www.thewatchgiant.com

devils_vixen

Has anyone used this company?
I have seen a watch that I would like to buy my bf for xmas and it is a lot cheaper on this website than that of high street jewellers!

Coopdivi

The website was only registered on the 4th of July this year so I doubt that anybody on MSE has ever used it.

There is an address on the website in Ashton-Under-Lyne in Lancashire. Google and Google Streetview show me that this is a small warehouse occupied by about half a dozen companies including a computer shop and a printers. Perhaps Watchgiant are renting an office there.

The address on the Domain Registration, which should match up with the one on the website, is in fact in Thirsk, Yorkshire. My guess is that is where the website design company is located.

http://whois.domaintools.com/thewatchgiant.com

The Terms and Conditions say 'We have the right to not accept returns after 7 days if the watch is not faulty, we reserve the right to charge 10% restocking fee on Tag Heuer models, Brietling Models, Omega Models and any special order watches, this is because we do not stock them and have limited time to return them to our suppliers. Therefore on the models mentioned whilst we will accept the watch back within 7 days of the customer signing you will be charged a 10% restocking fee. If you are unsure of the watch you are purchasing they are available at jewellers countrywide.'

But the Distance Selling Regulations say that consumers have a cancellation period of seven days from when they receive an item from an online company. Merchants can't make extra charges.

http://www.out-law.com/page-430

So what Watchgiant have put is illegal.

Similarly for their watch warranty info they say 'If your watch fails to work within 7 working days of receiving it a new watch will be issued upon the return of the former watch, anything faltering above 7 days the watch will be fixed under warranty. ' Which is legally codswallop. Under the Sale of Goods Act your contract is with the company you bought your product from. Within the first six months of purchase if you return an item as faulty the onus is on the retailer to prove that the goods are of satisfactory quality. The retailer may repair, replace or refund at their discretion. More details on the Act here:

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/sale-of-goods/understanding-the-sale-of-goods-act/your-rights/

There are some excellent reviews for Watchgiant on Trust Pilot. Unfortunately Trust Pilot are notorious for allowing fake, praiseworthy reviews particularly as they permit companies to effectively vet anything submitted on the grounds that they're checking for genuine buyers. These reviews look well dodgy especially the one at the top who claims to come from Montana, GB.

http://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.thewatchgiant.com

I wouldn't use them because of, in my opinion, the dubious contact address ,their illegal Ts and Cs and warranty advice and the fact the website was only created 4 months ago. Your choice though.

DeeB16

Hi,

Just jumping in here.

I purchased an Armani Men's watch as a gift which was displayed onsite as £150 cheaper than anywhere else I looked. After I made the purchase, I then saw this review and panicked!

However, I contacted TheWatchGiant.com who are very responsive and they sent the watch straight out to me. I got the watch the next day and was quite concerned that it might not be genuine. So I took it to me local Ernest Jones store here in London and the sales person assured me that the watch was genuine. However the Armani guarantee was not included in the manual but at the price I paid, I'm more than happy with the site guarantee.

With all that in mind, its still your choice on whether to purchase from them or not.

Thanks,

Dee

wallbash

Nice to see a newbie , first post , defend a company , a more distrusting person would query this recommendation.But not me

DeeB16

Hi,

Thanks for the post.

When I was trying to do some research on this company no reviews came up apart from Trust pilot which were postive,so I made a purchase from them, the day later I checked reviews again and saw the first post here and panicked. As it all turned out okay I thought it would be nice to share my experience with any other user and making my first post on this site, which to be honest I never looked at before.

Believe it or not but this was my own experience with them and I'm happy with my purchase!

friendlyspider

I used this website to buy a watch from last year. It is dealing in FAKE merchandise.

It was trading under 'WATCHMONSTER .co.uk, which, if you do your reasearch into the web address details, was registered only for a short period of time to an address in Manchester.

This company has now liquidated and ran off with my money after I sent the watch back to them asking for a refund, after ARMANI said the watch was fake.
I had to send it off to them directly as i was not covered by the watch giant warranty. Armani came back with the watch being counterfeit. I never received my money back. The phone lines went dead and the website quickly disappeared from the web.

It looks EXACTLY the same as thewatchgiant, trading with EXACTLY the same mailing address and VAT number, registered to the same business address.
Do not believe trust pilot reviews.


If you have bought a watch from them then I would check it's authenticity. I received mine with the plastic wrapping on, tags attached, and all the official merchandising paperwork. Official armani stamps in the correct places etc etc. There was no way of telling the fake apart from the real thing (As i then went into Ernest Jones and bought the real one - I could not tell them apart.)

Thewatchgiant.co.uk = thewatchgiant.com = fake

Nile

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

stewarthalfway

I bought a watch in January from this mob, a Tissot for £280.
Initially the metal bracelet kept leaving black marks on my wrist but I guessed this was just because it hadn't been cleaned properly.

However, after 2 months the face got all misted over (was supposed to be waterproof). I returned the watch under warranty after they promised a full refund. They then kept sending conflicting emails and saying on the phone that the refund had been sent via PayPal - nonsense. They backtracked on the refund and said they had repaired the watch and - get this - their warranty "does not cover problems with the crown" and this repair was a "goodwill gesture". So I agreed to take it back. When it arrived the crown simply did not work. Watch was useless.

I complained again and they eventually (it's now 5 months since I bought the watch) agreed to refund me if I returned it once more.

Each time it's cost me £10 for delivery but I went ahead and sent it back again.

Eventually got a refund for the purchase price, nothing for the postage.

Keep in mind that their own warranty is virtually worthless. Buyers beware.

gabzball

Hi all,

I bought a watch from these guys back in March for my boyfriends 30th. 3 months after wearing the battery stopped so we popped into beaverbrooks jewellers to enquire about a new battery. They advised that we would he best off sending it to Armani so the warranty was not affected and they could check it was the battery at fault. I have recieved a phone call today stating that Armani have sent the watch back with a letter detailing that the watch is in fact not genuine. I am absolutely gutted as I did my research and it states on my sales invoice from the watch giant that all their watches are 100% genuine and they do not sell replicas!

They are shut on weekends so I am going to ring them on Monday and see what they say!

Stay clear people as it will only cause you disappointment.

emmasperr

I ordered a watch from Thewatchgiant, it clearly showed the item was in stock, 2 weeks later I had not received it!

I spent a whole day trying to call them and even sent several emails which went unanswered!

I eventually got through ro be told that the system shows a refund was given (no refund was applied to my card, nor was I contacted regarding this) the woman I spoke to told me they could no longer get the watch I ordered even though it showed on the site it was in stock, which should mean they already have this in their possession!

The woman became rude when I was asking questions about how this happened and why I wasnt contacted and also where my refund was and hung up on me!!

I would like to catagorically state that I was not rude, did not swear or shout, simply asked questions!

I am now hundreds of pounds out of pocket, have no gift for my partner as planned and to top it all off they will now not answer my calls and I have NOT had my refund!!

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY, THEY HAVE NO WATCHES IN STOCK AND SIMPLY CON YOU AND KEEP YOUR MONEY!!

I will now be contacting a solicitor to take legal action against them!

MrBurston

Con merchants

Had issue with Tissot bought from them and contacted them. Asked to send the watch back for repair. After waiting months they sent me back a different broken watch, sent it back again and they apologised and then sent me back the same broken watch. Complained again and sent watch back - they will not respond to email, phone or letter, gone through small claims but they have now moved location and changed name to The-timebandits got that right total bandits.
DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY. I am now out of pocket £345 and don't even have a broken watch.
If anyone has a current address please let us know so we can chase the debt.