Whenever I see Kobold, this comes to mind.

 

Would not get myself Koboled!

 

If Michael Kobold is still involved, then I don't think they've fully rid themselves of the saboteurs.

 

The employee they are referring to that sabotaged has many an alias....employee, saboteur, founder, Kobold...

 

Take a look at the Kobold website. The pricing is ridiculous and the offerings are all over the place, definitely not top notch watches or watchmaking. I believe all the original suppliers are gone, done or simply over the Kobold-ing and shenanigans that have gone on for years. It is now based out of Germany to avoid the U.S. lawsuits against the brand.

It almost amounts to a SCAM Micheal Kobold has played on everyone he came in contact with. 100% Customer Satisfaction is insulting at this point……

 

6k for a 2824? Ha….

 

Pretty brazen to think he can just wave his hand and clean up the reputation of such an ill regarded brand name. Did any of his cheated customers get made whole? I'm pretty sure he still owes Nepal some fire trucks, too.

 

Hard to fix something when you are running away 🤠

Someone on eBay is selling off the auction items from the Kobold Liquidators Sale for bargain prices. All kinds of random items!

 

It's a basic tenet of management that you are responsible for outcomes. You don't blame the team or expose the sausage making. You humbly acknowledge that there were mistakes, that they have been addressed and this is the plan going forward.

Or you could go with the 8 year old caught doing something bad approach. Maybe that'll work.

 

This is my favorite soap opera in watchdom. It's like the Fyre Festival WISes.

 

what followed between 2013-2018 were years of internal sabotage by now-former employees.

What did they do to the former employees? My mind is wondering off in strange places.

 

This is the first I've heard of it. If I don't know about it, others probably don't either. New "customers"....

 

Pathetic

 

Was it worse than Ocean7? Man that owner was horrible. Sucks too because I liked some of the designs.

 

I liked Ocean7's designs when his so-called "tegimented" dive watches weren't literally rusting away on my wrist, with him telling me it was my fault... ahhh 2013... good times...

 

 

I like some of the designs, actually. But before anyone is dumb enough to put a down payment on this, for example:

It would probably be wise to read this 2018 post on TimeZone.com:

TimeZone : Public Forum » The Truth Behind Michael Kobold & the Kobold Watch Co.

the world\'s watch information resource

forums.timezone.com

which explains many of the company’s, and Michael Kobold’s, lunacy.

 

Geeeeesh.....

 

I used to drool over Kobold watches. Used to. Even in the current website pics you can see misaligned bezels and dials...

 

That was posted over 2 years ago.

KOBOLD X NEPAL

A Message for our Customers +++NEW UPDATE+++ 13 February, 2022 Kobold is back! In 2021, we laid the groundwork to successfully rebuild the company that in its heyday rang in the renaissance of American watchmaking. After clearing the wait list for most models, including the Polar Surveyor...

koboldwatch.com

It also says

This year will also see the grand opening of the new Kobold retail boutique watch manufacturing center.

Uh, guess that didn't happen!

And this:

Read more about what happened at Kobold and the steps we are taking to rebuild the company: A Message From The Founder

Clicking on that link is fun!

 

I'm angry at M. Kobold not just for what he did but because he brought infamy to such excellent watches that, just on their own merits, deserved to become icons. I've had a browse at their current offering and I have to say I still like most of their watches, which is very rare for me. It really is too bad.

 

He had everything and more to be successful,(help from Chronoswiss ,Gandolfini, Sir Ralph, Navy Seals, strong fan base) and yet he totally F'ed it up to an unbelievably dishonest extreme.
He help make/ create the troubling term KOBLOD'ed with his mishandling of anything he touched. Could be a great Netflix story! 😲

 

The word kobold always reminds me of this fictional kobold creature:

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Kobold

 

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on glue.

 

We proved all the critics wrong

**Citation needed

 

Kobold me once…

Kobold me twice…can’t get Kobolded again!

 

from their site (my highlight):

Kobold is back! When Kobold was founded in 1998, everyone told us it would fail. We proved all the critics wrong and in the process blazed the trail for the renaissance of American watchmaking. What followed between 2013-2018 were years of internal sabotage by now-former employees. Today, a new team is ensuring that every customer is 100% satisfied. We've taken the steps necessary to rebuild our company and now our customer service team is happy to answer your questions and address your concerns.

I thought the issue was people never getting the watches they paid for, useless customer service and warranties that weren't honored. How were employees able to 'sabotage' this business for 5 years without Michael Kobold knowing about it?!?

Fool me once....

He pulls this stunt about once a year.

 

All news to me. I've heard the brand name before but know little more than that.

You seldom see any company post that past employees sabotaged their brand but we're all good now so go ahead and buy from us.

 

The guy won't stop posting about it and if you do any digging on the situation the story plays out like a made for TV movie! It was really pretty wild. Sadly, a lot people got screwed.

 

from their site (my highlight):
What followed between 2013-2018 were years of internal sabotage by now-former employees.

Is Michael Kobold himself fired? not in his own company? To me, he seems to be the most problematic person in Kobold itself.