UPDATE 2/1: I have a really disappointing update on Exquisite Timepieces. We saw Ralph from Exquisite Timepieces post here defending the company. Ralph contacted me directly, made some excuses about internal changes when my issue occurred and offered me a $1,200 credit. I thought that could be a legitimate attempt to right the wrongs from a year ago, but it could also just be a salesman’s ploy to make money off of me while making it seem like he’s taking care of my issue. I would see how it played out.
Well, I gave Ralph the top five watches on my list at the moment, none currently in stock at Exquisite Timepieces. But I told him the most satisfactory way to resolve this with me was to get me the Grand Seiko they agreed to sell me a year ago. And if he gave me the $1,200 off the price we had previously agreed upon, I would know this was a real offer. We had agreed on the SBGH267 Whirlpool for $8,400, so if he really wants to give me $1,200 off then that would be $7,200. He responded that he would work on it, but it being a limited edition makes it difficult to source. I said that I understood, there was no rush and if he got it for me at that price anytime in the next year or so, I would feel made whole.
So does Ralph take his time to try to make this right? No, he comes back to me at the end of that same day saying he is able to secure the Grand Seiko. And guess what he actually dares to ask for? The same $9k they tried to upcharge me with before! And it wasn’t $9k minus the $1,200 credit he promised. He said the $9k price would include the $1,200 credit he offered. Can you believe that?
He defended this asking price by saying the market has increased on the watch in the past year and that I already knew that. I responded that I don’t know that. Since I got the Monaco when they backed out of the deal on the Grand Seiko, I haven’t been looking for another watch. But I did a simple Google search right then and easily found the watch offered on eBay never worn and with an extra leather strap for $8,600 and pre-owned at a local shop here in Southern California for $8,750. And I don't have a whole network at my disposal.
I find it shameful that Exquisite Timepieces’ idea of fixing this problem was to try to upcharge me by the same amount as before. I said to go ahead and take a year or so to source the Grand Seiko to make this right. And I probably would have been fine with it if he came back offering it to me for anything less than the previous agreed-upon amount. If it proved impossible over the course of a year for them to source the Grand Seiko at a price that made sense to offer me, there were four other watches I gave them that they could have worked on. Instead, he comes back that same day matching the previous attempt to upcharge me and saying it also included the $1,200 credit offered! To take the horrible example of customer service from a year ago and, after getting called out on it publicly here, come back trying once again to get more from the customer than the amount agreed upon and backed up by a deposit just shows a complete cluelessness still exists at Exquisite Timepieces. To me, this really reinforces this warning on what to expect from Exquisite Timepieces in terms of customer service if a purchase doesn’t go without a hitch. And it’s a cautionary tale on dealing with their forum rep, Ralph. He could have taken his time to try to fix the prior issue. Instead, he comes back the same day with that insulting watch offer. That shows me he was never about customer service. He was just about making a sale in the guise of fixing the problem.
Original post:
I’ve been meaning to post this for a while and wanted to get it up before the end of the year. Earlier this year, I attempted to make a purchase with Exquisite Timepieces, which has a large online offering along with, apparently, a store in Naples, Florida. I looked them up on Watchuseek and they seemed legit and to have a solid reputation. But my experience with them was, at best, poor and, at worst, concerning and possibly fraudulent.
I was interested in a Grand Seiko SBGH267 “whirlpool.” I had tried one on at a authorized dealer across the street from me in 2018 when it came out. In person, I thought it was the best dial I had ever seen. But it was $6,300 and I wasn’t in a position to spend that kind of money on a watch at the time. I had thought about the watch a lot since then. Watching the value soar on the secondhand market in subsequent years, I regretted not having bought it back then.
Exquisite Timepieces had the Grand Seiko for sale for $8,500. I had never spent more than $2,200 on a watch, but this was the best price I had seen on this watch in a while and I was tempted. This had become a dream watch for me, and I had more income now. Probably not a responsible purchase, but I could afford it and life is all about living out your dreams. I decided to go for it. I reached out to Exquisite Timepieces and heard back from sales executive Avagail Hessen. I agreed to purchase the watch for their posted price, minus the $100 they listed on the site as a promotional discount. We worked out a $2,400 deposit that I put on one credit card. And I would apply for another credit card with a bonus for $6k in spending to put the rest. I also was sent a link to send them photos of my driver’s license for proof of identity and complied. She messaged me that they received the deposit and she put the watch on hold for me. Two days later, I had the new credit card and messaged that I was ready to make the remaining payment. That’s when she messaged to apologize, saying there was some confusion and, even though she had put it on hold, another salesperson had sold it that morning and just shipped it out. She asked if I could give her a week to try to secure the same watch elsewhere from their network. I said, well, I don’t think this is the most common watch to come by, but ok.
A week later, Avagail came back saying she found the watch but it will cost $9,000. Hey, it sucks that my dream watch was sold out from under me but mistakes happen. However, coming back and asking for $600 more just came across as a bait-and-switch. In my mind, you’ve either got to eat that $600 to take care of your mistake and meet your agreement with the customer or you tell that customer that you’re sorry you F’d this up but he has a standing $300 credit if he ever sees a watch he wants on the site above $3,000 or whatever. That's good customer service. At worst, say you can't do anything for him. But agreeing to a purchase, taking a deposit and personal information, then canceling and asking the customer for more money for the same watch is shady. That turned this from an innocent mistake to something potentially fraudulent in my mind.
I still thought this was probably an honest mistake, so I tried to give Avagail another chance to correct it. Another watch that interested me was the Heuer Monaco Calibre 11, which was what I was planning to get next before seeing the good deal on the Grand Seiko and convincing myself to splurge on my dream watch. Obviously, the Monaco is much easier to come by than the limited Grand Seiko. I had been negotiating with a guy through reddit to purchase the Monaco locally. But I had opened this credit card expecting to spend $6k in three months to clear the bonus, and wouldn’t be fulfilling the spend otherwise on regular expenses. So I said how about you get me the Monaco for this same price, which is reasonable as I’ve negotiated it with a private seller, but let me use the credit card I opened for the purchase, and we’ll forget about the previous mishap. She said she forwarded my email to the owner and CEO and hoped he could reach out to me soon. And I did try following up with the owner, Tim Richardson, but never heard back from him.
In the end, Exquisite Timepieces did refund my $2,400 deposit. I never got another charge on the credit card they took. I did later in the year get notice from credit companies that my driver’s license number was on the dark web. That could be a coincidence. And I still don’t have my dream watch, which was promised to me and then cruelly taken away by Avagail and Exquisite Timepieces. Others can determine whether Exquisite Timepieces is shady or if this was a one-time instance of bad salesmanship and customer service, but I wanted to put out this warning of my experience. Happy holidays, everyone.
Well, I gave Ralph the top five watches on my list at the moment, none currently in stock at Exquisite Timepieces. But I told him the most satisfactory way to resolve this with me was to get me the Grand Seiko they agreed to sell me a year ago. And if he gave me the $1,200 off the price we had previously agreed upon, I would know this was a real offer. We had agreed on the SBGH267 Whirlpool for $8,400, so if he really wants to give me $1,200 off then that would be $7,200. He responded that he would work on it, but it being a limited edition makes it difficult to source. I said that I understood, there was no rush and if he got it for me at that price anytime in the next year or so, I would feel made whole.
So does Ralph take his time to try to make this right? No, he comes back to me at the end of that same day saying he is able to secure the Grand Seiko. And guess what he actually dares to ask for? The same $9k they tried to upcharge me with before! And it wasn’t $9k minus the $1,200 credit he promised. He said the $9k price would include the $1,200 credit he offered. Can you believe that?
He defended this asking price by saying the market has increased on the watch in the past year and that I already knew that. I responded that I don’t know that. Since I got the Monaco when they backed out of the deal on the Grand Seiko, I haven’t been looking for another watch. But I did a simple Google search right then and easily found the watch offered on eBay never worn and with an extra leather strap for $8,600 and pre-owned at a local shop here in Southern California for $8,750. And I don't have a whole network at my disposal.
I find it shameful that Exquisite Timepieces’ idea of fixing this problem was to try to upcharge me by the same amount as before. I said to go ahead and take a year or so to source the Grand Seiko to make this right. And I probably would have been fine with it if he came back offering it to me for anything less than the previous agreed-upon amount. If it proved impossible over the course of a year for them to source the Grand Seiko at a price that made sense to offer me, there were four other watches I gave them that they could have worked on. Instead, he comes back that same day matching the previous attempt to upcharge me and saying it also included the $1,200 credit offered! To take the horrible example of customer service from a year ago and, after getting called out on it publicly here, come back trying once again to get more from the customer than the amount agreed upon and backed up by a deposit just shows a complete cluelessness still exists at Exquisite Timepieces. To me, this really reinforces this warning on what to expect from Exquisite Timepieces in terms of customer service if a purchase doesn’t go without a hitch. And it’s a cautionary tale on dealing with their forum rep, Ralph. He could have taken his time to try to fix the prior issue. Instead, he comes back the same day with that insulting watch offer. That shows me he was never about customer service. He was just about making a sale in the guise of fixing the problem.
Original post:
I’ve been meaning to post this for a while and wanted to get it up before the end of the year. Earlier this year, I attempted to make a purchase with Exquisite Timepieces, which has a large online offering along with, apparently, a store in Naples, Florida. I looked them up on Watchuseek and they seemed legit and to have a solid reputation. But my experience with them was, at best, poor and, at worst, concerning and possibly fraudulent.
I was interested in a Grand Seiko SBGH267 “whirlpool.” I had tried one on at a authorized dealer across the street from me in 2018 when it came out. In person, I thought it was the best dial I had ever seen. But it was $6,300 and I wasn’t in a position to spend that kind of money on a watch at the time. I had thought about the watch a lot since then. Watching the value soar on the secondhand market in subsequent years, I regretted not having bought it back then.
Exquisite Timepieces had the Grand Seiko for sale for $8,500. I had never spent more than $2,200 on a watch, but this was the best price I had seen on this watch in a while and I was tempted. This had become a dream watch for me, and I had more income now. Probably not a responsible purchase, but I could afford it and life is all about living out your dreams. I decided to go for it. I reached out to Exquisite Timepieces and heard back from sales executive Avagail Hessen. I agreed to purchase the watch for their posted price, minus the $100 they listed on the site as a promotional discount. We worked out a $2,400 deposit that I put on one credit card. And I would apply for another credit card with a bonus for $6k in spending to put the rest. I also was sent a link to send them photos of my driver’s license for proof of identity and complied. She messaged me that they received the deposit and she put the watch on hold for me. Two days later, I had the new credit card and messaged that I was ready to make the remaining payment. That’s when she messaged to apologize, saying there was some confusion and, even though she had put it on hold, another salesperson had sold it that morning and just shipped it out. She asked if I could give her a week to try to secure the same watch elsewhere from their network. I said, well, I don’t think this is the most common watch to come by, but ok.
A week later, Avagail came back saying she found the watch but it will cost $9,000. Hey, it sucks that my dream watch was sold out from under me but mistakes happen. However, coming back and asking for $600 more just came across as a bait-and-switch. In my mind, you’ve either got to eat that $600 to take care of your mistake and meet your agreement with the customer or you tell that customer that you’re sorry you F’d this up but he has a standing $300 credit if he ever sees a watch he wants on the site above $3,000 or whatever. That's good customer service. At worst, say you can't do anything for him. But agreeing to a purchase, taking a deposit and personal information, then canceling and asking the customer for more money for the same watch is shady. That turned this from an innocent mistake to something potentially fraudulent in my mind.
I still thought this was probably an honest mistake, so I tried to give Avagail another chance to correct it. Another watch that interested me was the Heuer Monaco Calibre 11, which was what I was planning to get next before seeing the good deal on the Grand Seiko and convincing myself to splurge on my dream watch. Obviously, the Monaco is much easier to come by than the limited Grand Seiko. I had been negotiating with a guy through reddit to purchase the Monaco locally. But I had opened this credit card expecting to spend $6k in three months to clear the bonus, and wouldn’t be fulfilling the spend otherwise on regular expenses. So I said how about you get me the Monaco for this same price, which is reasonable as I’ve negotiated it with a private seller, but let me use the credit card I opened for the purchase, and we’ll forget about the previous mishap. She said she forwarded my email to the owner and CEO and hoped he could reach out to me soon. And I did try following up with the owner, Tim Richardson, but never heard back from him.
In the end, Exquisite Timepieces did refund my $2,400 deposit. I never got another charge on the credit card they took. I did later in the year get notice from credit companies that my driver’s license number was on the dark web. That could be a coincidence. And I still don’t have my dream watch, which was promised to me and then cruelly taken away by Avagail and Exquisite Timepieces. Others can determine whether Exquisite Timepieces is shady or if this was a one-time instance of bad salesmanship and customer service, but I wanted to put out this warning of my experience. Happy holidays, everyone.
