Ming Messena and customer service

[Bearxj86]

Anyone have thoughts on this? Seems more than a few of the Messenas have alignment issues - also some of their customer service responses have been published online and appear …let’s say unsatisfactory.

[ap1]

Wow that’s horrible

[_speedmaster_]

It's unbelievable to me how many watches went out with such a clear, easily identifiable issue.

[77T]

Their Chief watchmaker said they looked fine when leaving the bench.




And QC manager agreed.




No disparagement of any Strabismus sufferers.

So to the topic - to make quality watches, first you must care about quality and the five 9’s.


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[fullofboats]

Ming isn’t a watchmaker, they’re a brand that outsources all of the production and assembly to others. Looks like they don’t do customer service either if they think they can blacklist collectors who aren’t happy with their qc

https://screwdowncrown.wordpress.com...tomer-service/

[Wahlberg]

Originally Posted by fullofboats

Ming isn’t a watchmaker, they’re a brand that outsources all of the production and assembly to others. Looks like they don’t do customer service either if they think they can blacklist collectors who aren’t happy with their qc

https://screwdowncrown.wordpress.com...tomer-service/

I'm going to side with Ming on this one. They were clear in their explanation and the refund process. So the buyer knew what would or could happen. And I love how they denied him the second watch. Talk about getting rocked.

Some people have wrong expectations and think these Mings are on the level of a Grand Seiko or Patek.

[fullofboats]

Originally Posted by Wahlberg

I'm going to side with Ming on this one. They were clear in their explanation and the refund process. So the buyer knew what would or could happen. And I love how they denied him the second watch. Talk about getting rocked.

Some people have wrong expectations and think these Mings are on the level of a Grand Seiko or Patek.

Ming charges Grand Seiko price now

[Wahlberg]

Originally Posted by fullofboats

Ming charges Grand Seiko price now

Ok and?

Because they charge similar prices doesn't mean the quality will be similar. I think a lot of people buy these watches because of the articles and hype they received throughout the years. And hoping they are early into this company, like some people were with MB&F/Ressence/... or other small independents.

[Watchristic]

I’m actually happy that this release failed so miserably, as allocations weren’t fair, most pieces went behind the scenes to friends of massena lab on Instagram


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[mongrelnomoad]

If there are imperfections extra parts should be produced to account for the failure rate of the process. In a watch that literally sells itself on the lume, it wasn’t good enough. The risible and spiteful way they dealt with it does not place them in good standing at all, and does not bode well for the future as goodwill takes long to build and an instant to squander. They will have to scramble hard to salvage their reputation if this lot are as consistently awful in alignment as the countless social media posts imply.

[Bearxj86]

I think this is a good opportunity for Ming to pivot and show total dedication to customer service and satisfaction.

The downside is quite obvious - most of us may have some pent up resentment from snobbery from our ADs (Rolex, Patek, AP etc) and Ming could very easily be made a scapegoat for all that is wrong with companies that have more demand than supply. Ming is too small and has grown too fast to want to be a part of that mess...

[EdwardC]

If the pictures are true, that's inexcusable to me. Even a $300 seiko wouldn't have this type of issues.

[dchang81]

Originally Posted by EdwardC

If the pictures are true, that's inexcusable to me. Even a $300 seiko wouldn't have this type of issues.

let's not go that far. love me some seikos but things lining up is not their suit.

[GreenLantern]

Originally Posted by dchang81

let's not go that far. love me some seikos but things lining up is not their suit.

I haven't seen a new Seiko this bad.

[GreenLantern]

I've always wanted a Ming, but the latest releases have not tickled me, and the pricing is quite a bit off these days.

I think it's fine to ban customers if you're overly negative in social media. These days, no one seems to care about the repercussions of negative social media attention. We are all too quick to leave 1-star reviews, and almost never leave 5-star reviews.

What I don't think is acceptable, however, is to charge mid to high range Grand Seiko prices (like Ming does now), and yet let this type of issue, that's easily caught during QA, out the door and then not make an overt effort to correct.

In an industry where precision is an issue, you can't let this crap out the door.

[Kliminator]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

I think it's fine to ban customers if you're overly negative in social media. These days, no one seems to care about the repercussions of negative social media attention. We are all too quick to leave 1-star reviews, and almost never leave 5-star reviews.

I agree with you to a certain extent that reviews for certain types of businesses can lean more negative than positive. However, we’re talking about watches here… not a property management company, a local plumber, or restaurant etc… Note: There are PLENTY of people who do post their positive experiences online…. I mean, just check yelp….

So, with regards to watches - a happy watch customer is going to share their positive experiences with other people in their network and community via pictures, praise, etc… We should translate this into the equivalent of 5 star reviews..

Take this situation in the context of a restaurant.
- A restaurant serves an undercooked piece of chicken to a diner.
- The diner communicates that to the staff and receives a very poor service / experience / reaction
- As a result of this interaction the diner decides to share their experiences with others (also worth mentioning that others have had similar experiences.. IE this is not a one off situation).
- Restaurant becomes aware of this and says, sorry you are no longer allowed dine at this establishment ever again.

Doesn’t this just sound plain wrong to you? This would never happen in a restaurant context. I’m not sure why it’s somehow appropriate here.

Yes, at the end of the day, Ming can choose to do whatever they want. They can alienate and piss of their customers if they don’t give a crap… That doesn’t make this type of reaction an appropriate / right one

[Bearxj86]

Soup Nazi in Seinfeld but I guess that’s fiction

Originally Posted by Kliminator

I agree with you to a certain extent that reviews for certain types of businesses can lean more negative than positive. However, we’re talking about watches here… not a property management company, a local plumber, or restaurant etc… Note: There are PLENTY of people who do post their positive experiences online…. I mean, just check yelp….

So, with regards to watches - a happy watch customer is going to share their positive experiences with other people in their network and community via pictures, praise, etc… We should translate this into the equivalent of 5 star reviews..

Take this situation in the context of a restaurant.
- A restaurant serves an undercooked piece of chicken to a diner.
- The diner communicates that to the staff and receives a very poor service / experience / reaction
- As a result of this interaction the diner decides to share their experiences with others (also worth mentioning that others have had similar experiences.. IE this is not a one off situation).
- Restaurant becomes aware of this and says, sorry you are no longer allowed dine at this establishment ever again.

Doesn’t this just sound plain wrong to you? This would never happen in a restaurant context. I’m not sure why it’s somehow appropriate here.

Yes, at the end of the day, Ming can choose to do whatever they want. They can alienate and piss of their customers if they don’t give a crap… That doesn’t make this type of reaction an appropriate / right one

[dchang81]

yea i don't get not being able to have hands line up properly for any watch. but then again i didn't understand how patek couldn't figure out how to get the date to reliable turn over on some 324's

[GB-man]

I don’t understand the appeal of these at all. QC issues are the norm in this space so they can have a pass but if you want to pair that with poor customer service you better be Patek or you’ll be out of business.

Take your pick

Brand

Customer service

Product

You can only suck at 1 lol

[bonovox]

Not a good look for those involved.

[Old Expat Beast]

As I understand it, the watches are made in Switzerland and QC done in Malaysia?

[fullofboats]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

As I understand it, the watches are made in Switzerland and QC done in Malaysia?

According to their website yes. I wonder if they’re really shipping every watch from Switzerland to Malaysia and then onwards to customers. Any customer able to confirm that their watch was shipped from Malaysia instead of direct from Shwarz-Etienne?

[athens7]

Originally Posted by fullofboats

According to their website yes. I wonder if they’re really shipping every watch from Switzerland to Malaysia and then onwards to customers. Any customer able to confirm that their watch was shipped from Malaysia instead of direct from Shwarz-Etienne?

Yes. 27.01

[squall1]

I'm in the bad look for Ming camp (both the execution and excuse as well as the customer service)...I won't consider their future releases, but perhaps they don't care.

[malarky_hk]

Very surprising (and not in a good way) response and action taken by Ming Watches. Perhaps their recent success has gotten their better of them.

[enjoythemusic]

It ALMOST sounds like one of their suppliers (or employees) is purposefully sabotaging the company by releasing timepieces with such a simple 'mistake' that is very easy to correct.

[uniqueMR]

Thats horrible.
It will damage MING brand overall. Quality is the first thing we pay attention to. And they need to damage control, asap!

[asloper6001]

They got that GMT hour hand hahahaha. I want to see the customer service responses about the alignment.

I LMAO when I saw a redditor post "Minginggg" in a thread.

[flyboyyy]

It appears - at least from the latest YT Vids that this isn't simply a misalignment of the hands when applied, but perhaps something with the movement itself (using the modified GMT function as the hour hand).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0XVWcDeUrY

Couple that with their ever increasingly bad handling / attitude regarding the Lume issues, and they've made sure I'll not be a future customer...at least not at the prices they have vaulted themselves to. It's becoming a very bad look for them very fast and they perhaps should consult a PR person before responding to many more customer issues.

[mongrelnomoad]

Originally Posted by flyboyyy

It appears - at least from the latest YT Vids that this isn't simply a misalignment of the hands when applied, but perhaps something with the movement itself (using the modified GMT function as the hour hand).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0XVWcDeUrY

Couple that with their ever increasingly bad handling / attitude regarding the Lume issues, and they've made sure I'll not be a future customer...at least not at the prices they have vaulted themselves to. It's becoming a very bad look for them very fast and they perhaps should consult a PR person before responding to many more customer issues.

Wow. That’s really really bad. Add to that the fact that the zero on that watch doesn’t seem to align either, and… I’d not be happy.