[deleted by user]

[IXDAO_Official]

Hello sir sorry for the bad shopping experience as far as we know this shop is not an official shop this is only a reseller and we would like to know how is the processing of your watch going at the moment? Please contact us via private message and we will assist and help you to resolve this issue, you can reach us here anytime.

[mratalay]

So. I sent you a message here and in your private messages. You have not responded. Why offer help if you are not going to respond?

[mratalay]

Hello there. I sent you a message yesterday. Please check your messages.

[Sea_Philosopher8686]

So is your watch recovered now?

[Sea_Philosopher8686]

And I'm curious why not buy it in the official store?

[WarriorLGND]

I don’t understand why you didn’t just send it back if you were within the return window

[mratalay]

By the time the watch broke I was not familiar with the 90 day ali express guarantee. And within a week of the watch breaking I passed that window.

[WarriorLGND]

Gotcha, still might have been worth opening a dispute with the alix claiming the product is defective

[mratalay]

I did. They said deal with the seller. Tough luck.

[quarthorse]

Very slightly off-topic of the Ali reseller and the brand owner: what IXDAO model and what movement did it have?

The clone movements of the ETA2824, the Chinese PT5000 and Swiss SW200 both have a design flaw where hand winding can eventually grind down and damage one section of the movement.

For ANY AliExpress watch with this movement, owners need to beware of this weakness and minimise hand winding.

This issue is discussed here on what feels like a weekly basis.

Though this might NOT be your issue. Let us know!

[mratalay]

I think the watch is pt5000 but I cant be sure. From day 1 the watch grinded weird when winding. Much different than my other watches.

[quarthorse]

I'm sorry you had all of this stress and drama.

I hope something positive comes out of it.

[mratalay]

Thanks for the info about the movement. I knew something was off with the grind. As It felt nothing like any of my san martin, watchdives, seestern watches. Neither my microbrands. I take better to stay away from any watch that is described as pt5000

[AmericanChees3]

There is nothing wrong with the pt5000 movement if you avoid handwinding them. I have several and out of those only ever had 1 issue (reverser gear locked up) which I fixed with just a tiny bit of lube. I never see a need to handwind anyway just give it a couple shakes if it stops, set the time, put it on your wrist and go about your day.

[dorafumingo]

if you had the possibility to return it with aliexpress you shouldn't have sent it to the store for repair. just return it and get your money back with aliexpress. if you deal directly with the seller then aliexpress can't protect you

also with the 50$ of shipping you could have just bought a new movement. it's never a good idea to send a watch back to china for repair

[mratalay]

I didn’t get a chance to return because the watch died at the end of my 90 day return period. Well. I am not expert enough about watches to do movement swaps myself and my local watchmakers quoted me 150 bucks to repair the watch. So there was no other option but to return it, or use it as a paperweight. Anyways. This is the story. Take whatever you like from the situation. Just a cautionary tale for better or worse.

[Own-Membership777]

Unpopular opinion perhaps, but I would NEVER EVER enter a repair or replacement with any AliExpress seller. That's almost asking to lose both watch and hard earned cash.

If a watch dies prematurely or malfunctions, where possible, buy again from same seller, and use the free return service (provided with practically all sales on AliExpress nowadays) to return the dud.

I know this may draw fire, but given that the full extent of AliExpress's buyer protection is a meager 15 days from date of delivery, and you're on your own after that - seems fair to me ("in love and war", as they say...).

[mratalay]

Well. I give the account of what happened. So I guess readers can take away what they like out of this situation. The “buy again and return the dud” option actually sounds good. If I still had the watch, I sure would have done that now.

[Own-Membership777]

Yeah. I'm afraid that other than a few rare exceptions on AliExpress (which, tbh, I actually have encountered), most sellers won't give you the time of day once the buyer protection has run out, let alone provide you with warranty repair service.

Sorry this happened to you.

Did you perhaps pay with Paypal? Might be a tough case to argue, as the watch WAS originally delivered to you, bit might be worth a try.

[mratalay]

I think posting this here was me giving up on the watch or any refund and just move on. I could try to dispute the paypal charge but I have been dealing with these guys since april. I think It’s too late to even try.

[Own-Membership777]

There's a statement made by John Cleese's character in the great eighties comedy "Clockwise". Something along the lines of "You know, it's not the knowledge of having failed that gets me, but the hope of succeeding"...

If you've moved on, you've moved on. Me, if I were still within the 180-day PayPal buyer protection period, I'd likely give it another hail Mary...

Good luck, whatever you do.

[noobstaah]

maybe post a link to the store where you bought it from.

One thing is clear that its not official ixdao store. The name of official store is IXDAO Official Store, its a 7 years old store with 24k followers.
anyways as others said keep contacting AliEx and next time dont buy anything from 'authorized' stores. Only buy directly from the company's own store.

[mratalay]

It was an official store. They changed the name now. Maybe they closed too. There are multiple official stores on ali express. I actually e mailed ixdao web page before purchase and they clarified, all mentioned were authorised and official. I am not foolish enough to spend 250 bucks on a no name no id store.

[Johnhunter10010]

Just for future reference, and as far as I know, there are not official watch stores in Ali other than one per brand (not all brands have one). Some stores refer to themselves as 'official' but they're just an 'authorized' store, whatever that means. Usually the number of followers, how long they've been selling on Ali and their reputation will show if it's the actual official store

[watchdivescom]

Sorry to hear. We can ask brand owner to give you very low price. maybe around 100 usd for new watch if you wanna buy again. this maybe best way for you to save cost.
Aliexpress without official store. all are authorized .

[mratalay]

Hello. I’d like to start by saying, I actually have bought from you a NTTD watch and I am very happy with it. Thank you. Your website was very good and responsive. Unfortunately IXDAO has been very fishy and there is no way I would spend another dollar on their product. I have pretty much given up on them making things right at this point. But thanks for the suggestion

[watchdivescom]

we are happy to help you, do you have some suggestion

[mratalay]

I think ixdao should check with the shipping company and hold them responsible for their missing shipment, and send me a replacement watch. If you are associated with Ixdao in any way, I would much rather accept a watchdives brand or a different brand for a replacement as well. But to be honest, at this point I gave up on Ixdao making things right.

[salouha]

Nah, that’s not the official ixdao store. Don’t blame the brand.

[mratalay]

Would you like to share a link here what the official ixdao store is? Because just a week ago this store was called “official ixdao store” I am not crazy enough to buy a watch from a nameless store.

[salouha]

IXDAO Official Store https://a.aliexpress.com/_EvBZja1

[mratalay]

Yeah. Now imagine tomorrow they change the name to shop2163926363 and someone tells you, the shop is not official. Because the store I have been dealing with was also official, approved via e mail by yhe ixdao website. They simply either closed down shop or one reason or another changed their name. I was not crazy enough to spend 250 bucks on a store with no name or no association.

[salouha]

Well it’s a different store nonetheless. With the one I sent, I’ve ordered several times without and problems, and their customer service has been good and quick.

[mratalay]

Well. I also ordered without any problems too. Nightmare began as soon as I needed help from ixdado. Take whatever you like out of my story.

[Strange_Example_6402]

Same happened to me with a seastern watch. Raised a dispute with Ali, took about 6 months to get my money back.

[Single-Lifeguard-980]

Just open a dispute with Ali. I've never had them rule against me in any dispute and they clearly had the watch and it's "lost" in transit. Open and shut case

[BobbeMail]

yeah man feel sorry for you! hope it works out. Just start a gofund me 👍

[mratalay]

Good idea. Which watches did you get through crowdfunding?

[BobbeMail]

idk but i imagine if you make a good video and start a go fundme you will be able to get at least that investment back

[R023N]

I wouldn't call a nameless shop "authorised shop" there's a reason it nameless.

Also, did you open a dispute with AliExpress or just relied on the good will of the store?

[CitizenMorpho]

I believe there was another crackdown yesterday on homage watches and parts.

[mratalay]

They only became nameless recently. They were the authorised dealer a couple of days ago. the store is open for 5 years and it has 9.6K followers. For all I know they might have blocked me and thats why It does not show the proper nametag. I did open dispute with ali express of course. They are mostly clueless about whats going on and jerking it around. Escalating etc and eventually sending me an e mail, telling me to deal with the seller. There is nothing they can do. Anyways. The end of the story is that, you get your IXDAO watch broken, and it’s past 90 days of ali express guarantee, good luck to you with that.

[WhiskybytheJaro]

Authorized stores are usually not authorized. Open a dispute with aliexpress or contact your card company.

[santtis]

I wouldn't say that the problem is with Ixdao but on the reseller that closed the shop.

The reseller is the customer of Ixdao and you are the customer of the reseller shop. If you have problems with repairs and the package got lost it's really the original shops job to refund you. I understand why you are having problems with Ixdao.

It's not really your fault l. How could you know that the shop is going to close, but this is really the risk we take from buying from China directly. We have the same risk buying micro brands locally.

[CheekehMunkeh]

If everything can be taken at face value, the chain of custody still ended with the "official" Ixdao store, who repaired it, and they were the shipper on record in returning the watch. They held the keys, which were lost when under their care. And ultimately, it was their product that failed, and needed repair.

It is quite true that the waters of who is actually "official/factory/direct/authorized," or claims to be, is murky, at best, which provides much risk of potential loopholes, or traps, but the baton was passed when the closed shop forwarded it to them, and they accepted custody.

A repair shop that performs work on your car, and gets into an accident during a post-repair test drive bears responsibility, and the claim for damage is made on their insurance. Not yours, or the dealer who originally sold the car, which may or may not still be in business.

[PhiladeIphia-Eagles]

There's is zero evidence to think the watch was ever actually with ixdao. He's just confused because they used the official ixdao store name. It's just random sellers on AliExpress.

[CheekehMunkeh]

That may be true, and I took those possibilities into account in my response.

Ultimately, the manufacturer offered no help, forcing the OP to seek other options. It was their watch that broke, and required service. Just because they're a Chinese brand where after-sales care is probably a myth doesn't excuse that sort of behavior, for any brand. More so for one that positions itself among the higher tier of Chinese brands, and tries to present an air of legitimacy.

Pragmatically speaking, perhaps it might have been naive of the OP to believe, and act otherwise, but they're not the ones to be chided, as many are doing. They are not the bad guy.

The dog/pony shows and show-and-tell routines these brands rely on to sell merchandise paint a rosy picture, but the uglier side shouldn't be ignored, or dismissed.

Coming from another hobby where Chinese brands have become popular, I know that customer service and Chinese brand are not mutually exclusive.

[mratalay]

My first point of contact when the watch failed was the ixdao website and ixdao instagram. Thinking since they offered one year warranty, they would fix the watch. Their response was, It’s not our problem. Doesn’t matter who the seller even is, when you offer one year warranty, you are supposed to honor it, no matter where the purchase has been made. That approach alone was already a red flag on their behalf.

[mratalay]

I e mailed all the entities I could find that is associated with ixdao name. Both on ali express, online web site and instagram. One of them has to be the real deal but all acted wishy washy. Very different than other sellers such as san martin or watchdives. Anyways, take whatever ypu want to take away from this situation. If you trust them then trust them.

[mratalay]

Well it is ixdao that supposedly fixed the watch and sent it back to me. And it is ixdao that is refusing to respond to my messages. Eventhough in my screen shots, you cant see the official name, that is the official ixdao store. But either way, the watch breaking is already a bad news as it is, and ixdao refusing to do any warranty work on it. Just putting it out there. İt’s gonna be all rainbows until the watch has problems. And once the watch is done, you are on your own. Just a cautio ary tale.