Post
by Guest » June 12th 2010, 7:29pm
A confirmation of the DD issue from the hive - email from DD is shown below. It seems as though this is a matter DD are taking seriously and rightly so.
To all of you who have taken the time to write me and confirm both the nature of the situation and my initial reply to it, I thank you on behalf of myself and Dubois-Depraz. I did write the response many of you have seen and asked me about.
I was made aware of this situation by a phone call from someone in New Jersey, some 7-10 days ago. The information was somewhat hazy, but the fact that we were being accused of something involving Invicta was startling to me since we have no business relationship with Invicta.
I have confirmed this on three occasions with the owners of Dubois-Depraz, a family I have known for many years and who are considered the finest independent watchmakers in Switzerland who do not have their own brand--and therefore, no axe to grind. They work for virtually everyone in the Swiss and German watch industries.
I can confirm the following:
1. There has never been a sale of movements from DD to invicta. Invicta is not a customer of our company that we know of.
2. There has been NO communication between Invicta or any known--or appropriately identified--Invicta representative with DD. No movements have been returned from ANY source, and none are scheduled to be returned.
3. DD has assumed NO responsibility for any faults, claims or other issues supposedly advanced by Invicta, or anyone else acting in their name.
4. If someone else--especially an already registered customer--has purchased our modules and resold them to Invicta, they are reponsible for any issues which may arise. I am the only official purchase conduit for any US address, and Invicta has never done any business with me or any official DD representative.
5. Duplication has been a serious problem in the watch industry fior some time and has affected the biggest names in the industry down to component suppliers. These duplications are so good in some cases that even the original manufacturers themselves have to look twice--and sometimes even three times--to determine if the components are truly theirs or not. We have encountered the same issue in the past. We cannot fault a customer for not knowing if the movements are truly DD or not until we see them ourselves.
What we, for our part, find interesting is the following:
1. Claims have been made on Shopnbc that DD is guilty of a variety of issues, that Invicta has been in contact with DD about said issues, and that DD has assumed responsibility for said issues. No one at DD has any knowledge of such issues, claims, or supposed contacts.
2. On 5/27, claims were made by Shopnbc purporting to be the supposed mouthpiece of Invicta for the aggrieved buyers, and that negotiations were being conducted with DD, and that movements would be returned to DD for complete rework. No one at DD has any knowledge of any of these claims. All of this information is hearsay unless proven by a statement by Invicta or Eyal Lalo.
3. Yesterday evening, Friday, June 11, I personally received an e-mail from Eyal Lalo saying that the issue had already been resolved, and that the hands were the problem.
4. I have not, to date, seen, or been referred to, a direct and supportable statement by Eyal Lalo directly, or anyone else from, Invicta, that DD was ever suspected of any problem. All of the information I have heard has come from Shopnbc. If anyone has any evidence of such statements from ANY Invicta representative, either in video, written, or other form, I would like to see them as quickly as possible.
Until such time as we have proof of statements made by Mr. Lalo, we must assume that this entire issue originated at Shopnbc. For whatever reasons this may have been done--possibly a publicity stunt--rest assured we will take appropriate action to protect our reputation against anyone who assails it.
Thank you for your interest in watches, movements and the industry in general. You are, absolutely, the people most important to us.
With my kindest regards to all of you,
Chris Becker
Business Development Manager Americas
Dubois-Depraz SA