Discussion with a AD

[Rolex85]

Originally Posted by A.I.

I can personally vouch for points 2 & 3.

The first ceramic Daytona sold by my AD was to a long standing valued customer who flipped it to a grey the same week - 'a nice wee earner'.

Rolex made it their business (by whatever method) to track down the customer and then grilled the AD accusing them of not vetting the customer well enough. The result was that this long standing customer was blackballed and the AD reprimanded. Harsh for the AD I'm sure everyone will agree. Should this customer want to buy a Rolex in the future they would need to find an alternate route but using their own name means they have no chance.

I'm well known by my AD but when I registered my interest in adding an SD43 I had to reconfirm my full name, home address and add my email address along with my DOB. The suggestion was that my details would be submitted for approval (to their head office or Rolex I'm not sure?) but I was definitely being vetted. Finally on the day of delivery the warranty card was inserted into the card reader and a pin number input by the AD. Was I now part of the Rolex tracking system? If my watch popped up on the grid I'm fairly postive Rolex would know the same day. (Just my opinion but all greys use an online web checker to protect them from buying tied or fraudulently obtained goods and it wouldn't surprise me if Rolex has access to the report data).

When I expressed my desire to purchase an SS Pepsi (Basel day 10.31am) my AD insisted on a branch visit to reconfirm the personal details already held on file. When I popped in later on that morning we confirmed my details hadn't changed and the AD explained that if/ when I get the watch the conditions of sale had been changed. The warranty card will now be a 12mo hold and stickers will removed (done to death) etc. Incidentally they weren't adding names to a list and only selling these harder to find models to existing customers who expressed their interest during a branch visit.

The phone never stopped ringing for the 30 mins I was there.

Sorry I wandered slightly off topic, just wanted to share my experience.

I was told the same thing from my local AD when I asked "what do people have to buy to get a Daytona around here" in a sly joking comment leaning towards how people are pushed to buy diamonds and gold to get sought after steel watches and they told me its not JUST about what people buy in their store but yes VIP customers have to confirm all of their personal information and if they are approved by the store they then get reviewed by "head office" and I didn't think at the time to ask to clarify if that meant head office of the AD or the Rolex reps.

[lecorsaire]

Originally Posted by Devildog

It’s not ridiculous. It’s to prevent money laundering - sadly one of the ways modern terrorism is financed

Terrorism is the pretext used, but in reality banks do not want people withdrawing money. Imagine that interest rates would've fallen below zero. Most people would immediately have moved to withdraw as much cash as possible since who would be willing to pay a bank for the privilege of holding their money? If we keep moving in this direction, cash will become a thing of the past.

France already has a cash payment limit of €1000. This is nothing. Rules like these force people to use plastic. Switzerland's limit is CHF 100,000. They will have big problems getting rid of cash over there and in Germany where the public prefers to use cash.

[Devildog]

Originally Posted by lecorsaire

Terrorism is the pretext used, but in reality banks do not want people withdrawing money. Imagine that interest rates would've fallen below zero. Most people would immediately have moved to withdraw as much cash as possible since who would be willing to pay a bank for the privilege of holding their money? If we keep moving in this direction, cash will become a thing of the past.

France already has a cash payment limit of €1000. This is nothing. Rules like these force people to use plastic. Switzerland's limit is CHF 100,000. They will have big problems getting rid of cash over there and in Germany where the public prefers to use cash.

Perhaps in the US. And yes, perhaps now across Europe, but when those laws were introduced over here the financial crisis wasn’t even on the radar.

Cash hasn’t been king over here for a very very long time.

[tjfslaughter]

Originally Posted by MVP

This is really interesting

Yes it is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Beowulf]

I love these "AD told me" stories. They're always fascinating but definitely not something they enforce. Even if they do say it, ADs do whatever they want.
50%+ of the "AD told me" stories here end up being vaporware.

[lamnyc]

Isn’t Rolex in the business of selling watches?

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by lecorsaire

Terrorism is the pretext used, but in reality banks do not want people withdrawing money. Imagine that interest rates would've fallen below zero. Most people would immediately have moved to withdraw as much cash as possible since who would be willing to pay a bank for the privilege of holding their money? If we keep moving in this direction, cash will become a thing of the past.

France already has a cash payment limit of €1000. This is nothing. Rules like these force people to use plastic. Switzerland's limit is CHF 100,000. They will have big problems getting rid of cash over there and in Germany where the public prefers to use cash.

It's true the banks don't want people withdrawing their money.
Especially all in one go.
They(the bank) can and do also restrict access to the bank by simply not opening the doors to stop people from exercising their right to have full access to their own money and at their own convenience.
The government supports this strategy whenever it suits them in times of extreme economic stress. It must be in collusion with the government by prior arrangement with the legislation already in place to support the measure. The fact that the governments are typically silent when it occurs is clear evidence.

I think I have read where there is some legislation in place here in OZ to that effect and it has been the case since WW II and not repealed since.
It's not unreasonable to expect that other governments around the world have similar capabilities in reserve.

In summary it's not really the banks behind it.
It's the government and under a number of pretexts whether it be terrorism or fighting organised crime or tax evasion. The main common denominator is the government in collusion with the banks.

I used to pay cash for my watches and pretty much everything else and always wondered what it would be like to live in the US with restrictions on how much cash($10,000) one could move around.
I see there are moves here in OZ to enact the same policies in the near future.

These rules do indeed motivate people to use plastic.
But before that, the frequent flyer programs and their rubbery reward point schemes have already lead the way.

[lamnyc]

Rolex will also need all buyers DNA. :)

[AK797]

Originally Posted by dmash

I almost spit my drink on my screen

Warning before you do the same again... the big grey Watchfinder now won't allow you to even see their watches unless you have photo ID. It's a security thing on the face of it but just shows the trend of Big Watch Brother wanting to know as much about us as possible.

[AK797]

Originally Posted by mrhoju

I can also vouch for part of this conversation. I've got my name down for a few different models with my local AD since they are impossible to get so I figured I'll space out the purchases when they (if they ever) come in and it's my turn. When I called about putting my name down for the new GMT Pepsi they straight out told me they "know me" and think I'm a flipper (i've purchased a few watches from them). I was pretty shocked and said that wasn't the case, mentioned the watches I purchased from them and where they were... I still need to go down there and try to straighten everything out.

But it does sound like Rolex and retailers are starting to pay attention to this more.

I can imagine that must feel pretty horrendous, a violation really.

[hambone1983]

Originally Posted by AK797

Americans, as ever, are always late to things, but they'll get there.

are you still sore about the WWII thing?

[mgarthwaite]

I have a good relationship with my AD in the UK, I have purchased 4 watches from him, a black GMT and a BLNR are from him, now he has never mentioned anything about this. Now you never ever really see any steel professional models in the window in the UK as a general rule and whilst all my watches are registered and he takes a photo of the warranty card for Rolex.

Originally Posted by tjfslaughter

I was at an AD over the weekend discussing the shortage. They pointed out a few things Rolex is doing to stop re-sellers.

1. A person can only purchase one model of watch (for instance one SD43, one sub, one Daytona, etc) in a lifetime. If they want to purchase another one a police report or insurance statement must be provided demonstrating that the watch was damaged or stolen.
2. Rolex is talking to certain dealers to identify habitual flippers and recommending banning sales to them.
3. They are tracking purchasers, not just the name on the warranty cards.

I am not sure if this applies to all dealers or just the large chains.

[Locust]

Originally Posted by hambone1983

are you still sore about the WWII thing?

Pretty sure England and the US fought together in WWII....

[Bartlette]

Vee must haves zee control!!!

Visout zee control there will be chaos!!!!

WAIT. Vee mean that without zee control vee will zee capitalism rise and vee cannot av zat.

[WJGESQ]

Originally Posted by VicLeChic

Only the CIA and/or NSA would be capable of such feat.
Good luck, Rolex

At these prices Rolex probably have similar resources.

[Ticknaway]

This if true will only last until the next big recession. In my opinion most Rolex owner serious dislike the idea that Rolex S.A. is taking steps to limit their purchase perfences. Like someone said for every step they take someone will find a way around the limitation. In the next downturn as sales drop a new purchase technique will develop!

[WJGESQ]

Originally Posted by tjfslaughter

I was at an AD over the weekend discussing the shortage. They pointed out a few things Rolex is doing to stop re-sellers.

1. A person can only purchase one model of watch (for instance one SD43, one sub, one Daytona, etc) in a lifetime. If they want to purchase another one a police report or insurance statement must be provided demonstrating that the watch was damaged or stolen.
2. Rolex is talking to certain dealers to identify habitual flippers and recommending banning sales to them.
3. They are tracking purchasers, not just the name on the warranty cards.

I am not sure if this applies to all dealers or just the large chains.

If they loosened up the supply--the secondary market would shrivel. The false scarcity is having the same effect as prohibition.

[Fleetlord]

Originally Posted by hambone1983

are you still sore about the WWII thing?

Ridiculous

[dmash]

Originally Posted by hambone1983

are you still sore about the WWII thing?

Originally Posted by Locust

Pretty sure England and the US fought together in WWII....

Hahahaha the comments of people sometimes.

Originally Posted by AK797

Warning before you do the same again... the big grey Watchfinder now won't allow you to even see their watches unless you have photo ID. It's a security thing on the face of it but just shows the trend of Big Watch Brother wanting to know as much about us as possible.

Speechless, truly.

[AK797]

Originally Posted by hambone1983

are you still sore about the WWII thing?

More I.

[murtuzah]

Originally Posted by AK797

Warning before you do the same again... the big grey Watchfinder now won't allow you to even see their watches unless you have photo ID. It's a security thing on the face of it but just shows the trend of Big Watch Brother wanting to know as much about us as possible.

Do you mean when going through their website? I recently popped into a branch and tried on a BLNR and LV without showing any ID. They didn't ask me any questions other than which one I wanted.

I think the recurring theme here is that its not a one rule for all across AD's/greys. We should take these 'he said she said' stories with a pinch of salt for that reason, however we should not ridicule people who are genuinely passing on information from Authorised Dealers because it could be a sign of things to come.

[brandrea]

This thread is bordering ...