AD offered to clean my 16610

[kpinthebay]

I walked in to a large AD in Honolulu (pre-chaos) and the nice saleslady and I struck up some nice watch conversation. She offered to "clean" my Sub on the house. I said why not.

I noticed she took a fairly decent amount of time to clean it in the back. I'm wondering if there was additional motive for them, as in checking to make sure it was real or not. And I'm wondering what would have happened if they determined it was not real. Are they within their rights to keep it?

[upsidedownbelt]

Jewelry stores have been doing this forever. It’s just a way to keep you in the store and so you feel like they have you something.

[herts9]

You like to look over your hedges and into your neighbor's curtains, don't you?

[mgsooner]

She was sitting in the back eating a sandwich hoping you'd get bored and decide to purchase a two tone Yacht-Master.

[watchmework]

It's just a kind gesture that a lot of Jeweler's offer so you can have some time to look around and buy something.

[LChanyungco]

She replaced your 3135 with a Miyota :)

[schoolboy]

Originally Posted by herts9

You like to look over your hedges and into your neighbor's curtains, don't you?

[Wck88]

That's nice

[schoolboy]

A sales lady at the local AD offered me to clean my sub twice.

I said yes and took it as a nice gesture, her trying to win my business (again).

One time my watch returned with a scratch that I was pretty sure I hadn’t put there.

Then I went to look around another time, and she was showing me a Datejust.

Then she dropped it, kinda freaked out, picked it up and put it away.

After that I never accepted a offer for a cleaning again.

[Ntoz]

That's nice of them

[Event Horizon]

Originally Posted by schoolboy

A sales lady at the local AD offered me to clean my sub twice.

I said yes and took it as a nice gesture, her trying to win my business (again).

One time my watch returned with a scratch that I was pretty sure I hadn’t put there.

Then I went to look around another time, and she was showing me a Datejust.

Then she dropped it, kinda freaked out, picked it up and put it away.

After that I never accepted a offer for a cleaning again.

Yikes!!

Ms. Butter fingers

[JP(Canada)]

Originally Posted by upsidedownbelt

Jewelry stores have been doing this forever. It’s just a way to keep you in the store and so you feel like they have you something.

This

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by mgsooner

She was sitting in the back eating a sandwich hoping you'd get bored and decide to purchase a two tone Yacht-Master.

Originally Posted by watchmework

It's just a kind gesture that a lot of Jeweler's offer so you can have some time to look around and buy something.

This ^^^ (well maybe they also had a day date)

[lamnyc]

No way would I take that free cleaning offer. It might come back in worse shape.

[schoolboy]

Originally Posted by Event Horizon

Yikes!!

Ms. Butter fingers

Yeah it sucks

Don’t let them trick you

Just because they wear silky gloves doesn’t mean they don’t drop your dream watch every now and then

:(

[Lpugliese]

I was in an AD in Portland Oregon last year and the sales woman asked if she could clean mine, I thought thats nice, 20 minutes later I was done browsing and had to finally ask, if I could have my watch back. 15 minutes later she went in the back and got it for me. I will never do that again. Made me feel feel super paranoid.

[Spencer]

Originally Posted by yilver

I'm wondering if there was additional motive for them, as in checking to make sure it was real or not. And I'm wondering what would have happened if they determined it was not real. Are they within their rights to keep it?

Is this serious, or are you joking.....

[Brian Page]

No "free" cleanings for me...

[RobotDoctor]

I think the offer is nice. I am sure there are risks with who does the complimentary cleaning. That said, I probably will not take advantage of an offer like this from my AD. I perform decent surface cleaning of my watch on a regular basis. I do not access the movement at all. I would prefer to leave that to someone who knows that part technically well.

Sometime later this year I will be sending my GMT II to have maintenance/spa treatment performed. This has been my daily wear watch since I purchased it in late 2011. While I have taken really good care of it, there are some light wear marks on the watch. Most of these marks, if not all, will be removed when I send the watch in.

[garyk]

Do not touch my watch!!

[Psmith]

So she lured you into taking off the watch under the guise of a 'clean', and then disappeared with it for a surreptitious inspection with a view to seizing it if counterfeit... sounds like a scene from Mission Impossible

But seriously, they're not going to be authenticating watches as part of a quick free clean - unless it is absurdly obvious. Frankly I would politely decline the offer, as it's easy to DIY and I only have myself to blame if I drop the watch.

[Tools]

My Dealer has been 0ffering to clean our jewelry and watches every since I can remember.

It's pretty normal.

[Nixshah]

Originally Posted by garyk

Do not touch my watch!!

Agreed, my man Patrick Bateman said it best.

[Onikage]

Originally Posted by yilver

I walked in to a large AD in Honolulu (pre-chaos) and the nice saleslady and I struck up some nice watch conversation. She offered to "clean" my Sub on the house. I said why not.

Because you're stressing about it now. I wouldn't let any 'sales lady' do anything with my watch.

[garyk]

Originally Posted by Nixshah

Agreed, my man Patrick Bateman said it best.

Haha, “Not if you want to keep your spleen”!

[Ihatecheese]

The sales people deal with your prized possessions like any shop deals with its stock of a certain price point. Accidents happen and they are not obsessive to the degrees shown here. Guess not an issue for the next few months anyway !!

[spare]

There's a term for this in psychology: favor reciprocation.
Basically we've been conditioned through thousands of years that we need eachother from a social perspective to survive (community building). The world is becoming increasingly individualized, but these roots are in our DNA and still influence our behavior.

In short: by doing so, they increase your willingness to buy. It's obviously not b&w and doesn't work everytime, but it improves their in-store conversion rates.

[fooey]

Originally Posted by LChanyungco

She replaced your 3135 with a Miyota :)

[Casey VP-26]

If you walk in wearing a Rolex it already tells them you are a series buyer with money. Now wouldn't it be nice if they could keep you in the store shopping for a while and feel you owe them something for cleaning your watch? Just smart business.