Servicing taking the pee?

[skotl]

It's been a long time since I last posted...
I got my 16622 Yachtmaster serviced in 2014 so figured it was time for a freshen-up. Since then I've probably worn it for maybe 30 days.

Brought it into Laings in Edinburgh and they sent it off with a "quote" of £550 but then I got this back:

The Rolex watch you left with us has been professionally examined by Rolex's head watch technicians and their recommendation is as follows:

Necessary works:
Complete service: £580.00
The complete service involves: complete dismantling of the watch by highly skilled technicians, cleaning and inspecting the individual parts of the movement, the replacement of worn parts as necessary, on an exchange basis only, lubrication, re-assembly, timing and complimentary refurbishment of case and bracelet, subject to condition.

Optional works:
Replacement of the glass as the existing is chipped - £110.00
Replacement of the bezel as the existing is marked/worn - £1955.00 *Please note Rolex have advised that should the bezel replacement be declined they will be unable to polish the original.

Total for all necessary work: £580.00 (Including optional works:£2645.00)
Price includes postage, packaging, insurance and VAT.

First off, how come £550 went to £580? More important - I genuinely don't recall any scratches or blemishes on the glass (sic - sapphire?) or bezel, but apparently there is two grand worth of damage.
I'm not suggesting they've damaged it, and I said go ahead with the £110 sapphire replacement, but I do wonder what kind of standard they compare a 16 year old watch against.

Is this common?

[123Blueface]

Originally Posted by skotl

It's been a long time since I last posted...
I got my 16622 Yachtmaster serviced in 2014 so figured it was time for a freshen-up. Since then I've probably worn it for maybe 30 days.

Brought it into Laings in Edinburgh and they sent it off with a "quote" of £550 but then I got this back:




First off, how come £550 went to £580? More important - I genuinely don't recall any scratches or blemishes on the glass (sic - sapphire?) or bezel, but apparently there is two grand worth of damage.
I'm not suggesting they've damaged it, and I said go ahead with the £110 sapphire replacement, but I do wonder what kind of standard they compare a 16 year old watch against.

Is this common?

Yes, common.
They look at watch under magnification.
You may not see chip but they do.
If that is the case, decline changing it, as I have in the past.

[locutus49]

Why would you even send it in for servicing if it was working? You realize "regular service intervals" are pretty much a racket for modern watches and even Rolex does not recommend them for fewer than 10 years. But it it was not working right, then totally understandable.

[GenevaFan]

Originally Posted by locutus49

Why would you even send it in for servicing if it was working? You realize "regular service intervals" are pretty much a racket for modern watches and even Rolex does not recommend them for fewer than 10 years. But it it was not working right, then totally understandable.

I own a 10 year old GMT that is seldom worn and works great. I won't send it off for servicing until it requires it. I could drop the money now for no reason or later when the watch needs repair. If it ain't broke don't touch it.

Sent from my LM-Q710.FGN using Tapatalk

[brandrea]

What’s the watch worth? Complete service and all the options sounds like an expensive proposition.

[skotl]

Thanks for the replies. It won't "hold a charge" for more than a couple of hours so definitely needed attention.
Needless to say I'm not replacing the bezel!

[absoluteczech]

Originally Posted by GenevaFan

I own a 10 year old GMT that is seldom worn and works great. I won't send it off for servicing until it requires it. I could drop the money now for no reason or later when the watch needs repair. If it ain't broke don't touch it.

Sent from my LM-Q710.FGN using Tapatalk

That's like saying, don't change your oil in your engine until you get a low oil light.

You do scheduled maintenance so that things DONT break that could eventually lead to more expensive service bills.

Sure it's a gamble, but paying 500 every 5 years is better than paying 2000 every 10 because you let something go wrong due to neglect.

[Nairn1980]

Originally Posted by skotl

It's been a long time since I last posted...
I got my 16622 Yachtmaster serviced in 2014 so figured it was time for a freshen-up. Since then I've probably worn it for maybe 30 days.

Brought it into Laings in Edinburgh and they sent it off with a "quote" of £550 but then I got this back:




First off, how come £550 went to £580? More important - I genuinely don't recall any scratches or blemishes on the glass (sic - sapphire?) or bezel, but apparently there is two grand worth of damage.
I'm not suggesting they've damaged it, and I said go ahead with the £110 sapphire replacement, but I do wonder what kind of standard they compare a 16 year old watch against.

Is this common?

Well that’s what they recommend but you can choose.
Personally I’d do the service and the crystal (as they found some damage). The bezel in these YM do mark up but I’d leave it as is and just go for the service and glass. Total £690.

[MKLM]

I try to get mine done every 7 years as my watches go underwater a lot and I don’t want any leakage due to a worn seal. My watches usually need a calibration by then anyway as they get banged around quite a bit in 7 years.

[Kirk]

Your bezel may be just fine really. I just sent in a 16613 Bluesy for service at the Dallas RSC. They wanted to replace the sapphire crystal, end links and bracelet clasp. I had good pictures from before I sent it out and could find nothing wrong. Not wanting to waste money I had them forward the watch to a popular watchmaker on this board. He inspected it also and could find no real issues. We think that the RSC was just being lazy or too busy to bother with polishing parts that were well scratched. So much easier for them to just replace the part, put the cost on the owner, and maybe make a little more profit on the service in the mix! Maybe they are just being complete perfectionists too, which seems to be their standard. They did not give me an option on my repairs though, it was all or nothing.

[Cryten]

Originally Posted by absoluteczech

That's like saying, don't change your oil in your engine until you get a low oil light.

You do scheduled maintenance so that things DONT break that could eventually lead to more expensive service bills.

Sure it's a gamble, but paying 500 every 5 years is better than paying 2000 every 10 because you let something go wrong due to neglect.

It's not at all like that.

What's going to cost 2000? The internals don't cost that much

[colpol]

Originally Posted by Nairn1980

Well that’s what they recommend but you can choose.
Personally I’d do the service and the crystal (as they found some damage). The bezel in these YM do mark up but I’d leave it as is and just go for the service and glass. Total £690.

I’d go with this too

I used laings in Glasgow for a service a couple of years ago & no issues at all on my SD - 1st Service in 12 years. Watch was fine but knew it was overdue the service. Peace of mind - it’s been serviced/ I have the papers & hopefully sorted for another 8/10 years

[Seibei]

Originally Posted by skotl

It's been a long time since I last posted...
I got my 16622 Yachtmaster serviced in 2014 so figured it was time for a freshen-up. Since then I've probably worn it for maybe 30 days.

Brought it into Laings in Edinburgh and they sent it off with a "quote" of £550 but then I got this back:

First off, how come £550 went to £580? More important - I genuinely don't recall any scratches or blemishes on the glass (sic - sapphire?) or bezel, but apparently there is two grand worth of damage.
I'm not suggesting they've damaged it, and I said go ahead with the £110 sapphire replacement, but I do wonder what kind of standard they compare a 16 year old watch against.

Is this common?

You wore it 30 days and now it needs a fresh up? What were you doing with it, coal mining? 580 divided by 30 = about 19 pounds of service costs per day.

Why would you replace the sapphire if you don't see any scratches? Feel an urgent need to divest yourself of 110 pounds?

Why did you buy your watch anyway? To store it in a box and regularly spend large amounts on having it serviced?

"First off, how come £550 went to £580?" What is the big deal about 30 pounds? It is less than 2 days worth of service costs for your watch.

There is not 2 grand worth of damage. They are simply giving you the option to make your watch as good as new. Whether or not you want to spend the money is entirely up to you.

Is this common? No, it is rare for people to have their watch serviced after 30 days of wear. Why is that rare? Because it makes no logical sense.

[joli160]

Originally Posted by absoluteczech

That's like saying, don't change your oil in your engine until you get a low oil light.

You do scheduled maintenance so that things DONT break that could eventually lead to more expensive service bills.

Sure it's a gamble, but paying 500 every 5 years is better than paying 2000 every 10 because you let something go wrong due to neglect.

It doesn't work like that with Rolex since standard wear parts are included in the service costs.
Mostly the service costs are the same, 5, 10 or 20 years interval alike is my experience.
I service only if it acts up as recommended by our forum RSC watchmaker

[sillo]

OP, they list in excruciating detail every scuff and scratch when you send in a watch for service.

Originally Posted by absoluteczech

That's like saying, don't change your oil in your engine until you get a low oil light.

You do scheduled maintenance so that things DONT break that could eventually lead to more expensive service bills.

Sure it's a gamble, but paying 500 every 5 years is better than paying 2000 every 10 because you let something go wrong due to neglect.

Not really a good analogy. Changing oil is cheap, especially compared to the cost of a new engine.

A watch service isn't cheap and a brand new movement isn't that much more expensive.

[steeevvvooo]

Any recent pics of the watch? How does the bezel look? I have a 116622 and am curious as to how much patina you have on yours. I believe the platinum bezels can be professionally refinished but I guess Rolex just replace them. Google your options if you want it refinished rather than replaced

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[Seibei]

Originally Posted by joli160

It doesn't work like that with Rolex since standard wear parts are included in the service costs.
Mostly the service costs are the same, 5, 10 or 20 years interval alike is my experience.
I service only if it acts up as recommended by our forum RSC watchmaker

Precisely. A watch is not a car.

[SydR]

I don’t see the relevance of naming the AD as it doesn’t look to me like they have done anything wrong. They simply stated the current cost of a service at the time you asked.

If the RSC increases its charges in the time between the watch being sent off and then quoting on it then that is outside the control of the AD,,as is the cost of any additional work RSC believe needs done.

I enquired about a service on one of my non-Rolex watches at another dealer in Edinburgh and they were quick to point out the price they quoted was subject to change at any time by the service centre.

[J.P.Jones]

Originally Posted by absoluteczech

That's like saying, don't change your oil in your engine until you get a low oil light.

You do scheduled maintenance so that things DONT break that could eventually lead to more expensive service bills.

Sure it's a gamble, but paying 500 every 5 years is better than paying 2000 every 10 because you let something go wrong due to neglect.

Yours is a poor comparison. Does a mechanical watch operate with internals reaching temperatures in excess of 500-1000*C or more?

[Nairn1980]

Originally Posted by absoluteczech

That's like saying, don't change your oil in your engine until you get a low oil light.

You do scheduled maintenance so that things DONT break that could eventually lead to more expensive service bills.

Sure it's a gamble, but paying 500 every 5 years is better than paying 2000 every 10 because you let something go wrong due to neglect.

Wrong info, doesn’t work like that.