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Pre-Owned Watch

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WatchProblems

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York (state of the store) or Pennsylvania (my state)...I think NY state law matters in this situation but I am not sure.

Hello and thank you for your time. I purchased a pre-owned Rolex from a jewelry store in NYC's diamond district a few weeks ago. The watch was shipped to me in PA and when it arrived I noticed there was a crack in the pearl at the 12 o'clock position in the bezel. I contacted the store and was told that they would replace it so I dropped the watch off later that week. They replaced the pearl and mailed me the watch. Two weeks later (today) the pearl fell out. I don't know what happened to it but at some point in the day I looked at my watch and it was gone. There was no damage to the watch or inciting event to cause the pearl to fall out. I contacted the store and they are not going to replace the pearl. This is their warranty:

"provides you with a full one-year warranty on all our pre-owned watches. (Warranty can be renewed for a fixed fee). This warranty does not cover normal wear and tear or damage caused by accidents or negligence. Also warranty is rendered void if any other company, except Sea Wave Diamonds, carries out repair on the watch. We will cover all the parts, labor or even can replace the watch at our discretion within the warranty period. Shipping expenses are always responsibility of the purchaser. (No Exceptions)"

I am unsure how to proceed at this point. My thought is that I will bring it to the official Rolex service repair center in NYC and have them service the watch (this consists of them disassembling the watch, cleaning the movement, replacing broken parts, checking the timing, and buffing the metal). This service costs $300 plus the cost of any replaced parts. Then I will sue the jewelry store in small claims court for the cost of servicing the watch. Does this seem like a reasonable course of action? If so, is there anyway I could sue them in PA court?

Thank you again!
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York (state of the store) or Pennsylvania (my state)...I think NY state law matters in this situation but I am not sure.

Hello and thank you for your time. I purchased a pre-owned Rolex from a jewelry store in NYC's diamond district a few weeks ago. The watch was shipped to me in PA and when it arrived I noticed there was a crack in the pearl at the 12 o'clock position in the bezel. I contacted the store and was told that they would replace it so I dropped the watch off later that week. They replaced the pearl and mailed me the watch. Two weeks later (today) the pearl fell out. I don't know what happened to it but at some point in the day I looked at my watch and it was gone. There was no damage to the watch or inciting event to cause the pearl to fall out. I contacted the store and they are not going to replace the pearl. This is their warranty:

"provides you with a full one-year warranty on all our pre-owned watches. (Warranty can be renewed for a fixed fee). This warranty does not cover normal wear and tear or damage caused by accidents or negligence. Also warranty is rendered void if any other company, except Sea Wave Diamonds, carries out repair on the watch. We will cover all the parts, labor or even can replace the watch at our discretion within the warranty period. Shipping expenses are always responsibility of the purchaser. (No Exceptions)"

I am unsure how to proceed at this point. My thought is that I will bring it to the official Rolex service repair center in NYC and have them service the watch (this consists of them disassembling the watch, cleaning the movement, replacing broken parts, checking the timing, and buffing the metal). This service costs $300 plus the cost of any replaced parts. Then I will sue the jewelry store in small claims court for the cost of servicing the watch. Does this seem like a reasonable course of action? If so, is there anyway I could sue them in PA court?

Thank you again!
No, that is not reasonable. It would be reasonable to sue them the cost of replacing the pearl, but not of servicing/cleaning the watch. However, you will also be voiding the warranty by having anyone other than Sea Wave Diamonds work on the watch at all.
 

WatchProblems

Junior Member
Thank for your response LdiJ. If the original store will not service the watch I wouldn't want anyone except a certified Rolex service center to work on the watch. Unfortunately there is no way to have them only replace the pearl, you need to pay for the entire servicing. You don't think that I could sue the jeweler for the entire cost as their refusal to stick to the warranty caused me to go to the service center?

Also, could I bring them to small claims court in PA?

Thanks!
 

tranquility

Senior Member
Thank for your response LdiJ. If the original store will not service the watch I wouldn't want anyone except a certified Rolex service center to work on the watch. Unfortunately there is no way to have them only replace the pearl, you need to pay for the entire servicing. You don't think that I could sue the jeweler for the entire cost as their refusal to stick to the warranty caused me to go to the service center?

Also, could I bring them to small claims court in PA?

Thanks!
I suspect it is unlikely you could sue them in PA. Depending on all the facts, it is possible, but, I suspect not.

Since you can't prove the pearl falling out was not because of something you did, I'm not sure the warranty could be used as a contract the other party breached. While I understand your frustration, I don't think fighting on this is going to be a winner. True, if you can prove up a breach of the warranty contract, you should get the benefit of the bargain. Something that falls out seems like a wear and tear, damage/negligence kind of item. Even if you could prove they had a duty to replace it, does not mean you can get another to do extra work to get it done and sue for that work.
 

WatchProblems

Junior Member
I suspect it is unlikely you could sue them in PA. Depending on all the facts, it is possible, but, I suspect not.

Since you can't prove the pearl falling out was not because of something you did, I'm not sure the warranty could be used as a contract the other party breached. While I understand your frustration, I don't think fighting on this is going to be a winner. True, if you can prove up a breach of the warranty contract, you should get the benefit of the bargain. Something that falls out seems like a wear and tear, damage/negligence kind of item. Even if you could prove they had a duty to replace it, does not mean you can get another to do extra work to get it done and sue for that work.
It is true that I can't prove that the pearl fell out without damage to the watch but the fact that the rest of the watch is still in mint condition would seemingly support the fact that the watch has never sustained significant trauma (assuming that anything that would dislodge the pearl would also damage the bezel). I think this is a reasonable assumption as the pearl is tiny.

If I get the watch serviced anywhere but the original store the warranty they provide is void and I don't want to pay them to fix it as they have already done subpar work on the watch previously. Also, paying them for a service I feel they should provide under the existing warranty rubs me the wrong way.

The Rolex service center is the only outlet that will provide a warranty on the watch after service. If I argue in small claims court that I did not want to pay them to fix the watch because they breached their contract and went to the Rolex service center so the watch would still be under warranty would this have a significant chance of winning?

Thanks.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What makes you believe it isn't?
That's not how it works here...you made the claim, now YOU back it up.

For the record, the warranty and the online store's policy don't allow this as a remedy. That's why I asked you why you think it is a remedy.
 

Dave1952

Senior Member
Sorry guys but asking the store to rescind the deal is always a remedy. The store is not obliged to say yes of course but he should ask. If you fail to consider solutions that fall outside of the legal system then your advice isn't going to help many people. Unknowns answer was excellent so get off your high horses.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Sorry guys but asking the store to rescind the deal is always a remedy. The store is not obliged to say yes of course but he should ask. If you fail to consider solutions that fall outside of the legal system then your advice isn't going to help many people. Unknowns answer was excellent so get off your high horses.
He didn't suggest that the OP *ask* about rescinding the deal. He suggested that the OP simply rescind the deal. Unilateral rescission of the deal is not an option for the OP.

Furthermore, when I questioned him about it, he didn't even mention asking about it, which indicates to me that he feels that the OP has the option to simply give it back.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Dave1952

Senior Member
Come on Unknown. Zig is a smart and valued contributor. Has been for a long time.
Geez, I can't believe I'm saying nice things about him.
 

Userunknown2015

Junior Member
Dave, seems like you have some issue with him. I'll do my best to tolerate it.

Zig, if you think I care at all how long you have been a user anyway you will be sadly mistaken.

I'll post as I see fit.

Enjoy my company
 

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