In early December, I took a watch, an Invicta Pro Diver, to this jewelry business; it was running poorly. The man, Jose, said he could "send it out" and have it fixed for $35, that it would take one week. A week later, I picked the watch up, paid him with two 20-dollar bills and said "keep the change." That evening I realized the date changed at 7 P.M.instead of midnight (incorrect orientation of hands after installing new quartz movement). This made me look closer at the watch, realizing the "T" was missing from the name "Invicta" on the watch face (the watch face had never been opened prior to this service). Looking even closer at the watch to confirm what I was seeing, I then noticed the watch crystal was dirty and smudged on the inside - impossible to clean except by disassembly! I returned the watch to the store the next day, stating that the date was changing incorrectly (5 hours too early), the letter "T" was missing from the name on the dial, and the crystal was dirty inside. The man agreed to "send the watch back" to whereever (I now believe all the talk about a "third party" is made-up: I believe this man, having little or no experience with watch repairs - although holding his business out to do or broker such work - bought a new quartz movement and installed it himself). Since that time - mid December - he's been stringing me along, promising to "send the watch back" to this mysterious third party. It's now nearly the end of January (two months of hassle) and he (a) insists that the date is changing exactly as it's supposed to (which is absurd - I'm a collector, and I know better - and I even patiently and calmly explained this to the man who continues to insist the watch is fine and I'm wrong. When I called yesterday he said that "they" said that if I wasn't satisfied that I should bring back the old movement (yes, it was given to me when I picked up the watch, but I threw it out a couple of days later. Who saves a burned-out quartz movement anticipating such a demand?). Supposing this, which is pretty obvious, he's now using it as a free out. I stuck with a beautiful, albeit it junk, watch (date changes at 7:00 instead of midnight, missing "T" in "INVIC[ ]A" and a filty crystal. This is not right. The watch was a gift from my niece. The original hang tag says $365. I've sent the business a demand letter to either provide the watch with the issues completely resolved or payment of $365 the $40 I paid for the "repair." (Photos of the watch are available, but I don't have the correct USB adapter with me to upload from the camera.)
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