The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Personally I have had five separate transactions with Serg to my pleasure.
Sucks you are both in this situation and hope it is resolved.

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Current collection;
Rolex DateJust II
Rolex GMT IIC
Hublot Aero Bang Black Magic
Panerai 372
Panerai 351/352
Cartier Tank Francaise

i have both bought and sold with serge, and he has been perfect every time.

OP is asking opinions about this particular case, not the past transactions.

You are absolutely correct, this thread speaks to this particular transaction BUT it also reflects on the honor & integrity of the seller. I think it's only fair for those who have had past dealings share their experience as well. I have not bought or sold with Serge, but he has been and continues to be a very patient and honest resource for me behind the scenes since I first joined this forum and I will continue to rely on his kindness in the future.

I think the best we can offer here is to help resolve this dispute. What's done is done, and past transactions can help inform future ones, but they will not help the current buyer's unhappiness.

Personally, I think Serge's offer of $100 to have the watch polished is quite fair. I have done the same as both buyer and seller in other transactions.

That's your opinion, I think he is very intolerant with people who don't think as he does.

And as YKS showed us and watching a 7 years old watch, in some angles scratches can't be seen.

As I said in the first post, I didn't write this to bash mfserge. I simply wanted to get people's opinions because he felt that everything about the case-back and the lugs was normal. I specifically underlined all the positive aspects of the transaction and gave him credit where it was due. I tried to provide full transparency and disclosure on the issue. I mentioned that he had superb reputation on here and on eBay which contributed to my confusion about the whole situation. This is not meant to be a hit on his reputation. I did see a thread from a member who accused him of wasting time with a transaction which didn't happen. I read all the arguments and opinions, drew my conclusions and decided to proceed with the purchase. I also tried to keep everything professional. I don't understand why he tried to diverge the matter right away by talking about phantom PayPal "problems" and "passed" eBay offers. Someone did respond to that and I just wanted to show that it was complete nonsense. I would not disclose personal information or anything like that. It was just a few messages with timestamps and no significant content in them.

Like I said, the pictures were done with a cell phone camera under daylight conditions. I did not use special equipment or digital editing or anything like that. What the censor captures is what the eye can see under the current circumstances and in this case the equipment had very limited capabilities. I can't make something that's not there appear just by making positional adjustments. I also didn't hold the watch in some completely abnormal way just to show something.

Also, the point was not to look for arguments and a consensus on how bad the marks are but to determine wether I had a point in terms of mfserge withholding information/misrepresenting the watch. Honestly, the 9 o'clock swirls on the case which he mentioned are nothing compared to the case-back and the lugs. Those were not revealed until I received the watch even though I asked for specific clarifications on the condition before the purchase.

Based on the responses in the thread it appears that my points are valid. Like I said, I was out of town and did not have time to deal with this over the past week but I will go to my AD tomorrow or Tuesday and see what they say. I will provide an update.

Been buying and selling on the intertubes since before netscape was a startup company...The right thing to do is for seller and buyer to undo the deal, minus shipping, and then move on.

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Breitling Chronomat Blackbird A13050.1 - serie spéciale
Breitling Avenger Seawolf E17370
Breitling Chronomat EVO A13356 - pilot bracelet

Id like to make 3 points:

1. marks on the underside of the lugs are VERY common with a watch where the strap has been change.
2. You do know you were buying a used watch? right? ITs not going to be flawless.
3. I think you are scrutinizing too much, the watch is fine. Wear it for a month and and you wont notice.

MFSERGE is a good guy. He sold me a watch and I was stunned by how well described it was.

Enjoy the watch, wear it, love it.

PS - next time you want a flawless watch but it new... or spend 100.00 and have your used one replolished an your AD.

Ya know I've really looked at these macro pics. And duly mindful they ARE macro pics, I see nothing that will not be easily removed through a good polishing by an AD or jeweler, including the lug edge, and with the exception of a minor swirl on the enameled bezel that buyer has indicated isn't really the issue for him. That these are macro shots needs to be remembered.

Seller offered to pay for the refinishing. Buyer should accept and get it refinished.

I received a couple used watches that I was NOT happy with- one had serious (IMO) cosmetic issues and the other a mechanical problem. I would have been delighted in each case with an offer from seller to pay for the fix. But it didn't happen, I had them fixed myself, and moved on.

I did not feel compelled to turn it into an episode of CSI.

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SHARKMAN

I read the Private PMs you posted and it seems that you had a seller that was very kind and patient with your paypal situation. You were "in the know" with everything that was going on.

Also, I agree with the comments above that the offer from mfserge to give you the 100.00 towards a polish would resolve almost all the issues you have with the watch.

At least it was perfect mechanically and the crystal was flawless. .... and you saved over $1500 compared to a new one.

I just purchased a watch here on BS and wasn't nearly as lucky as you.

I sent payment Friday night. NO word from the seller until Monday late afternoon which consisted of only the tracking number -- nothing else. I would have loved all the communication you got from mfserge. After all, the seller just got several thousand dollars from me.

ALSO, the watch came DOA!! After a few emails -- no big deal -- I got a great deal, the watch is still under warranty so I'll send it into BUSA. But that's 8 weeks w/o a watch I just purchased.

If that wasn't bad enough -- the Breitling Croc strap and deployant were FAKE!!! The seller refused to admit it though. He said " I have 8 Breitling straps on deployant and had no reason to be suspicious of this one." Either he's BSing me or ALL his straps are FAKE because after only handling ONE Breitling croc on deployant I could tell it was a fake as soon as I opened the box. BTW- the autheticity, or lack there of, was verified by the AD.

I asked for a partial refund, as I STILL wanted to keep the watch (the deal was that good compared to new) but he wouldn't budge!!

That's in addition to the scratches on the watch and AR coating on the edges of the crystal which I never even mentioned as I would expect it on a used watch. -- Which BTW was described as being in the condition of a "1 month old watch."

So, again, I'd be VERY happy with the communication and $100.00 offer you got from mfserge. After the polishing you'll have an almost LNIB watch for a fraction of the price.

edited: spelling

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Regards,

Peter

BREITLING for Bentley Motors T & Mark VI, Aerospace
ROLEX Submariner Ceramic116610LN
OMEGA Plantet Ocean 8500 42mm Orange arabics
OCEAN7 LM-3

Look guys, the problem with this is that descriptions of condition are completely and utterly subjective. Additionally as Roman4405's post pointed out, some people aren't bothered by certain things whereas others are.

Personally speaking, things like lug scratches from strap changing irritates me beyond words because they are totally avoidable with a simple bit of masking tape..... so in that instance I'd definitely want a seller to disclose it. On the other hand, other signs of normal use have to be accepted on a watch that has been worn - it's just not possible to avoid the odd hairline scratch through wear, and if a watch is described as worn then I think you have to accept that. But as I said above, condition is a totally subjective thing, and these are just my criteria........ which may well be different to someone elses.

As a result I think the safest bet is to always disclose everything irrespective of whether you consider them to be bad or not.

In this case, buyer and seller have different criteria, and because not everything (no matter how small) was disclosed there's been a disagreement. However mfserge has offered to cover the cost of a polish, which is probably a fair offer.

(Just my opinion of course)

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Driver8

Site Moderator

You situation is much more of a concern than the subjective nature of a watch description, and if it is true that you received a dead watch on a fake strap I am sure many would appreciate a feedback post dedicated to your purchase.

We all know fakes are a big no-no here

As soon as all is worked out I'll disclose all. Screw it, you're right - no one else should be burned. I'll post it a separate post in a bit.

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Regards,

Peter

BREITLING for Bentley Motors T & Mark VI, Aerospace
ROLEX Submariner Ceramic116610LN
OMEGA Plantet Ocean 8500 42mm Orange arabics
OCEAN7 LM-3