Timefactors

I've only bought them pre-owned.

Not worth the hassle and aggrevation to buy "online" from them.

@foghorn which one did you go for?

Smiths Everest. Had it for just over a year and ended up selling it.

Bought from a member at Watchuseek.Time Factors watches show up with regularity on WatchRecon.

Stay away from buying new on Timefactors. Worst customer experience ever by far. Watches are ok: basic design copies but alright all in all. Bracelets are of low quality and poor finishing in my personal experience. I talk about this here: https://youtu.be/UfN4TLjsXPg

@marioap fair enough. Luckily, I never had the same experience as you. Would you advocate paying more just to avoid buying direct from Timefactors? I only mention that because they sell for more used (the PRS-25 that it is). 

My advice would be to simply not buy a Timefactors watch. There other options out there, even San Martin design copies of the 1016, or better, Traska Summiteer and of the like. I believe that the business "Timefactors" should be avoided and in no case bought directly from them (well, him, it's a single person company). This said, this is my personal experience and also from a range of other people, but by no means I'm here to impose my opinion "not to buy". But I have to honestly tell about these experiences so that people don't buy from Timefactors unaware of the possible consequences. 

I only asked that question because you specifically said “new from Timefactors”. Its never nice to hear people having bad experiences and I’m sure your comment/opinion will be of use to some people out there

I understand. The problem, as you stated, is that second hand the prices are over the roof and simply not worth the product. I got the Everest second had a bit under retail, but after the disgusting experience with Timefactors did sell it at a reasonable price, about retail I believe. If you find someone kind enough as to not to try to overprice it, it's a reasonable watch, but again, there are other better options out there.

I got an Everest first try last drop. Wasn’t too stressful, just had to be quick.

I just bought one a couple weeks ago And I enjoy it quite a bit. I wear this when I go to work at the the hospital and not worried about banging it up against a wall or something. I was previously wearing my mom’s rolex that she passed down to me and was too afraid to get it banged up. 

I had watched youtube reviews and it seemed the old models had clasp issues. But the videos I watched had the older models and so far havent seen much reviews on the updated clasp. I personally don’t have a problem with mine. I have read threads and forums of people having difficulty with the owner as well. For me, I emailed him because I forgot to place my apartment number on my shipping address for the watch and he never replied for a confirmation so I was a bit nervous. But it came through... Would have been nice getting an email back confirming the address. But I don’t mind.

I responded to a previous thread about purchasing the watch: “The advice I give to get one is get on the web page early. These things sell out in literal seconds. Make sure to have good internet and refresh constantly. Once you get one in the cart, put your info quick. I was shaking when I was placing my info as fast as I could (hence forgetting placing my apartment number). “ 

@MMVTWW lol - your typing skills are faster than mine!

@sora_c  glad to hear you had a better experience. That is the danger of having to enter information in quickly - forgetting info/details etc.

if you hadnt done any research on the buying process it could‘ve be quite frustrating 

My mate has two of those, they are nice watches.

Stunning watch! 

I wait for re-release of Smiths PRS-29A. It doesn't show up too often on portals I follow and if it pops up the prices seem exaggerated. 

AFAIK the Timefactors system works like this because they assemble watches in small quantities.

Thanks

I’ve had several Timefactors watches, the first I had was a Smiths, and I’ve had a few precista’s which I thought were better. I ended up selling them all…….something just not quite right about them, the bracelet design on the first Smiths Everest was an appalling effort which to me showed up blatant design flaws which shouldn’t occur if you set yourself up as a cut above. If you go on eBay by far the most watches being flipped are the Everest. There must be some reason, and not just me, I got the Zeno Zex and it was way better.

They also have (or the owner does) their own forum where all the acolytes gush over every offering, no one dare say anything negative. I agree with marioap, there are far better out there and you don’t have to wait for their ridiculous ordering debacle.

anyway just my two penneth 

Wow, that is TERRIBLE customer service.

The comment in his email "I don't understand why people play around with things for no reason" speaks volumes. Changing bracelets is a completely normal thing to do, so a comment like that is simply insulting.

Adding the comment "you will seem like a bitter man who cannot change a bracelet" is even more insulting, especially in light of the tone of your emails to him.

Thanks a lot for you words. That is the reason I try to warn people against this type of bully behavior. That is simple not acceptable in this day and age no matter how successful your watch might be.

It seems my experience mirrors others on here.

Back in Sept 2020 I ordered two watches from Timefactors.  I really wanted the PRS-29AM but, as I'd heard so many good things about the PRS-25, I added that to my order as well.  I duly received my 'payment received' email and sat back to wait for the watches.

After two weeks I started to get antsy as lots of people online were talking about their shipping dates and I had heard nothing.  Nervous, I contacted Eddie Platts and he confirmed my order had been cancelled.
It transpired that Timefactors payment system will only hold payment details for 30 days.  Timefactors only charge you once they've shipped the watch.  As Platts could (would?) only ship a limited number of watches per day, any orders that couldn't be predicted to be shipped within the 30 days were preemptively cancelled.

Because of the large amount of ire this no doubt caused Platts did a 'special' run for those of us that got our orders cancelled.  However, he would only sell me the PRS-25 and outright refused to sell me the PRS-29AM (the one I really wanted), telling me I would have to try again the next time the store opened in two months.

In my opinion, this debacle is the reason why buying from Timefactors today is such chaos - Platts only releases as many watches as he can ship in a month (about 200-ish). 

The watch itself left me singularly unimpressed.  In fact, I don't think I've ever owned a new watch that has spent so little time on the wrist.  I think I wore it for about 3 hours, then it went straight into the watch box. 

There's something about the design of the watch that is quite 'sterile', for lack of a better word.  It's like a Rolex Explorer designed by a computer.  All the proportions and shapes are just a little bit 'off'.  I can't put my finger on one thing; it just felt wrong.  And the crystal and its infamous 'milky ring' just felt cheap. 

I had no problems with the clasp on my bracelet but, like other people, removing it - or more correctly, re-fitting it - was a nightware.  There was a definite misalignment between the lug holes and the endlink.  In the end I think it took a combination of me, my (much more patient) wife, and some truly foul language, about 1.5 hours to finally re-fit the bracelet! 

Finally, I have a philosophical problem with Timefactors take on Smiths watches.  I dislike the concept of a Rolex clone with a Smiths logo on the dial.  Smiths have a huge portfolio of watches just crying out to be re-introduced.  I would love a modern re-issue of the A404 (the watch that did reach the summit of Everest) as an example.  Some can argue that the PRS-25 Expedition recreates the A454; but it's still housed in an Oyster case, which still feels wrong to me. 

So, would I buy another Smiths from Timefactors?  Possibly.  All philosophical grumbling and lack of availability aside, they are well-made watches, with decent movements, for the price you pay. I'm just not sure I'm prepared to invest any emotional energy into liking any of their watches because, in my experience, I don't think they're worth it.

Thanks for sharing your story and finally another confirmation of the lug hole misalignment I had and caused me to sell the two #Timefactors I had and the warning I send everytime I can to other people. There are things that simply can't be accepted in this day and age.

I sold mine within three days of receiving it. 

Well, I need to clarify that is was not only the lug hole, but the way Mr. Platts treated me as a customer. I understand some watches can be faulty, but the way he answered my emails was simply not acceptable so I made a video explaining it to warn people about that bully like behavior of his.

Despite all the negative information on the buying process, this morning I decided to throw the dice. I made an account at Timefactors about 45 minutes before it was supposed to open.  I went to the Smiths page, have my eye on a PSR-25, about 12 minutes before 1400 hrs UK and would refresh. Then the SOLD OUT line disappeared. I clicked on the Black Dial 25 and saw the Add To Cart. Clicked it and went to my cart and there it was, all I needed to do was click Checkout. I was thinking “I did it first shot, what are all those people complaining about?”I clicked and nothing. Again and nothing. A few attempts I thought to double click Checkout and it said updating cart. Blast. Will I try next time? Definitely not paying eBay prices. 

@TmanOeight sorry to hear you missed out. It’s certainly an a novel buying process, isn’t it?? Hope you get it next time it comes around!

I’m going to give it another shot this month. Any advice of whether I use a desktop, phone, or tablet does it change my chances?

@TmanOeight Whichever one you type faster on! Also if you use a desktop you can type out all your information beforehand, then you can cut and paste instead of typing out at checkout?

I purchased a Speedbird III from Eddie back in late February. Just over 30 days after it arrived, and second time of wearing it, it developed a fault. Sticking reversing wheels in the auto winder mechanism. Back it went and it was away for over 8 weeks.

A month after it came back the same fault came back. He have very good consumer protection laws in the UK so I wrote to him to use my final right of reject option to request a full refund.

Eddie, to date, is flatly refusing to comply, trying to hide behind his own T&Cs which are complete nonsense. I’m a patient individual, with the law on my side, so will prevail it is just unnecessary hassle that neither of us needs.

In short he does not have a business head and doesn’t have a clue about customer rights. Avoid the hassle and spend your money elsewhere.

He has also been petty minded and banned me from his watch forum.