TERRIBLE AD experience! AG Jeweler, Bellevue, WA

[usmc_k9_vet]

Let me start by saying that I am truly shocked and I have never been treated so poorly in all of my life when it comes to any buying experience. I live near Bellevue, WA and there is a jeweler called Alvin Goldfarb. I had an appointment today to go look at a couple of Rolex watches. I am interested in a stainless steel model and they said they have a Sea-Dweller and a Deep Sea for me to look at. So I go there and am having a pleasant enough time talking to and dealing with a sales associate. Then the owner comes out and things pretty much immediately go south.

Now, let me also say that I understand and respect the incredibly strong brand that Rolex has become. The downside to this is that as a consumer, it takes a lot of fun out of the experience because, in my case, the moment the owner saw me and started talking to me, he was suspicious I was a flipper and treated me with incredible disrespect. There was no reason to believe this to be the case other than the fact that if you are interested in a stainless steel sports model and are a new customer (especially if you are somewhat young, which I am), you might be a flipper.

I assured him I was looking for a watch that I would wear on a daily basis and the Sea-Dweller really appealed to me. He asked me why I wanted it as it was basically the same looking as the Tag Heuer Aquaracer I was wearing (which he mistakenly called an Omega). I thought that was pretty weird as it started to sound like he was talking me out of a sale, not to mention the two watches are completely different animals and if I like the Sea-Dweller, what does he care if it looks similar to a watch I already have (which it really doesn't)? The way I see it, I've got money, and he sells a product that I want.

So anyway, he keeps cutting me off never letting me complete a sentence, and eventually asks me what my intention was of coming in today. I tell him that I was very interested in coming to see the Sea-Dweller and the Deep Sea (it was the black dial version) and wanted to potentially buy the Sea-Dweller. I then made the incredibly offensive mistake (in his view) of asking if there was any way we could talk about the price.

Now, I understand to sell Rolex they do not need to reduce the price and they can easily sell at MSRP. If I don't buy the watch, someone will in the next day or week. I get it, but here is my thing. Where is the fun in making a deal and developing a long-term relationship? When you go to buy a car, you work with a salesman, they help you, you help them, and hopefully everyone walks away with something they wanted and you want to go back to them to make another purchase in the future. Because Rolex is SO INCREDIBLY strong as a brand, this no longer exists. And this is the result:

The MOMENT I even mentioned price he cut me off again and forcefully stated "absolutely not. That is out of the question". I said ok, I just absolutely hate paying WA State sales tax. This was basically my way of trying to see if a discount was even a possibility, even though he had already rudely cut me off, but I wanted him to know my thought process and I was simply being honest. Again, cut off and then he asks me "why don't you like paying tax?" Umm.. Seriously? First of all, I didn't come in to have a discussion on my views regarding taxes. Second, who the hell does enjoy paying tax? When's the last time anyone tried to increase instead of decrease their taxes?

By this time, I was getting pretty frustrated. He then goes on to tell me that taxes pay for the road that I drove there on and then got so frustrated that he started walking to the door to unlock it and asked me to leave his store. I was literally being forced out of the store because he was so upset. I was completely calm throughout the entire interaction and really have no idea what I did to make him literally kick me out of his store.

I will never step foot in his store again. I have, thus far, been treated fairly and with respect at Ben Bridge Jeweler right down the road, so I will go there and direct everyone I possibly can to avoid Alvin Goldfarb Jeweler. The owner seems to have forgotten that he is simply a middle man. The only reason people are there is because Rolex sells their product through his store. I am really not sure what his problem is, and I feel sorry for his sales staff, as he literally did the opposite of what his job is. His job is to procure new business and keep existing business so that they can sell products and make their commission. It would be horrible to work for someone like that as I was fully ready today to pay for the Sea-Dweller and make it my first Rolex. I also plan to buy more Rolex in the future, and was hoping to develop a relationship there, but that's not going to happen at that location.

Anyway, just wanted to warn anyone who is in the same area as me. I left extremely angry and frustrated, but I'll still purchase the Rolex (and other) watches that appeal to me in the future, it just WILL NOT be from Alvin Goldfarb Jeweler.

Edit to add: You'd think that during this extremely difficult time in the world, and with the way the economy has been, businesses would be doing everything they can to accommodate clients, but apparently that is STILL not the case.

[wholecz]

Ads are getting extreme regarding Rolex and Flippers but you should not be treated like that.


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[Greg 59]

You should complain direct to Rolex. At least he will be forced to explain his behaviour. I had a similar issue with an AD (Not inferring I'm a flipper but trying to force me to multi buy). My email resulted in the owner contacting me and having to apologise. Gave me a chance to say how i felt about this current practice of lists on top of lists etc. He just had to suck it up.
Let us know if you do decide to take it further?

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[Aplover5]

That’s to bad, you stayed longer than I would have. PS- thanks for your service!

[Polarexplorerii]

Originally Posted by Greg 59

You should complain direct to Rolex. At least he will be forced to explain his behaviour. I had a similar issue with an AD (Not inferring I'm a flipper but trying to force me to multi buy). My email resulted in the owner contacting me and having to apologise. Gave me a chance to say how i felt about this current practice of lists on top of lists etc. He just had to suck it up.
Let us know if you do decide to take it further?

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this

[ArtNouveau]

Extreme reaction but you should have never expected or brought up a discount, twice. You don’t have to shop there, neither does he need your business. That Seadweller will be gone very shortly to someone else.
Harsh, but welcome to the current Rolex market.

[goodolejr]

::opens package of popcorn. pops it into microwave::

[Twovalvekid]

Cliffs on the wall of text?

[Sephiroth]

Perhaps the guy was having a bad day. Give him another chance, maybe he thought about that exchange and regrets it?

[usmc_k9_vet]

Originally Posted by ArtNouveau

Extreme reaction but you should have never expected or brought up a discount, twice. You don’t have to shop there, neither does he need your business. That Seadweller will be gone very shortly to someone else.
Harsh, but welcome to the current Rolex market.

I didn't bring up the discount twice. I asked if we could discuss price, then was immediately cut off, and to say what I was originally planning to say before I was cut off I mentioned that I was hoping to avoid sales tax as a way to open the discussion about a discount. I was not given the chance to do this all at once as the owner was too quick to cut me off and get extremely frustrated. My plan was to make the attempt once, let him counter or turn it down, and then purchase the Sea-Dweller. I was not given that opportunity.

Originally Posted by Greg 59

You should complain direct to Rolex. At least he will be forced to explain his behaviour. I had a similar issue with an AD (Not inferring I'm a flipper but trying to force me to multi buy). My email resulted in the owner contacting me and having to apologise. Gave me a chance to say how i felt about this current practice of lists on top of lists etc. He just had to suck it up.
Let us know if you do decide to take it further?

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I will be contacting Rolex directly. I have already attempted to, but it is outside of their normal business hours. I usually absolutely hate drama, but when it is so clearly justified, it is worth it to me to spend a bit of time going through this process and also letting others know of my experience so they can avoid it in the future. I think it is also beneficial for Rolex to know the kind of people they've got selling their product. I am not sure if it will do any good, but I am going to make every attempt to let them know about this anyway.

[usmc_k9_vet]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Perhaps the guy was having a bad day. Give him another chance, maybe he thought about that exchange and regrets it?

This was way too egregious to warrant a second chance. I was made to feel so incredibly bad and was kicked out of the store. I should give him a second chance to have my money? No thanks. I'm not a prideful person, but that would be too much.

[Etschell]

I wouldn't have asked for a discount on that model and it being my first purchase at his store. Now that is no reason to be treated badly.

I've been treated far worse by sales associates in general. I wouldn't fret.

[daOnlyBG]

Sorry, but if I was an AD, I'd be selling those Sea-Dwellers to whomever I could. Most customers do not have the wrists for those large watches and on the market, they teeter between having a premium and having a loss. From a sales perspective, this was doubly stupid on the manager/owner's part- one for coming across as an asshole, and two for losing the opportunity to please a new customer on the first go and nurture a relationship.

Every AD I've spoken with has been open about shipping to another state to avoid sales tax. Every. Single. One. If you don't want to do that because you're worried about tax law, fine, but it's not inconceivable for someone to ask around that. And it certainly doesn't warrant a long lecture about the morality of public finance.

I agree you should complain. Call the Rolex USA service centers and see if they can advise you who to contact.

[Etschell]

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...st-dies-at-84/

Must have been his son Alvin passed nearly 4 years ago

[Wcdhtwn]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Perhaps the guy was having a bad day. Give him another chance, maybe he thought about that exchange and regrets it?

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. As a business owner he should know this and live by it on a daily basis. Once an owner starts acting like he doesn’t need a customer’s business he will soon not have any customers business.

[usmc_k9_vet]

Originally Posted by Etschell

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...st-dies-at-84/

Must have been his son Alvin passed nearly 4 years ago

Correct. It is his son, Steven Goldfarb.

[usmc_k9_vet]

Originally Posted by Aplover5

That’s to bad, you stayed longer than I would have. PS- thanks for your service!

Thank you.

[ec00421]

What a joke

[JSolution]

Sounds like a bit of a dick, but still. All day they’re dealing with enquirers for unobtainable items and you’re there trying to haggle penny’s off the price. You talked yourself out of any potential buy doing that anyway.

[watchmaker]

Wow, a store owner didn’t like it when you hinted that he help you avoid paying sales tax? The nerve of these guys.

[usmc_k9_vet]

Originally Posted by Etschell

I wouldn't have asked for a discount on that model and it being my first purchase at his store. Now that is no reason to be treated badly.

I've been treated far worse by sales associates in general. I wouldn't fret.

I'll get over it, for sure. I go back and forth on the whole discount thing, but to be treated the way I was because I mentioned it - you are right, it is no reason to be treated badly.

Originally Posted by daOnlyBG

Sorry, but if I was an AD, I'd be selling those Sea-Dwellers to whomever I could. Most customers do not have the wrists for those large watches and on the market, they teeter between having a premium and having a loss. From a sales perspective, this was doubly stupid on the manager/owner's part- one for coming across as an asshole, and two for losing the opportunity to please a new customer on the first go and nurture a relationship.

Every AD I've spoken with has been open about shipping to another state to avoid sales tax. Every. Single. One. If you don't want to do that because you're worried about tax law, fine, but it's not inconceivable for someone to ask around that. And it certainly doesn't warrant a long lecture about the morality of public finance.

I agree you should complain. Call the Rolex USA service centers and see if they can advise you who to contact.

To be clear (and I think we are on the same page here), I was not asking him to do anything illegal or unethical, I was simply seeing if it was even within the realm of possibility to make the OTD price with tax included the same as the MSRP price to, in effect, not pay the total amount it would be, out the door, which would be MSRP + sales tax. If he had countered and said "I can't do 10%, but I can do 5", I would have been over the moon! If he had countered and said he can't do anything, I would have still bought the watch, but he got so frustrated and angry that he kicked me out of his store.

Also, my girlfriend has plenty of money to buy Rolex (has a couple already) and other jewelry and had expressed interest in multiple PM pieces. She is so hot about this interaction that he lost her business as well.

[usmc_k9_vet]

Originally Posted by watchmaker

Wow, a store owner didn’t like it when you hinted that he help you avoid paying sales tax? The nerve of these guys.

See my post above.

[watchmaker]

Originally Posted by usmc_k9_vet

See my post above.

He should never have treated you badly to start with. That’s on him!

But the second you start talking about avoiding sales tax, you lose the high ground. That’s on you.

Two sides to every story; and sounds like two people were in the wrong.

[usmc_k9_vet]

Originally Posted by watchmaker

He should never have treated you badly to start with. That’s on him!

But the second you start talking about avoiding sales tax, you lose the high ground. That’s on you.

Two sides to every story; and sounds like two people were in the wrong.

I get what you're saying, but I do not believe I was in the wrong. Maybe I went about asking for a discount the wrong way, but think about if I had been buying something else. If I had been buying a car and mentioned a discount or bringing the total out the door price to what it would be if there was not tax on the car, it would be seen as completely normal. The only reason us consumers are at such a disadvantage and stuff like this flies is because Rolex is such an incredibly strong powerhouse that no one on the sales side of things needs to accommodate the customer or make any gesture whatsoever. And I'm not knocking Rolex for that at all! What a wonderful position to be in as a company.

I guess we can agree to disagree as I truly don't feel like I did anything wrong, but I appreciate you saying I shouldn't have been treated badly.

[JSolution]

I think some “Man up” juice is needed here.

Don’t let other people ruin your day 👍

[ADIGA]

He is as rude as most Rolex sellers with new buyers.
If it was a DJ he wouldn't have lectured you about public finance. A customer is always right. Period.
You should escalate to Rolex before you decide if you want a Rolex and to start a relationship with RS ADs.

[Boothroyd]

I dunno. I think you could have abstracted the experience a bit at the outset by not being so specific by naming names. I don't believe the interaction is as one-sided as you are suggesting as a result.

[DG123]

Originally Posted by usmc_k9_vet

The MOMENT I even mentioned price he cut me off again and forcefully stated "absolutely not. That is out of the question". .

If I am reading your story correctly then you could have bought a Sea Dweller at MSRP plus tax but you did not want to pay that much.

[watchmaker]

Originally Posted by usmc_k9_vet

I guess we can agree to disagree as I truly don't feel like I did anything wrong, but I appreciate you saying I shouldn't have been treated badly.

[usmc_k9_vet]

Originally Posted by JSolution

I think some “Man up” juice is needed here.



Don’t let other people ruin your day

Day not ruined. Headed to the gym now to get a good workout in then eat a burger and hangout with the family. Just hoping to let others know my experience so they can avoid this place.

Originally Posted by Boothroyd

I dunno. I think you could have abstracted the experience a bit at the outset by not being so specific and naming names. I don't believe the interaction is as one-sided as you are suggesting as a result.

The entire point of the thread is to call out this place for treating me like crap. This thread wouldn’t be much good if I just told you about the bad experience, but didn’t say where it was. How is that holding anyone accountable? It’s like making an incoming thread without posting any pics.

Originally Posted by DG123

If I am reading your story correctly then you could have bought a Sea Dweller at MSRP plus tax but you did not want to pay that much.

Sort of. I was willing to pay MSRP plus tax, but I figured first I’d see if a discount was even within the realm of possibility. Apparently it is sacrilege and the highest offense around to even suggest this to an AD as you are attempting to purchase the oh-so-holy Rolex! If he had just been polite and countered, even to tell me he can’t do a discount at all, that would have been fine, but when I attempted to have a discussion, he literally got so upset that he forced me out of the store. So did I have a chance to buy a Sea-Dweller at MSRP plus tax? I dunno. Kind of. I guess I could have if I was ok doing it while being made to feel like absolute shite.

Originally Posted by ADIGA

He is as rude as most Rolex sellers with new buyers.
If it was a DJ he wouldn't have lectured you about public finance. A customer is always right. Period.
You should escalate to Rolex before you decide if you want a Rolex and to start a relationship with RS ADs.

He actually tried to sell me some Datejust and also told me that some of them are just as rare as the models I was interested in. He also, at one point, told me I just seemed to be interested in all the hard to get pieces. I thought why because I don’t want to buy a $45k Sky-Dweller in rose gold right this moment? So that means I’m only interested in the hyped pieces and I want to flip it? Negative.


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