. . . long story sorta short. Bought an Orient Star dress watch at a very good price from CreationWatches in January 2015. The good news: arrived in record time. The bad news: it's a dud. Bad canon pin. Minute hand was slipping. Took it to a local watch repair outfit figuring that if its an easy fix, I'll save time and hassle fixing it locally and asking for reimbursement. Problem: it's an Orient part. Can't be ordered.
Issue number 1: While Creation advertises a "1 Year Orient International Warranty", that's not the case. Orient's LA certified repair facility wouldn't touch it because CW is grey market. NOT happy. So $30 later, it's off to Singapore for repair in mid-February. Arrived safely in 10 days.
Issue No. 2: This thing has fallen into a black hole. Requests for updates are greeted with "we'll let you know". In June, they apologize for the delay telling me that "it arrived at the third party repair facility in June" and they've asked for expedited treatment. Meaning it sat around their Singapore location for over 3 months before it went to repairs. REALLY not happy.
So finally in July I've had enough. I tell them that I've moved on and simply want a refund. Yes, yes, I know I'm outside the refund period and yes, yes, I know I've sent it off for repair. But I'm simply not interested anymore. Refund the money to my PayPal account, keep the watch and we'll call it good - no hard feelings. Some purchases just don't work out. Unfortunately, my requests for a refund are simply ignored - I get the same stock "we'll let you know when repairs are complete" message. I try again - "Look, I want a refund. Please advise". Response: "we'll contact you when it comes back from repair". Like talking to a wall.
Maybe I've been spoiled buying from US micros - Bernhardt is a perfect example. Fred Amos bends over backwards in the event of a problem. CW just can't be bothered.
CreationWatches is terrific when it comes to purchases where everything goes right - fast shipping, good prices. But if there's a warranty issue, well . . . it's just not worth it. I've bought from CW before but this is the last time. The price does not justify the the brain damage in the event something is wrong.
I've learned my lesson - international grey market buyer beware.
UPDATE:
In the unlikely event anybody cares about this - or for the merely curious - we are nearing resolution.
The good: after 2 tries with 2 different repair shops, the watch is repaired.
The bad: CreationWatches now wants me to pay for international shipping back to me AND pay them an extra $20.00 for the repair. This is a warranty repair, mind you, on watch that was broken right out of the box. So adding up the $30 I paid to ship this thing back to Singapore, the $20 for the warranty work and the return ship, this watch will have cost me an extra $70.00. I told them to eat the costs and ship the watch - pronto.
We'll see what happens. But never again with these folks.
Issue number 1: While Creation advertises a "1 Year Orient International Warranty", that's not the case. Orient's LA certified repair facility wouldn't touch it because CW is grey market. NOT happy. So $30 later, it's off to Singapore for repair in mid-February. Arrived safely in 10 days.
Issue No. 2: This thing has fallen into a black hole. Requests for updates are greeted with "we'll let you know". In June, they apologize for the delay telling me that "it arrived at the third party repair facility in June" and they've asked for expedited treatment. Meaning it sat around their Singapore location for over 3 months before it went to repairs. REALLY not happy.
So finally in July I've had enough. I tell them that I've moved on and simply want a refund. Yes, yes, I know I'm outside the refund period and yes, yes, I know I've sent it off for repair. But I'm simply not interested anymore. Refund the money to my PayPal account, keep the watch and we'll call it good - no hard feelings. Some purchases just don't work out. Unfortunately, my requests for a refund are simply ignored - I get the same stock "we'll let you know when repairs are complete" message. I try again - "Look, I want a refund. Please advise". Response: "we'll contact you when it comes back from repair". Like talking to a wall.
Maybe I've been spoiled buying from US micros - Bernhardt is a perfect example. Fred Amos bends over backwards in the event of a problem. CW just can't be bothered.
CreationWatches is terrific when it comes to purchases where everything goes right - fast shipping, good prices. But if there's a warranty issue, well . . . it's just not worth it. I've bought from CW before but this is the last time. The price does not justify the the brain damage in the event something is wrong.
I've learned my lesson - international grey market buyer beware.
UPDATE:
In the unlikely event anybody cares about this - or for the merely curious - we are nearing resolution.
The good: after 2 tries with 2 different repair shops, the watch is repaired.
The bad: CreationWatches now wants me to pay for international shipping back to me AND pay them an extra $20.00 for the repair. This is a warranty repair, mind you, on watch that was broken right out of the box. So adding up the $30 I paid to ship this thing back to Singapore, the $20 for the warranty work and the return ship, this watch will have cost me an extra $70.00. I told them to eat the costs and ship the watch - pronto.
We'll see what happens. But never again with these folks.
