On Friday, April 4, my sister and I took our father's watch to the above mentioned retailer to have the battery replaced. The salesman insisted the watch could not be repaired and the problem was something other than the battery.
We were given a sales pitch and encouraged to purchase a replacement watch. It was a relatively inexpensive Citizen we'd given him a few years back and we had no objection to purchasing a new one, figuring Dad had 4 or 5 years of wear out of it.
My sister, who was visiting from out of town, was in a hurry to get to the airport and asked me to run get the car while she finalized the sale. She asked if he had an identical mens Citizen watch, which he did, and sold it to my sister without removing it from the box or allowing her to inspect it.
That evening, I gave the watch to our Dad and explained his could not be repaired. He sat it aside, without wearing it, but noticed the following day the crystal was cracked. When I looked at the watch, it appeared as though someone had drilled a perfectly shaped circle into the face.
It also struck me as odd that the watch was not sold in the original packaging from the manufacturer. There was not an owners manual or warranty card from Citizen.
With plans of returning to the mall today, I asked my father to join me so that we could return the defective watch.
When we explained the problem to Rex, the store manager, he immediately became defensive and argued that all sales were final. This policy is not posted anywhere in the store. Although the situation warranted a full refund, we never ask for one and would have been satisfied with him replacing the crystal, sending it to the Citizen for repair, or replacing the watch with one of equal value.
Rex very rudely and obnoxiously said there was nothing he'd be willing to do and it was more or less our problem. He clearly has no concept of customer service and I am convinced he's pushing counterfeit watches. How are we to return it to the manufacturer without a Citizen box or any warranty information???
Before leaving the mall this evening, my father wanted to return to the store to get the necessary information, such as the owner's name, for filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Rex was cocky, sarcastic and dying to instigate a fight with my ELDERLY father who had only communicated that with business practices such as his, he's destined to miserably fail. Rex's sarcasm and disrespect continued which my father did not take lightly.
I attempted to defuse the situation and was able to get my father to leave the store. We were followed out by Rex who first grabbed a weapon, either a gun or knife from behind the cash register before aggressively approaching me and my father in the mall corridor which leads to Macy's. With my NEWBORN son in a stroller only feet away, I had to stand between the two of them to prevent a physical altercation.
The incident is now being investigated by the Tucson PD and criminal charges against the store's manager are pending.
The owner of this establishment is definitely not paying his rent at Park Place Mall by selling $5.00 batteries or $200.00 watches. This is clearly is nothing more than a store front for drug trafficking or some other criminal activity.
I have since taken my father's original watch to a reputable jeweler who replaced the battery and it now works perfectly fine.
Not only was my sister conned into purchasing a watch unnecessarily, she was sold a defective fake. Rather than make the situation right, the store's manager chose to boldly threaten a highly respected, professional gentleman pushing 70 years of age, in hopes of engaging in a fight, in the presence of his daughter and infant grandson.
This is far from over... If you have jewelry at this establishment for repairs, I highly recommend you retrieve now. It has become my personal mission to see this business is closed for good.
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