TrueFacet

TrueFacet.com was a reputable on-line business which I previously done business with that specialized in pre-owned luxury watches prior to the company being bought in late 2022.
On April 17, 2023, I reached out to the business to trade-in a ladies Rolex watch with diamond bezel and diamond dial for a larger Rolex watch. I sent them my watch via Fed-Ex for appraisal and we agreed upon a trade-in value of $4,000 or a cash value of $3,500.

The watch was received by the company on April 18, 2023
On July 13, 2023, I ordered the larger watch at a cost of my trade-in plus $4,638.80 to be charged to my credit card on shipment. Shipment was expected to be in 8-10 business days.
The company failed to ship the watch as agreed within the timeframe. I made repeated phone calls, emails and a certified letter seeking the return of my watch or the shipment of the watch I ordered, All contacts were ignored by the company.
I filed a criminal complaint with my local police department in Port Saint Lucie, Florida and they opened a case 2023-2**** on evidence.com but told me they could not pursue further as it was beyond their jurisdiction. They recommended to me to send a Demand Letter.
On October 12, 2023, I emailed and mailed a certified letter Demand Letter for the return of my personal property.

The company did respond to my email that they would send me payment for the watch via PayPal but failed to make the payment as agreed. My certified letter was not deliverable by the post office as the company is no longer at the address 36 W 47th Street, Suite 603, New York, NY 10036 where I sent my watch via FedEx. I went to the FedEx tracking to see if the watch was delivered to this address, but their tracking would only confirm that it was delivered but not where it was delivered without the company's account number.
In looking at reviews on-line beginning around the time I shipped my watch it appears this has become common practice for the company with multiple complaints including others that have indicated that they have filed complaints with your office. Given the number of victims and size of the losses per victim with some losses approaching $50,000 this is sizable criminal enterprise the is still in operation.
Update December 11, 2023: With the assistance of the NYS Consumer Protection Agency I was able to get the wholesale cash value of my watch returned to me.

Beware that they will ask you to send an invoice and pay you via PayPal. The reason they want you to send an invoice is so that PayPal will charge you the transaction fee rather than them. I was able to talk with PayPal customer service and they reversed the charges. My demand letter that I sent showing that they had taken my watch illegally and demanding it's return was the documentation I needed to use with PayPal.

So these are the steps that worked for me
1. Send TrueFacet a demand letter for the return of your watch or the agreed upon cash value of the trade-in.
2. Contact your local police department to file a theft report.
3. File a complaint with FBI office for the southern district of NY
4.

File a complaint with the NYS Consumer Protection Agency.
5.

Once they promise the NYS Consumer Protection Agency that they will pay you by a certain date. Follow up by email to them for your money

Oct 3rd 2022- confirmed thru email my request to to sell 2 watches on consignment (one Rolex, one Breitling) via True Facet Concierge, sent watches in via provided Fed Ex Label
Oct 31 2022- requested update on consignment status was told they were lagging behind in posting due to the busy holiday season (holiday season in October?)
Nov 2nd 2022 - watches went live on website
Jan 18 2023- sent email requesting update on sale of watches - was told to give it a while longer, it can take a few months to sell ( uh- its been 3 months already)
June 6 2023 - I check TrueFacet website and discover the Breitling was sold! Sent an email asking where is my payout?

Immediately requested the Rolex be returned to me.
Aug 3 2023- again emailed inquiring about my payout for the sold watch and the return of the Rolex as previously requested. True Facet replies (and I quote) apologies for the extended delay with your payout but I can assure you that we are making an all out effort to have checks finalized as soon as possible as we navigate through internal matters. We have every intention of paying you and truly apologize for this delay since we have never run into such a matter before this. I will update you before the end of the week as to where we stand with payouts.
Aug 25 2023 - inquired again on the status of payout and return of 2nd watch.

Was told we have resolved our underlying issues that were causing the delays and will have a check sent to you before the end of next week.
August 28, 2023 - sent another follow up to True Facet. Was then asked Would you prefer to have funds sent via Paypal or check? (Uh .

Hasnt the check been in process since June??)
Aug 28 2023 - was instructed to Please send and invoice from your Paypal account to payments@***.com which I did, but was obviously another stall-tactic.
Aug 31 2023 - emailed again demanding payout and return of unsold property
Sept 5 2023 -emailed again demanding payout and return of unsold property (they asked if I had emailed the PayPal request as instructed . Uh, yes!)
Sept 8 2023 - emailed again demanding payout and return of unsold property (no reply)
Sept 11 2023 - emailed again demanding payout and return of unsold property (no reply)