Elliot James Watchmakers: A shady service option

[avivalasvegas]

I gave Elliot James (EJ Watchmakers) a call via his website following a forum member's recommendation. Here's exactly what happened:

Last week, I spoke with Elliot who explained that he deals with the trade and customers, and shared that he could service the Tudor for £195 + extra charges as needed, with no obligation to proceed following inspection. He shared that he would have no problem sourcing grey market parts for his service watches which gave me some confidence. When I asked if I could drop the watch off to him (vs. risk postage), he shared that he did not have a shop but would share an address to a jeweler he works with called Adorn Jewellers in Wimbledon. Elliot assured me that he knows the staff at Adorn well and deals with them weekly (I have the text messages).

This seemed unusual but I went along with it and gave Adorn a call earlier this week. The lady who picked up didn't know the name of their watchmaker, but a male voice in the background did mention Elliot by name. I once again reconfirmed with Elliot via text message, as I was worried I had the wrong location. Once again, he assured me that dropping the watch off at Adorn would be seamless and that I would be dealing with him directly.

I decided to lower my guard and drove the hour and 15 minutes to Adorn. When I arrived, another lady at the desk didn't know who Elliot was but another employee, a gentleman who appeared to be fixing something, looked over his shoulder to confirm that Elliot was indeed their watchmaker but that the owner of the shop (Dave) didn't like Elliot's customers dropping their watches off at his shop.

This is when things took a surprising turn. Elliot answered his phone, and said "This is why I don't deal with the general public buddy. You will be handled by Adorn Jewellers directly and I will service your watch as a customer of theirs. All further communication will be through them"

I instantly reminded him that Adorn was supposed to be a drop-off location only, to which he simply repeated his most recent statement. He then spoke with the lady at the customer desk at Adorn. After hanging up, I asked Adorn Jewellers if the cost would be £195 as shared multiple times by Elliot, to which I was told that the cost would now be higher than that.

That's when I thanked her, took my watch and left. It's clear that Elliot James is anything but transparent, crafty, and appears to be running some kind of scam. I'd avoid him like the plague.

[214270Explorer]

This entire situation sounds like a whole bunch of really shady stuff.

And he sources "grey market parts" ??? Grey parts can be real junk as you <and likely not HIM either> do not know WHAT they actually are. Manufacturer provenance or cheap aftermarket junk?

[Elliotd]

Real shady.....I informed Aviv from the start, I don't deal with the general public, I gave him the details of a well established shop who I have been doing repairs for for the last 18 months. Which was local to my workshop, I had also offered to give him details of other shops in various parts of london, if they were more suitable to his location. Grey market watch parts are the same as watches.....genuine if you know what you are dealing with. I've been in the watch and jewellery industry for 16 years. After 12 of dealing with the general public I decided to go into a trade focused service. I spent my time giving aviv adivice, time I didn't have to give. At no point did I try and convince him into giving me work, which to be honest I don't particularly need at the moment. I have a 4-6 week wait at current.

[avivalasvegas]

Originally Posted by Elliotd

Real shady.....I informed Aviv from the start, I don't deal with the general public, I gave him the details of a well established shop who I have been doing repairs for for the last 18 months. Which was local to my workshop, I had also offered to give him details of other shops in various parts of london, if they were more suitable to his location. Grey market watch parts are the same as watches.....genuine if you know what you are dealing with. I've been in the watch and jewellery industry for 16 years. After 12 of dealing with the general public I decided to go into a trade focused service. I spent my time giving aviv adivice, time I didn't have to give. At no point did I try and convince him into giving me work, which to be honest I don't particularly need at the moment. I have a 4-6 week wait at current.

There are several flaws in your dealings with me:

1) Yes, I called you following a referral from rootbeer7 who's post is above this one. If you don't deal with the general public and didn't want to take my watch on then why quote £195 for a service, give me the address, names and location of the jewelers after telling me that they will hold my watch for you?

2) Worse still, only after I drive 75 minutes to the location, then you tell me that I will be in the hands the jewellers (who were supposed to serve solely as a drop off location) as their customer and not yours, and that they will solely be communicating with me going forward?

3) Following which I am told, a higher amount than what I was quoted will charged by the jewelers themselves. They've got to make money too. To their credit, they were shocked by how I was treated as well.

You clearly lack sufficient integrity to acknowledge fault. Moreover, you gave ZERO advice. You simply shared what you planned on doing to my watch to service it. At the time you seemed quite humble about your access to grey market parts and your approach. Had you demonstrated the arrogance displayed now (eg. by stating that you do not need the work work), I would have ran in the opposite direction.

I was able to record my conversations, so anyone with any doubts about what exactly has transpired, please don't hesitate to contact me. Regardless, I hope you never get to experience what I had to today.

[GGGMT]

Originally Posted by avivalasvegas

I was able to record my conversations, so anyone with any doubts about what exactly has transpired, please don't hesitate to contact me. Regardless, I hope you never get to experience what I had to today.

Wait you secretly recorded your conversations? Isn’t that illegal in two party consent states like California and Texas? Eeesh.


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[Goochy]

Originally Posted by avivalasvegas

There are several flaws in your dealings with me:

1) Yes, I called you following a referral from rootbeer7 who's post is above this one. If you don't deal with the general public and didn't want to take my watch on then why quote £195 for a service, give me the address, names and location of the jewelers after telling me that they will hold my watch for you?

2) Worse still, only after I drive 75 minutes to the location, then you tell me that I will be in the hands the jewellers (who were supposed to serve solely as a drop off location) as their customer and not yours, and that they will solely be communicating with me going forward?

3) Following which I am told, a higher amount than what I was quoted will charged by the jewelers themselves. They've got to make money too. To their credit, they were shocked by how I was treated as well.

You clearly lack sufficient integrity to acknowledge fault. Moreover, you gave ZERO advice. You simply shared what you planned on doing to my watch to service it. At the time you seemed quite humble about your access to grey market parts and your approach. Had you demonstrated the arrogance displayed now (eg. by stating that you do not need the work work), I would have ran in the opposite direction.

I was able to record my conversations, so anyone with any doubts about what exactly has transpired, please don't hesitate to contact me. Regardless, I hope you never get to experience what I had to today.

Not really sure what your problem is. Plenty of watchmakers used to use the same business model, just looks like the watchmaker and the shop owner had a difference of opinion and you were asked to pay for the shop owners cut which would have been there anyway at any other jewelers. As far as I can see you are just out by 150 minutes, it that really worth trashing the guys reputation for?

[GGGMT]

Originally Posted by Goochy

Not really sure what your problem is. Plenty of watchmakers used to use the same business model, just looks like the watchmaker and the shop owner had a difference of opinion and you were asked to pay for the shop owners cut which would have been there anyway at any other jewelers. As far as I can see you are just out by 150 minutes, it that really worth trashing the guys reputation for?

I too am perplexed. Talk about bringing a howitzer to a knife fight. Sheesh.


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[rootbeer7]

I’ve known and worked with Elliott for a good few years. He’s serviced many pieces of mine. Generally I post to him and have received nothing but great service on a number of pieces; Rolex and others.

[Humble michael]

FYI Mr GGGMt, Texas is not a 2 party consent state- only 1 person’s consent to record is necessary - that person could be one of the parties to the conversation- Hope this helps , james in San Antonio Tx

Texas's wiretapping law is a "one-party consent" law. Texas makes it a crime to intercept or record any "wire, oral, or electronic communication" unless one party to the conversation consents. Texas Penal Code § 16.02. Therefore, if you operate in Texas, you may record a conversation or phone call if you are a party to the conversation or you get permission from one party to the conversation in advance. That said, if you intend to record conversations involving people located in more than one state, you should play it safe and get the consent of all parties.

[wb55]

Whole thing sounds stupid. Just drive to Kent or pay congestion and drive to St James and have it done by Rolex/Tudor directly.

Or go via an AD and pay their £35-£50 admin fee on top of the Tudor service cost.

[rootbeer7]

A happy customer here https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=760621

[Chewbacca]

A bit of an overreaction imop.

Many technicians have other storefronts perform intake for them as they’re not customer facing socially comfortable experts and it delays their work.

The people at the retail intake places don’t always know the details of the arrangement so they shouldn’t speak if unsure — which seems to have prematurely set off an unnecessary alarm bell with the op and opened a shot at going straight to the farm bypassing the grocer to sleuth and cut the middle out.

That was a miscalculation.

I’d say move on, and certainly not a thread worthy of the title.


Live and learn.