Howard Riehl Has Stopped Delivering Paid For Synchronars

[bucko170]

I paid $1625.00 for a Synchronar RWR LE over 2 installments, the first payment of $800 was made on the 7th March 2008, the last payment of $825 was made on the 24th April 2008, this final installment was made at Howards request who stated the watch would be ready for shipping on the 28th April 2008.
The watch has not been delivered and Howard has now stopped answering my emails, the last email I received was on the 18th May 2008.
Obviously I am very concerned about the situation, $1625.00 is a large sum of money.
I hope that by sharing this experience other forum members will be able to make a better informed judgement before taking the plunge and ordering from Howard.
Howard may be able to provide a simple explanation for these problems, but at this point in time It looks like he has took my money and ran.
Obviously if things do change, if Howard gets in touch and explains the situation I will update the forum immediately.
Regards Mick
The broke & unhappy LED fan from the UK!

[retroleds]

Ah, so sorry to hear this Mick. Realistically, the only person/people to buy off Howard from this time forward in time, should be people who can pick up and pay for the watch in person. He has a limited number of working modules left, so obviously he can screw the last person who's cash he is holding, unless others are foolish enough to think he will treat them differently.

I truely hope some will take the advice and resist trying to get a working Synchronar from Howard. Parts from his brothers still seems to be a realistic diversion for those interested..

"No matter how much or little he makes, if you tie up a man's cash for 6 weeks he has financial problems" - as explained to me by[a really cool] former brother- in-law, Thomas Clark.

[clockace]

i too am waiting on a rwr as well as a rebuilt mkIV module that i sent him in april. he is not answering my emails either. peter

[ronaldheld]

I have been waiting since June of last year.

[J Thomas]

I hope that by sharing this experience other forum members will be able to make a better informed judgement before taking the plunge and ordering from Howard.

I am sorry you folks here on the DWF have experienced something like this.
I would suspect those funds were used for his living expenses.


A similar tale of woe surfaced two years ago in the nixie clock building community.

The original designer of a four letter word display generator (his name is Ray Weisling), based on large format nixie tubes had begun to solicit and accept funds for kit sales he did not later deliver on. He was a trusted owner of a yahoo list group pertaining to these tubes, and few if any had reservations in sending him money.
Randomly at first, complaints about non-delivery were posted. Then more and more appeared. Some had waited two years for items that were supposed to ship immediately.

Since Ray was also the list owner, he would try to quickly delete these growing complaint messages before other members would read them, and block the sender through moderation.

It grew too big for him to suppress, and the situation exploded.


I decided to build a web page dedicated to exposing Ray and his antics.
I had no idea the number of his victims would grow to more than 25 within a few months of setting up that web page, through emails I received from folks describing their experience.
I also fell for his scam in '06, sending him $600. Some lost more, some less. It did put an end to him receiving any more money from people believing they would actually receive something from him. He is an ex-pat living in Indonesia, and beyond reach of the feds.

Later on after Ray was exposed for deleting critical posts to the list serve, he would pop up now and then. Always with a tale of woe about some terrible event that had happened to him or his family. And followed with a story about he was working on some money making project that would allow him to fulfill all of the delinquent orders would be posted.
He did this a few times, and then even the nicer folks started flaming him.


The story about Ray is here:
http://www.amug.org/~jthomas/badnixie.html


I can only hope your situation does not go as bad as the one I described.

Regards, Jeff

[retroleds]

Jeff, you know, your take on this has given me pause. You see, I have been getting a tad bit tired of repairing for the public. Now, rather than intentionally have the jobs malinger, I have been telling people for the last few months that since I only receive about 5-10 hours worth of repair work a week during the spring-summer months of the northern hemisphere(versus 20 plus repair jobs a week in winter), I am only sitting down at the workbench every few weeks. But instead, I have had a solid string of people who start contacting me on a daily basis(one guy called my 3 times a day and wrote me 4 times on the same day,extreme example) when I have only had their piece for a few days or a week. After the thing has sat around for YEARS broken! So I am in the process of updating my website and telling people that I am accepting no more repair work until October. Then I will have to institute some different policies, especially for low value watches that are sent to me...too many of them get left with me and I don't get paid and I have no use for them since there are always going to be more nice cases than there are working modules, short of people rebuilding with newer modules inside.

Bottom line is, I don't want to end up like Howard or Ray, not being able to finish orders, not giving a rip whether I finish orders and not getting to some of the things I would really like to be doing. Like sharing more information, pumping up interest in digital watch collecting and fixing up items that I think are worth fixing, unlike some of the stuff I am sent.

[J Thomas]

[retroleds]

He mistakenly considered the gross receipts as net
Regards, Jeff

Oh man, that is the worst mistake. No spending the money until you have shipped, at very least, better when they have acknowledged receipt and had a day to examine the product. I believe that what happens with "How" is: he spends the money, then starts thinking about how angry he is the Synchronar isn't continueing and decides to play some cat & mouse game of stringing you along until too much time has passed for him to possibly owe you anything. I wish I could work that magic on my bank and credit card company.

Alright, alright, it's been real,
Ed

[Synchroserious]

Geez Ed really is still in the dark and fails to remember there is only one proper way to make a Synchronar.Recently I have been forced to move from my shop location.So everything has been relocated.Was not until today that i am at a Public Library to go online just to read the continued trash talk speculation from Ed.

1,Only 4 watches that have been paid for need final completion.I refuse to ship them until they are 100% complete.


2,I can't sell on ebay thanks to a few very negative attitudes.

3,Don't forget the people who paid my father were credited for their payment and recieved a watch at lower cost.

4, I STILL WILL BE MAKING WATCHES NO MATTER WHAT MR,ED SAYS. 5,NONE!! HAVE FAILED SINCE I STARTED IN LATE 2005

[bucko170]

Thank you for the information Howard

Only 4 watches that have been paid for need final completion.I refuse to ship them until they are 100% complete.

Could you give some indication as to when that will be?

[retroleds]

Ok, always good to hear from Howard....these posts usually bring him out. But 4 watches paid for and not delivered? I'm thinking you guys have got to quit sending him money! He seems to move alot, I had that one used on me once!

Despite what Howard may think, it is NOT fun reporting bad news here, it sucks but i feel it is necessary. I'm of the opinion that providing the infomation buyers,sellers and collectors need to make "reasonable informed choices" is the best use of this medium - something I don't plan on deviating from.

[Synchroserious]

Howard Riehl will be delivering soon.Please remember these are custom built watches offered by one of the inventors sons.They are not something off the shelf and were not sold that way.It is unfortunate and true that it has taken longer to complete and ship than anticipated. I could give a long list of reasons for this but it would not help speed anything up and i do take responsibility for the delay.

[Synchroserious]

No Ed , my shop/office was in the same place for almost 3 years.Although one time the potting material was shipped to an old home address by accident. The not sending money part would certainly help slow things down which seems to be Ed's approach.

[retroleds]

[bucko170]

Ed that's a very funny picture

I started this thread by saying that :

"I hope that by sharing this experience other forum members will be able to make a better informed judgement before taking the plunge and ordering from Howard".

I have since been contacted by a few people who are interested to see how this turns out.

Obviously from reading the thread Howard has promised to make good on the order - however please be aware that this is not the first promise I have received from Howard - he did for example promise me that the watch would be completed and shipped on the 28th April, so it remains to be seen whether or not he keeps to his word this time.

I will update the forum on a regular basis with any information (or lack of information) that I receive and I will definitely post a new thread when (hopefully not if) the watch arrives with pictures of the watch for all interested parties to view.

As of yet Howard has still not replied to me in person, last message received was on 18th May.

Regards Mick.

[Ekkehart]

Hello everyone,

I am Ekkehart from Germany, I just read this thread and want to give some additional input.

I also ordered a RWR LE from Howard in march and the watch is still to be delivered. However, Howard always replied kindly to my emails and yesterday I got an email from him with new info regarding my order.

I am personally not worried about the delivery. Sure, I am impatient too but at the end it is quality what counts. And from what I read before in this forum, it seems that it always took time to manufacture the RWR, also back when Roger Riehl made them himself. So I was prepared that it will take a while.

Once I get my RWR LE, I will post pictures also... Mine will have the flat corner case...



Best Regards,
Ekkehart

[bomber1]

Back in Oct 06, I ordered an RWR LE from Howard. At that time he made it clear that he could not pin down a delivery date, but that it would be delivered. A couple of months later he let me know he was having trouble with the goo inside leaking out but wanting me to have a watch to wear sent it anyway promising to replace the module when he got the seal problem fixed. I made the final payment and wore that leaking watch with pride. True to his word in May 07 I received RWR LE #9 and have made it a daily wearer ever since. I now have a Sunwatch module being built by Howard to fill a SW case I acquired and although it is not as costly as an entire watch, I trust him enough to have paid in full and will wait sort of patiently for it's delivery. Although I know as well as anybody that these are very expensive watches, I also realize that it is a one man show with more then one order to fill and that slows things down. Try to look at the big picture and be patient, just a little, it will be worth it. As for you Howard--keep up the fine work.
John Thomas, of the Montana Thomas's not to be confused with another poster J. Thomas (good name!!)

[bucko170]

When I ordered from Howard I was fully aware that the watch was going to be made from scratch and I would have to be patient and wait quite a while for it to be completed. I accepted this and was fully prepared to be patient.

The problem I have is that Howard informed me that the watch was ready for shipping on the 28th April and requested final payment. This payment was promptly sent, however no watch arrived and shortly after Howard stopped replying to my emails altogether.

I was left in a position where I had paid for a watch that I had not received and the seller had seemingly disappeared into the night with my $1625.00, under these circumstances I believe that I was right to be more than a little concerned!

I am heartened to hear from yourself and from Howard on this thread that he does make good on his promises and that the order will be fulfilled. I very much hope that this holds true for mine and the other 3 orders that are yet to be completed.

As stated previously since I started the thread a few people have been in touch with me who are interested to see how things turn out, I will therefore continue updating the thread with any information I receive and I will post pictures once the watch arrives.

Regards Mick.

[bucko170]

The Synchronar has now been delivered as promised and it is very nice.

Pictures of the watch have been posted on the 'watch your wearing category.'

My subject title 'Howard Riehl Has Stopped Delivering Paid For Synchronars' was obviously incorrect...................

Update:: Just to put the record straight the correct title should of read 'Howard Riehl Has Stopped Delivering Paid For Synchronars On Time, Complete As Ordered And Without Causing A Lot Of Stress And Worry First'.............

[Synchroserious]

Thanks for the update Mitch,Can you please tell people the date it was shipped.

Meanwhile i hope Ed has gotten on the ball with all his backlog and excuses for delays and the wife was able to help him get caught up.

[bucko170]

Thanks for the update Mitch,Can you please tell people the date it was shipped

Yes of course -
The watch was shipped on the 12th August and received on the 21st August.

Update :: The watch was received on the 21st August..... but it was quoted as ready for dispatch and paid for in April, so it only took 4 months to deliver as promised.

BTW: The name is Mick, not Mitch.

[retroleds]

My subject title 'Howard Riehl Has Stopped Delivering Paid For Synchronars' was obviously incorrect and I would like to apologise to all concerned.Regards Mick

Mick: It was correct at the time, no apologies needed.

Salient difference between our backlogs Howard - I take no money up front and am back to 5-6 weeks turnaround. That and I have a clearly stated policy(on my site) of taking the summer off from repair work - although I did bend that for a few people who were willing to be patient.

Don't be hating on me over the helpful woman. And she's even employeed!!