Steinhausen Overnight Sold me a cheap, made-in-China, watch under the guise of a high-end Swiss watch. Norman Oklahoma

In June 2006 I purchased a Steinhausen watch, Model #TW385, Serial # INF01107 for my husband from Steinhausen Overnight. Using my Mastercard, I paid $259.90 for the watch and an extra stainless steel band. I gave the watch to my husband in July 2006, and by October, the self-winding mechanism began to malfunction, and the watch stopped at 11:50pm every night and had to be manually set and wound every morning. By November the date set knob no longer worked.

The watch came with a one-year guarantee against defects of materials or workmanship. Thus, I emailed Dave Long of Steinhausen Overnight, as directed by his website, to ask how I should go about getting the watch repaired under the guarantee. I received no reply.

Over the course of a month and a half, I emailed repeatedly to every address available, and using every subject line recommended, on the website, and called, which only, eventually, led to a recording that told me to email.

In my last email, I warned that I would report his business to the BBB and ripoff.com, among various other organizations. While waiting for a reply, I investigated how much it would cost to get the watch repaired on my own at which point a very well respected watch maker and repairman in our area told me that the watch was a very cheap watch, made in China (not Switzerland as every bit of language surrounding the sale of this watch would lead you to believe), and that he would not repair it even for $500 because he couldn't guarantee the work as the parts and craftsmanship have very little integrity.

I eventually had to go through the BBB to get any response. I asked for a full refund. He only offered to replace the watch. I told him that if he had responded immediately with the replacement offer, I never would have found out anything negative about the watch and would probably still be an ignorantly happy customer.

However, it was far too late for that and that the only acceptable resolution was a full refund of $259.90. The BBB case remains unresolved.

Lou
Leeds, Massachusetts
U.S.A.