Rolex warranty voided because of 3rd party bracelet polish?

[904VT]

Originally Posted by GarageBMW

I sent my 4.5 years old Sub for a full service to Rolex Toronto ( I specifically requested full service) because it was loosing some time consistent every day. It was returned to me adjusted for free. The proceeded with complimentary adjustment outside of warranty period, talk about top service. They stated it was far from being due to service.

With that said, I was astonished as the watch wasn't new, even had couple dings all over the case. They could have easily charged me and call it a day, they didn't. So often have I read posts of people sending watches for warranty work being denied because watch had symptoms of being dropped, mine could have clearly been in this group.

I have a feeling there is more to this story that just a bracelet refinish. If the case was polished with the movement cased in, it sure isn't good for the movement due to massive vibrations induced. Every AD having Rolex service offered on site will enter the watch SN for any work they do, as minimal as it is. I got this confirmed as the sub I sent RSC was at my AD weeks before simply for them to assess the timing, and RSC was aware of it.

I doubt Rolex is playing any games, they must have relevant information or doubt to go that route, just my perspective.

If i had to guess it's the flawless PCLs that were touched and the give away. You make a good point about the case though....gosh i hope any watchmaker wouldn't be so stupid to polish the case this way

[GarageBMW]

Originally Posted by 904VT

If i had to guess it's the flawless PCLs that were touched and the give away. You make a good point about the case though....gosh i hope any watchmaker wouldn't be so stupid to polish the case this way

These days with high the prices fetched by any Rolex, I would't be surprised someone willing to polish a case quickly for a refresh in hope of better profit , would be keeping the movement cased. I AM NOT SAYING this is what happened here but I would be interested in seing a caseback picture of the actual watch.

[siempreko]

Originally Posted by 1William

Go back into the RCS at a reasonable time. Not near opening, lunch and closing. Present the watch again and ask them to do the check. If you get the same response then ask to speak to the Supervisor that is working. Have a polite but firm conversation with them and ask them to do the inspections. If they declines then ask to whom you need to speak next. I would not take no for an answer. Based on the information provided you are within the scope of the warranty and if push came to shove I would look at other recourse. At some point, I think, when you talk face to face with the Supervisor it would be easier to do your checkup than have to continue to deal with you. No is the answer many times from the start and if you accept that that is where it stops. It is unacceptable for them not to do it based on the information provided. Hang in there and get it done.

Very nicely stated! My mom’s motto in these situations was “take me to your leader”... by delivered with southern grace and charm...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sunnygps]

I actually called the RSC yesterday and asked to talk to the a supervisor. It seems like the supervisor was busy and was not available right away. And twice, I get the call back from the same person at the front desk and saying the same thing. They noticed the case/bracelet was polished and that would void the warranty.

I insisted that the case has not been polished and the answer was that the Rolex techs have ways to figure out if it was or not.

One thing to document for folks finding this post 5 year from now... When I called the RSC, the person who answered the phone did mention that since I did not ask for a service, RSC will say that there is no warranty on movement. Then when, I did speak to the person at the front desk, she said the warranty is voided because the case has been polished.

I think if there is impact damage, like someone mentioned above, Rolex will have to prove that the mechanical failure was caused by the impact. I guess, they rather not get into that and fix the issue.

However, with the case polish, they have a easy way out. Someone, supposedly touched the movement and they can't warranty it.

Earlier this year, I tool my Explorer I on a leather strap for service and they did not have any issues with it. They did recommend that if I was to have them polish the watch, I should drop off the bracelet as well.

I am taking my 2016 non-polished watch to them later today. Let's see what they have to say.

The watch is in great shape and although. I do not agree with Rolex RSC, I have already moved on. I will have an independent watchmaker look at it and see if they see what Rolex RSC did. Just curious....

[Bigblu10]

OP, I have had time to think about your situation and some things don't add up.
First of all, the warranty is for manufacturing defects primarily. You want a pressure test. This is not included in the warranty, unless Rolex has to disassemble the watch for other reasons. You want to see if it runs within COSC specs. Well, you can simply do this yourself at home by synchronizing your watch to Time.gov which is official NIST time and monitoring your watch over a week. You will easily see how many seconds it gains or loses. Thirdly, you said they did not even ask for your warranty card, and simply denied warranty work just by looking at the watch. Was the satin finished parts of the case polished to a mirror shine? What exactly did they say about the bracelet? And what was their rationale? Sorry, but I am trying to understand the full story here as there are 2 sides to every story and we are only hearing yours. Cheers.

[Devildog]

Originally Posted by sunnygps

I actually called the RSC yesterday and asked to talk to the a supervisor. It seems like the supervisor was busy and was not available right away. And twice, I get the call back from the same person at the front desk and saying the same thing. They noticed the case/bracelet was polished and that would void the warranty.

I insisted that the case has not been polished and the answer was that the Rolex techs have ways to figure out if it was or not.

One thing to document for folks finding this post 5 year from now... When I called the RSC, the person who answered the phone did mention that since I did not ask for a service, RSC will say that there is no warranty on movement. Then when, I did speak to the person at the front desk, she said the warranty is voided because the case has been polished.

I think if there is impact damage, like someone mentioned above, Rolex will have to prove that the mechanical failure was caused by the impact. I guess, they rather not get into that and fix the issue.

However, with the case polish, they have a easy way out. Someone, supposedly touched the movement and they can't warranty it.

Earlier this year, I tool my Explorer I on a leather strap for service and they did not have any issues with it. They did recommend that if I was to have them polish the watch, I should drop off the bracelet as well.

I am taking my 2016 non-polished watch to them later today. Let's see what they have to say.

The watch is in great shape and although. I do not agree with Rolex RSC, I have already moved on. I will have an independent watchmaker look at it and see if they see what Rolex RSC did. Just curious....

One can only surmise that there are signs of case refinishing on the watch and that the RSC, having run the serial number, have seen that no RSC has carried out that work.

What is more worrying is that if an owner decided to give their own watch a quick polish/refinish with a cape cod cloth and a scotchbrite pad, that could result in the RSC refusing to carry out any warranty work. It seems somewhat ridiculous to think that could happen.

I'd be asking the RSD to confirm in writing why a bracelet refinish in particular would void the warranty work.

Originally Posted by Bigblu10

OP, I have had time to think about your situation and some things don't add up.
First of all, the warranty is for manufacturing defects primarily. You want a pressure test. This is not included in the warranty, unless Rolex has to disassemble the watch for other reasons. You want to see if it runs within COSC specs. Well, you can simply do this yourself at home by synchronizing your watch to Time.gov which is official NIST time and monitoring your watch over a week. You will easily see how many seconds it gains or loses. Thirdly, you said they did not even ask for your warranty card, and simply denied warranty work just by looking at the watch. Was the satin finished parts of the case polished to a mirror shine? What exactly did they say about the bracelet? And what was their rationale? Sorry, but I am trying to understand the full story here as there are 2 sides to every story and we are only hearing yours. Cheers.

Interesting points Jamie. Neither of the OP's request to the RSC were warranty claim related. They were simply checks the OP was asking the RSC to carry out. They could simply have said yes and levied a small charge for doings so - as they would do for a watch out of warranty.


It seems very strange to refuse (if I'm reading this thread correctly) to carry out two simple operations at the OP's request on the basis of what they claimed to be an invalid warranty

[Chadridv]

Originally Posted by Bigblu10

Send it to Rik at Time Care Inc. He can bring bracelet and case back to factory polish, test waterproofness, and check and adjust timing of the movement. Forget these clowns and the way you are being treated

This to me is another way of saying, forget rolex entirely. Sell the watch and never buy another rolex again. The customer service and warranty policies are just as important as the watch in this case.

Why should the OP pay to have a third party (as skilled an reputable as Rik is) perform this work, when there's absolutely no reason Rolex shouldn't do the work themselves. Unless I'm missing part of the story.

No, IMO, you need to fight this. My guess is that there's another reason why the warranty is voided. Maybe they're not giving the OP the whole story, but if they maintain it's because the bracelet was polished that's complete BS.

Side note: this is one of the first negative things I've heard about Dallas. This wouldn't surprise me for a second if this was RSC NY.

[sunnygps]

Originally Posted by Bigblu10

OP, I have had time to think about your situation and some things don't add up.
First of all, the warranty is for manufacturing defects primarily. You want a pressure test. This is not included in the warranty, unless Rolex has to disassemble the watch for other reasons. You want to see if it runs within COSC specs. Well, you can simply do this yourself at home by synchronizing your watch to Time.gov which is official NIST time and monitoring your watch over a week. You will easily see how many seconds it gains or loses. Thirdly, you said they did not even ask for your warranty card, and simply denied warranty work just by looking at the watch. Was the satin finished parts of the case polished to a mirror shine? What exactly did they say about the bracelet? And what was their rationale? Sorry, but I am trying to understand the full story here as there are 2 sides to every story and we are only hearing yours. Cheers.

I have taken my watches to this RSC for sometime now. Before going on vacation near water, I'll ask them to pressure test a watch. Or, if I feel the watch is running outside the spec, I'll ask them to check it.

This time around, I asked them to pressure test, check if the watch is running within specs and if it needs service. To check if the watch needs service, they may have to open the case or while opening the case, they think it has been polished, they will return the watch back... Tell a customer that the warranty does not apply and pay for the full service.

If indeed the case was opened, I can see why RSC will be hesitant and ask for the full service and not cover it under warranty.

This particular experience with RSC is bizarre and I am thinking it is one off... Just got the wrong person at the wrong time...

[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by sunnygps

I have taken my watches to this RSC for sometime now. Before going on vacation near water, I'll ask them to pressure test a watch. Or, if I feel the watch is running outside the spec, I'll ask them to check it.

This time around, I asked them to pressure test, check if the watch is running within specs and if it needs service. To check if the watch needs service, they may have to open the case or while opening the case, they think it has been polished, they will return the watch back... Tell a customer that the warranty does not apply and pay for the full service.

If indeed the case was opened, I can see why RSC will be hesitant and ask for the full service and not cover it under warranty.

This particular experience with RSC is bizarre and I am thinking it is one off... Just got the wrong person at the wrong time...

So if I am understanding you correctly in prior instances with your other watches, the RSC would perform a pressure test and movement timing test free of charge and considered under warranty? If so, consider yourself fortunate that the RSC did this on their own dime.

[Devildog]

Originally Posted by sunnygps

I have taken my watches to this RSC for sometime now. Before going on vacation near water, I'll ask them to pressure test a watch. Or, if I feel the watch is running outside the spec, I'll ask them to check it.

This time around, I asked them to pressure test, check if the watch is running within specs and if it needs service. To check if the watch needs service, they may have to open the case or while opening the case, they think it has been polished, they will return the watch back... Tell a customer that the warranty does not apply and pay for the full service.

If indeed the case was opened, I can see why RSC will be hesitant and ask for the full service and not cover it under warranty.

This particular experience with RSC is bizarre and I am thinking it is one off... Just got the wrong person at the wrong time...

OP - Did the RSC carry out the pressure test and check the timing?

[redsubby]

I think many that replied need to chill a bit. Rolex determined the case, not just the bracelet, was polished. How they determined it, I don't know but they did, and the work wasn't done by RSC.
With that out of the way, please see perpetualman88's response in regards to case polishing done by 3rd party. It only makes sense.

[Frakis]

Originally Posted by sunnygps

I am taking another watch tomorrow for the same checkup. Let’s see what they say this time around.

I’m sorry to hear this OP. Maybe the case back was opened breaking some seals, and this voided the warranty. Any updates on the watch you brought in today?

[Onikage]

Originally Posted by tudorbaja27

Put on a rubber strap and take it back

x2 Ridiculous. What next removing the stickers voids the warranty?

[Onikage]

Originally Posted by GarageBMW

These days with high the prices fetched by any Rolex, I would't be surprised someone willing to polish a case quickly for a refresh in hope of better profit , would be keeping the movement cased. I AM NOT SAYING this is what happened here but I would be interested in seing a caseback picture of the actual watch.

Buffing a case with the movement inside is pretty standard practice. The watch in question looks to have been done very professionally and has hardly seen a buffing wheel. People take their watches to ADs for a quick buff all the time. This is just ridiculous.

[sunnygps]

To close this thread out, I did take my 2016 to RSC. I fortunately, talked to the person (different one than yestaerday) who has been very nice to me in the past. I asked for pressure test, runs a few seconds slow and check to see if it required service. This time, I handed them the warrant card. She did mention that if a service is required, a manager will have to sign off on that. Not sure in what context she said that.

Few minutes later, they found nothing wrong. As usual, noted the scratches on the bracelet, bezel and case. Recorded the warranty start date on the paperwork.

The strange thing is that she said that they will service the moment for free if I wanted to, as the tech needed more time. I was not ready to leave the watch yet and said I will bring back in a few months. Don’t need to have someone open it up when nothing is wrong with it.

My other watch issue did come up for discussion and I was once again reminded that once the case is polished or there are signs of case being opened by a non-Rolex tech, the warranty is voided. Kind of makes sense. I don’t think they care if just the bracelet is polished.

Have a great weekend folks.

[Demeter008]

Originally Posted by sunnygps

Here is the picture of the watch... I see nothing wrong with the polishing. I have taken watches with after market straps on them and they have never said anything about it....

A polished bracelet turns into voided warranty is just absurd...

Rolex has lost there mind lately! Does it say anywhere in the booklet that it can void the warranty if you polish it? I do know that in the booklet it does tell you to wash the watch with warm water and soap.

[smym18]

Originally Posted by sunnygps

My other watch issue did come up for discussion and I was once again reminded that once the case is polished or there are signs of case being opened by a non-Rolex tech, the warranty is voided. Kind of makes sense. I don’t think they care if just the bracelet is polished.

So if a watch is opened by someone other than RSC, I understand the warranty is voided, but will they still service/repair it for a fee?

[Chadridv]

Originally Posted by smym18

So if a watch is opened by someone other than RSC, I understand the warranty is voided, but will they still service/repair it for a fee?

For a paying customer, Rolex will service any watch that’s 100% authentic, regardless of the service history. As long as all the parts down to the pip are original. Even in some cases they’d be willing to replace the inauthentic part if it’s relatively insignificant, like a spring bar or something.

The only watches I’ve seen RSC turn away are vintage pieces.

[MonBK]

Originally Posted by smym18

So if a watch is opened by someone other than RSC, I understand the warranty is voided, but will they still service/repair it for a fee?

They will be more than happy to take your money.

[sunnygps]

They will repair an authentic watch for a fee. The 2017 that they voided warranty on, they were ready to take $750+taxes for the full service. I think the total quote was for $974.00USD.

Even on my 2016, the paperwork states, full service required, but the front desk person said the tech does not think a service is required yet.... So, they have a standard form to fill out and check off as many boxes as they like... Under a high magnification (loop), even a brand new watch will have some micro scratches, etc. They cover all angles to protect them.

On my Explorer I, there were no scratches on the crystal when I handed them the watch for full service. It was returned with scratches. It was too late by the time I saw them a month later.

I will still take my watches to them for full service as it adds 2 year Rolex warranty.

[goodolejr]

Was this ever resolved?

[BamaHammer]

Originally Posted by Bigblu10

Why did you polish a one year old watch?

Exactly what I thought too

[sunnygps]

The watch was never polished. I do not ever get my watches polished as I hardly ever sell a watch and most of my watches remain in great condition.

[1665fan]

Rolex = soup nazi

[Calatrava r]

I get it most people believe that if the watch was just polished and not opened by non Rolex people, any issue inside the case should still be covered under warranty. Its just easier to have a bright line rule that all work done to the watch must be done by Rolex during the warranty period to preserve the warranty. Rolex watches are easy to open and if the bracelet was polished who really knows if the watch was opened or not. This actually is a dis-incentive to people by Rolex to buy watches used instead of new. Never really know what has been done to a used watch.

[Geckobros]

Originally Posted by Bigblu10

Send it to Rik at Time Care Inc. He can bring bracelet and case back to factory polish, test waterproofness, and check and adjust timing of the movement. Forget these clowns and the way you are being treated

I used Rik for a vintage piece in the past. I can also recommend his work.

[Sublovin]

Originally Posted by sunnygps

I took my 2017 SubC to Dallas RSC yesterday to have them pressure check and check to see if it was running within COSC specs.

I was told that the Rolex warranty is voided as the case/bracelet has been polished by someone other than Rolex.

Have you ever heard of that before? I had my warranty card and receipt with me, but they did not even look at it or asked for it.

Not sure how to handle this as it does not make any sense to me...

I have never sent in a Rolex with a bracelet at all.

[Tridor]

And, how do they know it wasn't polished by an independent watchmaker with a Rolex parts account? This seems ridiculous to me.

[sunnygps]

My AD once told me that Rolex RSC or other independent repair shops will write the service date on the inside of the case back. If it is an authorized Rolex repair shop, they may have access to Rolex service app and enter all the data there.

That watch is long gone and was traded with another one. Lost some $$, but I wanted peace of mind and the warranty for what it’s worth.

[173rdabn]

Have a chat with the manager. That was an arbitrary and BS decision.