How Long Does It Take

[Terry Newton]

My "Z" Series TT GMT IIc was damaged last month by an authorized dealer. I took both of my Rolex Watches to him to remove hairline scratches. I left the store to find that he had damaged the case on the GMT. I sent him the following e-mail:

Dear ^&*(:

I brought two watches today to have scratches removed. After I left your store today and looked at my watch in the sunlight I saw that the case had literally had grooves polished in to it. The watch is under warranty as I purchased it through Ben Bridges in Minnesota at Christmas Time. I am stunned to say the least as I just wanted a scratch removed. The metal case was smooth and now looks damaged. I had called your store last week as I did not know there was an authorized dealer in )(*&^%$ and I come here monthly for business. I asked at that time if I could get some scratches removed and was advised this service was provided while the customer waits. That is why I brought both of my Rolex watches in to you in the first place.

My secondary motive was to try to figure out how to break in to selling a couple of watches now and then on the internet. I couldn't have cared less though about our other conversation as I just wanted to figure out how people break in to the business as a little part-time hobby. To me it would have meant enhancing a little hobby of mine though I certainly have little time for it anyway as I am an Executive that runs a large business in Northern Michigan.

I am left now with a brand new damaged watch and have to submit it to the Rolex Service Center in New York for repairs which will probably mean getting a replacement case. I should have left what little scratches there were in the watch and let RSC take care of it during the five year servicing. I now deeply regret stopping in and this has greatly soured my desire to pursue any other purchases here. I don't want the watch polished any further by you. I just wanted to have the ability to say to Rolex U.S.A. that, yes; I did complain to the authorized dealer about what he had done. I don't expect anything more from you at this point as I have your business card with your contact information on it if I ever wanted anything else in the future.

END OF MY E-MAIL

His Reply:

Terry,

it is very nice to meet people like you that appreciate good service and good honest people, I am proud of the work that I do.
Sorry to disappoint you but not making a deal with you on selling my watches online. I am here representing the great Rolex company in the *&^%$#@ area...
I hope that from now on, you deal with the Rolex company directly and not expect a free service from any other jeweler, spending great amount of time on your watches for FREE I guess that has no appreciation and meaning to people like you...
I wish you success with what ever you do online and I am sure you feel very appreciated with the comments that you give people online, maybe this is your comfort zone area, don't bother sending me any e-mails and visiting my stores, good luck and have a nice life.

SIGNED BY DEALER WITH NAME, ADDRESS, TELEPHONE NUMBER ------- END OF HIS E-MAIL

I sent the watch to RSC and they received it on July 28th after it being mailed out on July 21st. I did not send the watch as soon as the incident occurred as I talked to Ben Bridge first about the incident and sent all e-mail correspondence to them and tried to figure out a course of action to get my watch repaired. I then got the RSC involved and sent all e-mail correspondence to them and they wanted me to send the watch and all e-mail correspondence to them. As stated, that occurred on July 21st.

I cannot take my next step in this process until I get an estimate about the repair bill for the watch. How long after Rolex receives a watch does it take to hear back from them generally? I did check my registered mail slip and it was delivered on July 28th.

Thank-you for any feedback on the repair process.

Terry Newton

[shoppy]

I had a WG daytona in at Bexley Uk and it took 2 weeks for them to call me reference the quote. Fingers crossed it will all get sorted.

[toph]

what a toad that guy sounds like! That is a terrible turn of events to say the least and he will not even admit it. Just because it is free does not mean he can to half hearted job and ruin your watch. If you knew he would do that i am sure you would have paid to have the polish done elsewhere.
Things like this really get me angry
keep me informed of how it works out- i am interested

[SLS]

There was a post similar to this on TZ where the guy bought a GMT IIc from Tourneau that was also scratched. In the end Tourneau gave him a store credit once RUSA got involved, I would push the issue with BB and RUSA.
~Scott

[topcat30093]

Terry
I can't believe the reply that you got back from the AD.
If I got a reply like that back, I would take it all the way to the top.
Good luck with any further action that you may take.

[seantk]

Terry,

I am sorry for your experience.

The dial was replaced by RSC on my Sea Dweller (under warranty) earlier this year and the entire turn around time was approximately 3 weeks. I would expect that you will hear something soon

Sean

[Terry Newton]

Originally Posted by toph

what a toad that guy sounds like! That is a terrible turn of events to say the least and he will not even admit it. Just because it is free does not mean he can to half hearted job and ruin your watch. If you knew he would do that i am sure you would have paid to have the polish done elsewhere.
Things like this really get me angry
keep me informed of how it works out- i am interested

I know what you mean. I'm amazed about the arrogance about needing to advise me to not come back to his stores again. Like I would ever go back and do business with someone that damaged my property to begin with. The friend that was with me also has a graduate degree and, like me, is married, successful, has no children, and they make a lot of money together. She works for the State of Michigan, and he is a fellow executive of a program; they own a home right on Lake Huron that is paid for and he takes exotic vacations all over the world. They spent a month in Bhutan a couple of years ago and are taking a two week kayaking trip to the Galapagos in a few weeks. My friend buys his wife a lot of expensive jewelery and was looking at a $3,000.00 watch for himself at this store. On the same trip he plopped $4,000.00 down on a camera and now won't go back to the jewelery store as he witnessed the whole sordid incident and received copies of the e-mail exchange.

I refuse to put down where this occurred or who it is as I believe that people who do this take care of their own business's reputation.

I only want what I wanted after it occurred; to get my watch back in the factory specifications.

Terry Newton

[DeepSeaWatches]

I just threw up in my mouth.

Really sorry to hear about your watch... hopefully everything will work out.

[walds11]

I am stunned. I don't know what to say...Something does not seem right here. I hope you get it resolved.

[Attila]

Terry what a disappointing tale. Please keep us informed of the outcome as this level of service (or lack thereof) is appauling!

[Wolfgang427]

Sorry to hear of your troubles with an AD, but this is nothing new. I have seen in person as well as heard horror stories of AD's screwing up peoples watches since the early 80's. This is why I only deal with the RSC when I have a problem with any watch I have. It is very rare when you find someone at an AD that knows what they are talking about, it's even rarer to find one that knows how to polish or service a watch correctly.

[veefour]

Sorry to hear that, Terry. Hope everything ends up right.
Keep us informed!

[buz-lh]

Terry, that is an absolute horror story. I can't imagine how angry you must be, but surely the RSC will sort this out for you. Best of luck.

[JBat]

This is an incredible story, but I'm a little confused as to the internet part of the conversation and what could've triggered his piss-poor reaction. Is he the one who did the poor job of polishing your watch? As I read it, he mucked up the polishing job, then, when you tried to get it rectified, he threw the conversation you had with him about selling some of your own watches on the web back into your face.

Either way, I would never give this man my business again and would make it my mission in life to make sure nobody I knows did either.

Good luck, Terry. I hope you're able to get the situation resolved to your satisfaction.

[1MAC]

Go ahead and tell us who it is. We should all mail him a box of poop.

[tudorman8276]

....UNBELIEVABLE ARROGANCE at it's worst. Keep us informed.

Stan.

[marshallr47]

Unbelievable. These guys should be out of business with stunts like that. Definitely take your business elsewhere. Who needs them. Good luck and keep up posted.

[2careless]

Sorry to hear this Terry, but
1. did you buy the watch from this store? and why would you take it to this store for scratch removal?
2. have they got Rolex certified watchmaker on site? did they charge you for the scratch removal service? I feel that if they have charged for the service, and has damaged the watch, they are liable, but if it's a "free" service, they shouldn'e be liable as it is "all care and no responsibility".
I thought the warranty is between Rolex and the purchaser. The AD is out of the loop? So why bother going to the AD?
We're blessed to have an RSC in Melbourne ...

[Terry Newton]

Originally Posted by JBat

This is an incredible story, but I'm a little confused as to the internet part of the conversation and what could've triggered his piss-poor reaction. Is he the one who did the poor job of polishing your watch? As I read it, he mucked up the polishing job, then, when you tried to get it rectified, he threw the conversation you had with him about selling some of your own watches on the web back into your face.

Either way, I would never give this man my business again and would make it my mission in life to make sure nobody I knows did either.

Good luck, Terry. I hope you're able to get the situation resolved to your satisfaction.

Actually I had nothing to hide and left the e-mails exactly as I wrote it and exactly how he responded. I got in to asking him some questions about how one goes about selling watches online. I have no idea how others get their watches here on this forum to sell online. My assumption was that they got a relationship going with an authorized dealer to sell watches they had a hard time getting rid of. I thought it might be a win-win situation. He was not interested in getting anything like that set up and I dropped the conversation. As I stated in my e-mail I couldn't have cared less about the conversation about that as I was just asking some questions. Rather than acknowledging the damage he did to my watch he wanted to throw a red herring in to the mix by claiming I was only mad about that he would not enter in to a selling relationship with me. It only took me about three minutes for me to know that I did not want any kind of business relationship with him anyway. The conversation took place after he had already polished my watches, the lighting was poor vs. when I got out in to the sun light, and I would never expect him to do anything honorable concerning what he did to my watch to begin with. It does muddy the waters as it could appear that I had an ulterior motive in complaining about the service I received in that he would not enter in to a selling relationship with me. The only thing I care about is my watch is not in the same condition that I brought it in the store. I am relying on RSC's report stating the condition of the watch for my next course of action. I deeply regret calling the place now as I was excited to have an AD in the town I go to monthly. I had asked what other watches they sold as I like watches in general and wanted to see what else they carried. Even if I had never gotten in to a selling relationship I was at least interested in adding a watch or two to my collection. I would never go back there ever again. I at least learned that this was not the way that people sell watches online and this is a closely guarded secret. I realized by what he was telling me that he could get in to trouble from Rolex by doing this and I respected that. I sure would never want to interfere with how a person butters their bread. What he is implying in his response is that he gave me a free service and I am ungrateful. "I damaged your watch buddy but I did it for FREE and that goes un-noticed by people like me." It would not matter, in a court of law, if I had the service for free or, paid for it; it does not give him the right to damage my property. And that is the only issue here.

Terry Newton

[Terry Newton]

Originally Posted by 2careless

Sorry to hear this Terry, but
1. did you buy the watch from this store? and why would you take it to this store for scratch removal?
2. have they got Rolex certified watchmaker on site? did they charge you for the scratch removal service? I feel that if they have charged for the service, and has damaged the watch, they are liable, but if it's a "free" service, they shouldn'e be liable as it is "all care and no responsibility".
I thought the warranty is between Rolex and the purchaser. The AD is out of the loop? So why bother going to the AD?
We're blessed to have an RSC in Melbourne ...

1. Because the service was free while you wait. In my e-mail above it states I bought the watch at Ben Bridge in Minnesota.
2. He claimed to be a watchmaker
In Australia is the law where a free service means they can damage your property? If that is so, if I ever go to Australia, I will make sure I pay for everything.
3. Rolex warranty does not cover scratches on anybodies watch. They only warranty the movement, is what Rolex told me, unless the case or band was found to be defective from the factory. The reason I took it to the AD to begin with is the service was offered on the telephone while you wait. The watch was only 7 months old and I would have never sent it to RSC for a 2 CM scratch that was a hairline and would have waited until the five year service as I stated in my e-mail.

I barely buy anything high end in Michigan as the customer service on a great many things is lousy. I bought my Lexus in Minnesota, my Rolex in Minnesota, my RGM from the manufacturer direct, my other Rolex from a forum member here, my Tag from E-Bay, etc.

Terry Newton

[2careless]

Originally Posted by Terry Newton

In Australia is the law where a free service means they can damage your property? If that is so, if I ever go to Australia, I will make sure I pay for everything.

You better
In most establishments here if there are "free" services, there are all kinds of fine prints saying the proprietor will use reasonable care but is not responsible, liable for damages etc. So, I'm very surprised that anyone would offer this "free" service without such rider. They have absolutely no upside.

Anyway, good luck with it.

[Z-Sub]

If Rolex really treasures their customers, it should pull that man's AD status.

[hienpham04]

Terry,

Sorry about the bad experience. I hope you will reveal the store and contact person, so we all know not to take our nice watches there. From his email, this store doesn't deserve to sell a well-known luxury brand like Rolex. I was thinking about what could went wrong, and I have a clue. When polishing a watch/jewelry, there's 2 ways to do it. One is by a hand-held polishing device, and the other being a table polishing machine. When operating by the hand-held, it would leave uneven or scratches because of the slow rotation of the polishing device. The machine is what most dealer and jewelry expert would use to polish jewelry or watches. Unfortunately, the hand-held is easier and faster to performed the job which is not good for high glossy polished surface like Rolex watches. Anyways, I hope that Rolex will do it right for you and not charge anything for the repair. Warranty is good for the movement and not wear/tear, but a bad authorized dealer should be the exception.

[gmtobsessed]

Sorry to hear that Terry, hopefully everythings works fine for you.
Amazing how they can treat customer like that!