Scammed by authorized dealer

[ZachFM]

FRAUD, UNPROFESSIONAL, WORST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

What else can I say.. These three words sum up my experience at this sorry excuse for an authorized Rolex dealer. I wouldn’t recommend James and Sons to my worst enemy.

I purchased a Rolex here last week - it was my first Rolex, and I was incredibly excited to get it as I’ve been searching for the specific model for quite some time. They charged my card, sent me a receipt, and emailed me a congratulations. Because I reside out of state, they required me to have someone physically present in their store. So, after jumping through countless hoops, I was finally able to meet all of their demands.

I called in today to check if they would be shipping out the watch today and I was met with the most unprofessional, heinous treatment from the OWNER himself - a man named John. He bombarded me with a swarm of resentful comments and proudly stated they were refunding me and not selling me the watch. Without even letting me even get a word in, he hung up on me.

I was literally in shock. All I did was simply ask their representative if they would be sending the watch out today. The owner claimed that they were refunding my money because I was rude. I’ve never had such a poor customer experience let alone in purchasing a Rolex.

Do yourself a favor and take your business elsewhere. If anyone knows of any available recourse, I would greatly appreciated it... I was really excited about getting this watch.

edit: tried uploading a copy of the email and receipt to the thread, but I'm new here

[THC]

Damn Zach, what a sad way to join this great place called TRF.. good luck

[Wobbly]

That sounds like a terrible experience.

I would like to hear James and Sons version of events.

[Danny83]

Sounds like a Yelp review to me lol

[Yess]

Originally Posted by Wobbly

That sounds like a terrible experience.

I would like to hear James and Sons version of events.

+1 (to both statements)

[Polarexplorerii]

Originally Posted by yess

+1 (to both statements)

+2

[thebman1212]

Such a horrible experience especially for your first purchase and from an AD. Sounds like fraud to me.... assuming you had a bill of sale and were charged

[Beauregard]

Google review sits at 3.5, that makes me tend to believe the poster's version of events.

[jvmartin]

Running and then refund your card is going to cost them some coin... makes me wonder if they ever bothered to charge it and if they just sold it elsewhere...

[THC]

Originally Posted by jvmartin

Running and then refund your card is going to cost them some coin... makes me wonder if they ever bothered to charge it and if they just sold it elsewhere...

Great point.. Zach, are you refunded? And might I suggest DavidSW.com

[ZachFM]

As of right now I am not refunded - the owner said the bank was reversing the payment in the next 48 hrs

[ZachFM]

Also just for the avoidance of any doubts, here are my records:

https://imgur.com/a/gBhgixJ

https://imgur.com/a/Y4BjjiE

[Halothane]

AD acts this way over a datejust? The world is coming to an end.


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[thebman1212]

Originally Posted by tomalf123

AD acts this way over a datejust? The world is coming to an end.


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Seriously, but regardless if it was a holy grail piece or a TT piece that they can't move, this is super unethical and borderline fraud on their end. These are the stories you hear at random watch stores NOT Authorized Dealers. I wonder what crazy back door story is really going on at this AD.

[codester]

Wow over a Datejust. Sorry OP. Inexcusable.

We are now at peak Rolex :)

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[Burlington]

I do think if you’re fully refunded then it’s not a scam or fraud.

Terrible customer service and a huge inconvenience for sure though.

I hope you can find what you want elsewhere without any sour leftover taste.

[abozz]

That terrible experience does not prevent you from having your Rolex, a product that I believe is worth buying from another AD.

Enviado desde mi SM-G975F mediante Tapatalk

[shaunylw]

This AD owner is a moron. What did he think you were doing? Flipping it to make $800 lol.


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[DoctorA]

I would contact rolex USA and report you’re experience to them!
I would also put a BBB complaint!
You paid for the watch so it was technically yours! Them “stealing” it back is no acceptable even if they refunded what you paid!!

[Rickjason]

Just take back your money. You can get that watch at a better price from someone else. My AD is begging me to come in and show me his Datejusts.

[supernova]

Doesn’t sound like you were scammed if they refunding you in full but crap experience nonetheless. Hope you purchase the watch in a better experience some where else!


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[Watchgeek5000]

It just seems like there’s something missing from this story. Curious to hear the other side of the story. Perhaps it had something to do with the person you were supposed to send to the store? One of their requests was to have someone physically at the store. AD’s are not allowed to ship watches out without the customer or like they said “have someone come to the store”. What did the person you sent to the store say in regards to what happened?

[77T]

Originally Posted by Watchgeek5000

It just seems like there’s something missing from this story. Curious to hear the other side of the story. Perhaps it had something to do with the person you were supposed to send to the store? One of their requests was to have someone physically at the store. AD’s are not allowed to ship watches out without the customer or like they said “have someone come to the store”. What did the person you sent to the store say in regards to what happened?

Yes, those thoughts spring to my mind as well.

Don’t think a rational owner lashes out like the OP stated.

Don’t think they sold the DJ out from under him - they’d be more accommodating than hostile.


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[CorradoBrit]

Originally Posted by Watchgeek5000

It just seems like there’s something missing from this story. Curious to hear the other side of the story. Perhaps it had something to do with the person you were supposed to send to the store? One of their requests was to have someone physically at the store. AD’s are not allowed to ship watches out without the customer or like they said “have someone come to the store”. What did the person you sent to the store say in regards to what happened?

That was my immediate thought too. Makes no sense unless something had upset the AD. Need more info.

[ZachFM]

Originally Posted by Watchgeek5000

It just seems like there’s something missing from this story. Curious to hear the other side of the story. Perhaps it had something to do with the person you were supposed to send to the store? One of their requests was to have someone physically at the store. AD’s are not allowed to ship watches out without the customer or like they said “have someone come to the store”. What did the person you sent to the store say in regards to what happened?

I'm happy to fill in any seemingly missing gaps here. The person I sent was a sweet, long time friend. She drove almost an hour into town to do me this favor and I also compensated her for the time. The store rep called me right after she came in and said we're good to go!.

As I mentioned earlier, everything came to screeching halt this morning when I simply called and kindly asked if the watch was being shipped out today.

[brandrea]

These are strange times ...

OP, I hope you get your first Rolex and this experience doesn’t sour the brand for you

[Bruce_Wayne]

Just curious how you ended up at an AD in Chicago? Are you in Los Angeles? I’m sure there are dozens of ADs closer that could source a DJ pretty quickly, maybe try one there?


Sent from the Waitlist at 6 different ADs

[77T]

Originally Posted by ZachFM

I'm happy to fill in any seemingly missing gaps here. The person I sent was a sweet, long time friend. She drove almost an hour into town to do me this favor and I also compensated her for the time. The store rep called me right after she came in and said we're good to go!.



As I mentioned earlier, everything came to screeching halt this morning when I simply called and kindly asked if the watch was being shipped out today.

Not sure anything is missing, just not an obvious causal pattern.

Not questioning any aspect - if I understand the sequence it is 1-2-3:

1-You choose the watch, provide CC info, it gets charged, approved by CC company and you receive a receipt and thank you email. All OK.

2-They require a person appear at the shop to meet with SA and complete the RUSA requirement for shipping out-of-state. Your “agent” was pleasant and seller said all was fine.

3-You call, make a kindly inquiry about shipping date, and all hell breaks loose.

Can you see what is hard to understand? Short of the owner, John, having a fit and being committed to an insane asylum, I am stumped.


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[ZachFM]

Originally Posted by 77T

Not sure anything is missing, just not an obvious causal pattern.

Not questioning any aspect - if I understand the sequence it is 1-2-3:

1-You choose the watch, provide CC info, it gets charged, approved by CC company and you receive a receipt and thank you email. All OK.

2-They require a person appear at the shop to meet with SA and complete the RUSA requirement for shipping out-of-state. Your “agent” was pleasant and seller said all was fine.

3-You call, make a kindly inquiry about shipping date, and all hell breaks loose.

Can you see what is hard to understand? Short of the owner, John, having a fit and being committed to an insane asylum, I am stumped.


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They did try to cancel the order on Sunday, but I was able to talk them out of it. The owner seemed upset that it was going out of state. They even insisted that I fly out (during Covid) to pickup the watch personally after I had already been charged, the watch was sold, and they agreed to ship it to me.

They also had some in-store event and the manager mentioned there were 2-3 people ready and willing to buy the watch right now.

The rep mentioned the store getting hit during the Chicago looting this past weekend, but all of their inventory was safe.

Beyond that, I'm dumbfounded.

[swaini3]

Weird story