Watch came back from service; over-polished and with dents.

[VonSomething]

I recently had a watch sent in for service that just came back to me in a very disappointing condition.

I am not going to mention the brand at this time, I would first like to hear what you guys make of the situation.

What I can reveal is that it's a higher-end 18k gold watch with an exhibition caseback. We'll leave it at that.

The overall condition of the watch was excellent. Naturally being 18k it had some minor surface wear. Nothing that you'd even notice on the wrist, you'd have to examine it very closely in bright daylights to spot it.

I figured with the minimum wear, I'd accept a complimentary polish and have it come back brand new..

Watch came back, I was excited.. Unpacked it.. It was first of all.. dirty?? .. Full of black polishing dust all over it. It took me a minute to wipe it all down and then started looking.. I guess it looked alright at first glance.

Then I took a closer look to it and saw how the beautiful lugs had been unnecessarily polished away. They had lost their original beautiful chamferings/bevels.

I then paid close attention to the case and while pretty much all the hairlines had been polished away, to my shock there were 3 new small dents/chips in the case. These weren't there prior to the service.

I inspect the watch further and through the display caseback I now see a tiny scratch on a gold part of the movement. It's a tiny scratch admittedly, but it's there. It shouldn't be there, it wasn't there before. Knowing it's there annoys me.

At this moment I don't want to share pictures or further details, I have already contacted Brand X about finding a solution, because I am not happy. I am waiting back to hear from them.


What would you do? What would you expect 'brand x' to do in order to make good on this?

Would it be an overreaction to demand a new case? There is no way they can get these lugs back to a better state. The new dents they made definitely, albeit very small, I doubt they can be polished out without removing too much case material for it to become slightly noticeable.

I am currently completely put off by the experience.

[phiberoptiks]

Please let us know how the brand responds. While I appreciate the anonymity at this point, it would be really helpful for me as I make purchasing decisions on the level of customer service, especially for a high end luxury product. Accountability is important.

[ajw45]

I don't think you're helping yourself by hiding the brand. FWIW, I had issues with JLC service and I just kept sending it back until they made it right. After the 4th time with some escalation to customer service JLC turned the watch around extra fast and it came back dead perfect. They even filled a ding in the platinum case under the lugs that the previous owner had made. Without knowing the brand or the watch (modern? Vintage?) Hard to say but if it's a big brand I would send it back and have them make it right.

[kunlun]

No need to mention the brand, Patek has its own forum here.

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by kunlun

No need to mention the brand, Patek has its own forum here.

On the nose....

Yes, we NEED pics or it didn't happen.

[subtona]

Pics needed.

[CFR]

Very sorry this happened, but what is the reason to not disclose the brand and share pics? Is it a very small independent, and you don't want to offend the person who made the watch and owns the brand? That's the only reason I could think of.

[Dino944]

So sorry to hear this happened. How old is the watch? Do you have any before photos, and after photos showing the issues you have with how it was returned to you? Very curious to know what brand and how they handle the problem. In a perfect world everything comes back just as we expect it to be. However, often times the measure of a company is how they deal with things when something goes wrong and a customer is disappointed. Wishing you good luck with this and looking forward to seeing how the company handles the situation.

[VonSomething]

The reason for not mentioning the brand and provide more details at this point, is that I don't want to just throw out any negative publicity if this isn't warranted. What I really want to know is, am I just overreacting?

Maybe the majority of you feel that: "well you asked for polishing, you should have known there was a risk involved" .. or "small scratches during a service is inevitable" .. "yes you're overreacting just wear and enjoy, you'll be sure to make some dents and scratches again"..

I realize it's hard to give your opinion without pictures, these would however easily identify the watch, so I'm holding off for now.

I have well-documented the condition before sending it off though. High-res images from all possible angles, clearly showing areas that now has dents / scratches did not have these when I sent it off. As well as showing it covered in polishing dust when it came back.

Let me just be clear that these are very small marks and you probably wouldn't notice them with just a quick 5 seconds inspection of the watch.

They are however there and I feel when a watch costs mid-range 5 figures and afterwards 4 figures for a service, that shouldn't be acceptable, regardless of how small the 'damage' is. I would expect perfection.

Maybe I'm wrong or just have too high expectations. There will probably be some that wouldn't even bother making a deal out of it, others might not even notice. I just don't find it okay, which is why I wanted to hear some other opinions.

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by VonSomething

Maybe I'm wrong or just have too high expectations.

Not at all, the opposite in fact! At this price level excellence is not just expected, it should 'simply be'. As an example, Bentley imho abused their customers with built-in expensive-to-fix engineering defects they refused to recall / pay for and after having two of them i have banned all VW Group products. We need to hear about problems such as yours so others can avoid the same problems you are having now.

i'd immediately have them make a new case gratis for the damage they caused.

So, what brand is this?

[CFR]

Originally Posted by VonSomething

The reason for not mentioning the brand and provide more details at this point, is that I don't want to just throw out any negative publicity if this isn't warranted. What I really want to know is, am I just overreacting?

I'd respectfully suggest that yes, you are overreacting, but only to the 'negative publicity' that you think might result if you were to share pics and additional info.

People here aren't asking you for this info because they're eager to start slamming a watch company. They're asking for this info so they can help answer your question and try to find a viable solution. It's very hard to do that without additional information.

[bondtoys]

Difficult to give you advise without pics.

Generally, if you see the faults, they can do as well.
Take it to the management - show them before and after pics.

If it‘s really as bad as you say, the only way to fix would be a new case - or to sell it.
If they don‘t come up with a proper solution, this would be the last watch from them for me.
That‘s all that you can do

[1William]

Really? Post the brand and the pictures. Get the excellent expert opinion of many knowledgeable members and figure out what to do next. Otherwise, what did you post for?

[phiberoptiks]

Originally Posted by 1William

Really? Post the brand and the pictures. Get the excellent expert opinion of many knowledgeable members and figure out what to do next. Otherwise, what did you post for?

Completely agree. If you're looking for objective advice then we need something to work with. If you're looking for us to pander to your emotions then this is the wrong place.

[JR16]

Originally Posted by phiberoptiks

Completely agree. If you're looking for objective advice then we need something to work with. If you're looking for us to pander to your emotions then this is the wrong place.

+1


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[~JJ]

Personally, I would much prefer a ‘fixed’ case over a replacement case. Most times the service case will not have the original serial number and the secondary value will drop like a stone. I would take the fix, then decide whether I can live with the remedy or sell and move on.

[VonSomething]

I guess I thought it would be possible to give some feedback based on my description alone. In hindsight I should just have found some similar "damages" online to illustrate the issues.

That is what I have done now.

I guess the dent in the case is called a "pinpoint dent". Mine is similar to this, although looks a bit more like a 'chip' (because it's nearer to the edge of the case) and perhaps just slightly smaller.

On the movement part, the gold part of the rotor is scratched, near the karat mark as illustrated here.



We can forget the polishing issue and just focus on these marks, whether or not that is 'acceptable', and if not, what should be expected to fix this. I honestly wouldn't be happy with them to offer a second polish, seeing how it came back this time.

What do you guys think?

[phiberoptiks]

Are any of those pictures actual real pictures of your watches damage? Is the first picture of the overseas an actual scratch or did you draw a white line to represent it?

[VonSomething]

Originally Posted by phiberoptiks

Are any of those pictures actual real pictures of your watches damage? Is the first picture of the overseas an actual scratch or did you draw a white line to represent it?

No, these are images found online to illustrate the marks mine came back with. I drew a white line to illustrate it on the VC shot.

[phiberoptiks]

Originally Posted by VonSomething

No, these are images found online to illustrate the marks mine came back with. I drew a white line to illustrate it on the VC shot.

Sorry but that doesn't help us make any sort of informed decision or be able to give you good advice. Just let us know what the brand does to rectify.

[DCheeta]

You’ve effectively blindfolded us and then asked us a question about an aesthetic issue.

[VonSomething]

Originally Posted by DCheeta

You’ve effectively blindfolded us and then asked us a question about an aesthetic issue.

I have explained it to the best of my abilities without using photos. I thought people would still be able to comment.

As they couldn't/wouldn't, i then in my last post visually illustrated it using photos. You are no longer blindfolded.

[phiberoptiks]

Originally Posted by VonSomething

I have explained it to the best of my abilities without using photos. I thought people would still be able to comment.



As they couldn't/wouldn't, i then in my last post visually illustrated it using photos. You are no longer blindfolded.

We need actual photos... That one with the gold rotor scratch looks absolutely horrendous and I would complain instantly. Except you drew a white digital line to represent so who knows how bad it actually looks? Blindfolds still on... Not sure why you're so reluctant to share real pictures unless you're afraid of brand retribution or something. You're not getting sued for defamation.

[VonSomething]

Originally Posted by phiberoptiks

We need actual photos... That one with the gold rotor scratch looks absolutely horrendous and I would complain instantly. Except you drew a white digital line to represent so who knows how bad it actually looks? Blindfolds still on... Not sure why you're so reluctant to share real pictures unless you're afraid of brand retribution or something. You're not getting sued for defamation.

You don't need actual pictures, you "want" actual pictures. These pictures perfectly illustrate the issue I am having. Yes, the white digital line represents the scratch. It looks similar to this in real life. It's a visible scratch as illustrated there. That's also how it looks on a photo.

I started this thread to see if I was being unreasonable and if this kind of stuff is "acceptable" i.e. 'yeah it happens, nothing to make a fuzz about'. Then I'd move on and accept it.

If people said no this should definitely not happen, then I know where to stand when I try and work it out with the brand.

Everybody wants the juicy gossip - "which brand was it", "we want to know". Kindly accept that the brand isn't mentioned at this point. It's completely irrelevant to my issues.