What was your worst boutique experience?

Waiting for Rolex AD stories… 🍿

You know they are coming!

No bad experiences at boutiques or ADs

I've been in many AD.'s but wouldn't set foot in a so called boutique.

I’ll start with one, though it’s nowhere near as bad or as direct as what OP experienced.

I’ve been quietly and quite obviously, judged by Rolex ADs.

And in the peak of Rolex mania been chuckled at by more than one AD when I asked if there was anything available.

Things have changed somewhat now, but that’s a story for another post.

The AD be like:

We are all judged everywhere! I'm sure most know the answer going in

At least most places are discrete about it. Well, you don’t ask, you don’t know. Anyway, was offered 3 watches in December without even asking.

I assume I'm being judged. Did you buy any of the 3?

Nope, even though I was very tempted to as one was the 40mm steel Explorer. I’ve realised I don’t like Rolexes enough to spend stupid money on them.

I think it was your loss. Salespeople are people and people can be idiots. If we would get pissed off at every idiot, we would be perpetually pissed off. But you could ask for another salesperson and get yourself a watch you wanted. And then you could have piss off that idiot by telling him that he lost a sale because he was an idiot. Just my opinion.

Multiple AD visits and opportunities to buy. Glad you finally realized they aren't for you!

I have always been treated with respect and civility at the ads and boutiques that I have wandered into but there is a watchmaker locally who once refused to show me an Omega Speedmaster in his showcase, announcing loudly that he did not want to waste his time! Since that incident he tells people on our shared neighbourhood street that I am jerk. I say that the man should at least know my name before calling me a lowlife jerk. lol.

Best: I’ve always found my local “Watches of Switzerland” Brighton a great store. Passionate, knowledgeable and friendly people.

Worst: Rolex Heathrow airport. Nice and friendly, a great experience except the staff had no passion for watches and zero knowledge. Yes, they had memorised the spec sheet of the current Sub, but when I mentioned “maxi dial or super case” or a previous reference, they had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.

The take away: Rolex Heathrow airport is actually a Concession owned by Watches of Switzerland. Even though you’ll see no branding. It looks like purely a Rolex store. So really, for me, the store makes absolutely no difference, it’s all about the staff member you interact with that can make or break the experience.

My local Ben Bridge is the closest thing to a boutique here in Anchorage. I walked in to check out Tissots and Heuers (wore my Glycine Airman for street cred) and was totally ignored. After 10 minutes a dude said be right with you, but helping the woman who was looking at Rolexes who wasn’t going to buy anything was the priority.

I walked out, never to return (2 years ago)

Every boutique experience. Every single one.

There’s been a few I shall recap:

1. A worker in a boutique called my Hamilton Field “cheap”

2. I asked an AD about Rolex and he obnoxiously and loudly laughed in my face

3. I inquired about trading my Longines and they told me to get lost since there’s no market for used Longines

4. One of my first ones though was when I was probably about 21 and I asked to try on a Tudor Pelagos and with a straight face they said no and after I asked why they asked me to leave the store

I regularly just get ignored in ADs simply cos I don’t dress that smart, I’d never buy from an AD that didn’t bother to approach me so it’s a good way to filter out the scumbags

I went into this fairly small watch and jewelry shop, obviously privately owned and not a big company. About the size of a large bedroom and in a fairly good location in a small city.

They had mostly Seiko and most were priced some x3 their actual value.

There was a really expensive X series Seiko (I forgot what Seiko call it) diver which had obviously been dropped and half of the very large bezel was snapped off and missing. Like 15% of the watch was gone.

I pointed it out to the guy (who I'm pretty sure was the store owner) but he was like "naa that's normal".

I said no that's broken and he was like "oh yeah I see it now" and then offered me a discount. I obviously refused and then proceeded to put it back on the shelf so he could sell it to someone else. 😂

They do notice and comment; indicates to them if you are able/willing to buy. Sad but true; and no fun for folks getting into the hobby.

Had the same experience, walked in dressed up in sports gear, they paid no attention. Took an inexpensive watch to them to get links out…they scratched the damn bezel. I never went back.

Aussies aren’t twats generally…. I’ve not had any problems except in the Rolex Boutique in Siam BKK because I don’t wear a f&@king mask 😷. Being trained in Metrology I understand that airborne particles of so called virus particles ( 60-150 nanometers diameter) the mask holes of the best mask has pore or holes 95 microns across so illogically pointless and actually dangerous for bacterial growth from one’s own breath. So not being able to articulate or argue this point to the security guy on the door I gave up entirely to enter.

I had an AD take the piss out of my G-Shock 5610 (by the way, I love that watch) saying "Let's get you out that ... er ... "casio" and into a real watch.

The few times I’ve visited the jewelers near me, I’m in an old sweatshirt, my hair is david Lynch level crazy, they can see my 2006 Toyota out the front window and no matter how many times I say I’m just browsing, they are pulling out watches and handing them to me. It’s really nice and I know exactly who I’ll buy from when the time comes as she pulled out a mop dial Rolex so my 7 year old daughter could get a closer look on our last visit. If someone treated me like op, I would literally lock eyes and slowly tell them to fuck off.

WOS Regent Street, just asked what model a watch was in the window that I didn’t recognise. Sales person huffed like I was asking them to hoover the steps on the Eiffel Tower and asked me if I was actually going to buy a watch today.

WOS regent street is terrible, only been twice, both times awful. Was there on the weekend, the doorman wouldn't let me in without me taking out my airpods. Was greeted by a nice lady who offered me a drink, but I declined as I had 10 mins spare and was just browsing. Wanted to take a pic of an omega (through the window) that was on sale to share with a friend, asked this second security guard who was leaning on some other cabinet and he said no..... then walk around upstairs and downstairs, no one bothered to talk to me. At least 7-8 staff excluding the rolex workers, maybe 2 customers. Can't say I'm surprised WOS share price has tanked so hard

Shocking customer service. Either they are selling so many watches they don’t care or they understand nothing about watch enthusiast and the long game it is for most of us. My last two watches took me over 6 months to choose and buy. One assistant spent over 2 hours with me over 2 visits, Chisholm Hunter Edinburgh. It’s like night and day compared to WOS

I’ve generally had good experiences. A couple of boutiques, Vacheron and JLC, went really out of their way to provide excellent service. The very first watch boutique or AD I ever went into was Vacheron and I was so incredibly nervous, but they were unbelievably kind and helpful, it gave me an amazing impression of the brand from day one.

The only bad places I’ve been was a more local AD that holds a variety of fairly high end brands like Patek. I walked in and the owner didn’t give me the time of day at all, just basically chucked a watch I asked to see at me and walked away. Then later he came back to put the watch away and asked about price range. I gave him a price and he pretty rudely said that I couldn’t afford any of that brand for that price, despite the fact that I know that I absolutely can, and I had my eye on a specific model. After that I was left alone to wander around the store without anyone paying me heed. Overall they weren’t horrible, but just not good, though I’d never go back. The owner then tried to be really obsequiously nice as I was leaving which put me off even more.

Other than that, I’ve been to ADs where I clearly know more (sometimes a lot more) than the sales staff which is a little off putting and doesn’t inspire confidence.

But I’ve also had great experiences. Gone into places at random, had the owner show me around, answer all my questions, pull out things from the back to show me because they could tell I was really interested. 80% good to great experiences.

Hi Aaron my friend!

OMG - so brutal. I’m not sure if I’d be so polite as you to not say something.

But I relate more than you know!

I bike commute everywhere (I prefer a bike over a car, it’s unrelated to my net worth)

It means I’m never dressed in a suit. Maybe a nice bike and nice commuter clothes are as fancy as I get when around. And I may be carrying a helmet as well.

To most shops I look, well, not like a dude who buys watches.

The other catch, in this city (YVR) it’s known by retailers that Chinese speakers are the big money ticket. So a Caucasian on a bike is a total fail.

I’d love to see and try on a Moser or UN or Rolex etc .. but the AD for those brands has given me evil eye and GTFO treatment the couple times I’ve been in.

So I prefer US or Japan for buying watches!