Rolex Service Centre UK fail

[Woody]

Originally Posted by Number3

“I'm now having to endure the dreaded Bexley bevel.”

Are they known as bad polishers?

They do an excellent job....I can't imagine you would ever find a better finish. If the watch was only likely marked then I would think that it has only had a very light polish.....which will likely not be noticeable to the OP. As others have suggested, it is likely best to wait to see the watch before deciding on how to move forward......but if all else fails put it down to experience, sell it and move on......there are plenty more out there Hope it works out OK.

[TswaneNguni]

Originally Posted by zen123

Due to this mistake Rolex offered 20% discount on the service cost.

I wouldnt mind ! If you really are fond of scratches quickly go and scratch it.Simple .

[nighthawk77]

OP - sorry to hear of your predicament and it sucks that they have not followed specific instructions.

However, it's happened now and it is what it is. In my view there are two ways you can deal with it;

Sell the watch when you receive it back - I'm sure you wont have any problem moving it along.
OR
Keep the watch - push for a bigger discount/a favour from your AD. See the watch as ready to be worn and for you to put your own marks of ownership on...

[Me4u2night]

Personally, i don't think there is anything wrong with having a watch polished during servicing. Although, in this case, you specifically requested it not to be polished. it goes against their statement on their website, "Rolex watches are crafted from the finest raw materials and assembled with scrupulous attention to detail." Apparently they let this detail slip through the crack.

[77T]

Originally Posted by zen123

I'm not doubting the polishing will be done badly. My issue is I requested it not to be done which was specified clearly in the job notes.

I only got this watch last month after many many months of searching for a 1 owner, 100% as original example and having to pay a lot of £££ for the privilege. I instantly knew I had to have it when I first saw it and decided to get it serviced, in fact I took to my AD the day after, so that I could enjoy the watch for many years to come.

Aesthetically it may now look pristine, but that's not what I wanted and I will forever look at the watch in a different way. I already feel emotionally detached from it and I haven't even got it back yet.

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Well now you know the watch was legit through and through. Also not on the theft report list at Rolex.

You have. 2-yr warranty on your watch. Theses are the good points.

Nobody here can help you with that last paragraph...
“Aesthetically it may now look pristine, but that's not what I wanted and I will forever look at the watch in a different way. I already feel emotionally detached from it and I haven't even got it back yet.”

Your anxiety and distress is perplexing.


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[zen123]

Originally Posted by Number3

“I'm now having to endure the dreaded Bexley bevel.”

Are they known as bad polishers?

Older 5 digit references had nice clean sharp chamfers/bevelled edges on the case from the factory. Oftentimes when RSC polishes the watch they try to replicate this. Unfortunately I've seen way too many instances where they over did it so the chamfer looks too 'thick' and to me it detracts from the original look of the watch.

I know for sure that my LV didn't have the bevels and so I am dreading that it will now be stuck with them.

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[Wobbly]

Sorry to hear of the problem.

But as others have said, wait until you see the watch first.

If you are really unhappy then ask the AD to speak to the service centre, I would start with the service should be free, maybe accept half price service.

I hope all ends well.

[troways]

Ask them to offer a Hulk at MRSP as compensation

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[morglaw]

How can they forgot about something like this? The polish is good if the person who does that is competent. I hope that it was a good polish, sorry for your disappointment

[rushca01]

Originally Posted by zen123

Older 5 digit references had nice clean sharp chamfers/bevelled edges on the case from the factory. Oftentimes when RSC polishes the watch they try to replicate this. Unfortunately I've seen way too many instances where they over did it so the chamfer looks too 'thick' and to me it detracts from the original look of the watch.

I know for sure that my LV didn't have the bevels and so I am dreading that it will now be stuck with them.

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I agree with this. I don't like the heavy bevel and until now didn't realize it had a name, bexley. Some of the independents polish the same way when they recut the bevels, I dislike it so much that I have specific examples of how I would want it done on my 5 digit references, nice and thin.

[-Ally-]

A first world problem if ever there were.

[Rado63]

Service centers of major manufacturers are always going to service the watch by replacing hands, replacing dials, and polishing the watch and sometimes polishing the bracelet may be optional depending on the brand and bracelet. If this watch is your investment piece then don't wear it and don't service it. Wearing makes the watch vulnerable to all types of damage. Usually scratches dents dings, but also shock to the balance wheel and mainspring, wear on the crown stem as you screw in and out the crown, and wear on the internal parts. If you send an investment piece to the manufacturers service center, mistakes like this might happen because they are trained to make every watch look new again. Sorry that you are upset but usually the watch is going to look great.

[Onikage]

Have we seen it yet? The request was mistakenly ignored but they may well have done a fantastic job. And 20% discount. Really couldn't grumble there.

[Likestheshiny]

There is NOTHING wrong with RSC doing a polish.

There's something wrong if the owner specifically requested that the watch not be polished. The RSC has acknowledged that a mistake was made. Something wrong happened. There's no ambiguity about that.

This is unfortunate. The good news is that it's likely to be a great polishing job. But it's still unfortunate. And it's also worth noting that (whether it's justified or not) this polishing has devalued the watch somewhat. There is a concrete value loss for the Op here. The 20% service discount almost certainly isn't making up for that.

(I'd personally always get my watches polished -- I don't like scratches. But I have no trouble understanding why the Op is upset.)

[Sprezzatura!,]

Originally Posted by padi56

As long as any watch is polished correctly by any RSC cannot see any problem this anti polish stuff is mostly internet hyped.In the real world all Rolex oyster cases are designed to be polished, and with today's mainly pampered watches would take around 4-5 services before most would even notice. Thats around 40-50 years of wearing picture below my own personal working tool SD.Now this watch has seen more use and abuse with well over 600 hours underwater than most of today's watches will see in ten life time.Its been serviced and polish by 3 different RSC world wide and still looks good today and all original except for one insert and now over 20 years old.

That is a beautiful watch, and yes you’re right, it looks fantastic after the polishes you say it’s had.

However, he asked for it not be be polished, and that, is that.

20% off service cost?? That’s an insult.

[Sprezzatura!,]

Originally Posted by -Ally-

A first world problem if ever there were.

It’s all relative. Otherwise let’s all come off this forum, stop talking about luxury watches, and sell them and use proceeds to help war-stricken countries.

[Onikage]

Originally Posted by Likestheshiny

And it's also worth noting that (whether it's justified or not) this polishing has devalued the watch somewhat. There is a concrete value loss for the Op here. The 20% service discount almost certainly isn't making up for that.

Most of this placing great value in unpolished examples is a modern phenomenon. Hardly any material could have been removed and the watch may well pass for another one of these BS unpolished examples. Freshly serviced. 20 % discount. Highly valuable piece. Most people don't want other people's scratches. This is why every watch dealership on the planet polishes their inventory. Certainly not to devalue anything..
This is all 'could' though.. The chamfers could have been buffed out and the crownguards sharpened up. Then it would be time to be angry.

[Oxfordian]

Okay, not a Rolex but an Omega Seamaster Diver, after 10 years of being abused I followed the advice of the OB and sent the watch for service.

I had read all the threads on 'never get your watch polished', 'never send it to Omega', blah blah blah.

Got the call from the OB your watch is back and you can collect it when you're next in. With some trepidation I opened the package in the shop and was blown away by just how good it looked, it was like having a new watch.

I am firmly in the camp of getting your watch serviced and polished by the OEM.

[Oxfordian]

Originally Posted by padi56

As long as any watch is polished correctly by any RSC cannot see any problem this anti polish stuff is mostly internet hyped.In the real world all Rolex oyster cases are designed to be polished, and with today's mainly pampered watches would take around 4-5 services before most would even notice. Thats around 40-50 years of wearing picture below my own personal working tool SD.Now this watch has seen more use and abuse with well over 600 hours underwater than most of today's watches will see in ten life time.Its been serviced and polish by 3 different RSC world wide and still looks good today and all original except for one insert and now over 20 years old.

That looks so good, beautiful condition.

[rushca01]

Originally Posted by Sprezzatura!,

It’s all relative. Otherwise let’s all come off this forum, stop talking about luxury watches, and sell them and use proceeds to help war-stricken countries.

Truth!

[Oxfordian]

Originally Posted by Sprezzatura!,

That is a beautiful watch, and yes you’re right, it looks fantastic after the polishes you say it’s had.

However, he asked for it not be be polished, and that, is that.

20% off service cost?? That’s an insult.

You're right, the OP asked the RSC not to polish the watch but they made an error and polished the watch. As a result the OP is getting 20% off the cost of the service as the way of an apology. Nothing wrong with that and IMHO a good result.

What else can the RSC or AD do?

[mmaggi]

Originally Posted by -Ally-

A first world problem if ever there were.

[ratty]

Originally Posted by Number3

“I'm now having to endure the dreaded Bexley bevel.”

Are they known as bad polishers?

Not in my experience they aren’t. I would be interested in hearing about the problems the OP has experienced which has lead him to say this!

I do think think that if they have polished the watch against the owner’s wishes, they should not charge for the service though.

[ratty]

Originally Posted by watchmaker

Direct or indirect, I'm pretty sure the TOS has it covered...

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
(A) Nothing in these Conditions shall limit or exclude the Supplier's liability for: (a) death or personal injury caused by its negligence, or the negligence of its employees, agents or subcontractors; (b)
fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or (c) breach of the terms implied by section 2 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (title and quiet possession).
(B) Subject to clause 7(A) above, the Supplier shall under no circumstances whatsoever be liable to the Customer, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise,
for any diminution or reduction in the market and/or commercial value of the any of the Goods which may have been caused by the Repair Work carried on them.

I think you will find that the reality is not as black and white as this implies.

Law trumps company policy. Law states that reasonable care must be taken. The above “under no circumstances whatsoever” would struggle to stand up in a UK court. The above sounds impressive and threatening, but life is rarely this simple.

[Burlington]

Minimum the service should be totally FOC and something else to compensate too.

[zen123]

Those that don't see a problem regarding the the bevels after servicing I've attached a few pictures to illustrate the big difference in how the watch should l look like and what it does look like after the polishing. I can't comment on how its done in other countries but this is how RSC in UK does it.

The Pepsi is my original unpolished GMT from 1998 and the Coke from 2001 is my wife's recently serviced last year. Notice the fine bevels of mine, granted they are barely noticeable after years of wear, compared to the wide flat bevel of my wife's GMT.

Looking at some of the replies it pretty obvious that opinions are divided about polishing or not but that's not really the issue. The problem I have with RSC is that they polished my watch when I specifically instructed them not to. The fact that they can just shrug their shoulders and literally say sh#t happens sorry bites me hard.

I probably paid too much over the odds to get an example that was pretty much guaranteed unpolished and I was going to wear and enjoy it for however long into the future. How much monetary value I've lost due to this is secondary as I have already promised to give it to my daughter and when I do its up to her what she does with it.

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[garyk]

Originally Posted by zen123

Those that don't see a problem regarding the the bevels after servicing I've attached a few pictures to illustrate the big difference in how the watch should l look like and what it does look like after the polishing. I can't comment on how its done in other countries but this is how RSC in UK does it.

The Pepsi is my original unpolished GMT from 1998 and the Coke from 2001 is my wife's recently serviced last year. Notice the fine bevels of mine, granted they are barely noticeable after years of wear, compared to the wide flat bevel of my wife's GMT.

Looking at some of the replies it pretty obvious that opinions are divided about polishing or not but that's not really the issue. The problem I have with RSC is that they polished my watch when I specifically instructed them not to. The fact that they can just shrug their shoulders and literally say sh#t happens sorry bites me hard.

I probably paid too much over the odds to get an example that was pretty much guaranteed unpolished and I was going to wear and enjoy it for however long into the future. How much monetary value I've lost due to this is secondary as I have already promised to give it to my daughter and when I do its up to her what she does with it.

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Does it look so bad when not photographed so close up? Took me a minute to figure it out but I think I get your meaning?!

[zen123]

Just for good measure here's a pic of the Bexley bevelling of a friend's Submariner.

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[shaunylw]

I’m not a polish or no polish guy, i would prefer not polished and just wear it. But, I’ve seen great polishing done at RSC. either way i don’t really care, i am a believer that unless it’s a one owner watched, it’s likely had a polish.

For me, it’s less about the actual job and more about an enormous company like Rolex not being able to follow simple instructions. I have 0 faith in their ability to follow our wishes at RSC. That and i don’t really want to wait 8-10 weeks for service.


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[zen123]

Originally Posted by garyk

Does it look so bad when not photographed so close up? Took me a minute to figure it out but I think I get your meaning?!

I'm not saying it looks bad, it just doesn't look right and I personally don't like it. My wife on the other hand didn't even notice it until I told her and even then she couldn't remember how it looked before servicing.

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