A bit insulted

[Moze]

wow, it seems you got too much arrogance for a rep collector. she thought your rolex was a seiko, and? does your confidence comes from the compliments of others? you should be thankfull instead that they didnt refuse to repair because its a rep.

Take a deep breath, chill out, and read my reply post more thoroughly. I found it humorous yet irritating at how little she knew, but at the same time appreciated their courtesy. It would not have mattered whether I was wearing a rep, a gen, or no watch at all. I was merely commenting on how even people who sell watches appear to know nothing about them, and presented this point by sharing a humorous experience that took place at Zale's.

[chiefwiggum]

wow, it seems you got too much arrogance for a rep collector. she thought your rolex was a seiko, and? does your confidence comes from the compliments of others? you should be thankfull instead that they didnt refuse to repair because its a rep.

That's a bit steep Ice - I think that Moze has gone to some lengths to explain where he was coming from and personally whether you agree or not, don't see any arrogance in his tone. I think he simply wanted to share a tale with his comrades on here. Which after all is what brings us all here from time to time.

I always remember a good lesson a former manager taught me. When you are [censored] off and need top respond in writing, write out precisely what you want to say, pulling no punches. Then delete and think about whether those insults really need to be placed in a public arena where they can't easily be taken back.

[iceberg1459]

I was merely commenting on how even people who sell watches appear to know nothing about them, and presented this point by sharing a humorous experience that took place at Zale's.

dont expect wis knowledge from sales-woman at cheapo jewelry store.. especially women know nothing about watches they just need to look good and smile, for example my experience at major dealer which sells AP, pateks etc, we were looking at a tt sub together with the sales-woman, she said that it has a ceramic bezel , tt sub lol...she turned red when i corrected her and asked again another guy..

[Shundi]

I personally don't care if the salesperson knows every little intricacy about the watch because if you're purchasing a gen of any type you should do the research yourself and not count on someone getting paid $19/hour to figure it out for you. The Tourneau near me knows me by name, sends me catalogs, etc simply because when I buy a watch I've done the research, I know what I want, and I make my purchase...they don't know I'm a WIS or whatever but they know that I make purchases every few months and they probably figure (rightly so) that I'm a collector.

Some of the salespeople there are extremely knowledgeable, some aren't, but at the end of the day their job is to sell me a watch and provide after-sales service

[TeeJay]

I personally don't care if the salesperson knows every little intricacy about the watch because if you're purchasing a gen of any type you should do the research yourself and not count on someone getting paid $19/hour to figure it out for you. The Tourneau near me knows me by name, sends me catalogs, etc simply because when I buy a watch I've done the research, I know what I want, and I make my purchase...they don't know I'm a WIS or whatever but they know that I make purchases every few months and they probably figure (rightly so) that I'm a collector.

Some of the salespeople there are extremely knowledgeable, some aren't, but at the end of the day their job is to sell me a watch and provide after-sales service

Absolutely so, there's nothing better than doing the research oneself, especially if certain details of 'the item' are 'deal-breakers' (wether it needs to have it, or equally, if it can't have it) but, at the same time, they are being paid $19/hour to know those things. If product knowledge is irrelevent in sales staff, maybe shops could just have members of the public selling their wares, rather than trained staff

[Shundi]

@ TeeJay: Agreed, to a point. In my experience, the watchmakers and the senior sales staff tend to have a pretty good knowledge of the high end brands (minor historical stuff, etc) but most of the employees are simply sales people...their job is to sell the watch not to know the difference between a rotor on bearings and an oscillating axle.. and to keep it in perspective: that sales attitude works fine for 90% of customers...it's the 10% or so like us that need to know the nitty gritty...but at the same time, if we're in looking at a particular watch...you can be damn sure we've TZ'd and Googled the living hell out of it. At times I do wish for a little more knowledge in the sales staff but I fear that those days are gone in corporate sales.

[TeeJay]

@ TeeJay: Agreed, to a point. In my experience, the watchmakers and the senior sales staff tend to have a pretty good knowledge of the high end brands (minor historical stuff, etc) but most of the employees are simply sales people...their job is to sell the watch not to know the difference between a rotor on bearings and an oscillating axle.. and to keep it in perspective: that sales attitude works fine for 90% of customers...it's the 10% or so like us that need to know the nitty gritty...but at the same time, if we're in looking at a particular watch...you can be damn sure we've TZ'd and Googled the living hell out of it. At times I do wish for a little more knowledge in the sales staff but I fear that those days are gone in corporate sales.

Oh I agree, but, I mean even in general, regardless of the item actually being sold. For example, if someone was going to buy a new car, walks into the dealership, and asks to see the POS3000xri. If the sales staff was to ask them to point out which car they meant, I don't think the customer would be on the forecourt long Even with more 'low-end' purchasses, the same applies. If I went into an art shop and asked which brand of paint was best for a certain effect, I wouldn't be impressed if they couldn't at least give an opinion on the different ranges they carried, and what other clients had reported on them... If you see what I mean...

To go even simpler, I was not impressed when I went into Subway, asked what meat the meatballs were made of, and the sandwich artist (as I've seen the job advertized) had to ask a manager what meat they were... Okay, it might not be a routine question, but, c'mon, surely that's the kind of thing staff training should cover At the end of the day, I don't care if the sales staff have green hair, toss salad, or are missing fingers, but, I would like them to know about what they sell

I agree, the days of truly knowledgeable staff is gone...

[Pugwash]

Mate, I think the yanks INVENTED that "elbow" saying!

It predates the US.

Oh, and if you want more skilled and knowledgeable workers, be prepared to pay a lot more. I'm happy when I see clueless assistants as it means the savings in their salary may well be passed on to me.

[JohnG]

Ah dont worry, the question is "was she good looking"?

This is what I was getting at before.

Go back, take her to dinner, get your freak on, and post the pics here (or in the bin).

Do it for those of us who still live in Mom's basement.

[woody]

is she hot or is she not hot? pics or it didn't happen!

[visualspinner]

is she hot or is she not hot? pics or it didn't happen!

Just as I figured... It was only a matter of time until someone asked for pics. Man I love this place!

Bring on the PICS!!!

[fat.tail.event]

I agree with all of the comments on timepiece salespeople in general and low-end jewelry stores. In all likelihood you chalk this up to a run in with an aloof watch lady.

But there still exists that single digit chance that this woman knew exactly what she was doing. Just like ignorant gen owners, you have your arrogant jewelers. As I read your take on this, for a brief second I thought...Maybe she pieced some things together and put on the whole Seiko show as a quick witted 'shot' at a rep collector. You did say that there was 10 yrs. of experience there. (I am not sure if we ever concluded that the Datejust was rep or not, however).

Again, it is doubtful that the above is the case...just a different angle the entered my mind briefly. But if such a sharp woman existed and she was as hot as the fantasy described earlier, then it is a moral imperative to get back to that store to have all of your watch 'needs' fulfilled by her.

[gbc]

Based on Moze's account ... the sales girl seems pretty good & probably better than most customer service (CS) people out there.

She politely engaged him when his Omega was been fixed & tried to cross sell and market her other wares.

This is the holy grail for a CS Manager cos thats 90% of the battle already taken care.

The other 10% like product knowledge can be trained.

You'll be surprised at the percentage of CS people who do not have the CS gene ... & should not be in CS to begin with!

Weird thing about us rep owners (& I'm quilty of this myself) is we get easily appalled at the lack of knowledge of sales people but at the same time fear being called out if the sales person is very knowledgeable. We can't have it both ways.

Edited September 24, 2008 by gbc

[txjeweler]

You can't expect much from that company. Their highest end timepieces are now Movado and Rado as a corporation; now that they sold off Bailey Banks and Biddle. You have to find someone that loves it like we do. If she's hot you can teach! Where are the pics?

[Crimson Vanguard]

Uhhh...she said that Seiko was the best watch on the market. I think that pretty much says it all.

This girl I was . . . having as a guest over my house. . . right . . . . . . this weekend had a seiko watch she said her ex-husband bought for her for $500 bucks as a matching set to the one that he got, as a 2 years anniversary gift. I was actually quite impressed, it was VERY heavy for such a tiny, girly thing. Had a solid gold (albeit extremely tiny) bezel and crown. There was no second hand, just a gold minute hand and hour hand. Near the bottom of the dial, it read "seiko japn. mov't" whcih leads me to believe it is a mechanical watch.

All in all, pretty dang classy....

[asiparks]

Uhhh...she said that Seiko was the best watch on the market. I think that pretty much says it all.

Uhhh...some of them are...

and nearly all are better than most reps....

Edited September 29, 2008 by asiparks

[highoeyazmuhudee]

Seikos probably ARE the best watches you can buy at price to quality ratio, in fact i love em. i have a 30 year old seiko that doesnt miss a beat, hand wound 17jewel keeping very accurate time, and i dont think its ever been serviced.

she was probably just trying to sell you some merchandise because she figured you had the capital to do so. like if i walked into an authrozied omega dealer with a rolex on my wrist theyd probably tell me about what great omegas they had and their adjustment service was free or something. i was wearing my sub in a watch tools supply store and the guy was trying to sell me a citizen miyota dress watch. i didnt feel insulted, i enjoyed seeing it.

if it was purely a jewellery store than i understand, theyre there to sell products and dont need to know much else, theyre sales people first, the guy in the back probably knew the difference. sometimes the people in the store dont really know much about anything other than whats in their store.

Edited September 29, 2008 by highoeyazmuhudee

[TeeJay]

sometimes the people in the store dont really know much about anything other than whats in their store.

and sometimes not even that

[JohnG]

Do we know yet whether she was hot???

[TeeJay]

Do we know yet whether she was hot???

Well, jewellery based stores have a tendency to employ attractive women, so chances are she was MILF material The bimbo who I had to point out the Aquaracer to was hot (in that 'hot goth chick forced to dress conservatively' kind of way )

[JohnG]

Well, jewellery based stores have a tendency to employ attractive women, so chances are she was MILF material The bimbo who I had to point out the Aquaracer to was hot (in that 'hot goth chick forced to dress conservatively' kind of way )

Then the only important question here is when Moze is going back to create episode 2 of this saga. And this time, WITH PICS!!!

[spooky driver]

[TeeJay]

Then the only important question here is when Moze is going back to create episode 2 of this saga. And this time, WITH PICS!!!

Indeed

[Moze]

I love how all possible paths of the RWG flowchart terminate with one highly important question... "Was she hot???"

Unfortunately I wasn't feeling it. Very nice lady. She was an early-thirties short and petite brunette... But I remember her looking very "weathered" for her age... as if she had traveled thousands of miles and years in the direct path of the scorching sun in a desert while chain-smoking cigarettes the entire time without sleep.

If I HAD felt something there, my reply to "Is that a Seiko???" would have obviously have been "Why yes, baby. It is."

[stiga]

There is also the possibility that after her ten years of work experience, she had indeed called you out and was being polite when she asked if you were wearing a Seiko with a 25% sarcastic tinge in the question. LOL.....better still. She might be a rep forum veteran herself.