Joined
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143 Posts
I will summarize my experience in this post. The next post is the full conversation we had. The third post will feature photos / videos showing the problem.
I purchased a Sinn 857 UTC Testaf from rlewisk ( Richard Kaplan of San Rafael, CA) he had advertised on WUS under the post "FS..... Sinn 857 UTC VFR Testaf.....NM" for $1735US on Aug 12, 2018 using paypal. Richard advertised the watch as near mint (NM) and specifically stated:
"The 857 would be mint but there is a fine hairline on the aluminum bezel btwn. the 19 and 20 minute mark, (as seen in the photos), and there are no other marks anywhere. The photos were taken today by me and are an accurate representation on the condition of the watch."
I received the watch on Aug 16 2018 at 11:10am (EST). I was very excited to get the watch, unpacked it, and tried to set the time. As I was setting the time I noticed the watch had a substantial material mechanical defect. Every time the minute hand went past the hour hand it would hit the hour hand and proceed to rub over the hour hand. This puts excessive wear and strain on the mechanical gear train and caused black paint to rub off from the minute hand to the hour hand (looks like a crescent shape). In the worst case the minute hand would catch on the hour hand and get bound up while the gear train kept moving causing the watch to bind up and need costly repair. This problem was VERY obvious and I noticed it right away.
I quickly contacted Richard on WUS by private message to his rlewisk account on the same day. I sent the message at 11:30am EST (20 minutes to unbox the watch, notice the problem, and write him a message). I told him about the problem, that I wasn't happy with the watch and wanted to send it back to him for a full refund. I offered to pay to ship it back to him safely if he would give me a full refund.
After several hours he replied back and said he would NOT accept the watch back for a refund. He then proceeded to personally attack me, belittle me, and brush off any problems I had. (Note: the full conversations we had in chronological order are in the next post). He told me to never PM him again.
I replied back by PM and told him I could take a video of the problem to prove it. I again asked to return the watch if he would issue a prompt full refund. If he wouldn't do this I would have to proceed to file a Paypal claim against Richard.
I was very unhappy with this. I did my part as the buyer. I promptly paid for the watch and Richard had my money, but all I had was a defective watch. It would cost a lot of money to ship this watch to get it repaired and frankly I didn't want to do this. I bought the watch because it was advertised as near mint, which it wasn't. I didn't hear back from Richard over WUS PM. That was NOT right, so I started to pursue a paypal claim against Richard. My first course of action was to directly e-mail Richard.
I directly e-mailed Richard again telling him about the problem, offering to take a high quality video of it, and asked to return the watch for a full immediate refund.
He replied back saying he would NOT accept the watch back for a refund and it was my problem. He suggested I sell the watch myself. This is WRONG because I received a defective watch that was not advertised as being defective. I am ethical and honest and I could not resell the watch for anywhere near what I paid for it. Nor should this be my problem. I did not buy a near mint watch only to have to get it repaired or turn around and sell someone a defective watch. So I escalated the paypal claim against Richard.
Richard contacted me directly to try and scam me. He said I could send the watch back to him and he would refund my money on the condition he sold it. This is not only wrong, but this is completely idiotic! Had I done this, not only would Richard have had my money, but he would also have the watch back. The fact that Richard would be willing to receive the watch and turn around and sell it to someone else after he knew it was defective is terrible. I would NEVER buy anything from Richard! I told him I would not send the watch back under a condition of him selling it. I told him to please stop contacting me and instead he should contact paypal to get this resolved. I tried many times to work things out with Richard before issuing a paypal claim. Even after issuing a paypal claim I tried to work with him. Richard did not want to help and completely did the wrong thing. Once I escalated the claim with paypal I was done dealing with Richard and let paypal handle the rest. From that point I would act only on the request of paypal.
Paypal made numerous attempts to contact Richard to try and resolve this problem. Richard ignored all requests from paypal just like he ignored my numerous requests. The case was resolved in my favor and I received a full refund from paypal. Paypal notified me and told me no further action was needed on my part.
**********************************************
Everything above is documented, verifiable, and can be used as proof against Richard.
I purchased a Sinn 857 UTC Testaf from rlewisk ( Richard Kaplan of San Rafael, CA) he had advertised on WUS under the post "FS..... Sinn 857 UTC VFR Testaf.....NM" for $1735US on Aug 12, 2018 using paypal. Richard advertised the watch as near mint (NM) and specifically stated:
"The 857 would be mint but there is a fine hairline on the aluminum bezel btwn. the 19 and 20 minute mark, (as seen in the photos), and there are no other marks anywhere. The photos were taken today by me and are an accurate representation on the condition of the watch."
I received the watch on Aug 16 2018 at 11:10am (EST). I was very excited to get the watch, unpacked it, and tried to set the time. As I was setting the time I noticed the watch had a substantial material mechanical defect. Every time the minute hand went past the hour hand it would hit the hour hand and proceed to rub over the hour hand. This puts excessive wear and strain on the mechanical gear train and caused black paint to rub off from the minute hand to the hour hand (looks like a crescent shape). In the worst case the minute hand would catch on the hour hand and get bound up while the gear train kept moving causing the watch to bind up and need costly repair. This problem was VERY obvious and I noticed it right away.
I quickly contacted Richard on WUS by private message to his rlewisk account on the same day. I sent the message at 11:30am EST (20 minutes to unbox the watch, notice the problem, and write him a message). I told him about the problem, that I wasn't happy with the watch and wanted to send it back to him for a full refund. I offered to pay to ship it back to him safely if he would give me a full refund.
After several hours he replied back and said he would NOT accept the watch back for a refund. He then proceeded to personally attack me, belittle me, and brush off any problems I had. (Note: the full conversations we had in chronological order are in the next post). He told me to never PM him again.
I replied back by PM and told him I could take a video of the problem to prove it. I again asked to return the watch if he would issue a prompt full refund. If he wouldn't do this I would have to proceed to file a Paypal claim against Richard.
I was very unhappy with this. I did my part as the buyer. I promptly paid for the watch and Richard had my money, but all I had was a defective watch. It would cost a lot of money to ship this watch to get it repaired and frankly I didn't want to do this. I bought the watch because it was advertised as near mint, which it wasn't. I didn't hear back from Richard over WUS PM. That was NOT right, so I started to pursue a paypal claim against Richard. My first course of action was to directly e-mail Richard.
I directly e-mailed Richard again telling him about the problem, offering to take a high quality video of it, and asked to return the watch for a full immediate refund.
He replied back saying he would NOT accept the watch back for a refund and it was my problem. He suggested I sell the watch myself. This is WRONG because I received a defective watch that was not advertised as being defective. I am ethical and honest and I could not resell the watch for anywhere near what I paid for it. Nor should this be my problem. I did not buy a near mint watch only to have to get it repaired or turn around and sell someone a defective watch. So I escalated the paypal claim against Richard.
Richard contacted me directly to try and scam me. He said I could send the watch back to him and he would refund my money on the condition he sold it. This is not only wrong, but this is completely idiotic! Had I done this, not only would Richard have had my money, but he would also have the watch back. The fact that Richard would be willing to receive the watch and turn around and sell it to someone else after he knew it was defective is terrible. I would NEVER buy anything from Richard! I told him I would not send the watch back under a condition of him selling it. I told him to please stop contacting me and instead he should contact paypal to get this resolved. I tried many times to work things out with Richard before issuing a paypal claim. Even after issuing a paypal claim I tried to work with him. Richard did not want to help and completely did the wrong thing. Once I escalated the claim with paypal I was done dealing with Richard and let paypal handle the rest. From that point I would act only on the request of paypal.
Paypal made numerous attempts to contact Richard to try and resolve this problem. Richard ignored all requests from paypal just like he ignored my numerous requests. The case was resolved in my favor and I received a full refund from paypal. Paypal notified me and told me no further action was needed on my part.
**********************************************
Everything above is documented, verifiable, and can be used as proof against Richard.
