Am I Being Ripped Off?

[Brian]

Hi Everyone...

 

I sent my Automatic watch off for repair (crown and stem replacement + pendant replacement) and when it was returned it was gaining 3 to 4 minutes per day.

 

I have sent it back to get it sorted and now am being told that I will have to pay again as the original repair did not go anywhere near the movement.

 

1, I asume a stem would connect directly to the movewent.  Would it??

2, As the watch was NOT gaining before the original repair could anything they did cause the watch to gain time??

 

Basically, am I being ripped off??

 

Cheers

[SeikoWatch]

if it just was the stem and crown, no need to touch to the balance !..... changing a stem with a crown on a Watch tkae about 3 to 5 minutes .. not more...

The repairman has not need to touch the balance at all for this job

Edited March 24, 2014 by SeikoWatch

[Mark]

It is quite possible the watch was exposed to a magnetic field through the postal system - rare, but it can happen.

[Lee]

what caused the damage in the first place?

[Brian]

Taking my hand out of my pocket caused the original damage...

The crown (I assume thats what its called- the bit you turn to change the time) broke off.

It was keeping good time before I sent it off for repair.

[ianmedium]

It is quite possible the watch was exposed to a magnetic field through the postal system - rare, but it can happen.

 

From what the OP has said about the nature of the repair this is what I would think is the most likely cause.

 

The magnets used nowadays are really powerful in so many things. I have had a watch that this has happened to in the mail. I took it to my local watch repairer and he demagnetized it for me.

Another source and one to be aware of are the self check machines that make a knocking  sound when you pass a book over them at libraries. Those things are really powerful. I remember buying a Breitling once and going to the library immediately after as it was next door. Next day the Breitling had gained 5 minutes and of course I was furious so took it back where they explained what happened after asking where I went after leaving them!

[Brian]

So I'd be stupid to pay the £168.00 repair bill, as it could get 'broken' again on its return trip through the post?!

Great.

Thanks for the help all.

[autowind]

£168 sounds very excessive,  if you can find a small compass and bring it near the watch it should give you an indication if it is magnetized or not.  If the watch had a big shock while in the post it might have moved the regulator slightly, enough to cause what you are seeing.  The other thing is the value of the watch or sentimental value as new automatic watches can be bought on Ebay for around £15. It does not sound like you will get fair treatment from original repair shop.

[Blacklab]

£168 sounds very excessive

Very, very excessive, what's the watch by the way?

[Brian]

It's a Raymond Weil Parsifal Automatic Chronograph.

To be honest, it's been more trouble than its worth, would never buy another!!

[horology]

Truth is that I never do a "short job" for this reason.

 

Some repair shops do short jobs e.g. stem and crowns,  crystals etc and often times it come back to bite them on the rump. I'm sure the repairmen did nothing wrong to the watch but doing short jobs the repairmen only does the repair in requested.

 

There is nothing wrong with owning a RW Parsifal they are good eta watches, the problem is you used a repair center that does short jobs.

 

As to the repair only taking a few minutes I beg to differ. Yes some can do a quicky sloppy job in a few minutes but to do the repair correctly takes much longer.

 

As to magnetism that is a remote possiblilty, but a cheap radio shake demagnetizer can fix that.

 

Hope this helps

[horology]

Addendum

 

Sorry,  I did not explain why we call it a short job,

 

A short job is one where a full service is not done, that is the watch is not cleaned, oiled and adjusted.

 

IMHO tradesmen do not do the customer a favor when they do short jobs. The customer expects that the watch will

run and keep time correctly.

 

I can't begin to tell you how many times customers have told me " the watch only need (FILL IN THE BLANKS).

and with out fail God help you if the watch dose not keep good time.

 

3 to 4 minutes a day is a regulation issue, and with the crown missing God knows what got into the watch

and it only takes a small amount of dust or lint to mess up the timing of the watch.

 

Sorry you feel mistreated, the tradesmen is at fault, take it up with him, in all my years I have never sent a customer away unhappy who

had a legit reason to be unhappy. Give him another chance.

 

Good Luck

 

PS have written a few book on watch repair and have stressed doing full service for many years!

[WillFly]

It's not a phenomenon unique to watches. Any engineered thing (and my speciality is guitars) ages with wear - and all parts will age for the same period of time. So - when one section is replaced, it often (1) shows up defects/wear in other sections and (2) alters the balance of wear and performance on the other sections.

Edited May 23, 2014 by WillFly