Warranty Repairs? What is expected from a watchmaker?

[Stuvetjee 17]

Maybe try a new ''Bombproof'' shipping package? Looks like they get fucked in transit

 

Anyone who has experienced my packaging will know, no expense is spared, all my packages now are not only air tight, but also waterproof, including the prated address label so if there were to be water digress, the package details, and contents would be protected. The packaging inside the package, is again mummified so no movement is present during shipping.

 

I have even considered using expanding foam spray in my packaging, putting a watch in a ziplock bag, then filling the box with expanding foam so it actually encases the watch, and suspends in from the outer walls of the box.

 

My long list of past career ventures I have experience in are that I've worked in customer service, packaging, and even retail, so know what customs should expect, I always treat people how I would like to be treated, and this includes when receiving their pride and joy back, it matters not, the actual financial value of someones property, but its personal value be it attachment, sentimental relation, or history, these are what are important to me, and all packages, and owners property is treated as my own when I work on them.

 

Then i have no clue mate

[1littlegreen 1]

Reached out to Micky yesterday for a movement I could not find. Sure enough, 20 minutes later I get a message he has one ready to post. This morning (as it was late in the evening for him), I wake up to a tracking number and pictures of that movement on it's way.

 

Just have to say Micky is tops. Great guy to deal with and an asset to our community.

 

Thanks Micky

[Pseudonym 0]

I think you have just answered your own question Micky, to prevent issues , why not have it as a condition , that only a full service is carried out.

 

This.

 

Or the customer accepts that if the fault has nothing to do with YOUR work, it's either pay for another repair or not.

 

P.

[zinnboy 0]

I would tend to agree with what has been said already. If someone asks you to fix a problem with a watch, and they do not wish to have a full service, then once the movement has been out and partially dismantled, something else could then cause an issue. Without doing a full service and associated clean, any sort of crud could come lose.

 

So really, if it's a partial repair, once you have shown pictures/video of the repair being successful, it is job done. OK at arrival then leaves you in the hands of the various postal companies of the world, and having seen some documentaries of how they treat packages, this leaves you open to people still trying to get you to take a watch back. If they have a full service at the same time as a repair, then sure, a warranty is fine.

 

So in short, I would say:

 

Partial fix, providing photos/video of fix, then OK @ dispatch with no warranty.

Service and fix, offer usual warranty.

 

I know of other watchmakers who wont touch a watch to repair unless it is also serviced. And let's face it, if you are spending the money on a fix, may as well spend a few ££ more on a service, as the movement will likely live longer!

 

 

Yep, how about anyone with existing orders gets a free service

 

If they don't want a full service then you have no warranty.

[kloro 0]

I am having a hard time putting in words how much I like you Micky. I have "known" you in 2 weeks or something, but you have already showed what kind of a person you are. Just astounded by your person.

[jdog 1]

Agreed with everyone here Mick. You repair problems A and B as an example. Show it functioning correctly and then after receiving a few days later problem C arises, Im not sure its your fault. If prob C was an issue then, it would have shown itself during the repairs. Again, it seems that shipping MAY have been an issue, however I am not inclined to think so as they were most, if not all working when arrived. We all know the dangers of this game of ours, especially the shipping/transportation and as such need to have more realistic expectations. Just my 2 cents mate.

[reximda 0]

I think this is what drove Chris away from rep repair. Ridiculous expectations for a movement made of pot metal. Expectations exceeded only by the lack of knowledge of some rep buyers.

 

Someone said earlier, mandatory full service, or NO WARRANTY.

 

I'd have to agree with that. At least for new customers. Obviously, as you develop your working relationships, you'll do what you do.

[SSTEEL 0]

Thanks for the kind words Kloro, appreciated

 

Thanks again for your input guys, I have now amended my T&C header, so lets see how things go from here

[jdog 1]

Thanks for the kind words Kloro, appreciated

 

Thanks again for your input guys, I have now amended my T&C header, so lets see how things go from here

A shame it had to come to that Micky. You gotta protect yourself in the end. Anyone worth their salt knows what a top man your are and would question it.

[myaz 3]

Put yourself in the position of the person needing a repair. The "renier rod" was busted when I sent it and was repaired but within days of getting it back the "concentric wheel' went out. The 1st thought is that "he" must have accidentally hurt it while fixing the original problem. Then you must convince yourself that it was rough handling in shipping, or something else. Point is, you are guilty until proven innocent. Bet that will be your 1st thought too if that happens after you ever have anything fixed in your car or house or at the Dr's.....

 

I had a mechanic friend once tell me he didn't like fixing cars with high mileage because so many times, simply working on the engine would disturb something nearby, like maybe crack a hose that was all dried out and getting ready to go anyways and you happen to push on it. Other times, something else would go wrong because it was time.

 

Best solution is to inform before you perform. If it happens before, it's a reason, if it fails after, it's an excuse. Sorry, I'm with you on this but people do this to me on a regular basis in my business and I spend a lot more time upfront than I did when I started out.....and some morons still get pissed.

[SSTEEL 0]

Its done now, so will see how things goes. Its just that I was finding myself repairing things I knew deep down I shouldn't be, and although I am kind hearted, and love to help members out, when it starts to affect my schedule, then I knew I needed to do something so things can resort back to normal.

[J!m 289]

Tough call...

 

Full service=full warranty.

 

Warant all work you do; however unrelated items are outside your scope. BUT, it is in your best interest (and possible up-sell) to review the piece in question and report back to the owner before ANY work is done.

 

"Hey Joe. In checking your keyless complaint I found your winding stem is actually snapped and the pilot tip is presumed to be in the watch still. I can replace the stem ans reset the keyless, but I advise a total rebuild with a clean lube and adjust. What do you think?"

[SSTEEL 0]

I hear you Jim. Thanks for your input mate.

[dalboy 2]

My take on this is as follows ..

 

You offer a warranty .. after all its only right .. but only on the work you carry out .. nothing else . and any parts that are supplied by YOU and not the customers own parts ..

 

Then you need to stick to a time period .. ie, 60/90 days .. dependant on the work carried out .

 

Problem is that a lot of repair work carried out tends to inherit other non related shit .. .. a lot of customers cannot differentiate between a problem not related to the original repair ..

 

Any other stuff you find that you believe will require some work. just pm the customer with the additional costs .. " Balls then in their court "

 

In short specify you do offer a guarantee, only on work completed by YOU . !!

[Jonnybaws 5,280]

What Dal and Jim said!! Spot on....

[SSTEEL 0]

Cheers for your input Dal, really appreciate mate

[fatarms 7,777]

I think this is what drove Chris away from rep repair. Ridiculous expectations for a movement made of pot metal. Expectations exceeded only by the lack of knowledge of some rep buyers.

 

Someone said earlier, mandatory full service, or NO WARRANTY.

 

I'd have to agree with that. At least for new customers. Obviously, as you develop your working relationships, you'll do what you do.

 

This was the first thing I thought of. People need to remember that these are not ETA or gen movements. I'm sure poor Chris went through many scenarios like this and I was really sad to see him go, especially since he was my go to guy. But I can't blame him, a few bad apples... you know the rest.

 

These are Asian clones hastily put together en masse and do not go through the same QC as their gen counterparts. Fixing a problem with a clone movement, without a full service, is nothing short of hoping that is all that's wrong. Only a full service will tell if there are other problems.

[SSTEEL 0]

Cheers for your input Jason

[Chanelton 0]

agree with warranty on only the repairs you did and nothing else. although most won't know exactly what is wrong if it stops working and blame your repair, only thing you should offer is for them to send it back to you to take a look but no guarantee that its going to be fixed for free.

 

maybe have a rule that you charge a fee for diagnostics and it is to be paid before the watch is shipped back out to you. If indeed the problem was related to your repair, and within your 60 days, then yes repair for free and refund the diagnostics fee. but if the problem is unrelated to your repair, then provide the customer with a quote on how much to repair the new problem (and maybe credit the diagnostics fee if you want, if they do go forward with the repair on new problem). if the customer doesn't want to pay to repair the new problem, then ship it back to the customer and atleast your time isn't wasted. This way will help you filter out those customers who want to take advantage of you, because if they truly think the problem is related to your repair then they will pony up the diagnostics fee because they know it will be refunded back to them anyways.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Chanelton

[LightGeek 25]

You need to draw a hard line. A video of working, then no guarantees unless it's a full service. It's as simple as that. This is assuming what you're working on are reps which are of unknown (shitty) origin anyway.

[SSTEEL 0]

You need to draw a hard line. A video of working, then no guarantees unless it's a full service. It's as simple as that. This is assuming what you're working on are reps which are of unknown (shitty) origin anyway.

 

Absolutely. Here's yet another example of a recent situation. (names not mentioned for privacy)...

 

Watch - PAM - Issue possible click spring

 

Turns out the issue was not the click spring, but a broken escapement pivot top jewel, and I replaced the bridge with a new bridge.

 

Watch is returned, and I get this message..

 

It's just arrived, looks beautiful & working perfectly!

 

Thank you ever so much for your incredible workmanship, do you work on gens also?

 

In regards to the packaging, wow, I've never seen anything packaged so well in my life, thanks again!!

 

Then some days later, I get this message...

 

Watch has just stopped keeping time, one of the screws in the moment is loose and wobbling around, please advise?

 

Do I get the back off (how?) & can I tighten this myself?

 

I advise not to open the watch, but to return the watch to me, and I would inspect it, and see if the issue is related to the original repair.

 

Then I get this message..

 

Oddly it now seems to be working and winding fine, how bizarre!

However I can see a small dot on the inner glass, obviously a speck of dust got in when I opened the case-back, how frustrating!!

 

Then another email...

 

Unfortunately it's stopped again, it seems to be very inconsistent, it occasionally stops and then I pull the crown to wind / change time & it'll run again for a short while, not for long though.

 

I really wanted it for this Saturday but I need it fixed and working and it's not, so I'll get it posted out to you tomorrow, I assume you'll be paying the postage both ways as I'm having to send it back to you & be without it for longer through no fault of my own?

 

To which I replied with...

 

You cover shipping to me, and I will inspect the watch to see if the problem is anything to do with the original repair. My warranty clearly states “Ok at arrival” which it clearly was, you told me so, so no warranty is standing on the watch now, especially since you have since opened the watch.

 

As said, I will inspect the watch to find this issue you have found, and then advise you accordingly.

 

Am I being fair here?

[fatarms 7,777]

Yeah, their assumption that you'll cover posted is borderline insanity.

 

The amount of entitlement of some of the membership here astounds me sometimes. They realize that they are dealing in mass produced, illegal goods, right? Christ.

[SSTEEL 0]

Indeed, this is just an example of what I face daily.

[dalboy 2]

Indeed, this is just an example of what I face daily.

 

 

That would frustrate the hell outta me ..

 

Your being more than fair in my opinion.. typical case of a customers chancing their arm. .

 

Maybe after you have paid the postage both ways and repaired it F.O.C you will wear it on Saturday for him too.

[SSTEEL 0]

Good idea Dal :P