Who here accepts factory flaws on your Rolex?

[RyanJames]

Originally Posted by P2725TMB

Yes, but for the high price such flaws are not, and should not, be acceptasble, surely. If they can't churn them out in volume and maintain standard they should either lower volume or lower the price to match standard, otherwise they risk damaging the brand.

I doubt the brand could ever damaged,I have to say I do love the designs and functionality of their watches but I've been fairly disheartened by this attitude of well some are better than others in terms of quality control and the whole you should inspect closer when your making your purchase approach.

I think trying to explain to anyone that isn't into watches that you need to look for dust on your dial or that your lume etc is painted completely before making a purchase on your £4,130 is absolutely disgusting.

But hey we all learn and that's what life's for :)

[MrD700]

If at all possible, that's what I normally do. Then I can pick the one with the lesser number of faults that I can see. If there's only one in the store and there are obvious faults, I simply go to another store or have one ordered.

For the amount of $$ we pay, these instruments have to be almost faultless.

[rolepam312]

Originally Posted by P2725TMB

Yes, but for the high price such flaws are not, and should not, be acceptasble, surely. If they can't churn them out in volume and maintain standard they should either lower volume or lower the price to match standard, otherwise they risk damaging the brand.

Rolex price is arbitrary, I own a sub date, bought it in 2006, brand new for 3800...still running great ...now with some cosmetic enhancement( same movement?) They have doubled in price? Just because they can charge more they do...it says nothing about quality and standard...just because they doubled in price, doesnt mean we should expect them to be without flaws..its essentially the same watch 5~6 years ago...thats why I feel rolex is overpriced and flaws are expected...they are who they are, if anyone tries to elevate them to the other major watch makers, PP, JLC, AP, etc, sfandards, then lot of people will be dissappointed....rolex is and will always be a nice, robust reliable, timepiece that once catered to the masses to give a lot of people the pleasure of owning a fine swiss timepiece...now with the prices, fewer people will have the opportunity...i for one moved on to other brands simply because at the current prices, there are other brands that come in to play and a finer complications, finishes and craftsmanship...

[P2725TMB]

Originally Posted by MrD700

If at all possible, that's what I normally do. Then I can pick the one with the lesser number of faults that I can see. If there's only one in the store and there are obvious faults, I simply go to another store or have one ordered.

For the amount of $$ we pay, these instruments have to be almost faultless.

When it comes to a Rolex watch, though, you shouldn't have to check, it should be a given that its faultless...

[Rags]

For what rolex charges for their watches there should be NO flaws at all. When I pay 8K for a watch it better be perfect.

[dooder202]

Originally Posted by Rags

For what rolex charges for their watches there should be NO flaws at all. When I pay 8K for a watch it better be perfect.

Definitely agree!!

[dooder202]

Originally Posted by P2725TMB

Yes, but for the high price such flaws are not, and should not, be acceptasble, surely. If they can't churn them out in volume and maintain standard they should either lower volume or lower the price to match standard, otherwise they risk damaging the brand.

Very well said! Definitely agree...

[dooder202]

Originally Posted by P2725TMB

Yes, but for the high price such flaws are not, and should not, be acceptasble, surely. If they can't churn them out in volume and maintain standard they should either lower volume or lower the price to match standard, otherwise they risk damaging the brand.

Very well said!

[Sean.c]

I think its absolute robbery and disgusting for rolex to let these flaws pass by there quality control I would find it difficult to accept anything but a complete change of watch or refund if your paying THAT much for a watch you should be given the highest amount of customer satisfaction

[WARVET]

If a Beautiful woman has a flaw she is still a beautiful woman

[Sean.c]

Originally Posted by WARVET

If a Beautiful woman has a flaw she is still a beautiful woman

women and rolexs are very different :P although they may both cost alot

[John in MA]

As rolepam312 pointed out, they raised price without really improving on the quality. As a result we pay an inflated price for a watch with very little change. As a result the production lines had better meet Six Sigma TQM requirements. I'd be royally pissed if my watch had visible cosmetic flaws after shelling out 9k.

[sierra11b]

The coronet on my crown doesn't line up perpendicular to the lugs.


The a tiny part of the WG surrounds on one of my indices has an imperfection the size of the tip of a pins head. No biggie!

[DG123]

Don't look too close at your watch, or your woman.

[Jason71]

I guess it depends on the "flaw" with a given watch. I actually prefer my Milgauss with a crooked dial, and wouldn't trade it for a brand-new perfectly aligned Milgauss.........but that is just me.

[ec10020]

I do notice this sort of attitude among the noveau riche who are new to the world of luxury goods. when they make their first big "upgrade" in life, whether that is a rolex watch, bmw 3 series, leica camera, or hermes birkin bag, they expect perfection because thats where they think the extra money goes, towards higher production and quality control standards.

heres a hint. it doesnt. it goes towards those full page spreads in robb report, monocle, and the economist. it goes towards higher profit margins for corporate executives.

toyota basically came up with lean manufacturing and blows the germans away in production standards and quality management. would I take a camry over a bmw 3 series? not in a million years.

your rolex, bmw, birkin, leica, is going to have lots of defects, both visible and invisible. as someone above said, thats inherent in mass production.

if these minor defects make you unhappy, then by all means exchange the watch. but my advice is you will have a higher satisfaction of ownership if you are less anal.

[handsfull]

Originally Posted by ec10020

I do notice this sort of attitude among the noveau riche who are new to the world of luxury goods. when they make their first big "upgrade" in life, whether that is a rolex watch, bmw 3 series, leica camera, or hermes birkin bag, they expect perfection because thats where they think the extra money goes, towards higher production and quality control standards.

heres a hint. it doesnt. it goes towards those full page spreads in robb report, monocle, and the economist. it goes towards higher profit margins for corporate executives.

toyota basically came up with lean manufacturing and blows the germans away in production standards and quality management. would I take a camry over a bmw 3 series? not in a million years.

your rolex, bmw, birkin, leica, is going to have lots of defects, both visible and invisible. as someone above said, thats inherent in mass production.

if these minor defects make you unhappy, then by all means exchange the watch. but my advice is you will have a higher satisfaction of ownership if you are less anal.

For clarity.....not rich and not new to the world of luxury goods. Haven't made any big "upgrade" in life either (not that I know of - LOL).

Putting things in perspective/back to good old fashion blue collar common sense...paying 8K for a wristwatch....yeah, I'm going to expect something VERY close to perfection. Again, lining up a bezel pip at the 12 is childs play. Dust on the dial is a careless error.

I'm not concerned 'where' the 'extra money' goes to. I DO know what my expectations are, and what is/and is not tolerable in the watch game...and my purchases will reflect that.

Here's a 'hint': Word spreads like wildfire when there's silly issues with 8k watches - my very good russian friend always says "Jeff....you do good job, nobody remembers........you do bad job, nobody FORGETS".

[Saminla]

Wow, I had not heard about the flaws in rolex watches...at these prices, it should be perfect... Anything else would be a compromise. Items with flaws should Never have left the facility... I wonder if some of these "rejects" end up in the grey market?

[padi56]

Rolex don't make watches any more they just make alignments points.

[Darlinboy]

I would not accept a flaw in a Rolex. I expect quality ( no defects ) on the products I purchase no matter the price point.

[P2725TMB]

Its inevitable when items are 'mass' produced in high volume some errors will get through scrutiny. However what there is no excuse for are some of the basic and very obvious errors such as missaligned dials etc. Yes some people shelling out thousands on a new watch may not care - they are the less demanding and/or less observant people in life. However, in my opinion a multi-thousands cost watch should never, or virtually never, leave the factory with such problems.

Ultimately the reason they do is they get away with it. People still buy Rolex watches, and often for the brand, for princely sums, so why spend more on tightening up their act? If sales started to diminish because of it, along with perceived brand value, and shareholders got upset at reduced dividends, then a things would change!

[handsfull]

Originally Posted by P2725TMB

Its inevitable when items are 'mass' produced in high volume some errors will get through scrutiny. However what there is no excuse for are some of the basic and very obvious errors such as missaligned dials etc. Yes some people shelling out thousands on a new watch may not care - they are the less demanding and/or less observant people in life. However, in my opinion a multi-thousands cost watch should never, or virtually never, leave the factory with such problems.

Ultimately the reason they do is they get away with it. People still buy Rolex watches, and often for the brand, for princely sums, so why spend more on tightening up their act? If sales started to diminish because of it, along with perceived brand value, and shareholders got upset at reduced dividends, then a things would change!

Well said, Great post.

[GradyPhilpott]

In three years, I've bought three new Rolex watches.

Each one is perfect.

I've had the Explorer and the DJ regulated under warranty at about one year, but I consider that normal.

A watch is a machine.

Should anyone accept a flaw or irregularity?

Of course not, whatever the product.

[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by P2725TMB

People still buy Rolex watches, and often for the brand, for princely sums, so why spend more on tightening up their act? If sales started to diminish because of it, along with perceived brand value, and shareholders got upset at reduced dividends, then a things would change!

Rolex does not have shareholders.

I think Rolex has a tight act, even if there are occasional problems, which must be exceedingly rare.

Personally, I have not experienced such.

[threemonkeys]

The next time I buy brand new (which won't happen for a long time) I will look over very carefully before buying. I want a new watch that is perfect in my eyes.

[PeterT]

The watch must be perfect but I do not take a loupe to the AD as something is bound to be revealed.
My other bugbear is the packaging. There is no need for it to be marked or damaged in any way and so I make my AD sort out any issues. It is less of a problem now as the watches are delivered to the shop in the little plastic boxes and so nobody has to mess with the normal boxes.

[Brushpup]

Originally Posted by paracord

Some customers are the type that notice details. Some aren't.

Some QA techs are the type that notice details. Some aren't.

And in MHO, that should be a disqualification for a QA tech in any field.

Any flaw noticeable to the naked eye is unacceptable on a 5K+ watch. Period. Just my .02

[humvee]

I will accept the flaws when the AD accepts my 50% off MSRP offer....

[P2725TMB]

Originally Posted by Brushpup

And in MHO, that should be a disqualification for a QA tech in any field.

Any flaw noticeable to the naked eye is unacceptable on a 5K+ watch. Period. Just my .02

Absolutely, and the trouble is if people accept a watch with flaws without rejecting it or sending it back, once again there's no incentive for the manufacturer, beit Rolex or any other, to tighten up their act. It shouldn't be that way - high end luxury brands should be proud enough of their brand and products that all, or nearly all, flawed items are stopped before exiting the factory, but sadly that isn't always the case.

[kmleffler]

American car manufacturers found out that poor QC could and did damage their reputations and their ability to compete with foreign car companies. The problem with Rolex stems from the fact that to many buyers put up with these flaws. If enough owners complained and brought their watches back, Rolex would take notice and would try to correct the problem at the source. The fact that an item is mass produced is not an excuse for poor QC.