RSC - Dallas - Not Servicing New Watch

[Tridor]

Let me share a couple of stories which may shed some light on gray market purchasing.

On two separate occasions, I bought a watch from a trusted seller. The first one was a TT blue sub, allegedly in "mint" condition. I sent the watch to RUSA for a service and was told that the bezel was bent and a new one was necessary. I sent the watch back and got a refund.

The second watch was another TT blue sub, also supposedly "mint." Again, I sent it to RUSA for a service and was told that the bracelet had two non-Rolex links which would have to be replaced before they'd work on the watch. I returned the watch and got a refund. Two separate trusted sellers, two different watches, and two refunds because of misrepresented watches. To their respective credits, each refunded my money promptly and I have no issue with their credibility or integrity, and would like to believe that their "watchmakers" who inspected the watches just didn't have a clue.

My point is that buying gray market can be a risky business, be it a lack of warranty or defective or non-genuine parts. I understand completely the desire to save money on these expensive items, but assumption of the risk must be considered seriously. In my case, I bought the seller and came out OK; however, if RUSA won't honor the warranty because the watch wasn't bought from an AD, then buying the seller doesn't help much in that regard.

In your case, you might try contacting Rolex NYC or the SF service center to see whether they will honor the warranty. I will say, though, that winding the watch fully by 40 or 50 turns likely will solve the problem.

[Sprta]

Originally Posted by importstunna

This may be a dumb question, but don't greys get their supply from ADs anyway? So theoretically shouldn't all grey sold watches come with warranty already activated as that's a part of the AD sales process?

What are some circumstances where greys get watches which aren't sold via ADs?

Watches that are imported to the USA from other countries do not go thru ADs, however these typically do not have Rolex Warranty cards. These large grey dealers usually offer their own warranty.

[fsprow]

Originally Posted by Sprta

Watches that are imported to the USA from other countries do not go thru ADs, however these typically do not have Rolex Warranty cards. These large grey dealers usually offer their own warranty.

I have bought several from resellers in other countries. All have had non-US AD warranty cards and Rolex accepted them without any problem.

[lamnyc]

When I bought my Kermit years ago from a Grey dealer. The warranty card has a stamp from the AD stating warranty is not transferable. It’s the only watch I bought thats preowned.

[Hollie_Rollie]

Wait, so people are paying thousands in premium with no guarantee that rolex will honor the warranty? I skimmed the comments in this thread and its seems 50/50 and up to Rolex.

[JodyHighroller]

Originally Posted by fsprow

I have bought several from resellers in other countries. All have had non-US AD warranty cards and Rolex accepted them without any problem.

He’s talking about through other gray dealers here in the states such as Authentic Watches or Jomashop. Your example is an entirely different case.

[swish77]

It's not complicated. As long as the warranty card is completely filled out (AD name, ANY buyer name, and date) you're good to go. Period.

I've been down this road a couple of times at the RSC in NYC with watches I bought through trusted sellers like DSW.

The only hiccup was that once one of the RSC employees who took in my watch (happened to be a 116600) questioned that my name was different than the one on the warranty card. My response: "It was a gift." Discussion over. (And no, I don't have a problem telling white lies.)

Different names on warranty cards are a moot point. Tens of thousands of Rolexes are given as gifts every year and have the original buyer's name (not the owner who received the gift) on the warranty card.

[Roger1079]

Originally Posted by Hollie_Rollie

Wait, so people are paying thousands in premium with no guarantee that rolex will honor the warranty? I skimmed the comments in this thread and its seems 50/50 and up to Rolex.

In this particular case the warranty card was not completed correctly by the AD on the initial sale. Had it been there would have been no issue at all. Honoring the warranty when it doesn’t meet their terms is at their discretion. This should provide warning to all gray market purchasers to verify the warranty card has a full name and date on it prior to purchase.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Hollie_Rollie]

Originally Posted by Roger1079

In this particular case the warranty card was not completed correctly by the AD on the initial sale. Had it been there would have been no issue at all. Honoring the warranty when it doesn’t meet their terms is at their discretion. This should provide warning to all gray market purchasers to verify the warranty card has a full name and date on it prior to purchase.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Got it. Makes sense

[OpusXIII]

Originally Posted by clb521

Yeah it sucks both ways. Thankfully I didnt pay thousands over retail and in fact saved a couple hundred vs retail price plus tax.

If anything, let this be a warning to new owners or newbie looking to buy grey vs AD. I knew the risk when I bought it this could happen. Hopefully the problem goes away but it is nice to know the person I bought it from will honor a warranty even though Rolex won't.

All this bullshit just to save - as you say - a couple hundred bucks? Doesn't seem worth it to me. It looks like a good argument for going the AD route.

[t65tampa]

I'm late to the party for a comment. It doesn't surprise me that Rolex RSC wouldn't service the watch under warranty as the card wasn't filled out properly at initial purchase, thus voiding the warranty.

No problem, though. You can always get it serviced, but just pay for it and have a perfectly nice working watch with a new 2 year warranty from the RSC. Small price to pay for peace of mind.

[singe89]

I have watches from both ADs and greys and I've never had an issue getting them serviced under warranty. Most recent was my DSSD JC from DavidSW had debris on the dial and was running out of spec. Quick visit to RSC dallas and has been perfect ever since running at +.25 sec/month

[BlueIn2Red]

Originally Posted by Seibei

I don't see how there can be any argument about this, it is crystal clear. Gray dealers are not official Rolex retailers, simple as that.

There most certainly is an argument - Rolex don't supply watches to anybody but ADs, so by definition, these watches can only be sold by ADs in the first place. That sale might be (often is!) to a secondary/grey dealer, but that's still a valid sale and a valid warranty. The warranty card needs filling out, that much is clear - but if it hasn't been, just fill it in!

[Seibei]

Originally Posted by BlueIn2Red

There most certainly is an argument - Rolex don't supply watches to anybody but ADs, so by definition, these watches can only be sold by ADs in the first place. That sale might be (often is!) to a secondary/grey dealer, but that's still a valid sale and a valid warranty. The warranty card needs filling out, that much is clear - but if it hasn't been, just fill it in!

Too late. It has to be done by the AD at the time of purchase.

[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by Maxy

Nope. You think all they do is look at your warranty card? The card needs to be swiped and should be in their record. Once they swipe that card, it should match the owner of watch and name on warranty card. That's why it worked for many years when you send valid card with someone's name. All they checked was the card name and owner name in their database.

Now if you fill your name - it will not match and mostly not even show up in the warranty database. So, its a no go!

Correction: when a new watch is purchased and the warranty card is "swiped" there is NO buyer name entered into any Rolex database. No buyer name is registered to said watch. The "swipe" only sends information about the watch being sold and from that moment starts the five year warranty. Rolex has no idea the name of the buyer.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by BlueIn2Red

There most certainly is an argument - Rolex don't supply watches to anybody but ADs, so by definition, these watches can only be sold by ADs in the first place. . . .!

Rolex does NOT supply watches only to AD's, they supply watches to hundreds of distributors in designated markets. These distributors frequently sell watches wholesale by lot to International buyers who import them to other markets. They never see a retail AD, and never come with a valid warranty.

Re-sellers are not the Grey Market, nor are they ever pre-owned watches.

[xjeeunitx]

Why didn't you fill in the name and date prior to sending it? As long as its stamped by an AD and dated within the same year or so, no RSC can truly know who the original buyer was.

[Topspin14m]

Originally Posted by xjeeunitx

Why didn't you fill in the name and date prior to sending it? As long as its stamped by an AD and dated within the same year or so, no RSC can truly know who the original buyer was.

The date would be in the system when the card was scanned (if not scanned the card was never valid). Not sure about the name of the owner and whether that gets entered as well. Sounds like from earlier in the thread that the name is not entered. The issue may be that the card was not fully completed and that that was indicative of the fact that it was never really scanned.

[m j b]

I'll just say that all of the warranty cards I've ever seen had handwritten names and dates. Sometimes my name, sometimes someone else's.

Regardless of the brand, if I can't save at least the cost of a full service when buying gray market, then I buy from an AD. That's my threshold.

[clb521]

Originally Posted by Tridor

Let me share a couple of stories which may shed some light on gray market purchasing.

On two separate occasions, I bought a watch from a trusted seller. The first one was a TT blue sub, allegedly in "mint" condition. I sent the watch to RUSA for a service and was told that the bezel was bent and a new one was necessary. I sent the watch back and got a refund.

The second watch was another TT blue sub, also supposedly "mint." Again, I sent it to RUSA for a service and was told that the bracelet had two non-Rolex links which would have to be replaced before they'd work on the watch. I returned the watch and got a refund. Two separate trusted sellers, two different watches, and two refunds because of misrepresented watches. To their respective credits, each refunded my money promptly and I have no issue with their credibility or integrity, and would like to believe that their "watchmakers" who inspected the watches just didn't have a clue.

My point is that buying gray market can be a risky business, be it a lack of warranty or defective or non-genuine parts. I understand completely the desire to save money on these expensive items, but assumption of the risk must be considered seriously. In my case, I bought the seller and came out OK; however, if RUSA won't honor the warranty because the watch wasn't bought from an AD, then buying the seller doesn't help much in that regard.

In your case, you might try contacting Rolex NYC or the SF service center to see whether they will honor the warranty. I will say, though, that winding the watch fully by 40 or 50 turns likely will solve the problem.

Were both of these watches malfunctioning when you sent them to RSC or did you send them to have them checked since they were grey market purchases?

[lamnyc]

Blank card, no warranty. Plain and simple. A legit warranty will have a date when the card was scanned.

[clb521]

So a quick update.

RSC sent me an email saying they want to see a bill of sale, if I sent that, the warranty card and watch they would then determine if they would honor the warranty. This is a horrible situation for me since they have all of the leverage and and will most likely tell me that I would have to pay for any repairs. It would also probably take weeks for all of this to happen.

This morning, the watch stopped again after being on a watch winder all night and me giving it a manual wind in the morning. It has stopped several times within a minute and requiring a decent shake to get it running again.

I am going to work with the grey dealer I bought the watch from on getting it fixed.

I understand Rolex has these rules in place and they have the option to void a warranty if they see fit. Its just disheartening they want to act this way but honestly it doesnt surprise me they are acting like this.

[Roger1079]

Originally Posted by m j b

I'll just say that all of the warranty cards I've ever seen had handwritten names and dates. Sometimes my name, sometimes someone else's.

Regardless of the brand, if I can't save at least the cost of a full service when buying gray market, then I buy from an AD. That's my threshold.

All of my Rolex purchases (from the same AD) had a handwritten name and date until the Sub I picked up last month. When presented the warranty card after the sale my name and sale date were printed on the card in the same font and size as the AD name. My last purchase was handwritten in 2014 so sometime in the last 5 years, at least with this AD, they have begun printing the information at the time of sale.

[Roger1079]

Originally Posted by clb521

So a quick update.

RSC sent me an email saying they want to see a bill of sale, if I sent that, the warranty card and watch they would then determine if they would honor the warranty. This is a horrible situation for me since they have all of the leverage and and will most likely tell me that I would have to pay for any repairs. It would also probably take weeks for all of this to happen.

This morning, the watch stopped again after being on a watch winder all night and me giving it a manual wind in the morning. It has stopped several times within a minute and requiring a decent shake to get it running again.

I am going to work with the grey dealer I bought the watch from on getting it fixed.

I understand Rolex has these rules in place and they have the option to void a warranty if they see fit. Its just disheartening they want to act this way but honestly it doesnt surprise me they are acting like this.

Honestly, after denying the warranty initially and knowing all the details, if they asked you to supply a bill of sale and the watch anyway my bet is they intend to honor the warranty despite not having to. You are absolutely right that it will likely take a month or so, but I would absolutely try the RSC route prior to it going to a private watchmaker.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Calatrava r]

Well, at one time no watch company serviced a resold watch under warranty. The whole purpose of the warranty is a sales gimmick to incentivize the sale of new watches. One the watch is sold again why bother. If they want a warranty let them buy new was the thinking. Laws have changed and with the constant flow of watch sales, more and more companies (reluctantly) are honoring the warranty after re-sale. In your case, the warranty card was not fully completed which is a separate condition of the warranty not complied with which voided the warranty regardless of who owns the watch.

[Mystro]

OP....Was your watch purchased by one of our forums well known trusted sellers??

[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by Mystro

OP....Was your watch purchased by one of our forums well known trusted sellers??

He said Amir. If so that is Sohais

[DaninFlorida]

the issue is you bought a watch without a correctly filled out warranty, not from who sold it. you could have told them 10 times it was grey, but if it had a warranty with name (or blank) and stamped by AD and dated correctly it would have been handled under warranty. if i were you i would be upset with the seller if they sold it as being represented a full kit with warranty in place. I have bought used watches a few times...i have always demanded to see a copy of the warranty card before buying

[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by clb521

So a quick update.

RSC sent me an email saying they want to see a bill of sale, if I sent that, the warranty card and watch they would then determine if they would honor the warranty. This is a horrible situation for me since they have all of the leverage and and will most likely tell me that I would have to pay for any repairs. It would also probably take weeks for all of this to happen.

This morning, the watch stopped again after being on a watch winder all night and me giving it a manual wind in the morning. It has stopped several times within a minute and requiring a decent shake to get it running again.

I am going to work with the grey dealer I bought the watch from on getting it fixed.

I understand Rolex has these rules in place and they have the option to void a warranty if they see fit. Its just disheartening they want to act this way but honestly it doesnt surprise me they are acting like this.

In all honesty you know their rules. They are posted in black and white in the warranty booklet. The warranty card simply doesn't comply with their rules. Anyway it is moot point if Amir is going to take the watch and have it fixed for you on his dime. Be thankful. He saved you a $700 RSC service
And BTW if you have been wearing the watch trouble free for a year without issue, he is really going out of his way looking out for you. Myself would tell you tuff luck after a year lapsed.

[clb521]

Originally Posted by Roger1079

Honestly, after denying the warranty initially and knowing all the details, if they asked you to supply a bill of sale and the watch anyway my bet is they intend to honor the warranty despite not having to. You are absolutely right that it will likely take a month or so, but I would absolutely try the RSC route prior to it going to a private watchmaker.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The only problem is I would need to get the original bill of sale from the grey dealer.

I would rather he have his watch repair guy just fix it. Getting this resolved thru RSC will take months with no reassurance they will honor the warranty.