Shoddy service

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oberonfoto
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Shoddy service

Post by oberonfoto »

Last year - just as the first lockdown was looming - I returned my wife’s CW to them as there was a fault with it - a silver decoration had come lose. In June I heard from CW that they couldn’t fix it - here’s me thinking a couple of drops of glue to replace the decoration. Their solution was a new movement for £15 more than I paid for the original watch. I discussed it with the Long Haired Admiral (wife) and we decided to go ahead. About 6-weeks ago she mentioned that the watch had stopped, got round to posting it back on Monday. Heard from them today and - shock horror - it’s a dead battery. Now I would think if you put a new movement in you would put a new battery in! Not CWL, they have movement ticking away on a shelf and don’t bother to replace the power source but them have the nerve to change £20 and hold on to the watch for 4 - 6-weeks! Shoddy service from a company I’m losing my respect for, it’s lost it’s way and churns out the same watch - with a new dial - time after time.
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Re: Shoddy service

Post by CM23 »

oberonfoto wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 6:50 pm Last year - just as the first lockdown was looming - I returned my wife’s CW to them as there was a fault with it - a silver decoration had come lose. In June I heard from CW that they couldn’t fix it - here’s me thinking a couple of drops of glue to replace the decoration. Their solution was a new movement for £15 more than I paid for the original watch. I discussed it with the Long Haired Admiral (wife) and we decided to go ahead. About 6-weeks ago she mentioned that the watch had stopped, got round to posting it back on Monday. Heard from them today and - shock horror - it’s a dead battery. Now I would think if you put a new movement in you would put a new battery in! Not CWL, they have movement ticking away on a shelf and don’t bother to replace the power source but them have the nerve to change £20 and hold on to the watch for 4 - 6-weeks! Shoddy service from a company I’m losing my respect for, it’s lost it’s way and churns out the same watch - with a new dial - time after time.
Thanks for sharing - it's never good to hear of a fellow enthusiast receiving poor service. Just to understand, you were charged for a new quartz movement, and a battery replacement wasn't done as part of that? Strange. But you should be able to refuse the work, have it returned, and find somewhere local to potentially do it cheaper and/or quicker?
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Re: Shoddy service

Post by Bungle-ator »

I'm confused. Was the movement broken?

Did the same dial come back the first time, fixed and with a new movement?
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Re: Shoddy service

Post by magicman »

^^^ Me too.

But I'm too tired to get my words down correctly, but i will be interested to see how's things develop as clearly oberonfoto is/was a fan of the brand.

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Re: Shoddy service

Post by H0rati0 »

I think you have to follow up on this one. Not good enough and sounds like a procedural failure.
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Re: Shoddy service

Post by Kip »

I think calling this shoddy service, at this point is a bit strong. I can certainly understand the frustration as it is aggravating when we need to step outside our normal routines for something we believe is really simple.

Addressing only the "battery issue".... I think accusing them of not putting in a new battery is incorrect. It would be foolish not to place a new battery in a replacement movement. Any tech that would do that would certainly be entertaining a strong reprimand. Having done more than my share of battery replacements over the years, I assure you the issue is likely a faulty battery. These things do happen where sometimes the battery life is shortened by storage and/or simply shorts out.

I would also suspect that when returned, your watch was simply placed in line for service and the resulting diagnosis was a bad battery for which you were properly charged. This, whether or not you sent a note of explanation, which was missed was likely what happened.

I believe if you speak with Vallen Hardy vallen.hardy@christopherward.co.uk who is head of Customer Service and explain that all will be resolved satisfactorily.
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Re: Shoddy service

Post by JAFO »

oberonfoto wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 6:50 pm Last year - just as the first lockdown was looming - I returned my wife’s CW to them as there was a fault with it - a silver decoration had come lose. In June I heard from CW that they couldn’t fix it - here’s me thinking a couple of drops of glue to replace the decoration. Their solution was a new movement for £15 more than I paid for the original watch. I discussed it with the Long Haired Admiral (wife) and we decided to go ahead. About 6-weeks ago she mentioned that the watch had stopped, got round to posting it back on Monday. Heard from them today and - shock horror - it’s a dead battery. Now I would think if you put a new movement in you would put a new battery in! Not CWL, they have movement ticking away on a shelf and don’t bother to replace the power source but them have the nerve to change £20 and hold on to the watch for 4 - 6-weeks! Shoddy service from a company I’m losing my respect for, it’s lost it’s way and churns out the same watch - with a new dial - time after time.
I think I might have been inclined to get the battery checked before returning a battery powered watch, although I presume the initial repair was still under warranty. CW ought not charge you for the battery, I think.

I have a quartz watch where the battery stopped very shortly after a change. It turns out that the movement had failed, and the battery is still sound. I have bought a replacement movement, and I am contemplating trying to move the hands and dial from the old movement to the new one, but that won't be easy for my large fingers and failing eyesight, and I would need to buy a few bits of equipment. I suspect a watchmaker's cost would make the change cost more than a new watch, though.
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