Joined
·
2 Posts
I recently purchased a "vintage" Fortis Spaceman Audacieuse watch from an eBay seller in Thailand. I should have known better than to purchase it, but the seller had great feedback, and I was excited about the watch so I assumed he was legit and ignored the red flags. Also, for some reason I didn't think there would be enough of a market to warrant creating detailed replicas for this watch, but I was wrong. It turns out the Spaceman watch was a counterfeit. It is a very convincing replica at first glance: The buckle is signed, and the back is stamped, it generally looks just like the real thing. If you open the back, the automatic rotating weight is even stamped Swiss Made, but upon further inspection you'll see that it is fake and cheaply made. I had this confirmed by a local professional watch dealer. I then contacted the seller, who pretended to be surprised and agreed to give me a refund if I returned it, which I did. He then kept the watch and refused to refund me my money. To make matters worse, by the time I reported it to eBay, it was too late to open a case so they would not let me contest it, which the seller was aware of when he agreed to refund me. I'm now out $400, and feeling a little stupid. I'm still contesting through my credit card company, but having a really hard time getting them to reverse the charge. Anyhow, for all watch collectors out there - beware of this seller. He/she is selling many ostensibly vintage watches, but I can only assume based on the dishonesty I experienced, that many or even all of them are fake. Learn from my mistakes, and beware when considering a purchase from this seller! Feel free to contact me with questions. I have all of the supporting emails and documentation to back it up, including all of his emails where he basically tells me I'm screwed. Thanks for reading!
