All
I felt I needed to bring your attention to a scammer called Robert 'Bob' Long based in Bungay Norfolk. I purchased a Rolex Tudor Monte Carlo from him six weeks ago through ebay, he seemed genuine as did the watch.
Long story short I got the watch after a couple of weeks (he insisted on collection in person so my niece who lives nearby collected it)
When I had it in hand something seemed off, I noticed the serial number was out of range, which lead to much more digging and ultimately revealed it was fake. (A reason I stick to Omega as a rule of thumb). I contact a Rolex expert and good friend I known fellow forum member who confirmed it was fake. I hadn't told Jason (owner of sweepinghands) of the owner or their location, simply showed him pictures of the watch.
I contacted the seller who initially gave me a lot of grief saying it wasn't fake, making many accusations such as I had let someone tamper with it and I was dishonest etc etc.
After much deliberation and dropping Jasons name he agreed to refund me IF I drove to Norfolk to be there at 9:00am for a refund, his condition was that his Rolex expert would be there to verify it was the watch he sold. Right the way through he made out as if it was completely genuine and that I was some dealer trying to scam him or rip him off, playing the 'innocent old man' card.
I took the 7 hours round trip to meet him, he was very amicable, protesting he knew nothing about it and was selling it in good faith and that he was going to get a Rolex expert to verify the watch etc etc. He spent over an hour showing me the 'research' he had done on the internet alongside proudly showing me his collection of very valuable vintage cars, including the first ever mini cooper S he'd found, clearly a wealthy man.
He absolutely suckered me in and I genuinely felt for him, I genuinely felt he knew nothing about what he had sold me and having received my refund drove home. I went home and told my wife about the 'poor old guy', I even followed up with later text explaining I was sorry it had panned out as it did.
All ended well until my Jason contacted me tonight, having pieced the puzzle together he informed me that he had acted as an expert witness in a court case a few years back where a buyer in Norfolk had unwittingly bought a Tudor Monte Carlo which transpired to be fake and the buyer had to take the seller to court....... who was the seller......Bob Long of Bungay, Norfolk............. the watch: the Tudor Monte Carlo.
I really had been duped by this scam merchant, firstly that he convinced me he was an unsuspecting old man who knew nothing about his fake watch and secondly making me jump through hoop after hoop to get my money back! All I would say is buyer beware.....
Here is the relisted watch and a little about the unscrupulous seller..............................
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-...h=item4d83a8af91:g:0uAAAOSw8sBbwaSx:rk:1:pf:0
He has since removed the listing.
Name: Robert Victor Long (aka) Bob Long
Watch: Rolex Tudor Monte Carlo, serial 860976 reference 7032/0
ebay: littlegems121
Lives: Bungay Norfolk
Bob takes clear pride in his public image, being know as the discovery of the oldest mini copper in existence alongside having numerous other classic cars, he clearly doesn't need the money so all I can think is that he proactively and knowingly rips off unsuspecting punters then adopts either an aggressive stance accusing buyers or the 'innocent old man' who had no idea what he was seller.
Here is a little more about 'Bob'
https://www.metro.news/earliest-known-mini-cooper-discovered-in-suffolk-barn/1212767/
Its not the first time he's sold fake tudors, he was highlighted in 2008 on the rolex form for selling a fake Tudor sub.
Ive been in communication with the seller and called him about about this scam, all he has done is insult me further and continue to accuse me, never once admitting he has been caught out, bare face lied to me throughout this process and knowingly sold fake goods. I will hold back from publicly putting up the messages he has sent me but needless to say it takes a lot for me to out someone like this.
I wanted the community to be aware of this scam artist, he will come over as a genuine person but he clearly isn't, he's a deceitful individual who clearly has no morals and no conscience over trying to sell this clearly fake watch.
Cheers Tom
