Reply With QuoteDid you ask why you couldn’t look at the watches you wanted to?
In situations like this I like to make a bit of a fuss.
Especially if there are other customers in the shop.
Just popped into the Rolex AD here in Yalikavak on the way to dinner. Awful.
I've been reading consolidation threads recently and am wondering if I consolidate in a few years and add money to get either a DD40 or Daytona - either in Platinum as a one watch grail.
Asked to try the one in the window on and the guy looked at my MM300 and just said no. I asked if he was being serious or joking and he looked at my wrist again and said no, again. Almost as if that was the reason why.
Jaw dropping. Wasn't expecting to go out to dinner here tonight so left my nicer watches back at the hotel. If I wore one of them I probably would have been allowed to touch platinum.
Rant over!
Did you ask why you couldn’t look at the watches you wanted to?
In situations like this I like to make a bit of a fuss.
Especially if there are other customers in the shop.
I’ve also had a bad experience in a foreign Rolex AD. I felt compelled to write to Rolex and complain but didn’t bother in the end.
In my experience, I found the staff extremely rude and nonchalant. Went back and bought 2 watches the following evening as the exchange rate was favourable and they were all over me. Left a bitter taste as I thought your only sucking up to me now I’m spending.
I won't have any exchange rate joy. The pound is great here at the moment but they charge in Euros and process through the til in Lira for which the platinum Daytona is €67k so better to buy back home, just can't believe I was told no with no reasoning just a look at the watch I was wearing. Unbelievably rude.
I'm not sure if the AD you visited was under the same ownership as the one in Bodrum but my experience was not too disimilar.
I'd taken a friend to visit the AD in Bodrum (he was wearing a Breitling Superocean and I was sporting one of Eddie's watches) and the purpose of the visit was to look at a 116613LB as my friend had previously admired mine. The irony was that he would have bought one there and then,
Due to the attitude of the salesman he didn't, subsequently though he did got one from a New York AD a few weeks later.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Savages, make it known/telling straight in your face what they actually think about you and your appearance.
Fas est ab hoste doceri
The should remember that at the end of the day they are only selling watches.
They only work in retail, no need to be arrogant, it's very unlikely that chap could afford a platinum daytona himself.
Sent from my SM-G965F using TZ-UK mobile app
Is this the Rolex AD experience ? :)
Rudeness is the norm in Turkey, doesn't matter if it's the bazaar or Rolex AD... I think you just need to adapt and be more assertive, it's how they do business...
In any case, you weren't gonna buy it, so it made no difference to him how he acted in the end...
Demand is as such that they can get away with anything
His shop, his rules etc etc.
This is just one side of the story. All AD's want to sell watches because that is how they make a living.
Best never to pass judgement until the AD responds which everyone knows, he won't. Attacking shops and their staff is a bit one sided.
Yes, it's the same AD. I was in the one on Bodrum a few days ago and they told me they have just opened another shop in Yalikavak and there is more selection there and to pop in so I did.Originally Posted by ralphy
Stupid really as after I was done looking for me I was going to see what DateJust models they had for my wife and if they had a white or champagne dial DJ28 we would have bought as that would have been a better deal than England. A lot cheaper than the Daytona but a sale is a sale and I'd never buy from them now. Rather drive to Izmir or buy back home.
Not very likely to happen anytime soon as long as customers are returning the next day, buying two watches to prove they are worthy of their attention. (see post #3 above)
Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.
Well, you did walk in, a total stranger, wearing a low-cost watch, and asked to try-on the most expensive watch in the store. There are jewellers in the UK who would be wary. That’s £60k worth of stock. Easily marked.
He knew you wouldn’t buy, so it’s not so odd really.
We were in a posh furniture store in Lisbon where they wouldn’t let us sit on the chairs.....that’s life.
Last edited by paskinner; 15th June 2019 at 10:23.
The reason I paid more than I need have for my IWC is the complete opposite to this story.
I was treated with courtesy and kindness, I only went in the Munich shop to look around and get out of the rain.
Though I had no intention to buy a watch I did,so which is the better way to treat people?
FYI I was wearing a £100 Seiko solar diver from sales corner.
I really hate when they tell you that you can lookey, lookey but no touchy. Always feel a bit sickening next morning, hope they get busted.
I have an advice for the OP
Last edited by VDG; 15th June 2019 at 10:52.
Fas est ab hoste doceri
Obviously preferable to be treated well but I wouldn't pay over the odds for the experience.
But the store owner was right, wasn’t he. The OP was never going to buy that watch...it’s a business decision which the jeweller has every right to make. Would you want to spend 60k on a watch handled by lots of people?
True I could have saved some money buying it from a rude,disinterested sales assistant at Harrods I choose to give my money to someone who cared.
I can't see that it's in any way right to treat people rudely. Retail doubly so. There are a million ways the shop person could have handled that situation, almost all of them better than that. Maybe he didn't want to risk that model being tried and damaged, but there's far more elegant ways to get there. He's been bad at his job. Even if that is the norm in that country, he's dealing with people from other countries, and should have the knowledge to handle that appropriately.
I worked at Apple years ago and we were told the average Apple consumer visits seven times before buying a laptop so to treat everyone as you would hope to be treated on one of your seven visits before spending a lot of money on a laptop. I wonder how many people buying a high end watch of any material just pop in and buy one on the same day.
My family have a house here and we come once or twice a year and there is every chance that if I do consolidate it would have been from here, let alone other stuff along the way.
I know Seiko and Rolex are worlds apart but if I was wear a Credor or GS would they have even recognised and would the reaction have been different? Stupid.
Could it be because he saw you as Turkish, too? He may be used to selling to (white) tourists and a Turk wearing a cheap beater didn’t register on his radar?
It probably makes him even worse, though...
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I'm Irish. Whiter than milk
Do any of them really care? We're just customers, one appears to care to get your custom.
I choose to spend as little as possible.
He may assume most tourists won't be coming back and he'll usually be correct.
Last edited by Kingstepper; 15th June 2019 at 12:26.
My apologies. It’s the mention of having family locally.I'm Irish. Whiter than milk
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Everyone's different. For example on carwow only 25% of people buy from the cheapest of the 5 offers. Depends what you value. Locality, service, future relationship, aftersales, experience etc.
I remember a few years ago having a BLNR in my hand at an AD in London ready to buy but calling the AD I was on a list at for one to double check when I could get one from him as he was the best experience AD I had come across and I wanted to buy from him. He's since left that AD and is at Lange now and if I ever wanted a Lange I would go to him again.
My wife's family are Turkish and have the house here but she's as white as me. It's probably because they didn't see me walk off one of the £300m boats in the harbour so assumed I was peasant, which is true, but life is a pie chart and I love watches
I came back to Izmir/Kushadasi several times some30 years ago. My experience as a customer was the complete opposite then.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
More of a consideration with a car (sorting out niggles, future servicing etc) than with a new watch.
Finally we have a legit reason to buy fake Rollies, so dodgy ADs will grace us with the chance to see a real watch on 'oliday, lol!
Have you ever sold in retail? In London especially that attitude is fatal - not everyone wants to show their wealth around all the time.
The solution is to buy independent watchmaking where you can appreciate the craftsmanship and enjoy a proper relationship with the owners and creators.
Nah, get a fake Nautilus, price is going up every week, and then you'll be a king in any Rolex AD anywhere in the world, haha.
No, but seriously an Indie would not help with a Rolex AD when you are abroad or don't want to wear an expensive piece, but moving away from the Rolex rat race is indeed a good suggestion, I bought a VC and BP last year.
How did the store owner know he was 'right' and that the OP was never going to buy that watch?
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Not on that night, no. But now if I ever do it won't be from there. Neither will all the watches on the way be from there.
Because I sell Rolex watches and "only work in retail" does that mean I am not as good as you, Sibo?
Or are you being arrogant.....
I didn't compare anyone to myself.
How do you treat your customers, both old and new? Hope it's nothing like OP was treated!
Sent from my SM-G965F using TZ-UK mobile appBecause I sell Rolex watches and "only work in retail" does that mean I am not as good as you, Sibo?
Or are you being arrogant.....
I got the opposite rude problem in the LV section of Selfridges last week buying a gift for the wife before returning home.
Had decided what I wanted in advance but the girl kept trying to make me change my mind and up sell to a different and way more expensive model. In the end it got quite annoying and I had to be firm and polite as possible as she was so damn persistent . After that scenario she then tried to flog me additional items - perfumes at 180 a bottle, I politely declined and then she started banging on about scarfs. By the time she was done I could not be arsed pratting around with requesting VAT refunds etc and got the hell out of there. Things you do for the other half....
Last edited by kultschar; 15th June 2019 at 16:01.
But that’s the choice of the store owner. He made his decision, and obviously lives by the consequences, good or bad. The idea coming through this thread that the OP had some ‘right’ to demand access to a 60K Watch he had no intention of buying, is just bizarre. There is no such right; it’s a choice for the dealer to make. It’s his goods, his livelihood.
For all we know, he may have a very strong customer base.
Last edited by paskinner; 15th June 2019 at 15:53.
You keep assuming I was dealing with the store owner. It was the store owner I met in the Bodrum store who told me to go to his Yalikavak store where they have more selection. It was there someone who wasn't him effectively refused me service based me wearing a MM300 instead of one of my Rolxes.
If I turned up asking to test drive a Porsche or Mercedes for 90k in another forum favourite, say, an MX5, would they deny me from sitting in a car or booking a test drive? Utterly bizarre behaviour from the sales person and as someone who works in sales and has previously worked in sales in retail it really is one of the dumbest things you can do. Great way to ensure your commission is through the floor and not the roof. There is a thing called a funnel and another, on the other end of the desk, called pipeline.
I should add in the first store I was wearing a BLNR whereas in the second I was wearing a MM300. Shouldn't make a difference but looks like it probably did.
People get refused access to expensive goods all the time. A millionaire friend was denied a test drive in an Audi. He owns a Maserati.....these things happen.
And he didn’t buy an Audi.
.....These things are mildly annoying, not ‘awful.’ Last time we were in Istanbul, my credit card got cloned, that did qualify as ‘awful.’
Last edited by paskinner; 15th June 2019 at 16:08.
This. Very poor. Treat people as you would like to be treated.
Hopefully their attitude will be reflected in their sales.
Do you honestly go round and say to people “you only work in retail” ? hmmm nice attitude displayed by yourself there . I’d recommend only buying online so you fill the coffers of non tax paying companies owned by billionaires
Because we have only heard one side of the argument. Your presumption is that if a TZ-UK member claims an AD or his staff were rude, then that's it, the staff were rude. Sorry but you cannot even think of making a judgement until you have heard both sides of an argument.
It is possible the sales people have instructions not to let people try out PM models unless they feel that it is a likely ( not potential) customer. There should be someway of politely declining to show the particular model. I don’t think refusing to show is necessarily bad ‘behaviour’ or bad treatment. But it shouldn’t be done in a way that sounds rude or judgemental.
Personally, I would never ask anyone to take out an expensive item to show me unless I had some interest in buying it, even if minimal. Or if I was buying something else from the shop.
To think of people as ‘only working in retail’ is something I cannot wrap my head around. It is a job like any else and they deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect as well.
Take this in the spirit it is intended. It would be poor form on the part of someone to take an Aston Martin out for a test drive if they had no intention of buying. Same applies to watches at this price point. What the dealer should have done is enquire around the OP's intentions first. A polite but firm 'apologies sir but we have firm instructions not to allow our precious metal pieces to be worn by casual visitors as the new owner would hate to see scratches but if sir was keen to purchase today and wanted to verify the watch was a good fit I'm sure I can make an exception' and so on.
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