1 /5 Larry Carlson: Last week I decided to buy a particular Longines watch. It appeared to be available online from Longines, but I thought buying the watch from a local jeweler (even if the jeweler had to order it) might afford two advantages. The jeweler might give me a price discount, and in any event, could fit the metal bracelet. Thursday, I went to Bachendorf’s at Preston Center, spoke with Diane. She said they did not have the watch in stock (not a surprise), but could order the watch for me and offered a modest price discount. Diane said that if the watch was available in the United States, it would arrive in about a week, but if they had to go to Switzerland, it might be three or four weeks. I accepted Diane’s offer. She sold me the watch, charged my credit card, and gave me a receipt. All good.
The following day, Friday, Bachendorf’s Pablo left me a message saying they had reversed the transaction. The reason, according to Pablo, was that Longines had discontinued this watch and it was no longer available in the United States or elsewhere.
The next day, Saturday, I bought this exact same watch online from Longines. I learned Monday from a call with a Longines representative that I got the last one. (The page for this watch on the Longines website now shows an icon for “Notify me when available.”) I paid for overnight delivery, and the watch arrived at my home on Wednesday.
I do not understand this. Bachendorf’s sold me this watch, then the next day reversed the transaction saying that Longines had discontinued the watch and that it was no longer available anywhere when, in fact, the exact same watch was available from Longines online with a few clicks on a keyboard. This is entirely baffling to me.