The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Something similar happened to me here in Argentina.
In the first AD I went to buy, they I wanted to sell me a Chrono Seawolf without the certificate because they said they had lost it.
For that time I had paid the total value of the watch. And the owner told me that when he got the certificate he would call me. Saying what he could have sold me without the certificate and not tell me anything about it. A stupid son of .....!!!
So... I took my money and I went to another AD located in a prestigious shopping, where they let me try any watch. Always wear casual clothes and "dirty shoes" (yeah DIRTY shoes ha ha) and they didn't misjudge me. I bought there 3 watches and a pair of Montblank cufflinks and 2 more breitlings coming soon...

i love that story! kudos to your friend for telling the sales guy where to stick it. i hate being judged by the sales people. i am pretty young and what makes it look worst is that i look even younger. i have had to put a sales person in their place more than once and i will do it again in a heart beat if its warranted.

Went to another AD and they were simply outstanding in terms of answering questions. So I am pleased because now I have a store that can service my watch. A very good day today.

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Breitling Chronomat BO1 Riviera Blue Dial Stainless Steel Case and Pilot Bracelet

Ah, your new AD must read Breitlingsource Good for you!

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a few Pams...

I did a short stint (summer) as a car salesman for the local Nissan lot on the weekends only. About the 3rd week into it, early on Saturday morning an older man pulled up saying he wanted to look at the Titan pickups. He was dressed in overalls and had cow shit all over his boots and legs. I walked out to wait on him noboby else 6 guys, "wanted" him. Took him to the trucks and he just wanted to look inside. said his clothes were dirty and did not want to mess it up. He looked at me and said "give me your best price". Being new I went into the manager and asked him. He said get the mans info and we can run his credit and see where "we can hit him". I went to the man and asked him his personal info so we could run credit.

He said no need to he was a cash customer. No problem. Went back into the mgr and he said whatever, waste your time if you want, he is not buying. He gave me a price, I had a "gut" feeling about this guy, went back out and shot him a price $500 less than what the manager said. THe man looked at me and said I will take 8 of the red ones, I will be back with a cashiers check this afternoon.

Turns out the guy was the owner of a local bank and farmers coop. The owner of the car lot came to me and asked what the sales manager had said, I told him and apperantly this was the last straw and they SM was not there the next weekend. hmmm

can not say it enough NEVER judge by looks. It took no more time for me to simply go greet the guy and give him my card as it did to sit there and drink coffee.

I would definatly wear the B01 back in and talk to the manger of the store.

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Chronomat GT
Colt Automatic
SS Rolex Datejust

Yeah, talking to the salesperson, while self-gratifying, will certainly not teach them a lesson as they have already proven their shallowness and stupidity. But talking to a manager might be useful.

As I become more of a manager in my position (thankfully, not in a service industry) I start to realize how precious data from ground level really is. The only feedback managers usually get is from their employees. But how are their employees actually doing at accomplishing their job to your expectations? It may or may not be the employees fault...many times it is your fault as a manager for designing a flawed process. But in any case, one's employees are usually intrinsically bad at being able to identify issues that customers/stakeholders/users can see in a matter of seconds.

If you do have a nice and polite conversation with the manager, they should thank you for taking the time to tell them. If not, then the store is flawed from the top down.

///M

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." --Dave Barry

One would think with skilled salespeople remaining unemployed for no good reason, that ADs would have a slew of resumes and choices coming in. I guess business is so good, many choose to hire the scuzz and still do OK?



Interesting thing about most salespeople; they rarely have the resources to purchase, own, and enjoy that which they sell. Makes putting themselves in the clients' shoes that much more difficult.

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Avenger Skyland
If I said I was good, you'd think I was bragging.
If I told you I wasn't, you'd know I was lying.

Throwing some recent anecdotes on the pile:

My weeks are pretty busy and I prefer not to spend weekends shopping. Thus, when I have time to browse watch dealers, I'm usually having a day off. A day off usually means jeans and a band t-shirt.

Dealer A: Insanely good service. Woman behind the counter knew the product, insisted on pulling nearly every watch out of the display case and felt the only way to try them on was to take a stroll around the shop wearing the watch, stopping at their full length mirror. Refreshments provided. Pricing good. Sale made. A week later, a letter arrives saying "Thanks for the business".

Dealer B: Friendly service. I knew what I wanted to see so he pulled them and we sat down at a desk. Overall "feel" was about the same as the client meetings I have on a regular basis - friendly but professional. Sale made.

Dealer C: Start condescending, moved to downright rude. Actually suggested that I should go to another store down the road - because they sold Seiko. No deal.

Dealer D: Bare minimum service, refused to discuss any form of discounting at all - retail price or nothing. No sale.

Sorry couldnt resist adding my personal experience.

I was upgrading my car 5/6 yrs ago - My real want was the CLK AMG 55 Merc - but, they were quite expensive. My wife thought i should look at an M3, as its cheaper, but not too disimilar performance.

So, we go out in her Jeep, im in jeans, timerlands etc and we go to a dealer 20 miles away that we knew had an M3 demo. We walked into the dealership that was jam packed full of employees, no clients, but not one - i mean not one person asked if they could help. I eventually wandered over to the sales section and the usual - sales guys chatting - asked them if someone could help me. eventually one of them gets off his arse and asks how he can help. I explain that i would like to test drive his M3 - he said that i couldnt as i didnt have my driving licence, i said dont worry, i do - he said no thats no good you need both parts - i said i do - he clearly didnt want me to drive this car. He eventually said that as the roads were mildly wet, they dont let M cars out on test drives. Walked out never bought a BMW.

The Moral if you really want a 5.5 V8 Mercedes AMG, but your wife wants you to have a BMW - then ask for a test drive with her in tow - That afternoon put down the deposit on the AMG. -

This upsets me a whole ton and I am always astonished at how dealers in higher end luxury goods can treat potential buyers like this. You always hear stories of how the higher end goods dealers like sport car dealers, rolex dealers, Breitling dealers ect, treat their customers terribly. With the price tag of alot of these items, it just doesn;t make sense in my opinion, especially with the profit margin these dealers take in on a sale.

my 2 cents.

Haha, about 8 years ago I got the exact same treatment from BMW. All I wanted back then was a 3 series coupe, and the dealer treated me like a kid on the prowl with Daddy’s credit card. There was no negotiating either, I got the “if you don’t buy it someone else will, look around, this is Beverly Hills” routine.

The next day I went to a Benz dealer, and got the rock star treatment. Since then I have bought 3 new MB’s and never looked back.

Back to the topic, some of these people bounce from retail job to retail job and really don’t care. People who are in it as a career will eventually rise to the top through excellent service and networking. Our friend George is a good example, there is something to be said for promptly returned calls, hand written notes, etc.

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Chronomat Evo (White, Arabics)
Avenger Seawolf (Black, Batons) INCOMING?

LOL! Parents wanted a new car, tried a couple dealers. BMW dealership was CRAP. Their friends warned them, and it was 100% true. They ended up getting a Benz. 2010 GLK350 fully loaded.

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Panerai PAM212 | Panerai Diver Strap
Panerai PAM111 | Black Croc Strap
Omega Planet Ocean | SS Bracelet
Rolex Submariner | SS Bracelet (Sold, Awaiting Funds)
Breitling Navitimer Olympus | Brown Croc Strap (Arriving)

I went to the local mbw dealer with my wife, actually parked next door and walked over, couldnt get any help.

next day i drove my sl55amg over, they were tripping over each other to talk to me before i got in the door, its just the way it is.

First Breitling I bought was in Evansville, Indiana. I went in to look at watches after working out on my day off, still in gym type clothing since it was summer. My salesperson couldn't have been any better, even the owner of the store came over and assisted in the entire presentation. My sleeveless shirt, old shorts, and sandals didn't play a factor in how they treated me at all. I went ahead and bought the watch that day, even though I hadn't really planned on it, just because of their level of service.

For all of you posting car buying stories, there are a lot of terrible dealers out there. I'm in management at a dealership, and preach and preach about not judging customers on how they look. We had a new GT500 sitting on our showroom floor a couple months ago, and a man dressed in torn jeans and a dirty shirt was looking at it, happens a lot. Well our salesman did a full presentation on the car, and the man turned out to be a very well respected lawyer in the Houston area. He bought the car, and has bought again with us since then.

Top car the SL55 - just a shame no back seats or would have one on my driveway.