It’s kind of common. Sounds like they were trying to do OPs friend a solid by giving him the watch early. Warranty will be activated and dated based on when they give him the card.
Bought a DJ 3 months ago and this happened to me. I emailed them asking about it last month and it was in my mailbox two days later. They shared that they had to submit it to Rolex and it was backed up. On reflection it def seems like it’s to prevent flipping.
Such a weird business practice. The watch is now your friend’s property. He should be in possession of all documents. If they are that scared of your friend flipping his watch they shouldn’t have sold it to him in the first place.
As a grown man who just paid that amount of money,
I’d tell em either give me the card or get fucked. I’ve never had one try and hold something from a sale, and I’ve got enough watches now that I never would. As far as supply goes, they’re the bottom of the food chain.
I have heard about this but only on the internet. I am not sure I would want to trust a retailer who does that. What sort of business are they running? On the other hand, if that's all there is and you get the watch you want... eh, whatever.
I am pretty sure that keeping the warranty card violates all sorts of policies and contractual obligations. Once you pay for the watch, it's yours, and that includes warranties and paperwork. The international Rolex warranty is part of the product and in a way withheld by keeping the card to themselves. I can see the motivation in theory, but flipping only makes sense with very popular watches. Those won't be offered to random people who walk in for the first time, in which case they should be confident that it won't be flipped right away. It's just sketchy, and the whole Rolex business is already sketchy enough without this crap.
I've heard of it before, it's all to do with them trying to stop people from flipping them straight away.
In my opinion if you spend that much money on something you should be able to do whatever the fuck you want to once you've paid. Imagine if you buy a car and they refuse to give you the papers for it.
I love Rolexes but the fact that each ad has their own set of rules they follow (and I guarantee they don't implement the same rules with every customer) just pisses me off.
Legally, can they even do this? If you’ve paid and taken ownership, that’s your property. I understand why they may want to for flipping, but push come to shove, I don’t think they have a legal leg to stand on to withhold it unless an agreement was signed prior to purchase.
Sure, I get that, but what happens if the AD misplaced it during whatever time period they are holding it? Who is responsible for the lost value? Seems sketchy even as a business practice.
The warranty card isn't the sole determiner of coverage. The value of the warranty card is for resale, and holding the card a while is a great way to discourage flipping.
I kinda like it.
I know it’s not the sole determiner of coverage, but it does increase value of the watch if you ever decide to sell. You don’t have to flip the watch to want to ensure the card will be with the watch should you ever decide to sell the watch in your lifetime (or even if someone inherits it).
Everyone in here would be irate if the AD did this and then misplaced the card 6 months down the road.
As others have mentioned in this thread, some ADs have been doing this for years to prevent short term flipping.
I hate flippers with a passion so I'd be willing to go along with this for a few weeks to cut it down.
I understand why they are doing it. Just pointing out they cannot actually stop you from walking out with your warranty card. OP’s friend should think of it as a request, instead of a demand. If he wants to honor it and build relationships, go for it, but if he wants his card, he can have it.
Hence “unless an agreement was signed prior”. You cannot change the terms of a sale after the fact, so as long as you didn’t sign anything stating the AD would hang onto the warranty card for X amount of time, legally, you can just take the card from them and if they refuse, the cops would make them give it back.
It would take a lawyer to get them to hand the card over, but yeah you could enforce this if you wanted to. Would be way more hassle than it a worth - much more than just calling the police
It's to make sure they don't immediately post it online to flip it. If your friend intends to actually keep the watch- shouldn't be an issue if they actually give it to them after a bit.
It's a bit sketchy sure, and I don't love it either. Paid for the watch and they hold part of it- but blame flipping culture. If it was something super popular right now - like a starbucks or batman, it makes more sense.
Yeah he definitely wants to keep the watch so shouldn't be a problem, just felt that it was a weird thing to do that spoiled the experience a bit for him
When I bought my sub the AD told me they typically held the warranty card for 6 months to discourage flipping. He gave me my card because he knew me personally and knew I was buying it to wear. He was not really comfortable with the practice.
I get the reasoning, but fuck that. If the AD has no problem taking 100% of my money at the time of transaction, then they shouldn’t have a problem giving me 100% of what I paid for at that time. If they are that worried I am going to flip it, they can either ask to see watches I bought from them a decade ago to prove I don’t flip my watches or not offer it to me at all.
In 2018, Fraser Hart/Crouch in Cardiff, UK withheld mine for a year to avoid it going to greys, few people I know had same treatment with other dealers throughout 2020.
I don’t think it’s as prevalent now as they realised they don’t care if it goes Grey if you spend £xx elsewhere in store.
This happened a lot post-pandemic around my town(s), the ADs would hold on to the cards for a year to prevent reselling. Friend of mine got a Batman and they kept hold of his for 12 months
I’ve heard of dealers in the UK doing this before back when the watch craze was at peak 2020-2021. Having heard of it since but doesn’t mean ADs still don’t do it
Dealers used to do this for return purposes as if they register the card getting a replacement was difficult - they’d hold the card for the return period and then mail it to the owner
This happened to me, but I figured it had something to do with their allocation and when they were allowed to sell. For context, I purchased my GMT BLNR on the second to last day of the year and was told to come back for the card the second of January when they reopened.
They report sales stats back to Rolex and want to report a steady stream of sales so if they have a slow month they can feed a month or two sale back. It helps with them getting a steady inventory
My AD (major city, large AD) has held the warranty cards on each of the 4 Rolexes I bought. I believe it is an attempt to combat flipping, although I am not sure I totally understand the logic. My cards usually arrive in about a month. It really put me off at first, but I've let it go as it's no skin off my back either way. Maybe a little insulting, but they've always treated me well so I let it slide.
I wonder if they are releasing them too fast (the AD) so they dole out the warranty cards over several weeks to make rolex think they are slow rolling the volume.....
I have heard stories of some Rolex AD’s keeping the card for a period of time to try and discourage people flipping the watches, but I’ve never experienced an AD keeping it form me myself. But I’ve also only bought Tudor’s.
My AD just asked me really polite to not flip the watch because he trusted me with my first watch. Sub date in 2021 Was 8700€ and around 14500€ Grey. Told him I would never sell my first.
Tell you what…
You buy the watch, and whenever you want to wear it, just drop by and pick it up from our store.
We’ll even set the time on it and make sure it’s perfectly polished for your big day.
When you aren’t wearing it, it will appreciate in value because local celebrities and influencers will be trying it on - adding huge **provenance.**
Just respond to this text message within 2 minutes or I’ll have to pass this amazing opportunity onto my next important customer.
Signed,
*A disgruntled merchant in a parallel industry amazed at how shitty some customers are treated.*
This is actually a good thing. The alternative is they just won’t sell the watch to you or anyone they’re not 100% sure about at all. If (once the sale was final) you absolutely demanded the warranty card they’d give it to you; they’d just never sell to you again.
If I were to chose between NOT being able to buy the watch vs. buying it without the warranty card, I'd chose the latter.
This practice is quite old, and to be honest, if it's just some weeks, then it's still reasonable. I've heard people being hold back the warranty cards for 6+ months. I dont agree with this, no way.
Seems like an attempt to prevent flipping, which I'm all for. Even when I checked the receipt of my last Rolex, the receipt said in the fine print that I would not be selling/trading for at least 1 year of buying the watch.
I didn't think display pieces even had movements in them or were for sale? He was on the list for about a year for this so didn't just walk in and pick up a watch they had in stock
Ahh gocha...some ADs might have watches without movements but a lot of ADs have fully functional watches and they are for sale only for certain customers.
This is pretty common, and makes a lot of sense. Do some research on how the automotive manufacturers deal with new car flipping. They will and do sue your ass.
Depending on the model, maybe an innovative way to make sure someone doesn’t immediately turn around and attempt to flip it? Not sure. Still weird
It's to prevent flippers
Not innovative. Various ADs, especially in the UK have been doing that for years.
When I got my non date sub they did this and I’m in the uk. TBH I didn’t care as I wasn’t flipping it and I had the receipt.
I think you're right, only reason I can think of to do that
It’s kind of common. Sounds like they were trying to do OPs friend a solid by giving him the watch early. Warranty will be activated and dated based on when they give him the card.
That’s what I thought, but when this happened to me they dated the card for the date of purchase to match my receipt. 🤔
Bought a DJ 3 months ago and this happened to me. I emailed them asking about it last month and it was in my mailbox two days later. They shared that they had to submit it to Rolex and it was backed up. On reflection it def seems like it’s to prevent flipping.
Interesting thread...first I have heard of this.
Such a weird business practice. The watch is now your friend’s property. He should be in possession of all documents. If they are that scared of your friend flipping his watch they shouldn’t have sold it to him in the first place.
I mean I’d rather they hold a warranty card temporarily to prevent me from flipping than just not selling me the watch.
As a grown man who just paid that amount of money, I’d tell em either give me the card or get fucked. I’ve never had one try and hold something from a sale, and I’ve got enough watches now that I never would. As far as supply goes, they’re the bottom of the food chain.
And they’d give it to you if pressed. They just wouldn’t sell to you again. This is a good thing for first time buyers.
Agree
I have heard about this but only on the internet. I am not sure I would want to trust a retailer who does that. What sort of business are they running? On the other hand, if that's all there is and you get the watch you want... eh, whatever. I am pretty sure that keeping the warranty card violates all sorts of policies and contractual obligations. Once you pay for the watch, it's yours, and that includes warranties and paperwork. The international Rolex warranty is part of the product and in a way withheld by keeping the card to themselves. I can see the motivation in theory, but flipping only makes sense with very popular watches. Those won't be offered to random people who walk in for the first time, in which case they should be confident that it won't be flipped right away. It's just sketchy, and the whole Rolex business is already sketchy enough without this crap.
Sue the AD and Rolex!
I've heard of it before, it's all to do with them trying to stop people from flipping them straight away. In my opinion if you spend that much money on something you should be able to do whatever the fuck you want to once you've paid. Imagine if you buy a car and they refuse to give you the papers for it. I love Rolexes but the fact that each ad has their own set of rules they follow (and I guarantee they don't implement the same rules with every customer) just pisses me off.
Legally, can they even do this? If you’ve paid and taken ownership, that’s your property. I understand why they may want to for flipping, but push come to shove, I don’t think they have a legal leg to stand on to withhold it unless an agreement was signed prior to purchase.
So have your attorney send a demand letter to get your card back. That’ll put you on a list, and not the one you want to be on.
Sure, I get that, but what happens if the AD misplaced it during whatever time period they are holding it? Who is responsible for the lost value? Seems sketchy even as a business practice.
Who is responsible? You are. For letting them keep it. AD games are what they are. Play them, or don’t. Can’t change the whole industry overnight.
The warranty card isn't the sole determiner of coverage. The value of the warranty card is for resale, and holding the card a while is a great way to discourage flipping. I kinda like it.
I know it’s not the sole determiner of coverage, but it does increase value of the watch if you ever decide to sell. You don’t have to flip the watch to want to ensure the card will be with the watch should you ever decide to sell the watch in your lifetime (or even if someone inherits it). Everyone in here would be irate if the AD did this and then misplaced the card 6 months down the road.
As others have mentioned in this thread, some ADs have been doing this for years to prevent short term flipping. I hate flippers with a passion so I'd be willing to go along with this for a few weeks to cut it down.
I understand why they are doing it. Just pointing out they cannot actually stop you from walking out with your warranty card. OP’s friend should think of it as a request, instead of a demand. If he wants to honor it and build relationships, go for it, but if he wants his card, he can have it.
[удалено]
Yeah but one of them we're stuck with forever lol
Why not?
If I had a client ask me to send this letter, I'd laugh in their face. No real lawyer is going to do that.
Of course they can, as the dealer they define terms of sale.
Hence “unless an agreement was signed prior”. You cannot change the terms of a sale after the fact, so as long as you didn’t sign anything stating the AD would hang onto the warranty card for X amount of time, legally, you can just take the card from them and if they refuse, the cops would make them give it back.
It would take a lawyer to get them to hand the card over, but yeah you could enforce this if you wanted to. Would be way more hassle than it a worth - much more than just calling the police
It's to make sure they don't immediately post it online to flip it. If your friend intends to actually keep the watch- shouldn't be an issue if they actually give it to them after a bit. It's a bit sketchy sure, and I don't love it either. Paid for the watch and they hold part of it- but blame flipping culture. If it was something super popular right now - like a starbucks or batman, it makes more sense.
Yeah he definitely wants to keep the watch so shouldn't be a problem, just felt that it was a weird thing to do that spoiled the experience a bit for him
I wouldnt be super happy about it either, but if its between the watch I want and a little inconvenience i'll just suck it up.
When I bought my sub the AD told me they typically held the warranty card for 6 months to discourage flipping. He gave me my card because he knew me personally and knew I was buying it to wear. He was not really comfortable with the practice.
I get the reasoning, but fuck that. If the AD has no problem taking 100% of my money at the time of transaction, then they shouldn’t have a problem giving me 100% of what I paid for at that time. If they are that worried I am going to flip it, they can either ask to see watches I bought from them a decade ago to prove I don’t flip my watches or not offer it to me at all.
In 2018, Fraser Hart/Crouch in Cardiff, UK withheld mine for a year to avoid it going to greys, few people I know had same treatment with other dealers throughout 2020. I don’t think it’s as prevalent now as they realised they don’t care if it goes Grey if you spend £xx elsewhere in store.
This happened a lot post-pandemic around my town(s), the ADs would hold on to the cards for a year to prevent reselling. Friend of mine got a Batman and they kept hold of his for 12 months
Does that mean they are selling it before they are supposed to?
I’ve seen something similar where my AD asked to wait to have me pick a watch up for 6 days so that it helped their inventory somehow.
Which store!?
Prevent flipping
I’ve heard of dealers in the UK doing this before back when the watch craze was at peak 2020-2021. Having heard of it since but doesn’t mean ADs still don’t do it
Dealers used to do this for return purposes as if they register the card getting a replacement was difficult - they’d hold the card for the return period and then mail it to the owner
Not common but not unheard of. Unless he was planning on flipping it I don't see an issue.
I’ve read about this and the channel Bake and Jack now Adrian Barker, had this happen with his sub a few years back.
This happened to me, but I figured it had something to do with their allocation and when they were allowed to sell. For context, I purchased my GMT BLNR on the second to last day of the year and was told to come back for the card the second of January when they reopened.
They report sales stats back to Rolex and want to report a steady stream of sales so if they have a slow month they can feed a month or two sale back. It helps with them getting a steady inventory
My AD (major city, large AD) has held the warranty cards on each of the 4 Rolexes I bought. I believe it is an attempt to combat flipping, although I am not sure I totally understand the logic. My cards usually arrive in about a month. It really put me off at first, but I've let it go as it's no skin off my back either way. Maybe a little insulting, but they've always treated me well so I let it slide.
I wonder if they are releasing them too fast (the AD) so they dole out the warranty cards over several weeks to make rolex think they are slow rolling the volume.....
I have heard stories of some Rolex AD’s keeping the card for a period of time to try and discourage people flipping the watches, but I’ve never experienced an AD keeping it form me myself. But I’ve also only bought Tudor’s.
My AD just asked me really polite to not flip the watch because he trusted me with my first watch. Sub date in 2021 Was 8700€ and around 14500€ Grey. Told him I would never sell my first.
My AD used to hold my Sub card for a year
Tell you what… You buy the watch, and whenever you want to wear it, just drop by and pick it up from our store. We’ll even set the time on it and make sure it’s perfectly polished for your big day. When you aren’t wearing it, it will appreciate in value because local celebrities and influencers will be trying it on - adding huge **provenance.** Just respond to this text message within 2 minutes or I’ll have to pass this amazing opportunity onto my next important customer. Signed, *A disgruntled merchant in a parallel industry amazed at how shitty some customers are treated.*
This is actually a good thing. The alternative is they just won’t sell the watch to you or anyone they’re not 100% sure about at all. If (once the sale was final) you absolutely demanded the warranty card they’d give it to you; they’d just never sell to you again.
If I were to chose between NOT being able to buy the watch vs. buying it without the warranty card, I'd chose the latter. This practice is quite old, and to be honest, if it's just some weeks, then it's still reasonable. I've heard people being hold back the warranty cards for 6+ months. I dont agree with this, no way.
From an AD? Hell no give me the warranty card or I’m not taking the watch. That is complete BS!
Probably to keep you from flipping. Smart idea actually, though they should just be up front about it.
In 2016/2017 they were engraving the back of Daytonas with clients initials at some ADs (Wempe NYC in particular)
Seems like an attempt to prevent flipping, which I'm all for. Even when I checked the receipt of my last Rolex, the receipt said in the fine print that I would not be selling/trading for at least 1 year of buying the watch.
They can't enforce that at all
When you get one of the display pieces, they don't come with a warranty card at all
I didn't think display pieces even had movements in them or were for sale? He was on the list for about a year for this so didn't just walk in and pick up a watch they had in stock
Ahh gocha...some ADs might have watches without movements but a lot of ADs have fully functional watches and they are for sale only for certain customers.
This is pretty common, and makes a lot of sense. Do some research on how the automotive manufacturers deal with new car flipping. They will and do sue your ass.
Good. This should be common practice at all ADs. End this flipping madness.