Out of the loop

[vagabundo94]

I haven’t bought a watch in quite sometime. Last time I did, you could get a datejust in about any size, or an OP, at any Rolex AD. They were they only things available, but if you wanted a sports watch you were out of luck.

At that time, I bought my wife a 36mm Datejust that she loves. Black face, white gold bevel, and the jubilee band. A short time later, I bought her a 41mm OP that she absolutely loves.

Now we have a HS daughter that will be graduating soon. We’re in Paris and had previously discussed getting her an OP in 28mm with a Pink face. Thought we’d get it for her now, save on the VAT, and give it to her upon her graduation.

Little did I understand that even these basic Rolex watches are almost impossible to find.

As there are numerous Rolex AD here, we popped into 3 of them to see what they had available. A couple had a Datejust in some size, and nothing else. The 3rd had nothing….they were only willing to put our name on a waitlist. This was frustrating. I was learning that gone are the days of getting lucky and coming across a nice Rolex in stock.

The next day, on our way to a museum, we walked past yet another Rolex AD. On a whim, we said, “let’s just try one more.”

Went in and asked the salesperson, “what do you have in stock?” He said, “nothing. We are doing waitlisted.” No surprise. We smaller talked for a moment and explained that we are looking for a graduation gift. He the. Asked if we wanted to try on some of their display items to see what we liked. “Sure - we’re here. May as well do that.” So we sat down to try on some watches and quickly confirmed that the 28mm is the way to go. To that, the salesperson said, “well, I do have an Ouster Perpetual in 28mm with a pink face that is available.”

Uh - what? That is exactly what we came in for hoping to find. I asked if so had understood him correctly, and he reconfirmed that he had the watch we wanted available. I don’t even know what he meant by starting off with the store not having anything at all available.

Long story short, we walked out with the exact OP we had hoped to come across. And so, I guess it does stil happen….you can still get lucky, walk in a random Rolex AD, and come out with what you want.

But I guess I wouldn’t hold my breathe for this to happen with many models and sizes.

[Barada7]

Congratulations!

[inadeje]

Originally Posted by vagabundo94

I haven’t bought a watch in quite sometime. Last time I did, you could get a datejust in about any size, or an OP, at any Rolex AD. They were they only things available, but if you wanted a sports watch you were out of luck.

At that time, I bought my wife a 36mm Datejust that she loves. Black face, white gold bevel, and the jubilee band. A short time later, I bought her a 41mm OP that she absolutely loves.

Now we have a HS daughter that will be graduating soon. We’re in Paris and had previously discussed getting her an OP in 28mm with a Pink face. Thought we’d get it for her now, save on the VAT, and give it to her upon her graduation.

Little did I understand that even these basic Rolex watches are almost impossible to find.

As there are numerous Rolex AD here, we popped into 3 of them to see what they had available. A couple had a Datejust in some size, and nothing else. The 3rd had nothing….they were only willing to put our name on a waitlist. This was frustrating. I was learning that gone are the days of getting lucky and coming across a nice Rolex in stock.

The next day, on our way to a museum, we walked past yet another Rolex AD. On a whim, we said, “let’s just try one more.”

Went in and asked the salesperson, “what do you have in stock?” He said, “nothing. We are doing waitlisted.” No surprise. We smaller talked for a moment and explained that we are looking for a graduation gift. He the. Asked if we wanted to try on some of their display items to see what we liked. “Sure - we’re here. May as well do that.” So we sat down to try on some watches and quickly confirmed that the 28mm is the way to go. To that, the salesperson said, “well, I do have an Ouster Perpetual in 28mm with a pink face that is available.”

Uh - what? That is exactly what we came in for hoping to find. I asked if so had understood him correctly, and he reconfirmed that he had the watch we wanted available. I don’t even know what he meant by starting off with the store not having anything at all available.

Long story short, we walked out with the exact OP we had hoped to come across. And so, I guess it does stil happen….you can still get lucky, walk in a random Rolex AD, and come out with what you want.

But I guess I wouldn’t hold my breathe for this to happen with many models and sizes.

Huge congrats OP. Pls keep us updated on getting the VAT back. I refused to buy a gold day date in France two summers ago because the AD obliged we use Global Blue (scam company) as the only means to obtain the VAT refund. I later discovered that Global Blue keeps 7% by default. Hands back to the AD 3% and finds any clerical error excuse to not refund what is left after their %. They become unresponsive, don’t speak English and operate on a weird time zone. Most people give up.

[ManUtd]

Originally Posted by vagabundo94

I haven’t bought a watch in quite sometime. Last time I did, you could get a datejust in about any size, or an OP, at any Rolex AD. They were they only things available, but if you wanted a sports watch you were out of luck.

At that time, I bought my wife a 36mm Datejust that she loves. Black face, white gold bevel, and the jubilee band. A short time later, I bought her a 41mm OP that she absolutely loves.

Now we have a HS daughter that will be graduating soon. We’re in Paris and had previously discussed getting her an OP in 28mm with a Pink face. Thought we’d get it for her now, save on the VAT, and give it to her upon her graduation.

Little did I understand that even these basic Rolex watches are almost impossible to find.

As there are numerous Rolex AD here, we popped into 3 of them to see what they had available. A couple had a Datejust in some size, and nothing else. The 3rd had nothing….they were only willing to put our name on a waitlist. This was frustrating. I was learning that gone are the days of getting lucky and coming across a nice Rolex in stock.

The next day, on our way to a museum, we walked past yet another Rolex AD. On a whim, we said, “let’s just try one more.”

Went in and asked the salesperson, “what do you have in stock?” He said, “nothing. We are doing waitlisted.” No surprise. We smaller talked for a moment and explained that we are looking for a graduation gift. He the. Asked if we wanted to try on some of their display items to see what we liked. “Sure - we’re here. May as well do that.” So we sat down to try on some watches and quickly confirmed that the 28mm is the way to go. To that, the salesperson said, “well, I do have an Ouster Perpetual in 28mm with a pink face that is available.”

Uh - what? That is exactly what we came in for hoping to find. I asked if so had understood him correctly, and he reconfirmed that he had the watch we wanted available. I don’t even know what he meant by starting off with the store not having anything at all available.

Long story short, we walked out with the exact OP we had hoped to come across. And so, I guess it does stil happen….you can still get lucky, walk in a random Rolex AD, and come out with what you want.

But I guess I wouldn’t hold my breathe for this to happen with many models and sizes.

Similar to what happened to me a couple of months ago. On very rare occasions we get lucky. Congrats!

Originally Posted by inadeje

Huge congrats OP. Pls keep us updated on getting the VAT back. I refused to buy a gold day date in France two summers ago because the AD obliged we use Global Blue (scam company) as the only means to obtain the VAT refund. I later discovered that Global Blue keeps 7% by default. Hands back to the AD 3% and finds any clerical error excuse to not refund what is left after their %. They become unresponsive, don’t speak English and operate on a weird time zone. Most people give up.

Why do you say Global Blue is a scam? Was in Madrid earlier this month and bought some items and got the refund from them minus their commission of course BEFORE I even left Spain. Everything was seamless from the shop I bought the items from to the Global Blue office transaction.

I "almost" bought a TT SD43 at an AD and was told that items over €5000 get around 17% VAT refund. I suppose Global Blue's commission reduces that amount a little bit in the end.