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Sadly, this is common practice for 47th street dealers. The script usually goes like this:
1. Create a listing on Chrono24 on a brand new watch they most likely don't have in stock or the one they do have in stock have some flaws.
2. Get an inquiry about the "brand new" watch.
3. Salesperson's job is to nail down the sale ASAP. They will say absolutely anything to get the client to wire the money (repeatedly reassuring the watch is "brand new", "unworn", etc).
Once the money is wired, then the game begins! (yes, I really meant when I say "begins")
4(a). The actual watch is sourced from somewhere else (likely flawed as well) and that third party will ship directly to client, or
4(b). A similar watch with flaws is shipped from their inventory, they're essentially rolling the dice (or flipping a coin, as they're well known to do in TikTok videos) and crossing their fingers that the client will be fine with the flawed watch.
5. If client is newbie, they won't notice the watch is not as described and everyone goes home happy (ideal scenario for shady dealers -- sale is concluded, you can stop reading now).
6. If client notices the watch is not as advertised, they contact the salesperson. (This is where the actual negotiations begin!)
After that, the real negotiation is about what will make the client happy and keep the watch. Taking back the watch is a very, very, very last resort. 47th street dealers will usually start with offering $100-$200 as a form of apology for the "miscommunication". If the client still unhappy, 47th street dealers will then offer to fix the watch. If they're local, the client will leave the watch with them and they'll find various cheap ways to "fix" it. If the client is not local, then they'll either send out a label to ship the watch or they'll reach out to their network and hope there is someone closer to the client to "fix" the watch on their behalf.
If none of those options work, then the negotiations will go to reimbursements. And this will go back and forth even longer. The 47th street dealer will start with a low reimbursement amount. And it will be a long, drawn out process in hopes the client will get tired of it and accept the lower reimbursement. Every step of the way, the 47th street dealer will have an exhausting number of rationales on why that amount is very fair ("we're already losing money on this", "our guy can refinish the watch for only $$$ amount", "no way it costs $$$ amount to refinish, LA Watch Works is ripping you off", etc).
This whole negotiations back-and-forth will be where the salesperson truly earns their commission.
The manager/owner will be more than happy to let things play out and only get involved when the words "legal", "lawyer", or "cops" start to get mentioned.
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