The AD doesn’t care about us

[L_S_SHOE]

Rolex ADs/SAs get their jollies by ignoring potential customers.

Show your displeasure by finding a new AD or a new brand.

I’m hopeful that after all the independent ADs lose their status (a bad thing, but inevitable) and the only way to buy a Rolex will be the chain ADs, whose customer service is legendarily bad, then it will become so painful to buy a Rolex that watches will return to the cases for lack of demand (wishful thinking, but fun to fantasize about).


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[Mystro]

Seriously, go with one of our trusted sellers. They know how to treat their customers. Then after a few deals they will absolutely extend some vip watch offers your looking for. Their reputation is all on repeat buyers within the watch community simply because they know we are long term customers.

[4reRlxGuy]

At least Breitling would send chocolates and a hat during the holidays.

I over the years to foster a relationship I've invited my new SA to VIP exotic car events; and made it a point to give holiday gifts over the years but the gestures have never been reciprocated.

My vintage dealers have told me it's a waste of time, energy, and resources. "You're just a pay day for them unfortunately. "

[Flintstone]

It’s sort of sad that you have to spend more money than the gross domestic product of many countries (your words, not mine) just to have your own family milestones recognized by people who are just doing their job. Here’s a question for you: when was the last time you recognized a personal or family milestone from one your SA’s?

[train-time]

Sounds like you are Plankton to to them! Welcome to the group.

[worldofoyster]

Money talks

[TickTockChuck]

Originally Posted by WatchGuy1966

Reminds me of the song

"Lookin' for love in all the wrong places"

Ha, funny. These ADs are not your friend, they are business people trying to squeeze folks for as much money as they can. Sounds like money is not an issue, so why not buy grey and get what you want without all these silly AD games. Good luck.

[mpkRolex]

Originally Posted by OTX

Seems to me you have been taken for granted somewhat. They see you as a usual customer so they don’t have to work hard to get your business. It could have been an honest mistake but I would contact management and bring it up. I promise you that they will take you very seriously from now on. Sometimes they need a reminder.

Exactly my thought

[mpkRolex]

Originally Posted by TickTockChuck

Ha, funny. These ADs are not your friend, they are business people trying to squeeze folks for as much money as they can. Sounds like money is not an issue, so why not buy grey and get what you want without all these silly AD games. Good luck.

Agree. I know some people care about the AD buying experience. But where I am there is no special experience buying from the Rolex AD.

[NAUI1982]

Originally Posted by train-time

Sounds like you are Plankton to to them! Welcome to the group.

Yup! Plankton! Andi so appreciate the reference to earlier post!

[Michael T]

Originally Posted by joli160

Cartier and Hermes also don’t really care about you but at least give you the feeling they do.
These brands are a few levels higher and still believe in customer satisfaction

My wife and I would say that Cartier and Hermes here in Houston are very responsive and have outstanding customer service. Rolex, not so much.

[Zach69SS]

Op, Happy anniversary to you and the Mrs. The ADs don’t care and that’s the very sad truth, they don’t need the business. Unfortunately this is the world we live in, like in my time in retail business , you only as good as yesterday’s numbers. Stupid in my opinion? They should remember their clients and send an email, most POS systems have this capability. So when they call you with the piece you did not ask for? You don’t ignore the call.

Some retailers do remember events and will reach out to you, most don’t and it does not matter if it’s a luxury brand or not. So at least some of them remembered you and made an effort to send you a note and value your business..

Enjoy your anniversary , best wishes and the Mrs.can enjoy her new Birkin bag.

Cheers,

[t65tampa]

Happy anniversary and nice move with the bag for your wife!

I wouldn’t say Rolex is the problem. Your authorized dealers are the issue.

If I lived in an area where I was treated similarly by my local ADs, I’d move along and buy through other channels (preowned or resellers or other ADs). I’m lucky that we’ve got two stellar ADs in metro Tampa Bay.


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[Sglider]

all the time, the same old tired posts

the AD I'm acquainted with, the sales rep has given me the opportunity to buy 4 watches through that store, one of them I passed on, one was bought as an heirloom for a college grad, one for me which I'll end up selling as the size isn't for me, the latest is one I won't dispose of

Maybe right time, right place, but they have certainly delivered for me

[ArtNouveau]

I have known my SA since 1997. I consider him a friend, when I visit him in the store we talk about cars, hobbies, travel, etc as well as watches. Yet I do not expect him to know or acknowledge any of my “special dates.” As long as I can buy watches there, that’s all the personal treatment I need.

[Goupax]

Originally Posted by NAUI1982

Beg to differ. Have had a relationship with our car dealers for 25 years. They absolutely care about us as customers and show us every time we get a car. They want us for the long term.

Not sure if you are aware but the car industry is struggling big time right now. Layoffs on top of layoffs pretty much everywhere in the world. They need your business more than you need them for sure.

[baamvino]

just go grey and call it a day. I hate playing AD game

[Nairn1980]

We never get wishes on birthday or Anniversary from our ADs or car dealerships.

Maybe an American thing however?

Anyway, Happy Anniversary- 27 years is great. Cheers

[3sheets86]

I'm in retail and many of the customers I work with are big spenders but the ones I genuinely care about beyond transactions are the ones that I believe are decent people. Doesn't matter if they've spent millions or not, if they are nice people, honest and polite is all it takes. The ones that wouldn't purposely ignore you if they saw you in civvy street because they deem themselves to be superior.

[NAUI1982]

Originally Posted by Nairn1980

We never get wishes on birthday or Anniversary from our ADs or car dealerships.

Maybe an American thing however?

Anyway, Happy Anniversary- 27 years is great. Cheers

Thank you.

[NAUI1982]

Originally Posted by ArtNouveau

I have known my SA since 1997. I consider him a friend, when I visit him in the store we talk about cars, hobbies, travel, etc as well as watches. Yet I do not expect him to know or acknowledge any of my “special dates.” As long as I can buy watches there, that’s all the personal treatment I need.

Fair comment. Maybe you deserve more?

[NAUI1982]

Originally Posted by 3sheets86

I'm in retail and many of the customers I work with are big spenders but the ones I genuinely care about beyond transactions are the ones that I believe are decent people. Doesn't matter if they've spent millions or not, if they are nice people, honest and polite is all it takes. The ones that wouldn't purposely ignore you if they saw you in civvy street because they deem themselves to be superior.

Yes 100%

[NAUI1982]

Originally Posted by Goupax

Not sure if you are aware but the car industry is struggling big time right now. Layoffs on top of layoffs pretty much everywhere in the world. They need your business more than you need them for sure.

It has always been cyclical. But they know how important customer retention and satisfaction is for long lasting engagement.

The thread that runs through my post is how this particular brand operates and it has total control over its AD network. I know each AD is different in how they operate and do business. Just wish the brand would work harder on real CRM

[NAUI1982]

I think the use of these CRM systems has enabled much better communication and does lead to better engagement from the brands that use them. If my local auto parts store can remember my birthday and send me 20% off for instance, then the AD I give great business to, can too. 😂

I get the difference by the way. So no one needs to jump on that comment. Let me preemptively stop that one. ☝️

Some of the points of my post may be lost a little bit.

Just saying the AD has a lot to learn from other brands! Rolex watches are expensive and they’re trying to create a very luxury experience. They’re not advertising in Sears and Roebuck catalogs anymore. 😆

And I do recognize that some ADs are better than others. Like anything in this world. Different experiences happen all the time.

The brand has required millions to be spent by the AD to upgrade stores and create boutique experiences and implement CRM software. My point is the ADs are not using that investment in CRM at all.

No one who has replied said their AD recognizes them and their milestones or life events and converts that to more revenue and premium brand engagements.

That was my point. Nearly all of our (mine and my wife’s) premium brands use our data to make very nice experiences. I’m sure if you looked at your own experiences you’d find lots of examples where CRM solutions have made your trusted brands more engaging and have helped you build better relationships with the sales people you frequent. (And some of you do that anyway, why? To get your product without spending unnecessary money or waiting on a list for months on end)

We know a lot about the sales people we buy from and try hard to acknowledge them too. It’s just the decent thing to do in a kind world and humanizes the experiences. But my point is, this is still lost on Rolex and their ADs by and large, and all that money spent isn’t changing it (yet)

[Belinus]

Congratulations on your wedding anniversary.

The only time I ever hear from an AD (Rolex or otherwise) is when they have something to sell me. The same from Car dealerships and my wife’s various luxury goods brands. We may get an automated greeting on our birthday but there is no personal touch.

I do feel you make an excellent point though, Rolex, BMW etc have lots of competitors and that extra bit of personal care could be the difference between retaining a customer or not. For example, it’s my wife’s birthday soon and an invitation from Louis Vuitton to come and see some new stock on her birthday would go a long way to her next purchase.

[padi56]

Trouble today many have been brainwashed into thinking they must spend zillions at Ads to get this so called AD relationship stuff.Now if everyone stopped playing these AD game then we could get back to normal buying

[Oxfordian]

I have to laugh at this thread, the OP is upset by the lack of action from the Rolex AD's he has thrown money at for missing an anniversary, but happy that all the other upmarket brands pass on their congratulations.

How shallow is that.

Businesses couldn't care less about you or me or anyone, you're just a customer who contributes to their profitability as am I.

To throw a tantrum over the lack of a call is frankly bizarre, but hey ho you've moved on and someone else will take your place in the Rolex queue. I really could not care less if my AD doesn't ring me or e-mail me or send me cards or flowers on my birthday or any other anniversary.

[ratty]

Originally Posted by NAUI1982

My wife and I buy a fair amount of luxury goods. We are registered and regularly see three high quality ADs for some nice watches and our spend history exceeds a small country’s gross domestic product. ��

It’s our 27th anniversary today. Our sales associates know us well, and have all our milestones recorded including dates of our kids birthdays and graduation dates and all that relevant data for their CRM systems.

Guess what?

Not a single call. Not a single email. Nothing today. We asked about eight months ago for his and her day dates. Nothing.

But we did get an email from the BMW dealer and the Mercedes dealer wishing us a hard happy anniversary. And we got a call from Cartier wishing us a happy anniversary. And we got calls from Hermes and my wife’s SA at Neiman Markus.

It seems like those luxury vendors use their CRM systems to build customer relationships and engagement like one would expect.

Rolex, nope. Nothing.

They call. When they have stuff to sell us.

Almost never stuff on our list. Only twice in about three years have they called with watches we requested. We have even bought when they called about stuff we didn’t request.

Pretty much done with Rolex. This was the straw.

Got my wife a nice Hermes birkin bag. Rolex.

I never know how to take posts like this, how serious the poster is being!

Expectations, and possible humour, appear to be very different in the USA.

[1William]

The OP is dissatisfied with his AD for missing an Anniversary or other important events. The challenge is that the expectations of the OP differs from the service the AD is willing to offer. Is the problem with the AD or brand? I would say no, the problem is with the customer whose expectations are geared for a different experience. The reality of the situation is exactly what the OP received. Right or wrong, it just depends on where you are in the discussion. I say get your feelings out of business transactions and accept the reality of the market for Rolex Watches through a Dealer network that is at best challenged, at worst, grossly arrogant and and overtly deceitful. We are all different in what we want in our buying experiences but in the end it has always been about the product and the price. OP, congratulations on your important events.

[DJH1977]

These (>99%) are transactional relationships. Even the ones who use a database to wish us a happy anniversary.