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ROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEX
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#1 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Real Name: Tony
Location: England
Posts: 5,435
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Hess Fine Auctions
Can any of the forum members please tell me anything about the above Ebay seller? They are currently selling a 2006 S/S Daytona white dial. The current bid is standing at $9,909 with 14 hours remaining. The item number is:230230110429 They seem to be giving out a lot of info as well as many pictures, your advice would be most welcome. Sorry, but I don't know how to place the link from ebay onto the forum. Moderators If I have placed this into the wrong section I apologise and please move. Many thanks
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#2 |
Banned
Join Date: Dec 2007
Real Name: steven
Location: tampa bay
Watch: 1680 18k sub
Posts: 6,672
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hess fine art has been in business for years.they are owned by jeff hess who wrote a couple of books about rolex.they are just about two miles from me and I do buisness there every week.they know their stuff and are very helpful and fine e-bay members.
they are one of the best sellers I have ever ran into. hope that helps you. |
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#3 |
Banned
Join Date: Dec 2007
Real Name: steven
Location: tampa bay
Watch: 1680 18k sub
Posts: 6,672
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#4 | |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Real Name: Sean
Location: West Florida
Posts: 2,671
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Quote:
Sean
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"Life is frittered away with detail... simplify, simplify!" Henry D. Thoreau |
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#5 | |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Real Name: Tony
Location: England
Posts: 5,435
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Quote:
PM sent
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#6 |
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2012
Real Name: Steve
Location: Boston, MA
Watch: 116509,A21330,MVQV
Posts: 773
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New member. Joined here to add my experience with Hess. In my experience, they seem to be the type of seller that, even if they get things right 99% of the time, that other 1% of the time, they refuse to admit fault, and completely neglect the customer.
I purchased an antique surveyor's transit from them on eBay. It was described as "spotted" and "requiring polish". What I received was a mess of pitted brass that will require 80+ hours of labor to properly restore. See attached. It's obvious to anyone that no amount of polish will fix this. Hess refused responsibility. Because I had already started polishing it (per their suggestion), they refused a refund through eBay buyer protection. If you're displeased with your purchase, they don't care about your satisfaction as a customer. They will taunt you and attempt to make you break eBay rules that you may not know about so that you will void your "protection". Katrina Hess bragged to me that Hess sold $43 million of items on eBay. With a 99.5% feedback rating, the math implies they only made 1/200 of their customers hate them - do the math on how much money that means... Tricky seller with a piss-poor attitude and no customer service. Caveat emptor! |
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#7 | |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Real Name: Tyler
Location: Hill Country, TX
Watch: Rolex
Posts: 496
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Quote:
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#8 | ||
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2012
Real Name: Steve
Location: Boston, MA
Watch: 116509,A21330,MVQV
Posts: 773
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Quote:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390385352296...ht_3296wt_1270 And here are a couple of the photos from that auction (attached to this post so that they may remain here after eBay removes it from public view)... Also, I will quote the "condition" portion of the listing: Quote:
Judge for yourself. Personally, I think these people are shady. I wouldn't buy ANYTHING from them. It's not the 99% of happy customers who judge how good a retailer is... it's how they deal with the 1% who they screw over (even if by accident, due to negligence, or by letting something slip through the cracks). The way they dealt with me is unacceptable in a "fine goods" retailer. I'm now in the process if dismantling the transit and wet-sanding it with 1000 grit sandpaper to restore it. It's coming along beautifully, but very, very slowly. I'll post photos here when done if you guys care to see. |
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#9 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Real Name: Tyler
Location: Hill Country, TX
Watch: Rolex
Posts: 496
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I must say that there is quite a big difference between their photos and yours. I would be upset as well.
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#10 |
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2012
Real Name: Steve
Location: Boston, MA
Watch: 116509,A21330,MVQV
Posts: 773
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Oh, I was... even more upset by their reaction! Rather than working with me to come to a fair resolution, they refused to deal with me at all because I had begun polishing it already (per their listing's suggestion!!!!)
eBay, of course, sided with them... because eBay does not value customer service - it's not a retail-oriented community. However, do you want to deal with retailers who have an eBay / Pan Shop mentality? I DON'T!!!! FYI - Below is another image showing a piece I have begun restoring with 1000 grit wet sanding - still needs some polish, but looking good, right?! I have about 1.5 hours into that one piece. I'm happy to say I have about 1/2 of the scope depitted thus far (in about 8 hours of effort). At this rate, I'm going to spend 40+ hours to restore the entire piece, though. Again, I would never deal with Hess again. Katrina Hess has the worst attitude I've ever seen from a retailer. I can't believe these people market themselves as a "high end" shop. Ridiculous! |
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#11 |
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2012
Real Name: Steve
Location: Boston, MA
Watch: 116509,A21330,MVQV
Posts: 773
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Also, knowing the condition from the photos I posted, if you look closely, you can see the pitting in their photos... it's barely noticeable, and easily mistaken for "tarnish" given the condition they stated, but you can see the tricks they used to cover up the pitting by over-saturating the photo.
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#12 |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Iowa
Posts: 108
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With that much metal removed will the transit even be saleable? What you are having to do to make it presentable is damaging the fine machine-work which I imagine is one of the selling points. What I would do is start with a coarser grit 360 or 500 and work your way up to the 1000, wet the paper down a few hours before you use it to make more pliable and use a 3M sanding sponge to wrap the paper around it. The sponge is available in different densities and helps to keep the paper in even contact with what you are sanding.
Last edited by scocope; 21 February 2012 at 11:41 AM.. Reason: more words |
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#13 |
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2012
Real Name: Steve
Location: Boston, MA
Watch: 116509,A21330,MVQV
Posts: 773
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Hey, scocope - Fortunately, I'm not having to remove a lot of brass on the delicate parts. Those photos are extreme close-ups. The pitting is probably less than 1mm deep on the scope itself. Consider that in that photo, the scope is less than 1" in diameter. Also, the scope is very thick. The lens shield is much thinner, and it turned out fine.
Also, I'm finding that only the exposed pieces were pitted. So all of the brass that I'm removing is superficial, and doesn't affect the function of the piece at all. Before I got started, I looked at this thing in detail to determine that I could restore it properly. I've had a go at some of the worse areas with 600 damp. I'm hesitant to go coarser than that, though. Brass is really soft, and I don't want to score it. 1000 is doing a good job in most places. I'm then doing a fine sand with 2000 grit, and will finish off with some cream polish. I'm debating whether I want to clear it when done, but I'm not worried about that right now. I may just keep a nice polish on it. I'd hate for it to return to its current condition, though. |
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#14 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Real Name: ChrisTOPHer
Location: Sydney
Watch: Rolex, Brellum,
Posts: 12,601
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yes there has been much discussion about it before. You are not the only one to feel this way
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"Where no counsel is the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety." Member No.# 11795 |
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#15 |
2024 Pledge Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Real Name: jP
Location: Texas
Watch: GMT-MASTER
Posts: 17,185
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Hessfineauctions from ebay have been discussed many times here on TRF. They are "hit and miss" and your misfortune is not unlike others that have had problems there, to include buyers that have left disparaging feedback for them on ebay. The typical response from Jeff Hess is that his wife runs the auction side of the business which you have unfortunately found out. Based on your experience, and that of others, I would avoid them in the future, particularly after reading ebay feedback from dissatisfied customers. Of course, to give them the benefit of doubt, they do have satisfied customers as well. But, when problems arise in a sale, it is not the problem that people will remember, but instead, one will remember how it was resolved.
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Member of NAWCC since 1990. INSTAGRAM USER NAME: SPRINGERJFP Visit my Instagram page to view some of the finest vintage GMTs anywhere - as well as other vintage classics. |
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#16 |
2024 Pledge Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Real Name: Alfred
Location: DC Metro
Watch: None
Posts: 29,368
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There are lots of Daytonas here for sale at that starting price. Search for DavidSW i know he has Two Daytona one black and one white. OCROLEXGUY also have one i think... go with the trusted sellers here in the forum.. you cant go wrong.
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#17 |
2024 Pledge Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Real Name: jP
Location: Texas
Watch: GMT-MASTER
Posts: 17,185
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Another Jeff Hess auction concerning an ebay listing.
https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=284433
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Member of NAWCC since 1990. INSTAGRAM USER NAME: SPRINGERJFP Visit my Instagram page to view some of the finest vintage GMTs anywhere - as well as other vintage classics. |
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#18 |
"TRF" Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Real Name: STAN
Location: KY-USA
Watch: Rolex Prez
Posts: 12,583
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...nutter PUBLIC SERVICE message...
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