How to return a fake watch "gifted" by a client

Question

I have a wealthy client with whom I had/have a good relationship. After completing a job above and beyond their expectations they said they felt they needed to do something to repay me. I told them not to worry about it but they insisted. Later on in the day they came into our office and made a bit of a spectacle about the "miracle" I performed and in front of everyone gifted me a a well known, high end watch.

Everyone in the office including myself were absolutely floored. I insisted that I couldn't take the watch and after a lot of "no let me give you something/no please just take it" he agreed to let me offer something for it. Later on that day during a break I decided to go to a local jewler (our office is across the street from one) to get a pricing on the watch. I was hoping this to be a "low end" model of this high end brand and thus perhaps be able to pay him at least something towards this outrageous gift (to ease my conscience as I couldn't just accept it for free).

The jewler looked at it and immediately told me it was a fake, and an "obvious" one at that. I've since gone back to the office and I'm really not sure what to do or what to say. Considering this was a wealthy client, there was no reason for me to consider it being a fake (especially given the performance that was given). I'm even starting to think that they were potentially trying to con me out of some money for this fake watch (they off handedly mentioned a "payment plan" after our talk).

I have no idea what I should do. I'll be back in the office in a couple of days and I'm not sure if I should just return it quietly and make up something as to the reason or if I should call them out on it because if I don't the whole office will be left with the impression they did something which they did not do?

Note: I suppose it's possible they didn't realise it's fake, but having been thinking over things I wouldn't exactly class this client as an honest person.

EDIT: Regarding company policies for accepting gifts: We don't really have any. My boss was there when it happened and like everyone else sort of just patted me on the back and said well done. So, unfortunately I can't really use the excuse of "company policy dictates I can't accept this gift".

EDIT2: Regarding offering money for the watch and culture: I did not intend to give them the full amount for the watch. It's hard to try and summarize a situation as you'll no doubt miss details others thought were key. In this case I was hoping to hear the way was relatively cheap so then I could make some token offer. This isn't usual in my culture, to be honest I don't know what I was really thinking. Looking back on it, his acceptance was potentially just to end the conversation and then later on refuse it when I offered.

As for the culture, yes this exchange is very much a script but I really did not want to accept it. Such a watch (from the little I know of them) could very easily have been worth a year or two's salary, probably more.

Answer 1

Just take the watch. Refusing it is a huge insult to the client... even if they don't know you refused it. The proper behavior is decline at first, then graciously accept the gift when pressed. Trying to "pay" for the watch is ridiculous. The watch was a gift. Trying to pay for gift is nearly as bad as refusing it outright.

Have the watch mounted with a logo like "For Excellent Performance on Project XYZ" and put it in your office like a trophy. That way there is no question of impropriety. Places like Kinkos have business trophy centers where you can get mountings.

Answer 2

First thing, talk to your boss about the situation. The best option for you is if there is a company policy that prohibits taking gifts from clients. Your boss may even be in support of you lying and saying there is a policy even if there isn't one. Regardless of a policy, you can still go back and say, thank you, but I am not comfortable taking gifts like this.

If you are able to return it, certainly don't bring up that it's a fake. Whether they are aware it is fake or not, this will allow them to save face. Regardless of whether you felt cheated or not, they are your customer, and you don't want to leave them feeling bad blood. You now have more knowledge about your client's trustworthiness, and they don't have to know it.

If you decide to keep it, don't give them more than it is worth. They were originally going to give it to you for free anyway, so they shouldn't be offended by a low-ball offer. I still wouldn't bring up the fact that an appraiser told you it was a fake, for the reasons given above. If the act of accepting a gift makes you uncomfortable, you can always keep the watch on display in your office. This shows your acceptance of the gift without really personally gaining from the gift.

Answer 3

I suspect that your client said you could make payment plans as a joke when you thought it was too much for you to accept, but never actually expected you to make payments. For now I would put the watch in a drawer in my desk and not worry about it.

If after a month or so you do not hear from the client about the paying for it, just assume that the issue is passed, and do what ever you feel like with the watch. Should the customer mention the payments, just thank them for the gesture but you will have to return the gift. It is just not an expense that fits in your budget.

If you are truly concerned that they will come back after you could always send a thank you letter to them for the generous Gift. Indicate it is a luxury you could never justify for yourself but the gift is appreciated. If they did expect payment then that should trigger some response. Any lack of timely response should be accepted by you as an agreement that it was a gift.

I personally would never bring up that it is fake unless there is some reason that makes it necessary, like your employer wanting you to pay taxes on the gift, or document it because of the perceived value. If everyone else is willing to just let it go, then you should too.

Answer 4

What exactly are you trying to achieve here? You weren't expecting the gift, you were even hoping that it was a "low end" one. It is not like they gave you the watch in lieu of your salary. I am finding it hard to understand why you have this urge to do "something" about it, or even worse, to show them up.

I don't the whole office will be left with the impression they did something which they did not do

I would totally understand you being concerned about what people think of you, but why do you care what X thinks of Y? It is their life, let them figure that out, you just focus on your own.

Long story short: just let it go.

Answer 5

As this watch will not bring you any joy, ever, the answer seems clear to me:

Let a day or two pass, then return the watch to your client.

Make it a formal event that is abundantly past any negotiation. Put it into a nice big envelope with a formal letter along the lines of "Dear XXX, I have pondered long about this, and I can absolutely not take this present. I feel bad about accepting anything except the agreed payment. Please accept it back with my sincerest regards. I am looking forward to work for you again. Yours..."

Be 100% sure to formulate your letter/card in a way that gives no approach for your client to renegotiate. I.e., do not mention anything about the price, about the style of the watch or whatever. Only write subjective ("I have ...", "I can not ..." etc.). Do not lie about anything (if your company has no policy about this, then do not say it is because of a policy).

About the fake

This is kind of a pandora's box. Who to tell, what to assume.

Let's go through the scenarios:

• Your client didn't know, and will never find out. No problem
• Your client did know, and didn't think much about it, he just gave you a watch not caring about that. No problem.
• Your client didn't know, finds out later, and assumes it is the same watch, they they got screwed by whoever sold it to them. No problem. They will probably feel awful and maybe eben apologize to you about it; you can rightfully tell them that you found out, and that that was not the reason why you returned it.
• Your client didn't know, finds out later, and assumes that you switched the watch. Oops. You probably lost him at this point, but he will hardly be able to drag you to court. You can still tell him that you found out about the fact, and returned it in style like you did so he would not lose face (which is true, after all).
• Your client did know, and gave it with the intention that you give it back, and then goes to court, claiming that you switched it, with some devious plan to frame you. Ooops. Well, in this case I guess it's up to your lawyer; they still have to actually get through with it, and you have the jeweller as witness. I assume you know your client well enough to figure out if they are capable of something like this.

All scenarios work out as well as possible; return the watch.

EDIT: Replaced all occurences of "clock" with "watch". Sorry, not a native speaker.

Answer 6

I think it would be a mistake to assume that the client is trying to con you. After all, he tried to give you the watch as a gift. It was only after you protested that the discussion of payment came up. I think offering to pay for the watch was a mistake, but you can't get that back now. All you can do is move forward.

You should give the watch back to the client(as I would do if I were you) and explain that you have thought about it and you really just can't accept such a beautiful gift. Be grateful and thankful but direct and clear. Don't wiggle. Don't waffle. If he tries to argue, thank him again and refuse again. Repeat this as many times as it takes for him to get the message.

In my opinion it would be unwise to discuss the fakeness of the watch or be anything other than obsequious and grateful for the "generous gift."

Answer 7

It's pretty simple:

1. If you have any reason to think they had "ulterior motives", then do something.

2. If not, then keep it.

You need to learn to accept genuine gifts; it seems like you're just not comfortable with that.
However, you also need to make sure this isn't going to come back to bite you.

So, I think the only thing to worry here is about whether they're trying to flatter you because they expect something in return later.

If you think there's a chance this is the case, then either:

1. Return the watch, telling them you appreciate it very much but you genuinely do not feel comfortable taking such a high-value gift (which would be true!), or

2. If that just isn't realistic, donate it to charity (or sell it at the highest price you can and donate the proceedings to charity), and send them a quick note letting them know that you've made a charitable contribution in their name.

You really can't go wrong with #2 here. If they intended it to be fake and it was, then they now know you found out, but you haven't said anything so it's about as good as it can be. If they didn't intend it but it was, then they didn't know in the first place, so it's still good. And if it's real, then you've helped out someone in need in their name -- nothing wrong with that.

Answer 8

Getting out of this hole may be harder than not getting into it in the first place.

The OP doesn't say what cultures are involved here, but in some parts of the world accepting a "gift" like this is a serious matter, because the giver will assume that the receiver is then under an obligation to return the favour in some way - for example by reducing the price on the next work contract. The whole world doesn't share the same business ethics as to what is and is not acceptable as "bribery and corruption".

In such cultures, ignoring that obligation would have consequences - for example the customer would then consider it perfectly acceptable behaviour to trash your reputation with all his/her business associates, so you would get no more work from any of them.

The simplest way to avoid this is a formal written company policy which bans giving and receiving any gifts that have a monetary value.

The issue of the gift being (allegedly) a fake is irrelevant to the above - and attempting to pay for a "gift" after having accepted it seems totally bizarre response in any case.

Answer 9

First, get accustomed to accepting gifts. Never do it instead of payment, but people enjoy giving gifts when you do a good job. You may have just made there company millions or billions of dollars, whats a lousy watch compared to that. You have to understand that not every one shares your concept of money. To this client that watch might have been a small thank you token, to you it may have been 2 years salary. Different cultures are different, but I would have just said thank you, and taken the watch.

Paying for the watch is insulting. Don't ever offer to do that.

Refusing the watch is insulting. Don't do that either. Different cultures and all, but refusing gifts is generally bad. If you have a company policy, or it borders on corruption, bribe, conflict of interest, then refusing becomes ok, but short of that, learn to say "Thank you" and accept the gift.

Now that your in this pickle, your best bet is to just stay quite.

If they know it's a fake; then they are insulting you. Take the insult and keep in in mind next time you work with them.

If they think it's real: There's no way to tell them it's a fake that doesn't insult them.

If they press you for money, then get the watch appraised, officially. Give them the documents from the jeweler.

Your best bet, is to mount it in a clear case, and stick it on your desk.

Just like that itchy sweater your grandma got you for Christmas, they are going to expect to see you using it. Mounting it, should cover that.

Answer 10

I doubt very much he's trying to con you out of money - he could never have expected you'd offer money for a gift! Really you should have just accepted it graciously.

It's more likely that he wanted to give you a gift so you'd feel good about yourself and he'd look like a big generous client who pays out big rewards for hard work, and everyone would love him (or at least be impressed).

He bought the fake because actually he can't afford a high end watch and he didn't think you'd ever get it appraised by a jeweler (it's a gift after all), and thought, well who'll ever know, and really what's the difference, it still tells the time doesn't it? That's the only scamming going on here, I'd say. More of a white lie than a con.

Maybe he didn't even know it was a fake, was a bit surprised he could get such a big brand name at this price (but doesn't really know much about watches) and thought it would make a great present.

I would be very surprised if he came looking for the money. I wouldn't read too much into his "payment plan" talks, he may either have been joking, or people sometimes say things like that intended to be forgotten, just to get through the moment.

Just keep the watch. Maybe keep it in your desk drawer for a while in case he does come looking for money as others have suggested, so you can return it then unblemished.

Answer 11

In many industries and many parts of the world it would be illegal and/or unethical to accept a high value gift.

High value places it squarely into the "Bribe" category in these cases.

The Bribery Act 2010 in the UK and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the US are two examples, but in general, gifts that are high value from customers or suppliers could be considered a bribe.

I tend to work in financial services, and pretty much every country where I could do business I would be disciplined, probably fired, and possibly imprisoned for accepting such a gift.

Answer 12

You have two options, the fact that it is a fake doesn't really com into it.

`1) Quietly return the gift saying that while you appreciate the gesture your personal or company professional policy does not permit you to accept gifts in kind. This may cause some mild offense but you could mitigate this by suggesting that they donate it to a charity of their choice and after all accepting this sort of personal gift is iffy at best and many companies will flat out not permit it and your client should realise this.

2) quietly accept it but report it as a gift to your immediate superior and le them sort it out.

Answer 13

You definitely shouldn't go back and tell them it's a fake, since it's been out of their sight and in your hands for a few days. "Hi, thanks for the £10,000 watch... turns out it's fake so here have it back lol". If I were the gifter, and I hadn't known it was fake, this would ring serious alarm bells. I would be wondering... have you just effectively, kinda, stolen a £10,000 watch and returned a fake in its place?

You got yourself into this situation in the first place by not simply accepting the gift graciously, or politely declining. Those were two simple, clear-cut options, and you missed the opportunity to pick one of them.

Almost.

In fact you can still just say that, having thought about it, you cannot accept the gift. And return it. That's it. No need to make it complicated.

Answer 14

Unless:

• You have company guidelines or local law that prohibits this
• You suspect untoward future impacts (e.g. here's a bribe, bend the rules for me)
• The client has a history of dishonesty

Just accept the gift.

As for it being a fake, that's a tricky one that will depend on relationship & culture. For myself & our clients, I'd likely quietly mention that your jeweller discovered it's a fake. Come from an attitude of assuming goodwill, that the client didn't know and you wanted to warn them that the watch seller isn't to be trusted. Then proceed to reaffirm your gratitude that they chose to buy a gift to celebrate the project and keep it (desk draw?) unless they want to retract it. If executed correctly, then a good-meaing client will further prize your business relationship, and a dishonest client will discover you aren't easily tricked.

Answer 15

To me this would depend on if other people in the office may do work for the customer and get the same treatment. If so I would at least tell your boss.

For sure you return the watch. If they are not trying to con you then they have been conned by someone. I would say "I cannot accept this gift. I don't know where you bought this but you should be aware it is fake." If they argue it is not fake then them "I still cannot accept it". If they were conned they can address it. If they were tying to con you then they will know not to try again and you have not accused them of trying to con you.

If you had not agreed to make an offer then my answer would be different. Just keep the watch and refuse any more gifts.

You are in a real awkward position in any reasonable offer is probably more then than cost of the fake. The jeweler immediately said it was on obvious fake.