7 On Your Side helps man get refund after discovering Rolex was pre-owned

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KGO) -- A Peninsula man who thought he was buying a brand new Rolex ended up buying a used one. He turned to 7 On Your Side's Michael Finney for help.

The deal sounded pretty good, $5,000 off a luxury watch. It wasn't until after the buyer got home that he discovered why the discount was so big.

Song Jing Qiang enjoyed a cruise to Mexico with friends. He was celebrating his pending retirement and decided to treat himself to a nice gift. Qiang gee decided to buy a Rolex watch that was sold on the ship.

"The discount is about 35 percent discount. It's a big discount. I said, 'Ohhh, very good,'" Quiang said.

When he got home he compared it to a new Rolex his wife had previously bought. The box he got had nothing that would indicate it was from Rolex. His wife also received a warranty and certificate of authenticity. He did not.

Quiang called Starboard Cruise services. "Your sales person told me it's original one and then you tell me it's pre-owned one, so I don't want it," Quiang said.

Quiang said Starboard refused to refund his money. He showed the written refund policy he received with the watch. It read, "If you are not completely satisfied with your fine jewelry purchase, you may return it within one-year from the original date of purchase."

"I don't want it. Even if I want to pay the whole price I don't want pre-owned even if you give me big discount," Quiang said.

We contacted Starboard Cruise services and the company told us, "We are committed to ensuring that any customer's concerns are fully addressed we promptly issued him a full refund."

"With ABC On Your Side, I'm very happy," Quiang said.