A.d. Nightmare!

[Richv]

I can't imagine the reaction of the store manager or the ham handed watchmaker if they were to take their care in for service, pick it up with scratches on the fender and be told " "It's normal, the mechanic has to lean over the fender to get to the engine bay."
You've been more than patient and reasonable. Retain an attorney, have him contact the AD and Rolex Corporate on your behalf. You'll recoup the legal fees in the subsequent action Your attorney will file.
The AD gave you solid advice, see him in court, although it's doubtful it will go that far.

[Grissom]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Roley, I know the watchmaker you are talking about and the store, I don't have any personal experience with them as I chose the other Ben Bridge (UTC) to do my business, and have had nothing but exceptional service from those guys, but I have heard more then one bad story about the workmanship from the guy in Fashion Valley.

I know you probably don't want to deal with BB any more, but I can personally hook you up with the manager and watchmaker of the UTC store if you like, they are the absolute best and maybe can help (?). I have had my Daytona worked on by the watchmaker in UTC (Brian) and it NEVER came back with a single scratch, matter of fact, it usually looked better then when I brought it in!

I have also had great experiences with Brian!

Originally Posted by marcinthemiddle

I'm confused by your hesitation to get law enforcement involved.
That being said, I hope it works out for you...

If you have proof that you paid for the repairs in full, Ben Bridge Fashion Valley has no legal way to hold your watch. There is no legal requirement that you sign anything , other than perhaps something that merely documents you took the watch. I, too, am perplexed why you resist calling SDPD.....

Please let us know the outcome....and good luck!

[oboshoe]

Originally Posted by roley798

@"I think we sent it to Rolex ny, but I am not sure." A.

He didn't send it to Rolex then. And he knows it.

Classic lie with a built in escape clause.

[dhh]

I just got this back from Mark Bridge after I alerted him to this thread:

Dear Dr. xxx,

Thank you for your message and for alerting us to this situation.

We are looking into the matter and will follow up with the customer and the store manager.

Best wishes,

Marc Bridge

Marc D. Bridge| Ben Bridge Jeweler, Inc.
P.O. Box 1908, Seattle, WA 98111 | T: (206) 448-8800
| www.benbridge.com


I imagine all will be fine now.

[roley798]

Update:

Contacted Ben bridge hq, was quickly told that the vp of the company would deal with the problem. Less then an hour later I was contacted by the store manager, who said that " a check has been sent in the mail, have a nice day". I am currently waiting for the check, and will contact the bbb. I have received great advice and information on this forum, and I appreciate that. As soon as I receive this check I will be looking for a new Rolex, and I'm pretty sure you all can guess where I will not be buying it.

[Grissom]

Wow.....fast resolution!!

[rockyn]

Good for you

[m5blitzer]

Happy ending. Thanks for sharing this experience (albeit a negative one). AD had a "reputation" to uphold but it is too late by my standards.

[LostInTime]

Without this public forum, would that check have come?

[bayerische]

Wow this is excellent news!

Hopefully that store manager is out of a job too!

Trf rulez, and BTW welcome to the forum!

[rosspanics]

Glad you are getting a refund! Now you can buy one on here for less! :)

[cat3roadracer]

Even if by paying by cash (to avoid paying sales tax), you were not given a receipt, you would still have the box and warranty card. That should be enough to prove proof of ownership. If an investigation ever did persue, you are on their store cameras several times which the police would also investigate.

The whole thing is strange.

[chrisshank]

As a relative newbie who has been considering dealing with BB this thread is very informative, indeed. I'm truly sorry for your confrontation and thank you for bringing this to our attention. Has anyone else had a similar experience with this AD chain or have they been pretty good to those of us who buy from ADs?

[marcinthemiddle]

Originally Posted by roley798

Update:

Contacted Ben bridge hq, was quickly told that the vp of the company would deal with the problem. Less then an hour later I was contacted by the store manager, who said that " a check has been sent in the mail, have a nice day". I am currently waiting for the check, and will contact the bbb. I have received great advice and information on this forum, and I appreciate that. As soon as I receive this check I will be looking for a new Rolex, and I'm pretty sure you all can guess where I will not be buying it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that TRF member 'dhh' contacted Marc Bridge and forwarded this thread to him.
Glad it's going to work out in your favor- but it would be a nice gesture to at least thank him.

[jedinite]

Sorry about your bad experience, there will be one or two bad apples that can spoi an otherwise pleasant experience of owning a Rolex.

[Grissom]

A number of us who have relationships with Ben Bridge evidently contacted a few of the Bridge family based on this thread (which must have been somewhat weird for them) and brought this to their attention. I have personally have excellent experience with Ben Bridge Jewelers, and would not discourage anyone from patronizing them, based on what was noted in this thread. If anything, I might caution against that particular location, but without knowing the whole story, I would not be inclined to indict the entire organization. I do believe that based on this thread, and those of us personally bringing this to the attention of different members of the Bridge family, TRF did indeed positively affect the outcome, speeding up what might have been done anyway, once the OP contacted them, if nothing else.

[marcinthemiddle]

Ok- got it...thanks for the clarification, Grissom!

[Watchdog]

Just read the entire thread. To the O.P., glad it worked out for you.

To all those who contacted BB or the Bridge family members, GREAT JOB! Seriously! Way to come together to help a fellow member.

AND, I am certain that a business owner, the big boss--not the store manager--would want to know about this situation anyway. So, you helped out both sides (except for the clown who originally caused this mess!)

[tictocChuck]

That's sooo bad at every level. Sounds like they need to fire staff there.

I have had nothing but exceptional service from Ben Bridge here in Seattle.

They cannot black mail you by holding your watch & money. I suspect you would like your money back and start fresh elsewhere.

Here is what I recommned you do before calling in the authorities:

Send a factual email with all the vents on a timeline to the top man Ben Bridge man here in Seattle.

Send your email to Ed Bridge, President, Ben Bridge Jeweler, Inc.

His email is: ed@BenBridge.com

He put his email out there becuase he wants to hear both the good & bad so they can address it quickly.

He is a very nice fellow and I guarantee he WILL make it right for you.

Ed cares about good service at his stores.

Do this first before anything else.

Good Luck and let us all know how it worked out.

[rosspanics]

Originally Posted by Grissom

I have personally have excellent experience with Ben Bridge Jewelers, and would not discourage anyone from patronizing them, based on what was noted in this thread. If anything, I might caution against that particular location, but without knowing the whole story, I would not be inclined to indict the entire organization.

Same here. I did some shopping for my wife a few years ago at the BB in Vega$ and had a great experience. Sounds like this one particular store might have some bad apples though.

[roley798]

@marcinthemiddle, did thank Doug, it was a very nice gesture on his part, along with everyone else here. I did contact hq, as I posted the update before I read any of the new posts. Hopefully this does not happen to anyone else here, and I look forward to participating in some more positive threads!

[marcinthemiddle]

Originally Posted by roley798

Update:

Contacted Ben bridge hq, was quickly told that the vp of the company would deal with the problem. Less then an hour later I was contacted by the store manager, who said that " a check has been sent in the mail, have a nice day". I am currently waiting for the check, and will contact the bbb. I have received great advice and information on this forum, and I appreciate that. As soon as I receive this check I will be looking for a new Rolex, and I'm pretty sure you all can guess where I will not be buying it.

Originally Posted by roley798

@marcinthemiddle, did thank Doug, it was a very nice gesture on his part, along with everyone else here. I did contact hq, as I posted the update before I read any of the new posts. Hopefully this does not happen to anyone else here, and I look forward to participating in some more positive threads!

Hey Roley-
I'm glad to hear it all worked out for you-
Thanks for the post...we now know to avoid that tool-crazy watchmaker!

[clarencek]

Wow - such drama, but it's nice to hear they corrected their error and made it right, albeit with a lot of anxiety and frustration.

I'm hope that store manager gets a talking to...

[ingoodtime]

Originally Posted by roley798

@ puffy, I will purchase another Rolex. Not sure if I will buy new or used this time. Thank you for the info, and thank you all for the advice and comments.

If you have a receipt for the watch showing he is in possesion, send him a demand letter for the watch. Then, ask the police to charge him with either theft or extortion. PS.....I am no lawyer but it sure shounds like extortion to a certain degree.

[CoopJr]

Originally Posted by roley798

Contacting sdpd will be my last resort. My only concern with contacting them is that they may not understand that his new contract voids my warranty, and the officer could possibly claim that he is offering me the watch, and buy his b.s. I should have a definite answer and will post the outcome later today. Are there any other authorized dealers that you would recommend? What would be available used in the 6k range here?

Glad to hear that they are making good on the watch.

[DG123]

Nice post. There are two sides to every story, for sure.

Originally Posted by Grissom

A number of us who have relationships with Ben Bridge evidently contacted a few of the Bridge family based on this thread (which must have been somewhat weird for them) and brought this to their attention. I have personally have excellent experience with Ben Bridge Jewelers, and would not discourage anyone from patronizing them, based on what was noted in this thread. If anything, I might caution against that particular location, but without knowing the whole story, I would not be inclined to indict the entire organization. I do believe that based on this thread, and those of us personally bringing this to the attention of different members of the Bridge family, TRF did indeed positively affect the outcome, speeding up what might have been done anyway, once the OP contacted them, if nothing else.

[TRW]

Gotta B Honest Here,Just Gettin in from Wok and Havn't read All of the Posts.Glad it is going to Work out For You,but It is My Opinion that The OP Should Absolutely Speak with Rolex or Rolex USA about this.Rolex should Know what Kind of A**hole AD's they Have Tarnishing Their Brand.

[Dr.Brian]

Glad to hear this had a nice outcome eventually.
Take a look around here, you might find a new or like new example of something you like from one of the many trusted sellers. And pay with a CC in the future. It's more leverage if push comes to shove in these uncommon incidents. You can say "F off chief, talk to AmEx. P.S. they don't give a Shiite what you say, they're just taking the money back." AmEx is very pro customer.

[Tri-Tip]

Glad to hear this was properly resolved. I'm in the market for a Sub-C and Ben Bridge is one of the local AD's. I had looked at one this week, just making sure I want to pull the trigger.

I was nervous about them when I first started reading, but now feel confident again about dealing with them.

Glad it worked out for everyone involved.

[TRW]

Originally Posted by Dr.Brian

Glad to hear this had a nice outcome eventually.
Take a look around here, you might find a new or like new example of something you like from one of the many trusted sellers. And pay with a CC in the future. It's more leverage if push comes to shove in these uncommon incidents. You can say "F off chief, talk to AmEx. P.S. they don't give a Shiite what you say, they're just taking the money back." AmEx is very pro customer.

That 65 Dollars a Yr Membership for the Green Card is Worth it.That's how I bought My Wifes and Mine Just to be on the Safe Side.Good Advice for someone out there