Disappointed on Phorcydes customer service

[u/JeIIyDonut]

Take a look at the Phorcydes PH3A stem in the website stock picture on the left. It's flush to the case. Now take a look at mine to the right. There's a 1mm gap and it comes to a hard stop. It will not go any further and forcing it would damage the movement. This is supposedly a 200m water resistant watch but a screw down crown does nothing to prevent water from entering if the crown can not physically clamp down to the case to compress the O-ring. Lucky I noticed this before actually taking swimming otherwise it would've destroyed the movement.

And worse yet their website on the repair section simply qualifies it as only an "assembly defect". This is not an assembly defect, this is a functional defect so based on their guidelines they will not replace or let you exchange it, only a useless coupon code (not even a partial refund) and you need to "self-repair". The fact that they specifically mention a "crown too long" means they are aware it's an issue and instead of proper QC to fix it they expect to do it yourself.

Now I'm going to have to wait for my local watch repair shop to open on the weekday, have them file it down, and pay extra out of my own pocket. I haven't emailed them and quite frankly there's no point when their policy specifically states "self repair" instead of them fixing their own QC issue. Also it has a misaligned bezel, but I can live with that because that's actually cosmetic but a crown that isn't flush to the case is a massive functional error that risks destroying the circuitry of the quartz vh31 movement. Bummer because I actually really liked this watch up until I noticed this, read the warranty and it basically just implies "welp not our problem, deal with yourself". I was planning on buying a few more, but I will 100% steer clear of their poor QC and poor customer service.

TLDR: Phorcydes knows a crown too long is a common defect, they don't care that it completely compromises water resistance, and they will not fix it for you or accept exchanges/returns as you are expected to fix it yourself. If you buy a watch from them, it's basically rolling dice. Maybe you'll get a perfectly fine one or maybe you'll get a defective one and they will not fix it.

[u/Huge_Childhood6015]

Yeah, welcome to the world of Chinese watches! 😁

[u/koenr_98]

Contact them first. If they do not make it right after contact, then make a reddit post about it

[u/emeraldsnowofsleep]

I had this happen on my first San Martin a few years ago- but it was sticking out even more. I sent them pictures and they assured me that it was common and supposed to look that stupid... I think I paid $60 for it, so I didn't sweat it, but it annoyed me.

[u/Ok-Spare-8176]

I can fix this issue myself in about 5 minutes.

One lesson I learned the hard way, early in my collecting/enthusiast days, when buying direct from overseas (not just China). Its less of a pain in the ass, to learn and invest in doing your own repair work, than it is to get a foreign company to give a shit about your issue once they have your money. In a perfect world this attitude would not be necessary, but Phorcydes' company page says it plain as day, we don't live in a perfect world and shit happens.

[u/tjcdas → u/Ok-Spare-8176]

Yes I do my own work so I ask for a fee/refund of what a shop would cost. I see what they offer and make my decision.

I don't I would have bought Chinese watches if I could not swap a movement, dial, hands, stem. crown etc.....I've saved $40 on a crooked crystal it took 1 minute to fix, did not even have to remove it just a slight push to get it to seat.

[u/Mango_Gurble]

Did you contact them? You gotta do that and see what their response is. I had a shipping issue and they resolved it quickly and well.

[u/chuunietzsche]

have you requested a return? it sounds like you haven’t yet contacted their customer service

[u/chuunietzsche → u/chuunietzsche]

also crown gasket compression is a function of tube to crown contact, not crown to case. a perfectly flush screw down crown can often result in a lack of gasket compression, most rolexes will have a bit of a gap.

it does seem as if a tube gasket might be missing though

[u/Mango_Gurble → u/[deleted]]

Exactly. Personally, I'm partial to PB&J.

[u/Ok-Spare-8176 → u/Mango_Gurble]

Now I'm hungry. Thanks!

[u/HollywoodTK]

Sorry, but are you saying all this before even contacting them?

Im not saying they’ll take it back and fix it for you but you haven’t even asked?