AP 5 Year Warranties at AD?

[underpar31009]

Has anyone heard that AP may start offering 5 year warranties for watches purchased from authorized dealers? I know that boutiques already offer 5 year warranties.

[Hairdude1]

Heard that was a rumor and was yet to be confirmed

[underpar31009]

Originally Posted by Hairdude1

Heard that was a rumor and was yet to be confirmed

Thanks Alex! I'm ready to pull the trigger on my first AP, but I don't want to miss out on the extra warranty if that is the case.

[Hairdude1]

Originally Posted by underpar31009

Thanks Alex! I'm ready to pull the trigger on my first AP, but I don't want to miss out on the extra warranty if that is the case.

What has your AD said?

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by Hairdude1

Heard that was a rumor and was yet to be confirmed

it is confirmed, just not officially yet.

I didn't start the rumor but since its out there i guess now its ok to say its true.

[underpar31009]

My AD has not heard; however, I spoke to another AD that said his rep told him 5 year warranties were a big possibility in October.

[GB-man]

That would be a great addition and further my belief that AP takes care of their customers.

[holdtime]

Originally Posted by underpar31009

Has anyone heard that AP may start offering 5 year warranties for watches purchased from authorized dealers? I know that boutiques already offer 5 year warranties.

Warranty on a new AP RO, 15400ST.
Bought new from boutique, I spoke to them today to by a 1.5 link. I did ask the question of the warranty told me it was 5 years.(boutique warranty) And no they do not require a pressure check at the third year to extend the warranty, they do not required anymore, keep in mind this is a recent buy 2017.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by holdtime

Warranty on a new AP RO, 15400ST.
Bought new from boutique, I spoke to them today to by a 1.5 link. I did ask the question of the warranty told me it was 5 years.(boutique warranty) And no they do not require a pressure check at the third year to extend the warranty, they do not required anymore, keep in mind this is a recent buy 2017.

the current boutique warranty is "at their discretion" as far as 5 years and i was told that directly from AP so its not quite that simple. Pretty sure it has to be returned to that specific boutique to get the benefits of that extra warranty.

[tng11]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

the current boutique warranty is "at their discretion" as far as 5 years and i was told that directly from AP so its not quite that simple. Pretty sure it has to be returned to that specific boutique to get the benefits of that extra warranty.

I can confirm this.

The HK IFC boutique's 5 year warranty is specific to HK, for instance. Some other boutiques around the world don't even do the 5 year warranty (e.g. the Ginza Tokyo boutique does not have a 5 year warranty.)

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by tng11

I can confirm this.

The HK IFC boutique's 5 year warranty is specific to HK, for instance. Some other boutiques around the world don't even do the 5 year warranty (e.g. the Ginza Tokyo boutique does not have a 5 year warranty.)

that said, it doesn't really matter now but it was a misconception that it was automatic and not boutique specific as far as where you had to return the watch when using the warranty.

[SMD]

Originally Posted by tng11

I can confirm this.

The HK IFC boutique's 5 year warranty is specific to HK, for instance. Some other boutiques around the world don't even do the 5 year warranty (e.g. the Ginza Tokyo boutique does not have a 5 year warranty.)

This is correct. Purchased from Ginza and was surprised to find out.

[holdtime]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

the current boutique warranty is "at their discretion" as far as 5 years and i was told that directly from AP so its not quite that simple. Pretty sure it has to be returned to that specific boutique to get the benefits of that extra warranty.

Benefits to the boutique?don't see any

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by holdtime

Benefits to the boutique?don't see any

well you might not have a choice. Popular models are increasingly only available at boutiques regardless if they are officially listed as boutique only or not. With the elimination of a lot of AD's recently there are less non boutiques to choose from to begin with.

[holdtime]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

well you might not have a choice. Popular models are increasingly only available at boutiques regardless if they are officially listed as boutique only or not. With the elimination of a lot of AD's recently there are less non boutiques to choose from to begin with.

I see it now .Thanks for explaining.

[AP101]

It’s official...Any AP purchased from an AD now comes with a 5 yr warranty.


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[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by AP101

It’s official...Any AP purchased from an AD now comes with a 5 yr warranty.


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2+3 years for registering

watches are still sold only with 2 years

Af far as what i was told, its supposed to be retroactive as well

[AP101]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

2+3 years for registering



watches are still sold only with 2 years

Not anymore I saw the official communique from AP to its dealers. It’s 5 yrs for any AP watch sold in 2017.


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[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by AP101

Not anymore I saw the official communique from AP to its dealers. It’s 5 yrs for any AP watch sold in 2017.


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2+3 equals five years.

The change what i was told from AP directly, not an AD was the change was adding 2 additional years to the 1 year extended warranty for registering your watch with AP. Something about discouraging grey sales by not extending the warranty automatically to all watches sold but adding it to the registration system already in place and extending that. Effectively its the same though.

[AP101]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

2+3 equals five years.

The change what i was told from AP directly, not an AD was the change was adding 2 additional years to the 1 year extended warranty for registering your watch with AP. Something about discouraging grey sales by not extending the warranty automatically to all watches sold but adding it to the registration system already in place and extending that. Effectively its the same though.

My understanding was that you don’t need to register the watch anymore you get the 5 yrs straightaway like Rolex watches.


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[APAP]

That’s fantastic news. I bought 2 watches in the last 45 days; I presume I should get the warranty extended then.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by APAP

That’s fantastic news. I bought 2 watches in the last 45 days; I presume I should get the warranty extended then.

they told me at least it was going to be retroactive.

[AP101]

Originally Posted by APAP

That’s fantastic news. I bought 2 watches in the last 45 days; I presume I should get the warranty extended then.

All watches sold new in 2017 by an AP AD now come with 5 yrs warranty. (Without having to register them with the APSC)


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[SC11]

You do have to active the 5 year warranty via the AP site

Scrap that I misread the AP site

But I still would say AP will carry on requiring you to register to extend the warranty to 5 years like they did for 3

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by SC11

You do have to active the 5 year warranty via the AP site

Scrap that I misread the AP site

But I still would say AP will carry on requiring you to register to extend the warranty to 5 years like they did for 3:

personally i thought the real time warranty activation plan for the future was much more interesting as noted above. I hope they can pull it off

Im not sure the details on the 2+3 warranty. There seemed to be a catch as explained to me. Either the additional 3 wasn't transferrable as it isn't the warranty the watch is sold with to discourage grey sales. Or it was transferrable and the 2 step registration process was to indentify grey dealers better as if the person who bought it and the person who registered it are different they know the original buyer might be a grey dealer and they see how often that person is doing it and look for patterns. The additional 1 year warranty for registering did not have the same effect as hardly anyone bothered to actually register.

I didn't get the impression it was a change for no reason but that it was specifically a response to grey market sales. I could be wrong though, but they were two high level AP people who said it. The logic also fits with the known strategy recently of consolidating AD networks and restricting popular models outside of AP controlled boutiques to get more control over the grey market as well as cutting margins to reduce discounting.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

personally i thought the real time warranty activation plan for the future was much more interesting as noted above. I hope they can pull it off

Im not sure the details on the 2+3 warranty. There seemed to be a catch as explained to me. Either the additional 3 wasn't transferrable as it isn't the warranty the watch is sold with to discourage grey sales. Or it was transferrable and the 2 step registration process was to indentify grey dealers better as if the person who bought it and the person who registered it are different they know the original buyer might be a grey dealer and they see how often that person is doing it and look for patterns. The additional 1 year warranty for registering did not have the same effect as hardly anyone bothered to actually register.

I didn't get the impression it was a change for no reason but that it was specifically a response to grey market sales. I could be wrong though, but they were two high level AP people who said it. The logic also fits with the known strategy recently of consolidating AD networks and restricting popular models outside of AP controlled boutiques to get more control over the grey market as well as cutting margins to reduce discounting.

It's funny because to me, much like with Rolex, it makes it even more palatable to purchase a preowned watch because in many cases you'll have 3-4 years of warranty left.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by GB-man

It's funny because to me, much like with Rolex, it makes it even more palatable to purchase a preowned watch because in many cases you'll have 3-4 years of warranty left.

i think it has more to do with the 2 step process. Rolex is 5 years out the door and there is no process in place (if they cared) to see who is buying initially and then who is buying it again and registering it. They can't identify the grey dealers. The used market is one thing but the BNIB grey market might start drying up. Especially if they get the capability of real time warranty activation. The long term goal being to deny a warranty activation while the grey dealer is still at the AD and refuse the sale.

I think its a win for AP customers so i do agree with the value add of additional warranty.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

i think it has more to do with the 2 step process. Rolex is 5 years out the door and there is no process in place (if they cared) to see who is buying initially and then who is buying it again and registering it. They can't identify the grey dealers. The used market is one thing but the BNIB grey market might start drying up.

That would be interesting. I'm guessing this will have no effect. Grey dealers don't buy all the watches themselves, they have buyers. For AP to systematically cut off all of these buyers would be very difficult, again imho, because they are the ADs best customers in many cases.

I would be fine with AP and every other manufacturer just selling direct to customer at MSRP. But as long as a third party is involved, ADs, I don't see the grey market going anywhere.

[SMD]

Few assumptions in here that I think are misplaced. First, that the manufacturers actually want to shut down the grey market. If they wanted to shut down discounting, they could but it would come at the expense of the cash flows and and profits. Second, that manufacturers actually want to retail their own watches at the scale needed to maintain existing sales levels. Much different business model and again will come at the expense of cash flows and, potentially, profits.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by SMD

Few assumptions in here that I think are misplaced. First, that the manufacturers actually want to shut down the grey market. If they wanted to shut down discounting, they could but it would come at the expense of the cash flows and and profits. Second, that manufacturers actually want to retail their own watches at the scale needed to maintain existing sales levels. Much different business model and again will come at the expense of cash flows and, potentially, profits.

AP does want to shut down the grey market as far as i can tell. Having a 20 minute conversation exclusively about grey market with two AP people in high level positions gave me the impression they really hate it, a lot.

Hating it and actually being able to stop it are different and i concede that point. I never said they could pull it off but if that is the thinking on behalf of AP then its on their radar in a big way.

I lost count but there are a lot of AD's that lost status this year already so the consolidation to fewer AD's and moving to more brand owned sales channels is already underway.