Rolex AD Wire Payments and Unethical Practices

[DubOhio]

Originally Posted by Bill2e

2- wire payment. You have no recourse if the deal falls apart and you lose all those Amex points.

Missing out on Amex points alone is a deal breaker

[watchamatic]

My AD only accepts cash or check for hot, in demands watches but are happy to take credit cards for datejusts and the like.....

[edisonstar23]

Originally Posted by burnthesehills

They likely want wire payment to avoid the credit card merchant fee.

I would go IN PERSON and hand them your credit card and see if they will accept as payment. If they refuse I would personally walk.

If you are certain that they are doing back door deals, I would find another AD to do business with.

I don’t see anything sketchy. All gray dealers mainly work with wires. I think as a store I would also rather work with wires than pay credit card fee and also have the risk of fraud protection. Now, what makes you say they are back door selling? I’m sure it happens, I mean most ADs probably at least had the temptation to sell them at market price. But it’s extremely hard to prove and I would just send the wire and be thankful for your allocation lol


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[JR16]

Nice first post and welcome to TRF!


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[ArtNouveau]

I am guessing the OP is another one and done poster, we’ll never hear any more details.
Personally I see two red flags, first the “we’ll have it for you next month,” then the bank wire thing. If this is a true Rolex Authorized Dealer in the US, I don’t think many would promise a delivery date unless they already have the watch which makes it even weirder.
I have sent only a handful of wire transfers in my life, the last one was to pay for my house. In the US, taking credit cards is a cost of doing business, I have paid for all my watches at the AD with one. The back door implication is just another oddity.

[AAAAAlex]

If it's a certain AD in Glendale I'd say your concern is not unreasonable.

[nyyankees]

Troll


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[burnthesehills]

Originally Posted by edisonstar23

I don’t see anything sketchy. All gray dealers mainly work with wires. I think as a store I would also rather work with wires than pay credit card fee and also have the risk of fraud protection. Now, what makes you say they are back door selling? I’m sure it happens, I mean most ADs probably at least had the temptation to sell them at market price. But it’s extremely hard to prove and I would just send the wire and be thankful for your allocation lol


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The OP said that the AD was back door selling.

I personally would want the protection of paying with a credit card unless I felt comfortable with the AD, which he clearly does not.

[bluestreak]

Originally Posted by burnthesehills

The OP said that the AD was back door selling.

I personally would want the protection of paying with a credit card unless I felt comfortable with the AD, which he clearly does not.

This. A wire transfer if they have a watch in hand is one thing. But if it’s just a deposit they should take a credit card. If they want they can even reverse the charge when the watch comes in and you can pay by wire then. But paying by wire is the equivalent of handing them a briefcase of cash. You have zero recourse if the watch never materializes.

[arche3]

What would you wire money for a watch in a month. That's stupid. You are not there to prop up his cash flow.

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[Oystersteel92]

Originally Posted by bluestreak

But if they do accept credit cards they are likely violating their agreements with the credit card companies. If you want to report them to someone report them to the visa and Mastercard.

If you're talking about passing along the fee, it was long against the credit card agreement and the credit card companies generally enforced that with an iron fist. However, a recent legal decision made it illegal for them to forbade it, so more and more I'm seeing businesses pass it along. I fired my local Ford dealership for doing it, and recently went round with a remediation company regarding the $80 they wanted to charge me for using a credit card. Ended up writing them a check. Feels like the world is going backwards in some ways.

My AD happily accepts credit cards with no complaint or passing of fees.

[Carguy87]

Curious about the “back door selling” allegation, but for the wire piece of this I would do as others have suggested and visit the AD in person and offer to pay them cash, cashiers check,
or wire once your watch arrives. If I were paying in advance I’d only want to do that via credit card unless I really trusted the AD and had a specific delivery date (such as in the cases where an AD calls that the watch is 3-5 days out or so).

[Nico81]

Interesting first post. Accusing local AD with Backdoor deals

[padi56]

Originally Posted by dpt.calvin

The Rolex Police, duh.

Their phone number is 1-800-Rolex-Doesnt-Care

If they were selling out the backdoor, why would they be selling to you? Unless you're meeting them at said backdoor.

Have to agree some see things like this on so called social media and the likes of YouTube and they believe everything they see or read there. Cannot see any AD risking his business and livelihood by doing this backdoor nonsense.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Bill2e

Well 2 things are wrong with it.

1 - payment in full a month before delivery, I understand a deposit, but not 100%

2- wire payment. You have no recourse if the deal falls apart and you lose all those Amex points.

I paid 100% for a special order Rolex in 2017. Watch was delivered a few days later.

Welcome to the forum OP.

[outlaw468]

Originally Posted by bluestreak

This. A wire transfer if they have a watch in hand is one thing. But if it’s just a deposit they should take a credit card. If they want they can even reverse the charge when the watch comes in and you can pay by wire then. But paying by wire is the equivalent of handing them a briefcase of cash. You have zero recourse if the watch never materializes.

Agreed 100%.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by carlam

Hi all,

I recently got a phone call from my local AD regarding a watch I wanted. They let me know that the watch will be ready in about a month and for me to send a wire for the payment in full. Is this the norm for Rolex AD's now? Really? Wire payments?

This particular AD is conducting backdoor deals for hot SS watches. Who do you report this kind of activity to? Directly to Rolex? Anyone know the corporate email or phone number?

TIA.

I have only Rolex buying history with 2 ADs in UK ( both WOS group ) and recently purchased in Sept 2021, I have never been asked for any deposits / payments in full prior to purchase . This in my opinion is certainly not the norm for a Rolex AD

[lamnyc]

Hope it’s not to the AD’s personal account 🤠

[jimcameron]

Maybe the request isn't even from the AD.

Maybe the AD is getting ready to tank.

Maybe you should call them up and advise when the watch arrives, you'll come pick it up.

[PeteNYC13]

Originally Posted by carlam

Hi all,

I recently got a phone call from my local AD regarding a watch I wanted. They let me know that the watch will be ready in about a month and for me to send a wire for the payment in full. Is this the norm for Rolex AD's now? Really? Wire payments?

This particular AD is conducting backdoor deals for hot SS watches. Who do you report this kind of activity to? Directly to Rolex? Anyone know the corporate email or phone number?

TIA.

__________________________________________________ ________

First off, I would find the person who is forcing you to buy a Rolex and report them.
Secondly, the AD isn't going to pay the 3% or so to AMEX if they don't have to, and they don't, customers are begging for these watches.

I hate to say it but after the last two years of "it's their business, they can do what they want", I have decided that goes for everything, no?

[Monty22]

Originally Posted by dpt.calvin

The Rolex Police, duh.

Their phone number is 1-800-Rolex-Doesnt-Care

If they were selling out the backdoor, why would they be selling to you? Unless you're meeting them at said backdoor.

Just spit out my drink


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[sgarrity]

It’s 2022. If you won’t take my AMEX I’m not doing business with you. Too much greed and corruption out there!

[tmoy810]

Originally Posted by sgarrity

It’s 2022. If you won’t take my AMEX I’m not doing business with you. Too much greed and corruption out there!

Its 2022. There are many resources to vet businesses.

If you are buying a Rolex watch from an Authorized dealer what concerns are there? The authorized dealer has to pay anywhere from 2.5/3.5 percent for you to use your AMEX. Many ADs are forcing people to buy jewelry before they even allocate a Rolex to customers. If an AD is offering to sell watches with out any of the BS and only the only stipulation is to pay with a cashiers check or a wire to save them 3%, I would gladly oblige.

To the op. If you are worried about pre paying, you should just call your SA and let them know that you will bring a cashier's check for the full amount the day of pickup. If they have an issue with that, then maybe you are right to have concerns.

[AbeFroman]

I view the credit card fees as a cost of business. It rubs me the wrong way when ADs try to weasel their way out of it. It’s technically against their merchant agreement with the payment processor too.

I like purchasing via card for the points/mileage. If you pay buy wire, make sure to verify the wire instructions before submitting.

[Tricolore66]

I send wiring instructions to and receive payment from clients a couple times a week, usually in the multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars each. There are so many scams now that most sending banks call to verbally confirm the recipient’s information and accounts prior to sending. Apparently there are internet criminals who hack email looking for wiring information being sent, and replacing routing and account numbers.

[miamiclay]

Originally Posted by Oystersteel92

a recent legal decision made it illegal for them

Got a cite for that?

[classicalthunder]

Originally Posted by carlam

Hi all,

I recently got a phone call from my local AD regarding a watch I wanted. They let me know that the watch will be ready in about a month and for me to send a wire for the payment in full. Is this the norm for Rolex AD's now? Really? Wire payments?

This particular AD is conducting backdoor deals for hot SS watches. Who do you report this kind of activity to? Directly to Rolex? Anyone know the corporate email or phone number?

TIA.

Why not just get a formalized invoice ahead of time that stipulates the model, delivery date, and payment in advance via wire transfer?

Which LA AD is this?

[DeVille]

Paul Thorpe posted a video recently about customers who had their details hacked from an AD. The scammers were then contacting them (using phone/email that cloned the AD), and asking exactly what you described. Of course, it's a scam, the AD didn't know anything about it.

Be careful.