Relationship with AD.... Really?

[BillA]

So today I went into an AD to put a bracelet back on my watch. I traveled recently on vacation to a sun/beach area so I put my Everest strap on for this travel. Now it was time to put the bracelet back on. I tinkered with it, but decided to have a professional do the job. So the jeweler comes out, looks over the watch and bracelet and asks me when it was last serviced. I told him I was not sure and asked if they could replace the crystal without a full service. He said he would have to look over the watch to make sure it did not need a full service. I declined because he would have had to open the back and I did not want to wait around. He returned with the bracelet on and I thanked him, made a contribution to a needy cause and off I went. I do understand about not being definitive about the crystal and service. What if he did the crystal, and I came back and said the watch is running very slow, could be a problem.

So on the way out of the store, I saw the owner, whom I have met a few times and greets me like he knows me when I enter the store (whether he does or not). I told him in kind and tactful words that I hope he was keeping me in mind for a SS GMT Pepsi. He said he was, and then the next sentence was "you and a few other hundred people who have asked me". So he is obviously selling the watch to his big spenders, I am clearly not one of them.

So does that mean I have to spend a ton of money in his store to get one? I guess so. But when I walk out the door, it is onto the next person who drops a lot of coin in jewelry in his store, and asks for a SS Professional Rolex. It is hard to really see how people develop a relationship with the SA's at the store when there are so many of us, and so few watches. Are we just getting lip service and being stroked to feel good? So are we kidding ourselves that we really have a relationship with the AD?