Purchased a Rolex and it didn't work !

smurfjed

Had made a deal with SWMBO, that once i reached a certain level in my career, that i would purchase her a Rolex. Well the time had come, someone recommended a shop to me in the Middle East where people sell "gifted" watches, so they are basically new watches, but the owner had no desire to wear it and wanted the cash instead.
I bought her the watch shown below a couple of weeks ago and promptly flew off to Ireland to delver it to her. Unfortunately we immediately saw that although it looked great on her wrist, it didn't keep time! Either on or off her wrist. Both the Rolex and Breitling were set at the same time, the Rolex lasted about an hour before it stopped.
Needless to say, I wasn't too impressed and was quite nervous about getting my 5 grand back!
I went to visit the same shop today, about 15 days after getting the watch, they had searched for a replacement but couldn't find one, their proffered watches included diamonds which SWMBO didn't want, so we walked out of the shop with a 100% refund.
For this reason alone, there is no way that i would buy something as expensive as this online.
Now i have to go find her one that works

Northern Monkey

Did you try giving it a hand wind to kick it off?

frozenfrozen

That's a happy ending! How does the shop work? They give good second hand prices for next to new watches and just repolish them?

Dr Turk Turkelton

Why would you buy a watch for a SAMBO?
In my house we eat sandwiches.

smurfjed

They give good second hand prices for next to new watches and just repolish them?

In this part of the world, its common for people to give expensive gifts, so the recipient just brings the watch to the equivalent of a pawn broker and sells the watches. The one that i got came with the box, labels, tie on's, warrantee etc!
They also had quite a number of actual second hand watches, but they are basically buy as seen with a shop guarantee.

Did you try giving it a hand wind to kick it off?

Shop set it up the first time.

run_Forrest_run

What or who is a SWMBO??

pointer28

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

What or who is a SWMBO??

She Who Must Be Obeyed

The Rabbit

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

What or who is a SWMBO??

She who must be obeyed.

I think...

Menas

I am not sure what the point of the story is. You bought a watch, it did not work so you got a refund.
I would not use this as an example of why not to buy a watch online though...most of us here have bought and sold expensive watches online without issues.

You just need to be careful...same as buying a watch in a bricks and mortar store.

smurfjed

Previous threads in this forum have talked about buying watches outside Ireland, in this case i was lucky that i was able to return to the brick and mortar shop for a refund, this might not have happened if i was in that country for a holiday or business.

You have had success buying off the internet, good for you, but for me, there is no way that i would buy a 5,000 Euro watch on the internet.

But of course, thats just my personal opinion!

Jude13

I have been to quite a few of these shops in Oman. Heading to Abu Dhabi in October to have a look at a watch or two. It's always the worry.

fishguy

Well I would rather buy a high end watch from a well known web site where I'm protected by paypal for at least 60 days, than from a middle east shop that sells unwanted gifts (pawnshop ey')