Tag Heuer...Are they lifting my leg ?
Discussion
I noticed that my Tag lost a little time, so I took it to my local jeweler to get it sent away for a battery.
The jeweler has come back to me saying that the company have replaced the battery, but the watch doesn't work. They want want £89 to service it.
How do you service an elctric watch. I had this done by Tag 5 years ago and paid £120 for a clean as far as I could tell.
Not sure if I have an alternative to paying the £89 or get my now, not working, watch back.
Dissapointed of Milton Keynes
The jeweler has come back to me saying that the company have replaced the battery, but the watch doesn't work. They want want £89 to service it.
How do you service an elctric watch. I had this done by Tag 5 years ago and paid £120 for a clean as far as I could tell.
Not sure if I have an alternative to paying the £89 or get my now, not working, watch back.
Dissapointed of Milton Keynes
Coincidentally the same happened to me about a month ago. I sent a watch off for a battery replacement and a new bezel. After a couple of weeks they contacted me to advise that it wasn’t working after the battery replacement and a service was required. I think it was around £155 but that did include a new bezel.
They clean it too but don’t expect Rolex standards of cleaning.
Mark
They clean it too but don’t expect Rolex standards of cleaning.
Mark
lanan said:
I noticed that my Tag lost a little time, so I took it to my local jeweler to get it sent away for a battery.
The jeweler has come back to me saying that the company have replaced the battery, but the watch doesn't work. They want want £89 to service it.
How do you service an elctric watch. I had this done by Tag 5 years ago and paid £120 for a clean as far as I could tell.
Not sure if I have an alternative to paying the £89 or get my now, not working, watch back.
Dissapointed of Milton Keynes
when tag open the back they plug the watch into a computer and if it come up with a folt then you need a service. they will put a year waranty on any work thay do, so if it needs a service and they oney put a battery it, then your going to have a problem with it. if i was you i would pay for it.The jeweler has come back to me saying that the company have replaced the battery, but the watch doesn't work. They want want £89 to service it.
How do you service an elctric watch. I had this done by Tag 5 years ago and paid £120 for a clean as far as I could tell.
Not sure if I have an alternative to paying the £89 or get my now, not working, watch back.
Dissapointed of Milton Keynes
Thanks Chaps,
I was under the impression that the watch had been sent to Tag, it was sent to a specialist instead, not happy. Will get the watch back "serviced" and put it down to experience and ensure that it goes to Tag next time. Not that ensures better treatment, but atleast I can hope..!
Now where do I send my Rolex for a service...
I was under the impression that the watch had been sent to Tag, it was sent to a specialist instead, not happy. Will get the watch back "serviced" and put it down to experience and ensure that it goes to Tag next time. Not that ensures better treatment, but atleast I can hope..!
Now where do I send my Rolex for a service...
The same stunt was pulled on my wife's Dior watch.
Sent it off to them for battery replacement, they suggested £250, as they reckon the crown was damaged etc....and for a full service... The watch is 1.5 years old!!
Got it back from them and got the battery replaced works fine!!
The money is in the after sales!!!
Sent it off to them for battery replacement, they suggested £250, as they reckon the crown was damaged etc....and for a full service... The watch is 1.5 years old!!
Got it back from them and got the battery replaced works fine!!
The money is in the after sales!!!
Hi,
Usually stick to the chimaera pages, but was browsing to see what else goes on in the piston head forums. I like watches so I took a look.
Anyway, to the point. I used to work at one of the famous swiss watch stores on Bond st and have experience within high class jewellery and watches.
Part of my job was dealing with watch repairs,sevice and batteries.
Watches are like cars, the more expensive they are the more should expect to pay for parts and service etc.
I was told by my manager to charge what I thought I could get away with. This is how it works. A watch battery is a watch battery, you can probably by 10 for a fiver. I would charge between 30 - 120 pounds depending on brand. We told the customer that the watch must be tested to check that it is still water resistant/proof. This invovles putting it in a pressure box and waiting for a red or green light. If it fails you replace the rubber O ring. This obviously only applies to water resistant/proof watches,(and there is a difference). A large profit huh, well I got commision on that. I'm sure it's not like that everywhere though.
As for watch servicing you could charge even more. A service could cost anywhere up to 380 pounds depending on brand. Remember if your watch cost 3,0000-10,000 pounds plus, 380 pounds for a service is cheap. If I told them it was 40 pounds and you can have it back in an hour they would think something was wrong. It makes people feel better. We had an on site watch technician who could do a straight forward service to any watch within the hour. Basicly it's just a clean and check for water proofing. We would tell our customer that the watch will be gone for 4-6 weeks (testing etc). (They can check if its gaining or loosing with machines now. You don't have to wait
). This would help justify the outrageous cost. I got commision on repairs too!.
Could go on, but you're probably getting board by now.
Hope this inside info is of some help. What you do about the situation I don't know.
Oh, I went to Turkey for my watches ,1x Tag, 1x Catier Tank, 1x Vacheron Constantin
The Vacheron stopped, but I replaced the movement for 1 pound & 75 pence.
Usually stick to the chimaera pages, but was browsing to see what else goes on in the piston head forums. I like watches so I took a look.
Anyway, to the point. I used to work at one of the famous swiss watch stores on Bond st and have experience within high class jewellery and watches.
Part of my job was dealing with watch repairs,sevice and batteries.
Watches are like cars, the more expensive they are the more should expect to pay for parts and service etc.
I was told by my manager to charge what I thought I could get away with. This is how it works. A watch battery is a watch battery, you can probably by 10 for a fiver. I would charge between 30 - 120 pounds depending on brand. We told the customer that the watch must be tested to check that it is still water resistant/proof. This invovles putting it in a pressure box and waiting for a red or green light. If it fails you replace the rubber O ring. This obviously only applies to water resistant/proof watches,(and there is a difference). A large profit huh, well I got commision on that. I'm sure it's not like that everywhere though.
As for watch servicing you could charge even more. A service could cost anywhere up to 380 pounds depending on brand. Remember if your watch cost 3,0000-10,000 pounds plus, 380 pounds for a service is cheap. If I told them it was 40 pounds and you can have it back in an hour they would think something was wrong. It makes people feel better. We had an on site watch technician who could do a straight forward service to any watch within the hour. Basicly it's just a clean and check for water proofing. We would tell our customer that the watch will be gone for 4-6 weeks (testing etc). (They can check if its gaining or loosing with machines now. You don't have to wait
). This would help justify the outrageous cost. I got commision on repairs too!.Could go on, but you're probably getting board by now.
Hope this inside info is of some help. What you do about the situation I don't know.
Oh, I went to Turkey for my watches ,1x Tag, 1x Catier Tank, 1x Vacheron Constantin
The Vacheron stopped, but I replaced the movement for 1 pound & 75 pence.
My local watchmaker puts the watch in a vacuum/pressure air chamber (looks like a bell jar) and puts a dial test indicator probe on the glass face (probe is the rack, the pinion is attached to a pointer moving round a rotary scale)and pressurises the air chamber to a little way beyond the pressure marked on the watch. Any leak will show up as a sudden or progressive movement of the indicator - no water is used. The water version apparently imerses a watch and creates a vacuum so a leak manifests itself as air bubbles escaping from the watch case. So neither method gets water into the watch.
lanan said:
I noticed that my Tag lost a little time, so I took it to my local jeweler to get it sent away for a battery.
The jeweler has come back to me saying that the company have replaced the battery, but the watch doesn't work. They want want £89 to service it.
How do you service an elctric watch. I had this done by Tag 5 years ago and paid £120 for a clean as far as I could tell.
Not sure if I have an alternative to paying the £89 or get my now, not working, watch back.
Dissapointed of Milton Keynes
Graham,The jeweler has come back to me saying that the company have replaced the battery, but the watch doesn't work. They want want £89 to service it.
How do you service an elctric watch. I had this done by Tag 5 years ago and paid £120 for a clean as far as I could tell.
Not sure if I have an alternative to paying the £89 or get my now, not working, watch back.
Dissapointed of Milton Keynes
If you're Milton Keynes based, there is a chap inside Debenhams in MK, that will replace batteries in TAG's etc. Had mine replaced here twice (and my Brother now gets his here now as well). I believe he charges £35 for a battery for a TAG - includes a pressure check. Last time he did mine he also fixed my ill-working Chrono for free.!
Normally a one day turn around. Beaverbrooks in MK sent me to him initially as they said it was better than them sending my watch back to TAG..!jj
Not all watch servicing centres are the same. Omega factory servicing for example is outstanding (see link below). As a rough guide, mechanical watches (however expensive) need a basic service every 5 years to keep them running accurately. This typically involves internal and external cleaning, lubrication, fresh main spring, replacement of any worn parts, timing adjustment, cosmetic scratch removal, seal change and pressure check. Quartz watches also need basic servicing as they still have moving parts, bearings, seals etc. Makes sense to do this when changing batteries. Watches worn in water should be pressure tested at least once per year. Any water leakage will trash them.
http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=5592...
http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=5592...
Gassing Station | Watches | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff