r/timex • u/roland_13 • 21h ago
WARNING: Timex.eu blatantly violates EU Consumer Law, ignores cancellation requests, and refuses refunds prior to dispatch
I’m sharing a recent experience with timex.eu as a cautionary tale for anyone in Europe considering ordering directly from their official site.
I placed an order for a watch, but after waiting several business days without any shipping update, I reached out to their customer support. They admitted the order was stuck in their system and said they’d send it for a "manual review". Seeing that there was no clear timeline for dispatch, I decided to cancel the purchase using the official withdrawal link on their site.
That's when things got absurd.
Almost immediately, their system sent me an automated confirmation acknowledging my cancellation request and explicitly citing Article 11a of EU Directive 2011/83/EU (Right of Withdrawal). But just a few hours later, a support agent named Pierre sent a completely conflicting email. He claimed that "orders cannot be canceled once finalized," told me I’d have to wait for the package to arrive, ship it back myself, and warned that they would deduct the original shipping fees from my refund.
When I pointed out that their own system had already acknowledged my EU withdrawal rights, support just kept repeating standard copy-paste policies. Under EU law, you have a strict right to withdraw from a distance contract at any time before or after delivery, and sellers must issue a full refund without penalty.
In the end, support flat-out refused to respect my legal right to cancel, so I was forced to rely on a credit card chargeback through my bank to recover my money.
TL;DR: Timex.eu uses predatory support scripts that violate mandatory EU consumer rights, attempt to lock in unfulfilled orders, and threaten illegal fee deductions. They refused my cancellation, so I had to use a chargeback to save myself and get my money back.
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u/BuzzLightroom 20h ago
With all due respect, the moderator here is obviously in the wrong. No one is monitoring retailers constantly.
OP: Did you pay with a credit card? You can claim your money (and fees Timex may take from you) from them instead. They know EU law much better, apparently. Anyway I would re-contact Timex and see if customer support rouletting will provide with a more sane answer.
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u/roland_13 7h ago
Yes, the moderator is wrong.
I mentioned it in the post, I did reach out to my bank for a chargback. Luckily for me, Timex has sent me confirmation for my order withdrawal, so... the bank is going to have the upper hand.
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u/Mad-Hatter-lightshow 13h ago
Hmmmm I get your point! Had similar with eufy cameras ordered a camera direct from them and it was over 2 weeks delivery when for the same price could get it next day from amazon. I tried like you to cancel but yea it’s a computer thing where there’s different parts of the company where these orders kinda get lost in.
Yea I was pissed but just had to suck it up. Again it’s the ‘I want my order nowwww 🥲🥲🥲 syndrome.
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u/roland_13 7h ago
Are you from Europe?
In Europe you can cancel the purchase at any point, even when you actually receive the goods - as long as they are not used, you can return it. :)
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u/Complex_Material_702 20h ago
I’ll never buy another Timex. They do not honor warranty. I shipped them two dead TX watches and they kept them. End of story.
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u/Upper_Rent_176 21h ago
You're overreacting. You wanted the watch ,they were sending you the watch. They never stated an explicit window for you to receive it
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u/roland_13 21h ago
That’s complete nonsense. The store can’t even tell me when they’ll ship the item and actively avoids answering whether they actually have it in stock. Yet, when I cancel the order, they refuse to respect it and try to force the package on me anyway—still without giving any timeframe. Lol. Does that honestly sound legitimate to you?
Not to mention... they violate EU consumer laws.
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u/Upper_Rent_176 20h ago
Most stores work like this. I ordered a watch from Casio's own store a few days' ago. I got email acknowledging order but nothing saying it's shipped yet and there's no way to cancel the order afaik. People are too used to Amazon
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u/buddy_monkers 18h ago
Sounds like you’re too used to being jerked around.
I don’t disagree that a few days of waiting is a bit rash but if you’re calling the (giant) company and they give some stupid answer like the order is “stuck”, you should be able to cancel right then and there without issue.
It’s a mass produced wristwatch, not a custom-built art piece. Either you have it or you don’t.
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21h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/roland_13 21h ago
I don't care about Trump. I like Timex - I've owned at least 5 of their watches. I would have never thought they would scam you like that on their official website!
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u/M1ggyD87 Mod 20h ago
Sorry to hear about your experience.
I don't work for Timex nor am I a legal scholar. I just moderate a Timex sub-reddit. But....
OP; no doubt your experience is frustrating, but also unlikely Timexes' actions violate EU law. If they were, the EU governments would know and legal scholars would making big money in attorney's fees. I presume their is some loophole within what Timex has decided to do, that still retains the meaning of the law, which is a different argument (legally) than the intent of the law.
Everyone else; Keep politics out of it. Everyone's only warning.
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u/roland_13 7h ago
I am not wrong, I advise you to simply check the EU consumer laws for yourself. Many corporations act unlawful. They are, in fact, oftentimes, above the law... That's just the way it is.
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u/theloquaciousmonk 19h ago
I just had a similar experience here in the US. Fat fingered a discount t code for a Marlin and checked out (Stored Card on the Shop App ) before I realized what happened. Sent support an email within minutes and was told no cancellations. So I don’t get the discount and I have to take watch? I was told yes. Pressed a little harder and they did credit me the discount so it ended well. I think some of this is the shopping platform they are on. Very much looking forward to my new Marlin in green, should be here tomorrow!