At SIHH in Geneva, I wanted to clock in every year, change my name to W&W for the first time this year, but I was hit by the epidemic. Unexpectedly, I landed in Shanghai in September, although it was a little rough, Chinese still felt that there was light on my face.
On September 10, Wang Ning helped us make an appointment with Lange in advance, and I and the senior investor Ding Ge and a group of four people reported to Lange on time, handsome and beautiful women (really handsome and really beautiful) warmly greeted, and the whole introduction of shopping guides is also professional. During this period, I also sold lange no. 1 female watch to Dingo's girlfriend, and under my seduction, she actually decided to give up. After that, we walked around the venue again, and compared to other brands, Lange&Ge's image was not bad. I was particularly impressed by the Dresden sandbox, which swept away the history of Lange and recalled some of my good past. In the past ten years, I have been invited by Lange to visit the headquarters in Glashütte three times, and I have been to the buildings on the sand table more than once, as a Chinese Lange collector, I am afraid it is rare.
Lange's arrangement is very ceremonial, this year is the 175th anniversary, the grand launch of 3 limited edition commemorative watches, but not on the scene, Lange screened VIPs, to enter a mysterious place in the city to watch. Ding Ge did not know whether he had foresight or other arrangements, and he and his girlfriend disappeared in advance. My wife and I got into the city in Lange's car. When we arrived at a hotel, just in time for lunch, Lisa warmly accompanied us to Western food, during which Andy and Echo both came over to say a few words of greeting. After dinner, I entered a large suite under Lange's bag. First look at the video of these 3 honey gold watches, Lisa explained in detail from the side, introduced to a watch, someone sent the corresponding physical object, in the eyepiece to carefully observe. So far, the arrangement is ingenious, the clouds are flowing, and it is perfect.
After the video, Echo came in and took turns with Lisa to spy on which one I was interested in. To be honest, these 3 pieces of honey gold watch did not arouse my desire to buy, but I did not want to be too excited about them, I could only pull things and things. They are not in a hurry and keep revisiting the benefits of these 3 watches with me. It was so deadlocked for a long time, it was almost 3 o'clock, the sky was getting dark, it seemed to be raining, and my wife hinted that I was leaving. However, a lunch can still be calmly slipped away, and is it the true color of Hao Brother?
So I went up a step and said I was interested in Lange's Triple Split. Suddenly, the room was full of sunlight, the Echo immediately disappeared for a few minutes, came back and said there were 3 more, and asked me what number to pick? I hurried to ask for the details of the tax refund, the store manager immediately came in, and when he explained the tax refund, I noticed that he actually had a POS machine in his hand. This is a hotel, not a lange business place, but a mobile POS machine, I was really surprised. Echo says, you swipe your card first, and everything else will always be solved. But I was in contact with domestic tax rebates for the first time, and I dared to act rashly before I arranged them, after all, there were over 100,000 taxes. Echo went on to say, then you should first brush the 30% deposit, so that I can help you keep this watch. The pace of the process of urging me to swipe my card was so fast that I was a little breathless. But I didn't have a large card on me, and I couldn't brush more than 300,000 yuan, so I said that I would send money back to Guangzhou. Finally, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Lisa personally took us downstairs to Lange's car.
Here it is necessary to explain that Lange's three chases were launched in January 2018, the global limited edition of 100 pieces, sold to the present there is still a surplus, no matter how the Lange official round field, the tightness of the three chases should be counted in the hearts of fans. Although I once told Lisa that I could not buy Sanchai, but because Sanchai is a direct store specialty, the store I know is not Lange's direct store, there will be no goods at all, and it cannot be bought and does not prove its rarity. So I bought three chases, and I thought it was a danger to solve people. With this in mind, I texted Lisa the next morning (11th) saying that if I took three chases, I wanted to come with an Odysseus steel watch. Lisa said to ask for instructions, and I admit that this steel watch is really hard to find, and I want to balance my "contribution" to Lange when I buy three chases.
At noon, I flew to Guangzhou, and received a call from Lisa in Hongqiao, making it clear that if I wanted to get a steel watch, I had to sell more than 250,000 other watches. I said you should send me the tie-in style first. I thought that buying three chases was a danger to solve people's problems, but I didn't know that it was the cheese that moved people's homes. I can only blame my blindness to the sales pomp of Lange, only less than a year without dealing with Lange, and today I suddenly found that this German brand has ridden the dust, played tie-in sales, and left many first-line Swiss brands behind. Even if the honey gold watch that is now the focus is on, in addition to the two-needle watch, the other two complex watches are also to be sold. Forgive me for being lonely, buying watches for decades, I have never enjoyed the tying-in benefits of any brand.
Within a few minutes, Lisa called again, the storm suddenly changed, and the 3 three chases mentioned yesterday had been booked out, and the guest deposit was paid. I felt like I was hopeless, and who expected Lisa to change her mind, if I could pay the full amount today, Lange could push away the guest who had paid 50% of the deposit and leave the watch to me. It is this sentence, five thunderbolts booming, really scare me, pay a fifty percent deposit can also be kicked away by me? Don't say that it is a Richemont brand, even if it is an independent watchmaker, it cannot be so untrustworthy! I said I wouldn't be able to send money back to Guangzhou until tomorrow, and Lisa immediately said I'll call you tomorrow. From yesterday afternoon to now, I am like Yang Bailao of "The White-Haired Girl", who has been firmly dragged by Huang Shiren to collect money, do I really owe Lange a lot of money?
The plane was delayed, Dingo called, and I told lange about his bizarre experience. Ding Ge is a righteous person, immediately said that his girlfriend gave up the selected Lange No. 1, I immediately advised him to calm down, the big deal is not to buy in Shanghai.
In the evening, Lisa sent another women's watch for sale, hoping that my wife would like it. In fact, even if I dare to show my wife, she will definitely erase my budget directly if she wants to know the truth.
On the morning of the 12th, I got up together and received a text message from Lisa, saying that it was the bundling of three watches, steel watches and another watch, which was the biggest offer for me. That being the case, I can only say that I gave up the steel watch and only bought three chases, but hoped to transfer this watch to SKP to sell to me, where there are also Lange's stores. The reason for this proposal is that I feel that these three days are really too tired, and I want to change the image of Yang Bailao, and I have bought watches from other brands at SKP, which is quite elegant. Lisa said to ask for instructions.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, Lisa called again, saying that it was the final conclusion, clarifying a few points (the third point has undergone fundamental changes): one and three chases can only be taken in Shanghai, can not be transferred anywhere; second, steel watches to tie up more than 250,000 other watches; three and three chases can not be sold separately, must be tied to sell more than 400,000 other watches. I used to say no need to ride, but Echo was mistaken.
After talking for three days, the more I talked about it, the worse it got, I couldn't even go back to the original point, and I couldn't buy three chases alone. That is to say, even lange's own conditions have been overturned, and such a serious dishonesty is not less than the degree that Lisa said yesterday to kick away the guests who paid the deposit. Even if I swiped the card on the afternoon of the 10th, I would definitely not be able to get three chases, and then swipe 400,000.
Such a rebellion, there is obviously an element of fighting spirit, alas, fighting with a guest, why bother? In fact, daring to fight with guests shows that Lange has the confidence to sell. Anyone who thinks that his product is not worried about selling is the beginning of a brand decline, and there are countless cases of MBA tutorials. What's more, Lange has never sold well, and I really don't know where this confidence comes from? Richemont is a listed company, a lot of data is public, I am not afraid to offend Lange, in the perception of Chinese watch fans, Lange is not worried about selling at all, but very worried about selling. China's internal data from Lange are more proof of this.
My point is that even if it is a brand that does not worry about selling, if I kneel and beg you to sell the watch, you can offer the conditions for the tie-in sale. But now lange asked me to buy a 175 commemorative watch, I really didn't look at it, so I turned to the three chases that I could accept, and there was absolutely no reason to tie it up.
In addition to the tie-in sales, the aura of forcing me to pay for money does make me ashamed, I was invited by the brand to see the watch, I have also been through a hundred battles, but I have never tried someone to wave a POS machine in front of me, this aggressive "no money don't look at the watch" hint (in fact, it is explicit) will definitely make lange fans feel frightened. The high pressure of "wanting to buy quickly, immediately swiping the card, not brushing without talking" to the guests has made lange's elegance disappear. What is even more incredible and unacceptable is Lange's untrustworthiness, giving more deposits can squeeze out guests with less deposits, so as to force you to pay in full as soon as possible. Say that you don't need to tie up the watch, and you can overturn it at will in two days.
Knowing that Teacher Ding helped Lange lecture in the past few days, I shared my adventure with Teacher Ding. Teacher Ding immediately dismissed me, hoping to help me mediate between them. I said forget it, because I would be misunderstood that I was looking for someone to pressure Lange in order to get a watch, which was not my character, and there was no need for this. Besides, Lange does have the right not to sell it to me. Alas, in fact, buying a watch is to be happy, unhappy to save some money, so think happy.
At noon on September 13, Mr. Gong of Lange China sent me a text message, and I returned immediately. After several text message exchanges, Mr. Gong particularly emphasized that all my unpleasant experiences, he was helpless and powerless, because they were all instructions from the German headquarters. Could it be that the Germans hid in Dresden and kept doing bad things to Chinese? How far is this from my impression of the rigor of the Germans? At this point, no one is wrong to fall into Rashomon, so it is up to schmid, the lange boss who does not speak Chinese, to take responsibility, this is the wisdom of the Chinese people.
After the shock, I suddenly woke up to the fact that in today's conspiracy theory, will anyone think that I am venting my dissatisfaction with Lange employees and want to take advantage of the fire to rob a popular Lange steel watch! Here, I use the role of "Cousin" to solemnly clarify:
First of all, my horror is by no means an opinion on the front-line employees of Lange, on the contrary, all the handsome men and women I have met are very polite and respectful to me, especially Lisa, who has been following all the way, repeatedly asking for instructions, and tirelessly, and I have not said this at all. Judging from Lisa's frequent needs to ask for instructions, the employees I contacted actually had no real power. The emergence of this kind of situation only stems from the instructions of the upper head.
Second, I made it clear to Lisa on the morning of the 12th that due to the tie-in sale, I gave up the steel watch and only bought three chases. Of course, I will continue to look for steel watches, but they will definitely not have anything to do with this incident, which will be supervised by Lange watch fans.
Three days of horror, let me see that in fact, Lange's front-line employees are very hard, and what really makes them work hard is:
Crazy tie-in games;
Suffocating payment pressure;
Rogue policy without faith.
Obviously, none of the above three points have anything to do with the hospitality of Lange employees, who also have no power to change these sales policies. After a year of not dealing with each other, I found that lange executives were leading a group of professional and dedicated young talents to run in the wrong direction that did not match Lange's identity. I always thought that Lange should have sold his watch elegantly, not the dog blood it is now.
Thinking of conspiracy theories made me hesitate whether to continue to take the three big criminals in Shanghai, because if I could get them without tying up, it must be that Hao Ge used his influence to break Lange's rules and be unfair to other watch fans; but if I didn't take it, there might be another extreme of the conspiracy theory that was more vicious, that is, I actually did not plan to buy a watch, but used more than a million empty checks to fake a shot, which embarrassed Lange. After thinking about it, I decided to follow the fate, not to give it to me, not to chase, to abide by lange's rules; gave it to me, and laughed at it, so as not to say that I touched porcelain, I don't think anyone would joke with Lange with more than a million.
If the horror ends here, I owe Lisa a lunch, in order not to fall into the notoriety of not buying a watch, I sincerely hope that Gong Zong and Lisa and other Lange colleagues come to Guangzhou, I repay the food and wine, haoge meal is recognized as a must in The Chinese watch circle.
The original title of this article, "Lange's Horror", is intended to be published in the October 14th anniversary issue of not for sale's "Art of Time". The author Mr. Zhang Shusheng, the bezel honored as "Hao Brother" is also. Buy countless watches, the world's top watch collectors. But unfortunately far from reaching the level of the Lange VIP, because only twenty or thirty Lange are already there.
As for me, a media person, I try not to go out, and I am always more accustomed to walking between the staggered chips in the role of "guest". The most disturbing news is not that a brand told me that "budget is limited" and cut our ads, but at the same time people said that your watch will be ready in full soon. Alienating the market from the "dinner party" is that this line of acting skills is advanced, and the younger brother is not worthy of the company. I have heard of the tying,around the door,some stores buy Rolex "beverage circle" to sell 5 Tudors, buying so many royal series at once, is it to burn incense for Teacher Zhou? The latest 126610LV released the market, the new goods to tie up the sale of 180,000 Tudor, what's the matter, Rolex Group to buy 1 get 8 free? Retailers tie-in sales I understand, in fact, I also agree, the market economy understands, not so tied sales, when the purchase of the pile of garbage that must be distributed to sell who? Compared with the inferior deeds of the tie-in sales upgrade, I have heard of a direct store on Nanjing West Road, received a deposit from a guest, more than a month, found that the model is very hot, sent WeChat to call guests to distribute goods. Refuse to take, direct WeChat refund deposit kick out, directly break the contract, simply and neatly, "I am speechless." Lange's sharpened knife Ho ho is really the est form I have only seen in my life, rebellious, step by step, unbelievable.
Recently, consumption has once again been "out of control" frenzy, and guests and hosts have "celebrated with the crown", but chaos has arisen, can it be so long-term? Virtue is not matched, the means are exhausted, how high it is today, when the port is opened, it will return to its original form (but professional managers also only care about today's surge, the day after tomorrow where it is still uncertain). Howe's article was scalding hot in my long-abandoned mailbox. After much thought, I made it public.
— Editor's Note