Stauer Watches deseptive advertising Burnsville, Minnesota
On April fifth 2010 I bought Meisterziet II watch made by Stauer which I saw advertised in a Handy Man magazine date April 2010. In the ad Stauer clearly states that this is a limited edition watch of which only 4,999 will be made. The ad encourages the reader to order soon before the limited number of watches are all purchased. I bought this watch thinking a limited edition watch might some day have some value. My watch was to be back ordered until the end of May 2010. When I ordered the watch by phone I was told by Stauer that it takes about six months to make each watch and that was the reason for the delay. I tried to contact Stauer at their "contact us" email address: stauer@amsi-corp.com three times about the claim of a "limited edition" and weather or not a certificate of authenticity would come with the watch and would the watch bear a matching serial number. Each time the email was returned as undeliverable my the web master. I called Stauer customer service and asked the same questions and was told reluctantly that because of high demand Stauer was well passed the stated 4,999 limit of manufacture and there would be no certificate of authenticity. I told the customer service operator that I had seen the same advertisement in several different and current magazines and that I bought the watch because of their claims. I was told to email Stauer customer service which I did. I made my point that they are deceiving people by leading them to believe they are purchasing a watch of which there would be a limited number made. The reply I received stated that Stauer had made a limited number of Meisterziet II watches and if demand continued to be high they would make more Meisterzziet II's but the watches would differ slightly from the original. Even at there website the information on this watch states that a deal like this might not be repeat for eighty years. No where, any where does it say anything other than this is going to be a limited production run of 4,999. The watch I finally received has a serial number well above 19,000. If this is not a case of deceptive advertising I don't know what is. To ship the watch back to Stauer with insurance for a refund and adding the original shipping and insurance the total cost comes to 1/3 of the original price of the watch. And did I mention that the information about Stauer making more watches than advertised was not given to me by Stauer until after my watch was already shipped. Up until that point it was cards in the mail with apologies for the delays and undeliverable emails. I guess it's buyer beware. If you don't talk to a live person and ask every question you can imagine before your order is shipped, tough luck buddy. I thought Stauer was reputable and could be taken at their word but I was wrong. Buyer beware.