The AD experience

[tvo7]

If this is my first time buying a Rolex, I have read about AD experience on here. Other than knowing that it is authentic Rolex and maybe get a better discount for future watches, is there any other perks?

Do you get a free pen? A invite to mixer with free food and wine? Swag gifts?

[Paul_I]

I got a mini bottle of water and a napkin . . . and piece of mind. The 'perks' are not what's valuable in these relationships. You can save a lot of money by buying through a trusted seller here on TRF and retain some of that piece of mind.

[AF_Rob]

Soda and a watch. I also get invites to their trunk shows. It means little since I live on the other side of the country now.

[japenney]

My AD has given me Rolex magazine 1-5, polish cloths, many additional magazines and swag, and has even offered to give me old display furniture to set up my own mini Rolex display in my home (declined this). The perks can be many, or few, i would try to develop a relationship with the owner or management instead of a particular sales person. This will yield the best results on all fronts .

[kirksingleton]

Ben bridge give you a stick of hard candy!

[beancooker]

Originally Posted by kirksingleton

Ben bridge give you a stick of hard candy!

It's not even that tasty of candy. Kind of cheap...

[IT Nerd]

Originally Posted by tvo7

If this is my first time buying a Rolex, I have read about AD experience on here. Other than knowing that it is authentic Rolex and maybe get a better discount for future watches, is there any other perks?

Do you get a free pen? A invite to mixer with free food and wine? Swag gifts?

You get the "perk" of paying retail.

[LostInTime]

I like to occasionally drop into the AD to be insulted. I had one salesman tell me my 39mm Explorer was a good choice for those who found a Submariner unaffordable.

[Wesley Crusher]

A diet Coke is part of the AD experience. If you play your cars right, they'll pour it in a glass with ice for you.

[West]

Peroni and cheap champagne plus invites to events a couple of times a year.

[Verdi]

I heard that in some places if you buy Day-date the AD brings a Marlyn Monroe lookalike to sing for you.

[Abdullah71601]

Nothing when I bought my Explorer.

It's odd to me that I can spend less on a lawn tractor at John Deere, get a free hat, a coffee mug, and a lifetime subscription to The Furrow, but Rolex didn't even offer a soft drink.

[Verdi]

In UAE they sell tons.
Buying a ss watch is no big deal for them.

I bought 2 new watches last year, one of them being a 2 tone Lady just. Nothing came with either. They simply don't look at building a long time relation with the customer.
They sell tons of wathes, all models are pretty much always available.......different market all together. In this place expats (which make 80% of the population) come and go periodically, different demographics.
The result is no ceremony while getting a watch. Try, pay and go!

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Verdi

In UAE they sell tons.
Buying a ss watch is no big deal for them.

I bought 2 new watches last year, one of them being a 2 tone Lady just. Nothing came with either. The reason is here they don't look at building a long time relation with the customer.
They sell tons of wathes, all models are pretty much always available.......different market all together. Also, expats come and go here, different demographics.
The result is no ceremony while getting a watch. Try, pay and go!

I think it's the Rolex retailers, not the luxury retailers in general. To contrast, Al Manara (AP, UN, etc.) offers coffee or tea and is eager to show you everything in the store (and offered catalogs). Same with Berluti and LV.

I didn't buy the watch for a hat or a mug, so no worries. But a magazine or a catalog would have been good fodder to bring me back to that store. They gave me a good deal on the watch, just had a poor after sale effort.

[Alexwwjd]

The AD experience is peace of mind and something you need to live, if it is your first Rolex. You can go TRF trusted seller, gray dealer, etc. whenever you want to buy vintage. Try to get a good discount, this is possible. Sometimes the price will be as good as a trusted seller here. You will walk away happy knowing you did it this way instead of not doing it and wondering what it was like.


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[Verdi]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

I think it's the Rolex retailers, not the luxury retailers in general. To contrast, Al Manara (AP, UN, etc.) offers coffee or tea and is eager to show you everything in the store (and offered catalogs). Same with Berluti and LV.

I didn't buy the watch for a hat or a mug, so no worries. But a magazine or a catalog would have been good fodder to bring me back to that store. They gave me a good deal on the watch, just had a poor after sale effort.

I agree with you.
I didn't buy the watches for incentives but a magazines I would have liked to be offered. They had them there but I didn't bother to ask if they didn't offer.
It is the Rolex AD, true. The other are different but the Rolex AD sells so much here that they don't make any effort to make a special moment out of a purchase.

[ref1655]

all I received was a paper bag to carry the empty green box in...plus the sales receipt.

[Benjo74]

I was buying mine for my 40th and was torn between a GMT2c and a no date sub. I agreed with the salesman that I would come back on my actual birthday, try both and decide there and then. When my wife and I went to try on and buy, the AD gave me both watches and all the time I needed to try both on and compare, and while we were doing this they opened a bottle of champagne and gave me and my wife a glass each. They kept topping us up too as I was taking my time to decide. I thought it was a nice touch, but they did charge me full RRP 🤔


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[kaiserphoenix]

Depends on the AD/Boutique. I have been invited for a full expense paid trips to Germany for the lange factory but also been to Spain invited full expense paid trips. So there are perks definately. On top of that more priority on rarer pieces depending on how much you bought there etc.

[GFONG]

Peace of mind. Also you are able to try different models. Sometimes you think you want model A and end up model B is best suited for you.

[mmusa]

rolex magazines
pen
peace of mind

[Ruud Van Driver]

Ice cold water and a good discount in Singapore plus peace of mind. He will also find me what I want as best as he is able and he always gets what I'm looking for still wrapped in the shipping casket;

Champagne and peace of mind in London; and,

Champagne in Cardiff, shoved to the top of the list for my D-Blue and peace of mind. If I wanted a Daytona Ceramic, I doubt I'd get the first one but I'd have one of the first five.

The difference in the two UK ADs is that I was made to feel a bit more special; that's not a slight on my AD here, it's more of a complement to the UK ADs. It was just a shame that some knothead in the London AD pissed me off when I was hunting for my D-Blue and I'd think twice before going back; I guess I could reconsider and not hold the knothead against the entire boutique but it would depend if they had what I wanted and how badly I wanted it.

[Patton250]

Let me see. I have bought six Rolexs from my AD and I've gotten coffee, a pen, white wipe down cloth, a green really cool wipe down cloth that says Rolex all over it, dinner, and really cool Rolex coffee mug and a goofy looking hat that even my 12-year-old son laughs at. But the best thing I got was first on the list for the Daytona C/500 watch.

Having said all that I just bought my latest watch from a TRF trusted seller yesterday. To be honest it was probably the best watch buying experience I have had ever. And I saved 25%. And I have a blank warranty card that is absolutely good to go. So.......... You decide.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Ruud Van Driver

Ice cold water and a good discount in Singapore plus peace of mind. He will also find me what I want as best as he is able and he always gets what I'm looking for still wrapped in the shipping casket;

Champagne and peace of mind in London; and,

Champagne in Cardiff, shoved to the top of the list for my D-Blue and peace of mind. If I wanted a Daytona Ceramic, I doubt I'd get the first one but I'd have one of the first five.

The difference in the two UK ADs is that I was made to feel a bit more special; that's not a slight on my AD here, it's more of a complement to the UK ADs. It was just a shame that some knothead in the London AD pissed me off when I was hunting for my D-Blue and I'd think twice before going back; I guess I could reconsider and not hold the knothead against the entire boutique but it would depend if they had what I wanted and how badly I wanted it.

You need to go back and show them your DBlue

[Spartacus]

For me, and I am an AD type guy, I could all of the times that I go into the watch store as a part of the service, not just the day of purpose. So the day that I went in and tried on the SDC4K, or DSSD, and did not buy. It was really valuable to me, possible even priceless.

I think people who go online/phone sales disregard the value of being able to touch, see, feel a piece before buying it.

[tigerpac]

Wine, cheese, chocolates.

Boutiques for specific brands up it to whiskey and/or beer :D

[CashGap]

We are all endlessly different.

I don't think I've ever stepped foot in an AD, and for that matter, I don't think I've been in a jewelry store since buying our wedding set (at crazy jewelry store markup) in twenty years.

Once the internet hit, I viewed stores as "Places one must reluctantly go for the few things not available on-line".

But I totally get that we are endlessly different, we just put different weights on different things.

So I guess if the watch were cheaper or more readily available at an AD, I'd consider it.

Particularly if they had a vending machine to save time and eliminate chatter with the staff.

[The Joker]

Originally Posted by LostInTime

I like to occasionally drop into the AD to be insulted. I had one salesman tell me my 39mm Explorer was a good choice for those who found a Submariner unaffordable.

[guy369]

Originally Posted by LostInTime

I like to occasionally drop into the AD to be insulted. I had one salesman tell me my 39mm Explorer was a good choice for those who found a Submariner unaffordable.

That's nuts.

I would love to be a watch salesman in an AD to show people how it's done!

[The Joker]

Originally Posted by tvo7

If this is my first time buying a Rolex, I have read about AD experience on here. Other than knowing that it is authentic Rolex and maybe get a better discount for future watches, is there any other perks?

Do you get a free pen? A invite to mixer with free food and wine? Swag gifts?

In the UK we don't have TRF trusted sellers, so it's peace of mind you know it's genuine, and not having to pay cash to a stranger.

I've had a couple issues after with the watch and you can pop back in and get it dealt with.

Forget pens and drinks etc.