Man's $12.5k Rolex malfunctions twice in 3 weeks, gets threatened after seeking refund at Far East Plaza shop

A man spent $12,500 on a second-hand Rolex watch at a Far East Plaza shop, only for the watch to malfunction twice within three weeks. 

When the angry customer, Mr Chen, 44, requested a refund, the shop owner allegedly threatened to punch him. 

The incident happened on Saturday (Oct 21) at around 4.45pm.

Sad Mr Chen:

“When I asked the owner for a refund, he said he wanted to punch me.

“I called a friend down to help mediate the situation, but he (the owner) became more aggressive. “

According to Mr Chen, he had purchased the watch for $11,000 in February 2017, as a gift to his mother.

The watch malfunctioned after only a few days, and he brought it back to the shop for repairs.

He was later convinced by the owner to buy additional accessories which cost $1,500.

Two weeks later, the watch malfunctioned again.

That was Mr Chen’s last straw.

He told Lianhe Wanbao:

“I couldn’t put up with it anymore, and asked for a refund.”

The boss initially did not attend to him, and even tasked another employee to sent Mr Chen away.

Mr Chen enraged, started scolding the owner.

He added:

“The owner became infuriated and threatened to punch me.

“He told me that he would not return to me the full sum, only 85 per cent of the amount.

“I was shocked by his belligerent behaviour and agreed to the arrangement.”

After getting the money, Mr Chen thought about the situation and was unsatisfied.

He called a friend who was nearby and came down to negotiate with the owner again.

“My friend is bigger in size than me.

“He asked the owner why he was bullying me, but the owner became more aggressive and told us that he would beat us both up.”

When Lianhe Wanbao spoke to the owner, he claimed that he was the victim in the incident.

The owner, 58-year-old Mr Xu, said that the customer called a friend down to stir up trouble after the money had been refunded, adding:

“I offered to help him repair the watch for free, but he did not want it.

“I refunded him the money and he was still unhappy, calling a friend down to intimidate me.

“His friend said he wanted to fight with me and also insulted me.”

In response to media queries, a police spokesman said that the police arrived at the scene after they were alerted to the incident, and have advised the parties on their legal recourse.