I recently returned an 18 month old Sd43 for regulation under warranty - running up to 30 secs/day slow. The watch came from an AD in Liverpool, I live in Reading so took it into Goldsmiths who charged me £30 for the privilege of sending it to Rolex (because it wasn't sourced from them originally). The last time I sent a watch into Rolex under similar conditions was around 5 years ago and there was no charge (that one was bought in the States) - is this now standard practice from AD's who don't sell the watch originally?
It came back within a month running spot on btw.
Keith
It wouldn’t surprise me if all ADs do this, and I can sort of sympathise, they don’t get anything from Rolex for returning it, but have the admin of doing it, so £30 seems fair.
Another way of looking at it is, £30 to return a £10k watch, not a lot of money really, is it??? 😀
Can’t understand why you expect another retailer to pay for postage unless you think Rolex would reimburse them ?
By charging you, I’m assuming they won’t get a penny back off Rolex and if that’s the case , it’s fair enough.
for the price we are paying yes I would expect it free under warrantyOriginally Posted by Buster73
Via a different dealer?
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
So would I.
The cost involved should be picked up by Rolex as it is under warranty and I would take this up with both the AD and Rolex.
It is not the customers fault that the watch needed warranty work so why should they have to pay in such a situation?
I would expect it to be free as it should be. If your BMW had an issue under warranty you would imagine you could take it to any UK BMW to have it fixed, for free, within warranty.
I wouldn't want or expect to hear "yes it's a BMW and yes we're a BMW franchise/dealer but you bought it from Sytner BMW, not Stephen James BMW".
who cares what dealer it is? its rolex who should pay return cost
Would you expect BMW to cover your fuel there and back?
Because they didnt go to the original AD. Makes perfect sense, 30 pounds is nothing anyway so why even care.
Because Rolex don’t reimburse the AD that can only be the answer surely ?
Probably a better example is if you'd expect that BMW to cover any shipping charges for new parts ordered? Closest example I can think of.
If there is money to be claimed back from Rolex by the AD that's their business, not the customers.
Or £30 postage is not a lot of money for Rolex to cover on a watch purchased for £10k!
I previously returned a Longines watch back under warranty, they sent me a service case + pre-paid post/packaging so that I could return at their cost - that was a £1.5k watch!
for what we pay that's what I
would expect
Did I say anything about expectation? No, I asked a simple question.
Another reason not to buy into this BS brand
A number of high end car makers will offer a free collection and return of your car for a service, loaded onto a transport vehicle
Why Rolex think they are so special is beyond me
Arrogance springs to mind
My Rolex went back under warranty, and I never paid a penny. Rolex should definitely be picking up the cost here. Who knows eh, perhaps they are, and the dealer is making a quick profit?
You could have sent it yourself with associated hassle and costs.
£30 all insured etc is pretty good considering you didn’t buy it from them.
Coincidentally I asked Omega UK about regulating one of my watches and they said if I wanted it regulated they would send a postage paid pouch out for me to return it in, regulate it and send it back - all FOC and with no need to drive over to the AD.
All of which left me very impressed - especially after my last experience of dealing with the UK Rolex Service Centre.
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Guess you can always sell the service pouch to recoup your costs.
For me it was £25 to send my watch to Rolex via the AD. They said this was the cost to them for sending the watch (not bought via them) in, so fair enough for me.
Mappin Webb regent street wanted £50 to post a Breitling Emergency for service. If you cross the road to the boutique or when they had the workshop on regent street they post it for free.
It's a Rolex warranty so either they or the original AD would, I would have thought, be responsible.
As others have said, not sure why another AD should incur an expense. I can't see there's a huge (if any) profit for them. How much do jewellers pay to send £10,000 watches fully insured?
Was that via the supplying AD?
Pretty modest one by the time they've dealt with sending it and receiving it back
& I’m sure if you contacted Rolex UK directly they might advise similarly.
I don’t see what the issue of dealing with a different AD has to do with it - why should they end up paying in time and expense. I wouldn’t expect it from any dealer for any product if I hadn’t purchased from them.
It's just a matter of time...
I agree.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
I recall having to pay £30 carriage for my Sea Dweller to be sent
to Rolex for service. I didn’t have a problem with that, but as it’s warranty
work I think Rolex should reimburse you for that.
Actually I've just been reminded by another comment. I had a BMW company car supplied by Specialist Cars who are a BMW franchise in Stevenage, funded by Lex Autolease. During the time I had it I had about 8 warranty issues, none of which were fixed by the original dealer or even dealer group. All done by a mix of Sytner BMW or Stephen James BMW. Each time the car was collected, fixed, washed, and returned, under warranty and free of charge. They even supplied a loan car or the offer of one on all occasions.
Remind me of your point again?
I’’d suggest the OP tries contacting their RSC in that case to see if they do?
However my point was more that if the manufacturer will arrange FOC collections for private individuals why wouldn’’’’t they do that for their AD’s?
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Last edited by adg31; 11th February 2020 at 20:47.
Terms of warranty could be you have to send it in.
Contrary to Omegamanics post, Rolex will not send out a service pack as Omega do.
I asked this specific question in November when my Submariner service was due and RSC advised that they would not do this and my only option was to take my watch to an AD.
This I did which involved a50 mile round trip and another 50 mile round trip to pick it up again.
It is much easier to deal with Omega than Rolex when service time comes around.
Seems reasonable for the AD to charge if they didn’t supply the watch originally.
It’s like buying a TV from curry’s, and then taking it to Richer Sounds and expecting them to deal with the return to manufacturer under warranty for free.
It’s perhaps worth a call to RSC to see if they will reimburse you the cost though?
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Thank you for clarifying this point
However based on my experience you could have finished your last sentence right after the word ‘Rolex’!
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Last edited by adg31; 11th February 2020 at 21:11.
But it never physically went back to BMW.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
It did. Every time they collected it.
What costs more here - postage for a £10k watch to London/Kent or paying a driver to come and collect my car, have it washed and drive it back to me? They didn't sell the car all they did was maintain it for the warranty issues.
Point here is they will have a set fee they charge back to BMW for this and warranty work will count towards workshop hours which is then charged back to BMW also.
End result is a seamless experience for the customer with the so called and advertised worldwide warranty. You're meant to be able to walk into any Rolex AD in the world with your watch and card and be taken care of. No asking for £30 for postage. How petty after spending £10k on a watch that's within warranty.
I don't disagree per-se, but the analogy you are using is it went back to BMW - it went back to a BMW dealer, not BMW itself.
In this case the AD (non-supplying) is an intermediary that will incur expense getting the watch back to Rolex.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
If you have an out of warranty watch that then may be a different story. If you send it off and then reject a repair then yes, charge your set admin fee or postage etc. If you do go forward for a full service then the cost of the service should include any AD getting it back to Rolex and back again. Like most other things if it's been serviced and is now back in warranty... Same again...
You think the BMW dealership which didn't supply the car didn't incur any costs coming out to my house to collect and return a car for free multiple times and leaving one of their cars on my drive? If Sytner were busy I'd call Stephen James or vice versa. If I was bored in traffic I'd push the assistance button and someone over the phone arranged it all for me. Point is the customer experience for an expensive in warranty product was handled. All the internal nonsense was not made my business or problem. They didn't ask why can't I go back to the other guys it came from even though that garage was still in Hertfordshire and only another 15 mins away.
Of course - I run BMW's myself and have benefitted from these arrangements.
I am not sure what Rolex have in terms of arrangements - I would like to think they have but I lost faith in them and the brand some time ago.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Btw I should point out this was only for a 1 series not exactly top of the line but I always got the same treatment and service, didn't matter that it was the cheapest one or the most expensive. A customer is a customer.
They do need to look at what others are doing and pull their socks up according in the areas they are falling behind the competition in, product or service. Much in the same way Omega did by matching the warranty and beating the movements.
Correct - the whole warranty card issue is indicative I think.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
I personally think it’s down to the AD’s preference.
When my Pam590 went back the first time when it had become magnetised I took it into WOS in Birmingham. While they were sorting out the paperwork for it’s return they were adamant that there would be a £50 fee that would was to cover the costs to send it. It was sorted under warranty.
The second time it went back for a timing issue after a full wind I took it into Berry’s in Nottingham. They couldn’t be more helpful, coffee, try I couple of watches on why your here, that sort of thing. While sorting out the paperwork for its return I asked if there was a fee to pay for which I got “oh no sir all the costs will be covered under it’s warranty.
Looking back I felt that WOS in Birmingham were just making a quick £50.
It’s got to go back a third time because it’s new issue is the watch stops after four days, it’s an eight day movement. I’ll be going to Berry’s in Nottingham.
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I think the analogy with car manufacturers/ dealers definitely has some mileage in it
The more you think about it, the more wrong it seems. It shouldn’t matter one jot where the watch was bought from, the Rolex AD is the point of contact for the customer, they should all be wearing the shirt and playing for the team.
Watch manufacturers have a nasty habit of trying to blame customers for faults, claiming the watch has been dropped or mistreated. Maybe it’s all part of the Swiss arrogance thing?..........I don’t know but it makes me wonder.
Rolex have created a situation where you’re expected to beg for the privilege of being allowed to pay an extortionate price for one of their watches, then if you have the cheek to suggest it might have a problem you’re expected to pay £30 to have it investigated. There’s really no excuse for this, it’s poor.
There’s absolutely no reason why all ADs shouldn’t have trained staff who can investigate and partially diagnose faults, it isn’t rocket science, and it would at least confirm what the customer was claiming. By keeping a watch for 2-3 days the AD could test for most faults and confirm whether the watch was indeed faulty. Once that’s been established the watch should be sent away to be sorted out without any quibbling.
Trust me, you can learn a lot about how a watch is running without taking the back off. Timegraphers and cyclotesters are easy to use and interpret!
Not all ADs do this, rather just ship it directly to RSC yourself and save yourself the stress.
Cost of postage with adequate insurance cover is expensive in the UK, it’s not that simple.
I needed to send a watch back for warranty work last year, Chisholm Hunter in Stirling wanted £50 because I didn’t buy it from them, yet, the Edinburgh branch did it for free, strange, £50 for the office party.
Last edited by Pitfitter; 12th February 2020 at 18:53.
Funnily enough I was also in Goldsmiths Reading today also just after 1pm. Anyway might be a Goldsmiths (watches of Switzerland) policy.
I've used the AD in Swindon before (Deacons) who are very professional when I had a watch serviced by them last May. I doubt they would charge if I needed to return it out of warranty, saying that they have their own workshop.
I sent my Hulk in for warranty repair through my local AD in Scotland, whereas watch was purchased in Sweden, and the warranty repair cost me nothing. I would have complained if it had.
My two pence worth
Dealer sends watch back to rolex charges £30
He is merely covering his cost there will be no payment to him from rolex
Regarding bmw dealers doing warranty work for cars that were not purchased from them
Of course they will each warranty job has a set rate of payment to the repairing dealer
As a last point i took a panerai to the london boutique for a repair (the watch came from an italian dealer)
They did not charge to send and sent it back to me free of charge,mind you whilst at the boutique dropping the watch of i did buy two others
So i suppose a lot goes down to the dealer swallowing the cost to build a relationship or charging and potentially upsetting a customer
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I had a similar experience with Panerai. I had to send my 422 back for regulation under warranty. Nearest AD without a flight or ferry ride was in Dublin, I had bought the watch from Berry's. No mention of any charge, Weir's in Grafton street were most helpful, and Panerai carried out a full service foc.
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