Rolex CPO and voiding warranty

[Rickynelson]

Hi all,
While looking at buying another Rolex from a grey dealer,
An official Rolex CPO salesman (if I can call him that ) raised the following with me, and I quote:
“
Beware that Rolex service centers will no longer polish or service watches that come from grey dealers, so for example a 2023 watch in "unworn" condition could have been scratched and then polished by an unauthorized watchmaker before sale, and Rolex can detect this unauthorized work and would decline any future work, or charge an extra fee to restore it to their standards.

Since the launch of CPO any unauthorized work on a watch would void this 5 year warranty. It depends if you get lucky that this hasn't been done to it. “

Using the wisdom of this fine group, what is your take on this
I thought this might be relevant to others.

Cheers.

[whatisarolexym]

I believe it's total nonsense.

If work has been done and the movement is scratched or has non standard parts or the gaskets are damaged, then yes he's right, or if it's a really terrible polish job.

But the unworn thing is a scare tactic

But I think he's trying to encourage you to overpay the CPO price, he is a salesman after all

[77T]

Poor training or poor comprehension of it by that SA.

Rolex has no idea if you bought a pre-owned watch from a dealer or if bought from the original owner or if gifted to you by a family member.

Nonsense that I hope you could suss directly.

As for RSC doing free work on a pre-owned watch during its original warranty, there has always been exclusions for a watch that was "monkeyed with" (my legal contract term)

If poorly polished then I'm sure a good watchmaker could tell poor work and it could raise an eyebrow. Further, an RSC might exclude free warranty work for myriad reasons that can change over time.

My 2¢ - don't let that dissuade you from chasing a CPO "under MSRP" (quoting one of your earlier threads). But also don't hold your breath at getting that deal done at an AD.


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[Harry-57]

Sounds like nonsense but I don't know what the law allows in Australia. I thought you were particularly hot on consumer rights down there?

[rajen]

Nonsense

[911991]

You realize that 90% of SA's are just regular people that work at a watch store like a TV salesman at Bestbuy, LOL!!!! There are a few SAs that have been in the business a long time and really know what they are talking about, but most are full of BS with good stories they repeat to customers. Like a car salesman, some know the right buttons to push to steer a customer to spend their money with him.

[Rickynelson]

I never took the bait, it was more of a PSA with a little bit of making sure I’m not pulling the trigger on a heavy hitter without giving the due process.
The disparity is crazy between the CPO and “normal” market.
Will upload the picture of the watch once I get it.

Many thanks to all.

[911991]

Originally Posted by Rickynelson

I never took the bait, it was more of a PSA with a little bit of making sure I’m not pulling the trigger on a heavy hitter without giving the due process.
The disparity is crazy between the CPO and “normal” market.
Will upload the picture of the watch once I get it.

Many thanks to all.

Good luck with your purchase

[Mystro]

[Tim Plains]

It's funny how everyone knows used car salesmen are snakes but the word of used watch salesmen is gospel.

[1William]

What Rolex will do and not do under warranty is a contractual agreement set out by the warranty. Rolex has some flex in this and I have been the beneficiary of them doing some service they would not have had to do under warranty.

[brandrea]

Not that the salesman has a vested interest

[Kevin of Larchmont]

All salesman aren’t defined by the dumbest one among us, you just found him. Find a smarter salesman.

[gamingdoctor]

Originally Posted by Tim Plains

It's funny how everyone knows used car salesmen are snakes but the word of used watch salesmen is gospel.

Don't you dare talk poorly of my favorite man Tim on youtube "Hi I'm Tim and thanks for logging on! Today we have..."

[ltmgeller]

Unless they recently changed their policy, this is not the case. Any unauthorized work or parts will be removed and redone at the owners expense.

[omar-rye]

[Dr.Stu]

Originally Posted by 77T

Poor training or poor comprehension of it by that SA.

Rolex has no idea if you bought a pre-owned watch from a dealer or if bought from the original owner or if gifted to you by a family member.

Nonsense that I hope you could suss directly.

As for RSC doing free work on a pre-owned watch during its original warranty, there has always been exclusions for a watch that was "monkeyed with" (my legal contract term)

If poorly polished then I'm sure a good watchmaker could tell poor work and it could raise an eyebrow. Further, an RSC might exclude free warranty work for myriad reasons that can change over time.

My 2¢ - don't let that dissuade you from chasing a CPO "under MSRP" (quoting one of your earlier threads). But also don't hold your breath at getting that deal done at an AD.


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I think 77T (& the others) have this exactly right. Rolex will flat out refuse to deal with a counterfeit, but if some nonauthorized parts are subbed-in to an otherwise genuine piece, they will do the work, replace with official parts, but not do it under warranty. I, personally, have never heard of RSC refusing to work on a watch because it was polished badly, but I could imagine a case where, if the lugs/midcase were so mangled that RSC couldn't (or wouldn't) work on it, they would require you replace the case if you wanted them to do the work.

[HogwldFLTR]

Seems like the AD is trying to keep you in the herd. You were fed a line of BS.

[omar-rye]

Originally Posted by Dr.Stu

I think 77T (& the others) have this exactly right. Rolex will flat out refuse to deal with a counterfeit, but if some nonauthorized parts are subbed-in to an otherwise genuine piece, they will do the work, replace with official parts, but not do it under warranty. I, personally, have never heard of RSC refusing to work on a watch because it was polished badly, but I could imagine a case where, if the lugs/midcase were so mangled that RSC couldn't (or wouldn't) work on it, they would require you replace the case if you wanted them to do the work.

Not only will they refuse to fix it under the warranty, but they'll likely void the remaining portion of the 5 year warranty as well. However, you'll receive a new 2 year warranty for the service, which you'll have to pay for.

[ocb]

Complete lies

[DoricSpiker]

Originally Posted by ocb

Complete lies

Agreed


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[DoctorsOrders]

Total BS in my opinion

[sportsfan0704]

That’s always been the case. If you polish a watch under warranty it voids the warranty.

[123Blueface]

Originally Posted by sportsfan0704

That’s always been the case. If you polish a watch under warranty it voids the warranty.

So if an owner takes a Cape Cod to polish clasp, as many seem to do, that voids warranty?
Nonsense. I can tell you that factually.

[Maleg]

Originally Posted by omar-rye

Not only will they refuse to fix it under the warranty, but they'll likely void the remaining portion of the 5 year warranty as well. However, you'll receive a new 2 year warranty for the service, which you'll have to pay for.

Why would you sub parts on a watch that is still under warranty? Send it in and get the warranty work done for free.

Unless we're talking about a franken, then you know Rolex is going to restore it to genuine at your cost. Why would you even send it to an RSC in that case?

The CPO salesman comments in the OP were scare tactics, I think. Trying to push their grossly overpriced used watches onto an unsuspecting customer by inferring a grey market warranty is likely invalid.

[sportsfan0704]

Originally Posted by 123Blueface

So if an owner takes a Cape Cod to polish clasp, as many seem to do, that voids warranty?
Nonsense. I can tell you that factually.

1. That’s not the type of real polishing we are talking about
2. It’s up to the crown to decide if they accept the warranty repair or not and if the warranty is voided for that reason
3. As someone who has had their warranty voided by Rolex for polishing, I think I can speak to this.
4. It’s not just polishing. It’s any opening of the case back by an unauthorized 3rd party (and yourself).

[Maleg]

Originally Posted by sportsfan0704

1. That’s not the type of real polishing we are talking about
2. It’s up to the crown to decide if they accept the warranty repair or not and if the warranty is voided for that reason
3. As someone who has had their warranty voided by Rolex for polishing, I think I can speak to this.
4. It’s not just polishing. It’s any opening of the case back by an unauthorized 3rd party (and yourself).

What kind of polishing did you do on a less than five year old watch to void the warranty?

[sportsfan0704]

Originally Posted by Maleg

What kind of polishing did you do on a less than five year old watch to void the warranty?

I had a 1 year old watch I bought from an ad full set. The ad had opened the watch to authenticate and perhaps polished, not 100% known to me at the time. I brought it to Rolex service center for an issue and they voided the remainder of the warranty because of that.


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[omar-rye]

Originally Posted by Maleg

Why would you sub parts on a watch that is still under warranty? Send it in and get the warranty work done for free.

Unless we're talking about a franken, then you know Rolex is going to restore it to genuine at your cost. Why would you even send it to an RSC in that case?

The CPO salesman comments in the OP were scare tactics, I think. Trying to push their grossly overpriced used watches onto an unsuspecting customer by inferring a grey market warranty is likely invalid.

If you or a watchmaker opens the case back and leaves scratch marks or evidence indicating it was tampered with, Rolex can void your warranty. It doesn't necessarily require parts to be swapped for the warranty to be compromised.

As for why anyone would sub parts on a watch still under warranty, here are some examples:

If you purchased a black dial OP and had an original Tiffany dial installed by a third party, and later the 32** movement started acting up, then took it to RSC, there’s a strong chance Rolex will void your warranty because the watch was opened by someone other than RSC.

Similarly, if you had a vintage or neo vintage piece serviced with a two year warranty, and six months later had the hands lume stabilized by a third party, then brought it back a year later due to unrelated timekeeping issues, Rolex would likely void the warranty. Even though the lume work had nothing to do with the movement, the third party modification during the warranty period would be grounds to void the warranty.

[omar-rye]

Originally Posted by sportsfan0704

I had a 1 year old watch I bought from an ad full set. The ad had opened the watch to authenticate and perhaps polished, not 100% known to me at the time. I brought it to Rolex service center for an issue and they voided the remainder of the warranty because of that.


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To polish a watch, everything, including the movement and crystal, needs to be disassembled and reassembled. If a third party did this, Rolex can't warranty the work—it's common sense. I would imagine there’d be some leeway if an authorized dealer did the work, unless it wasn't an official Rolex AD or a certified Rolex technician?