Isn’t he still part of that Australian Facebook group too. When this news first broke he did have a loyal band of apologists who have stuck by him!


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  28. #78
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    Quote Originally Posted by Oafley Jones View Post
    You’re massively over estimating how much YouTube pays out.
    Yes you’re probably right actually. His channel has had 6.6m views in a year, netting him about £17k / AUS $33k in ad revenue (assuming he hits average YouTube cpm and he monetised from day 1, which he didn’t)




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  29. #79
    Master ozzyb123's Avatar
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    Someone has set up an Instagram page with his old handle (@horologyhouse) and it is brutal




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  30. #80
    Hilarious. Followed 😂😂😂

    Quote Originally Posted by ozzyb123 View Post
    Someone has set up an Instagram page with his old handle (@horologyhouse) and it is brutal




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  31. #81
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    Horology House - The Lost TV News Interview
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddxePSNXMXU

    Brought to you by Scottish Watches



    Would you buy a second-hand car from this man?
    Last edited by abraxas; 27th February 2020 at 23:46.

  32. #82
    Master ozzyb123's Avatar
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    Oh no


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