Flooded Submariner

[MasterDiver]

I purchased my Submariner over 20 years ago, and have never had a problem with it. I am a Master SCUBA Diver and have worn this watch on over 600 recreational dives. Late last year, I noticed it has started to run slowly and decided to have the watch serviced for the first time. It had never been opened for over 20 years. I carried the watch to Barton-Clay Fine Jewelers, 2701 Cahaba Road, Mountain Brook, AL 35223, to be serviced by their certified Rolex watch repairman, Bobby, in January, 2012. He informed me that he had serviced the watch and replaced some parts, including the crystal, and I paid over $750 for this first-ever service. I was told I had a two-year warranty.

Last month, I went SCUBA diving for the first time since the watch had been serviced. On my very first dive, the watch flooded at a maximum depth of 60 feet. The crown was tight, as I checked it prior to the dive as I do all of my other equipment. On returning from the trip, I returned the watch to Bobby and he did a leak test and told me he couldn’t find a leak. After a week, he called me and told me he had dried out the watch and it would cost me over $1000 in parts to repair the watch, but I would not be charged labor. He also told me that he would not warranty this DIVE WATCH against leaking the next time I went diving. I told him that I needed a guarantee that the watch was waterproof, since it was a DIVE WATCH. He confessed that if it leaked again, I would be required to do the same thing and pay the same money to have it fixed.

I called Rolex Customer Service in NY and TX, and they both told me to ship the watch to the Service Center to be restored to factory standards, and that the store that serviced the watch should pay for shipping and repair of the watch, including parts and labor. I have shipped it back to the Rolex Service Center in TX and am waiting on the estimate. The store refused to pay for parts and only their labor was no charge.

Has anyone ever had this happen? What did Rolex do?

[mjclark32]

Welcome, I don't have any experience with this but did bobby say if he pressure tested it after servicing?

[Elementa]

I would send it to Rik at Time Care Inc. He's very good and well respected on the forum.

[Z-Sub]

Contact Better Business Bureau and small claims court maybe needed. Good luck and I wish it's resolved amicably.

[Armyguy03]

Originally Posted by Z-Sub

Contact Better Business Bureau and small claims court maybe needed. Good luck and I wish it's resolved amicably.

This!

Also recommend Riki from Time Care. I recently got a Sub back from Service, and included is a pressure test slip (I dont know how to read it, but its there).

[MonBK]

Originally Posted by Armyguy03

This!

Also recommend Riki from Time Care. I recently got a Sub back from Service, and included is a pressure test slip (I dont know how to read it, but its there).

Originally Posted by Elementa

I would send it to Rik at Time Care Inc. He's very good and well respected on the forum.

Should he have the RSC in Dallas stop working on his watch and send it to Rik?

[vintagewaferthin]

Well, it really looks like your watchmaker screwed you pretty badly. you should obviously be able to use your sub for its intended purpose and not worry about it.

[Furbo]

Originally Posted by MonBK

Should he have the RSC in Dallas stop working on his watch and send it to Rik?

I would not, because in my opinion only Rolex will have some leverage in this case.

I don't know who Rik is, but the AD in question would probably not give much weight to his findings.

[dysondiver]

nope , sounds like a rolex job ,,, i can see the row already .. but it will all depend on wether or not it was tested for water resistance , or not ,,, if your lucky they will have the test listed on their bill.
welcome to the forumss , not a good start but hello anyways.

[superdog]

Yikes. I think unlikely they will pay for anything.

They just lost a customer, but I doubt they care that much.

That's too bad. But I suggest you just pay rolex and suck it up.

Sucky advice, but I don't think you have a lot of options

[Stuxnet]

What you just described is incompetence at its very worst. The RSC in New York has always been excellent. Bobby should be taken to a depth of 60 feet so he can learn something and that AD should be shut down.

[Frosty]

Welcome to TRF Hope things get better from here.

[Thatguy]

Sorry to hear. Hopefully Rolex will make it right. Not related to the damage, but did you pressure test it in the years prior to the service?

[Andad]

Welcome to the Forum MD.

I think that you will get some satisfaction from Rolex.
If Bobby is a certified Rolex technician and you have the two year warranty then Rolex would have to stand behind him and make this good IMO.

[TimeToGo]

Welcome to the Forum!

Very sorry to hear this.

I doubt the repair shop will pay the RSC for what should have been done in the first place. The BBB sounds like a great start.

I hope for the best for you in getting this resolved.

[kilyung]

Doesn't sound like Bobby properly checked for water resistance ergo they should pay for RSC to fix it under their warranty policy.

[handsfull]

Originally Posted by directioneng

If Bobby is a certified Rolex technician and you have the two year warranty then Rolex would have to stand behind him and make this good IMO.

Originally Posted by kilyung

Doesn't sound like Bobby properly checked for water resistance ergo they should pay for RSC to fix it under their warranty policy.

+2

I wouldn't give them the additional 1K for his mistake.....it was covered under warranty and it failed. Simple. I would tell Rolex of "Bobby's" error and have them sort it.

[financeman]

Welcome to the forum. Hate to hear this has happened to you. Most likely you will end up eating the service at RSC but your watch will be back to brand new specs and you will be able to use it again as it was intended.

[TakesALickin]

I have to say that the AD's response is unacceptable, and that they should be made to honor their warranty. However I'd also add that you can avoid this kind of headache in the future by buying a cheap Casio, Citizen or Seiko to dive in (this is what I do). Leave your expensive Rolex at home. Why subject it to risk?

[DoxaDavid]

Originally Posted by TakesALickin

I have to say that the AD's response is unacceptable, and that they should be made to honor their warranty. However I'd also add that you can avoid this kind of headache in the future by buying a cheap Casio, Citizen or Seiko to dive in (this is what I do). Leave your expensive Rolex at home. Why subject it to risk?

That is absurd Jeff.

The man bought a DIVE watch to use and if it was properly serviced, there is no risk to it flooding at any depth it may be used at.

The headache is all the technicians fault for shoddy work, not the OP's for using his watch for what it was built for. I have expensive dive watches (Doxa, Rolex, Omega, AP etc) to name a few and though I don't dive often, I know they will perform as intended and I like to dive with them, as I would guess the OP does as well.

I would have the RSC fix my watch then go after the AD to reimburse me, willingly or forced to with a judgment by court. BBB is all fine and good but meaningless to many nor do they have any teeth to force a business to do anything.

Good luck!

[TakesALickin]

Originally Posted by DoxaDavid

That is absurd Jeff.

The man bought a DIVE watch to use and if it was properly serviced, there is no risk to it flooding at any depth it may be used at.

Originally Posted by Thatguy

I disagree. I personally bought mine to wear and it should hold up for it's intended use.

You're both entitled to your opinion. I'm the kinda guy who parks his car wayyyyy out at the edge of the parking lot, where there are no other cars around. Why? Because sh!t happens. If you're willing to live with the consequences, sure - tempt fate. But once the unexpected and unhappy event occurs, remember - you could have taken steps to prevent that headache.

But you didn't.

As for your assertions that the watch should hold up for its intended use, remember - it's no longer legal to mark these watches "waterproof", because everyone (except you guys, apparently) recognizes that there is no such thing as "waterproof". The watches are "water resistant", and courts of law have held that manufactures must mark them as such because there is a chance that their water resistance will fail.

[GradyPhilpott]

I'd find out what RSC has to say about the issue, including what to do about "Bobby."

He's a representative of Rolex and benefits from that association. If he's out there screwing up Rolex watches and the Rolex reputation, I would think that Rolex would not be particularly happy about that.

It would seem to me that Bobby has a lot more at stake than just a single unsatisfied customer.

If the RSC can't get Bobby to do the right thing, then the BBB and small claims court would be my next move.

I try to be philosophical about a lot of disappointments in life, but this is an issue that I would probably seek a pound of flesh.

[withthesword]

at this point i would start going on a fact-checking mission.

1. get in writing what EXACTLY is done during any level of service. as in what they do for what kind of watch when it goes in for service, and if there are different service levels.
2. get in writing what EXACTLY your watch would have had done to it. eg: complete overhaul, lubrication, regulation, pressure testing, replaced parts etc.
3. get a complete service report and receipt of this service. photocopies, anything. it stands to reason the watchmaker keeps detailed records of what watches he services, what tasks he performs, and what parts are replaced.

and most importantly,

4. study the warranty agreement (if they didn't give you a copy, you should get one poste haste.) find out what EXACTLY is covered under warranty and what isn't.

that you have to fork over another grand for damage to a watch due to their incompetence is reprehensible at best. not would i boycott that particular shop and their watchmaker, i would pay for a half page spread in a newspaper or magazine describing the experience. i'm furious for you right now.

good luck working things out!

Cofion Cynnes,

Matte

[dba]

Not to add insult to injury and slag the South, as I love it there; but your first clue that this wasn't going to end well was when the Rolex tech was named "Bobby."

[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by dba

Not to add insult to injury and slag the South, as I love it there; but your first clue that this wasn't going to end well was when the Rolex tech was named "Bobby."

I'm not clear on this.

[springer]

Originally Posted by dba

Not to add insult to injury and slag the South, as I love it there; but your first clue that this wasn't going to end well was when the Rolex tech was named "Bobby."

Pretty crude, actually, very crude post.

[SUBversive]

Originally Posted by springer

Pretty crude, actually, very crude post.

Of course we don't know what bobby did. But I have to say our local ad had / has an in-house guy and they serviced rolex until they lost their ad status a few years ago. They change over bezel inserts for me and took off a cyclops but that's about how far I thought I should go with them even though their family has been in the business for years. But for my full service after about 7 or 8 years, i felt only rolex would do. This was also after they lost ad status. I went to mall store that is an ad. Didn't buy the watch there but chat with a sales guy from time to time. He set up the service and took care of shipping to RSc in NYC. I don't remember exactly but I think they did that free of charge. Rolex communicated with me as to what they recommended and then when it was ready they sent it back to the ad for me to pick up. Thought it was a good experience.

[MrNanni]

Originally Posted by dba

Not to add insult to injury and slag the South, as I love it there; but your first clue that this wasn't going to end well was when the Rolex tech was named "Bobby."

Lol. Yikes

[Stuxnet]

Originally Posted by dba

Not to add insult to injury and slag the South, as I love it there; but your first clue that this wasn't going to end well was when the Rolex tech was named "Bobby."

Can you imagine the state of the watch if his name was Bubba?

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by Stuxnet

Can you imagine the state of the watch if his name was Bubba?

I don't think this adds much to the conversation.