Now not incoming - useless AD!

[playford]

Ok, so the GMT was a wait and an online AD in the UK had a Blue Bay in-house with 5 years interest free. Literally 40 notes a month that I won’t really miss. Paid full retail and passed finance. £2630 gbp.

Ordered last Thursday, no dispatch Friday so live chatted them and was told that supposedly they aren’t supposed to post Tudor but they would speak to their director. He came back later said director cleared and would go dispatch centre Monday and then tracking Tuesday. Tuesday comes no email, so live chat again, lady says the guy in meeting but will come back.

I notice order has now been cancelled and they are blaming Tudor!

“Good afternoon Mr Playford,

I am getting in touch with you today regarding your order placed on the 11th April and following on from you live chat discussions with our customer service team.

The watch was due for dispatch today but unfortunately it has been blocked by one of our regional managers as we have been told we are not allowed, under no circumstances, to dispatch Tudor watches to customers.

I’m very sorry for the inconvenience here and I have made our IT team aware of the problem and the ability to purchase Tudor watches through our finance calculator. Unfortunately, this is not the case and should not be the case as Tudor stipulate that all Tudor sales have to be collected in one of our Tudor stores.

I will of course, fully cancel the order, cancel the finance application and refund the deposit payment for you.

Once again, my sincere apologies for the inconvenience with this Mr Playford, I did want to get this watch out to you but unfortunately my superiors have put a stop to it.

Kind regards

Customer Services“

This isn’t some grey market eBay seller it’s a uk AD.

I’m debating writing to Tudor about the whole mess. I could have went to my local AD now I’m worried my credit file will be a mess and I’m not getting knocked back in the middle of the shop!

I’m not naming the AD but just hugely frustrating!

[thesharkfactor]

To be honest, I’m surprised they agreed to post it in the first instance. Rolex is collection only, I would have thought Tudor will be the same.

[2001jesper]

Not a perfect transaction, however in the end the AD did what Tudor wants and hence cant see that they would have any incentive or interest in reacting on this case

[Luke@TRF]

Harrods Rolex used to do shipping to oversea but now no more. WOS don’t do it either. Shame could have saved 15-16 percent on the vat

[playford]

Is this really what Tudor want?

Shambles. I really don’t want to put in for finance again now in case get declined over this mess. Either you can buy off the website or you cant!

[Nairn1980]

Originally Posted by playford

Is this really what Tudor want?

Shambles. I really don’t want to put in for finance again now in case get declined over this mess. Either you can buy off the website or you cant!

How far away is the AD? Can’t you go on a day trip or make a weekend of it and pick it up? Especially as the credit check is done etc.

[pkincy]

Interesting. I have wondered why it appears Rolex is sticking to a pre computer 80's marketing strategy, albeit an excellent but still ancient strategy. Today you can buy anything online and I do. It is quicker, easier and way more convenient. Whether it is a car or a house or a box of tissues, I get it online. My last 2 cars (both $100k+) were picked up in person but were shopped for and the transaction was agreed to online and by text, only the final paperwork and pickup of the keys was in person. Rolex for some reason is resisting this. I think they would sell more of their watches to actual customers than grey dealers if they at least posted their stock online and then required a pickup in store to verify it is a customer not a reseller.

For years (I no longer know if they still do this) Ferrari would only sell locally. If you lived in one dealers area you could not shop from another dealer. SoCal dealers were notoriously hard to deal with while the Utah franchise was quite nice, but were prohibited from selling to SoCal residents. Nevertheless you could access stock and make your order online although the car would be delivered in person.

Actually making me walk into a B&M store to look for inventory will keep me from ever having more than a watch or 3. I simply am no longer a mall walker. That was a thing from decades past.

[playford]

I live in Northern Ireland and nearest AD branch the have is Scotland. So either a flight or ferry away, not like I can just drive there.

[Nairn1980]

Originally Posted by playford

I live in Northern Ireland and nearest AD branch the have is Scotland. So either a flight or ferry away, not like I can just drive there.

Not far and we will put the kettle on

[Colin G]

Originally Posted by playford

I live in Northern Ireland and nearest AD branch the have is Scotland. So either a flight or ferry away, not like I can just drive there.

I am in a similar boat. The nearest Rolex AD is an 8 hour drive and they won't send me watches by courier.

I have to get my brother in law who lives in that city to pick up for me, then get him to send by courier.

[Fleetlord]

Originally Posted by playford

I live in Northern Ireland and nearest AD branch the have is Scotland. So either a flight or ferry away, not like I can just drive there.

There is a Tudor AD in Belfast with 2x locations....are they not good?

[77T]

Maybe they did you a favor if you couldn’t afford to pay in full at point of sale.


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[playford]

Originally Posted by 77T

Maybe they did you a favor if you couldn’t afford to pay in full at point of sale.


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I wouldn’t frankly even notice 40 quid going out and no additional interest so why not?

[77T]

Originally Posted by playford

I wouldn’t frankly even notice 40 quid going out and no additional interest so why not?

I don’t pass any judgement - so please take my answer in that context.

If you don’t have the cash to buy a Rolex, then signing a credit instrument to buy one is not good - even a 0 percent financing offer would affect your credit. A rule you should consider is never to pay for anything non-essential on borrowed money.



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[playford]

Originally Posted by 77T

I don’t pass any judgement - so please take my answer in that context.

If you don’t have the cash to buy a Rolex, then signing a credit instrument to buy one is not good - even a 0 percent financing offer would affect your credit. A rule you should consider is never to pay for anything non-essential on borrowed money.



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It’s a Tudor black bay not a Rolex, so we are talking 2400 gbp not 6k plus.

Put it this way a beer in my town in 5 gbp, this is 40 a month.

[SPMN]

Originally Posted by playford

It’s a Tudor black bay not a Rolex, so we are talking 2400 gbp not 6k plus.

Put it this way a beer in my town in 5 gbp, this is 40 a month.

Yeah, taking inflation into account, you actually come out ahead by financing at 0%, not a ton, but like you said, for 40/month...

That being said, the deal is too good to be true and I’m not surprised that Tudor blocked it. It would have been very nice if the AD were to do it anyway, but I can see both sides to be honest.

I’m fairly ignorant on this subject, but are there any local consumer protection laws that could come into play? They advertised a product and terms which you agreed to. It sounds like the sale was already made.

[MTBer]

Originally Posted by 77T

I don’t pass any judgement - so please take my answer in that context.

If you don’t have the cash to buy a Rolex, then signing a credit instrument to buy one is not good - even a 0 percent financing offer would affect your credit. A rule you should consider is never to pay for anything non-essential on borrowed money.



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Counterpoint- it takes credit to have credit. The term is ‘cash rich, credit poor’ when someone is a thin-file but has money. I took out a very low interest personal loan a couple years ago just to pad my account history.

[grimps]

Originally Posted by 77T

I don’t pass any judgement - so please take my answer in that context.

If you don’t have the cash to buy a Rolex, then signing a credit instrument to buy one is not good - even a 0 percent financing offer would affect your credit. A rule you should consider is never to pay for anything non-essential on borrowed money.



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I bought a GMT ln 8 years ago on 0% finance from Goldsmiths in the UK , I had the cash and could have paid for it there and then but decided to finance it .
Even at that time I knew Rolex increased their prices nearly every year so basically a watch can be worn for 3 years and sold for more than you paid .
If you had waited 3 years to save up for the same watch it would then have had up to 3 price increases and cost a lot more to purchase

[playford]

Stupidly rather than go to the two in Belfast, this AD offered 5 years interest free and the one in Belfast only offered 3 years, turned the payment into so little you wouldn’t notice it. I should have just went to the Belfast one as they service my Omega. I really wouldn’t want to go and apply and be turned down as I’m not sure how long that search and cancelled agreement will stay on file.

The sensible use of credit is fine, I have a small mortgage and a steady job, personally I wouldn’t do a Rolex on credit without at least half down, but that’s my circumstances.

This just seems ridiculous, I could have bought a cooker and had it delivered with less drama than a watch. Buying things online is how people shop today and is the norm certainly for the tudors market. Insisting that online sales don’t happen is a bonkers policy that only fuels grey market suppliers and eBay.

[DPE]

time to move on

[jimcameron]

Lots of people finance their Starbucks coffee every day, why not a watch?

[atn_uk]

So, to be clear, is it true that Rolex and even Tudor insist on you actually going to an AD to pick up a watch you have bought? I can see why, to an extent, but what if you just live too far away. For example, I am going on holiday to friends in Romania next week and thought I’d check out the local AD. Turns out there are only two in the whole country, both in Bucharest, over 400 miles, or around 9 hours drive away. So at best a whole day, perhaps needing an overnight stay, or a flight (at European, not American, prices and frequency) and a considerable extra cost.

Yes, not a completely ridiculous distance, but hardly convenient if you never have any other reason to go there.

Is there no end to Rolex’s manipulation of their customers?

[watchmaker]

Originally Posted by atn_uk

So, to be clear, is it true that Rolex and even Tudor insist on you actually going to an AD to pick up a watch you have bought? I can see why, to an extent, but what if you just live too far away. For example, I am going on holiday to friends in Romania next week and thought I’d check out the local AD. Turns out there are only two in the whole country, both in Bucharest, over 400 miles, or around 9 hours drive away. So at best a whole day, perhaps needing an overnight stay, or a flight (at European, not American, prices and frequency) and a considerable extra cost.

Yes, not a completely ridiculous distance, but hardly convenient if you never have any other reason to go there.

Is there no end to Rolex’s manipulation of their customers?

I’d say it’s a stretch to call it manipulation of their customers. It’s a luxury product, you do not need a Rolex, and there is no natural right to own one either. We want to own them, and they are sold how and where Rolex choose. They owe the watch buying public nothing.

There is a plentiful supply available with next day delivery from resellers if that is what is most important to a buyer but depending on the model there may be a premium to pay.

[365DAS]

I don’t that it is all that wrong that a brand chooses to restrict purchases in person and there could be a whole load of perfectly valid reasons for them choosing to do so.

With regards to being within reach of a physical store, that’s just one of those challenges many people face depending on where you are in the world and due to that if someone wants something then they will have to pay more, jump through more hoops and travel further to obtain what they want.

OP, just a thought and unless it’s been mentioned already but the refusal could be associated to the fact they offered 0% finance on a product that they feel doesn’t require it as normally it’s the retailer that has to fund the 0%. I’ve had a family member who wanted to purchase a Rolex watch and was originally told they’d offered 0% but then this was corrected by the manager and then quoted something like 9% as they knew it’s a watch that will sell without the need to fund the finance offer.


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[Sublovin]

Understand you being frustrated, but it sounds like they are following Tudor policy, so complaining to them will not likely be worth it.

[Andad]

Well a Rolex may be a luxury item to some but a bauble to others.

Some are not available from Rolex’s own AD chain but available at a premium BNIB from Greys.

Rolex’s rules (and/or their AD rules) are a manipulation so I’ll go with atn on this one.

[harvey]

This experience is more complicated than it needs to be.

[77T]

Originally Posted by harvey

This experience is more complicated than it needs to be.

Yeah I’m thinking the same way...but then again, I’ll drive 600 miles just to participate in a race

We each have our foibles


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[1William]

Great choice in a watch and I would go and collect it. No issue and while it is a little far away maybe the AD could make it somewhat worthwhile with some giveaway items. Call the AD up and see if you can do it and go get your watch.

[NoVaSubowner]

Originally Posted by 1William

Great choice in a watch and I would go and collect it. No issue and while it is a little far away maybe the AD could make it somewhat worthwhile with some giveaway items. Call the AD up and see if you can do it and go get your watch.

Yep.


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