rinsk21 wrote:Update on my own personal watch soap opera for those that want to share in my anxiety:
I sent the watch with the broken main spring back to Japan after ignoring logic, reason and most people's opinions. The seller agreed to repair it for free and send it to RGX again at no cost. USPS to get it there and RGX back to me will total about $250, so rolling the dice to save $500. However, I think I mentioned in my last post that USPS would only insure up to $2500 without dealing with customs and a bunch of paperwork, so my biggest fear was a shipping problem. Especially when mailing to Japan, which had address formats that make no sense to me. I got word about a week ago that it made it there safe and sound. Phew. Today they emailed me and said that they are repairing it now and it should be mailed back to me by the end of the month. So, fingers still crossed but everything so far has gone pretty well.
ig: @watchesindc
Here is what I hope to be the final update:
We officially went from "everything is going smoothly" to "oh no what did I do" territory yesterday. I got a note a couple weeks ago that they had finished the repair in Japan and they shipped it for free to my RGX address. I then received word from RGX that they had a package for me and proceeded to pay for shipping back to me in the United States. RGX asked me if this was the same watch that I had previously purchased because I had given them a heads up that I was going to be sending something back for warranty. They said that they would mark the package appropriately as a watch repair so that duty would not be charged.
After sitting in customs for 10 days the package shows up at my office yesterday with a postal carrier asking me for a check for $1,200. I tell him that he is crazy and asked if I can take pictures of the manifest from United States Customs on the package. They applied a 14% duty to the original purchase price of the watch and did not note that it was for repair. He takes it away and tells me that it will be held at the Post office near my work until I pay the fee.
I then send a few hours yesterday and this morning making somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 phone calls to Customs, USPS, etc. Finally I reach one person who is able to tell me how to appeal this, in the NY customs office at JFK. So strange that was the location because I'm in Washington DC. She tells me that the package had the declared value and no mention of the repair shop they assessed the duty. The only option is to FAX an invoice showing the repair was made for free from the company in Japan, correspondence discussing the repair, and receipt for the shipping to Japan. She tells me that they will review the documentation, and if ruling is made in my favor, they will fax a letter back to the Post office to release the package to me.
So I spend another few hours gathering emails, etc, trying unsuccessfully to get an invoice and yelling at RGX some more because they screwed this up. I finally get enough correspondence that I decide to submit and walk to the Post office to ask them to fax. Because it's 2019, even the post office doesn't have a fax machine and they tell me that the fax number on the internet is wrong. They tell me they have no way to receive the approval from Customs and I'm SOL. I ask what I should do and the manager comes out to help move this along because there is a line now that I've taken ten minutes to explain this. I give him the same story and he starts poking around in the computer, reviewing my 10 page document that I have no way of faxing and looking generally frustrated. He also remembers me from sending the package to Japan because that wasn't easy.
Then after 2 more minutes of huffing and looking irritated, out of the blue he says "can I keep this paperwork?" I'm like, absolutely and he goes, "alright man, take it" and hands me the package. Makes me sign something electronically which I barely read and I'm out the door before he changes his mind.
So assuming that a Customs agent doesn't knock my door down looking for $1200 because those idiots at RGX forgot the word "repair," it's a happy ending. Long road, many ups and downs, lots of anxiety, but I spent $175 on shipping fees rather than the $750 to get it fixed locally. All's well that ends well, but I'm not sure that RGX is an option going forward without calculating in duty on any RGM purchases.
Sorry for the longest-winded post in the forum.
ig: @watchesindc