panerai.. the dark side!!

[mamas]

came across this thread on another forum..
http://www.network54.com/Forum/353391/message/1158861097/My+dear+friends%2C+I+am+sorry+but+it+is+now+time+f or+me+to+go

seems like this guy must have really pi$$ed off the big cheese at panerai! they have banned ADs in france from selling him another pannie...:dummy: :dummy: wonder what this will do to company in terms of PR in WIS world..

[C.J.]

WOW! Talk about pissing people off! That guy went straight to the top :chuckle:

[mamas]

lets hope JJ doesnt pi$$ the rolex people off! mansor would go bankrupt lololol

[padi56]

Yes just been reading it myself,but like everything there are always two sides to every story.Believe it was something to do with being charged $3000 for changing a bleeding dial.Now think everyone here would agree, if this is correct, doubt if it would cost Panerai, or any other manufacture that, to make a complete watch

[madformac]

Doesn't look very good for them from a PR point of view on that forum.. Then again the percentage of customers coming from the net forums is very small in the overall buying public so it shouldn't do too much harm, unless the tabloid press get hold of it.

Personally I can't believe any company would take this line of action without something rather nasty, threats etc, having happened. I think maybe only certain elements of the story are being told on that forum. Why else not just explain the whole story and correspondance instead of fragments of information? We are only getting one mans story here.

All seems very odd and I don't think the whole story will be told, certainly outside of a courtroom.

[Rockrolex]

I agree with Justin. I have a feeling there is much more to this than his side of the story.

And who called him to say he was blacklisted from ADs.

And how would an AD know it was him if he walked in? Do they splash his picture on their store walls like the Post Office sticks up pics of the 10 Most Wanted?

Something doesn't ring quite right with that story. :thinking: :thinking:

[Atomic]

I agree with Justin. I have a feeling there is much more to this than his side of the story.

And who called him to say he was blacklisted from ADs.

And how would an AD know it was him if he walked in? Do they splash his picture on their store walls like the Post Office sticks up pics of the 10 Most Wanted?

Something doesn't ring quite right with that story. :thinking: :thinking:

I read this when it was posted and I vaguely remember the guy asking why OP would charge him like $3K to replace the dial on his Mare Nostrum. I believe it was from the 1993 release, so pre-Vendome/Richmont group which could be the reason why (out of stock? cost to make a new one to pre-V standards???)... no explanation was given.

Apparently the guy's AD called him to tell him a an OP he ordered had come in, but OP put down the law that no AD in France is authorized to sell him any OP product.

This seems pretty strange to me, but another paneristi confirmed this was the message from the AD.

I think there's way more to the story than we know. It saddens me a little that they could (did?) take this tactic, but it makes me wonder what instigated such a tactic.

There's gotta be more, but the guy in question is now in the process of sellng all his pannies.

[madformac]

There's gotta be more, but the guy in question is now in the process of sellng all his pannies.

A move in its extremity that cements my feelings that he may possibly have said or done something serious against the company. Selling all your watches from that brand so quickly in response just like that sounds a rather rash thing to do in my opinion which may be a hint to the thought process that may have caused the situation in the first place.


Just a random thought in response to your post Johnny, but what if he comissioned OP to make a new dial and then refused to pay the incurred charges? This would be one of the few reasons a company would refuse to do business with a client.

[hutchman]

I read this post also a few weeks ago and I don't like to take sides without knowing all relevant information but, how much would you expect to pay for a new 13 year old tritium dial when less than 150 were made? I know I'd expect a large premium!

[Atomic]

I read this post also a few weeks ago and I don't like to take sides without knowing all relevant information but, how much would you expect to pay for a new 13 year old tritium dial when less than 150 were made? I know I'd expect a large premium!

I agree... but the guy's issue was that he didn't want the dial changed. He was happy to keep it in the watch. However, his OP service center was adament it needed to be changed to complete the service, no exceptions. (sounds like RUSA, huh?). His issue was that he didn't want to pay $3K for a dial that was perfectly fine.

I can only imagine the correspondance between the 'risty and OP was on the harsh side of terse, to illicit such a response (which I completely disagree with and think it's disgusting a company would ban anyone from buying their products). I think we all agree there is more to the story than we know.

[Launch Mini]

I don't know the whole story, but I do know that there are many major companies that ban people from using there product.
Airline, hotels, sports teams, etc have banned and will continue to ban people for whatever various reasons.
Obviously more to the story.

[amanda]

Wasnt there someone on TZ who had issues with a RSC dept in the US? I think he had taken in many Rollies for service and also bought new watches and returned them to the RSC for issues like fluff on the dial etc

I believe the RSC actually told him that his business was no longer welcome and that he couldnt return any more watches for service.

Does anyone remember this? I might have some facts wrong, its all purely from memory!