Broken watch

suzybaby2001

Hello,

I'll try and keep this brief. A couple of weeks back I took my watch to a high street jeweller for a new battery. I went to pick it up a while later and they told me that the pins had corroded and the bracelet had fallen apart (it's got a metal bracelet). They said they would order some more pins in and fix it for free.

I had a phone call later in the week saying they had not been able to get any pins, and also the links themselves were broken. They rang the manufacturer and apparently there's nothing they can do as the watch has been discontinued. I'm due to pick up what's left of it this weekend.

I'm not happy that this amount of damage can happen from a battery change, also the watch is only 5 years old and wasn't cheap, can they really fall apart in this time? I want to say something when I collect it but I don't know what grounds I have....

Any advice would be much appreciated,
thanks

phlogeston

suzybaby2001 wrote: »

I went to pick it up a while later and they told me that the pins had corroded and the bracelet had fallen apart ...and also the links themselves were broken.

Any advice would be much appreciated,thanks

If what they are saying is TRUE, then hard luck.

If what they are saying is NOT TRUE and they have damaged the watch through incompetence, then they owe you the replacement value of the watch.

I have numerous watches, some 30 years old and the pins and links are all still perfectly OK.

hollydays

How would you have described the condition when you took it in?
Ask to see the pins?
How much did it cost originally?

suzybaby2001

hollydays wrote: »

How would you have described the condition when you took it in?
Ask to see the pins?
How much did it cost originally?

It was in a very good condition, the face had a few scratches on but apart from that it was fine. It was £200.

Emmzi

A new watch band is about a tenner. I got a load of different sized spring bars from an internet retailer for about £7 for 100 in different sizes recently.

I'm struggling to see why these are not replacable at a reasonable cost.

kazzah

I am very surprised that a £200 watch would corrode and break so quickly and that they don't have replacement parts
I had a rotary watch which I was wearing when I had an accident and the watch strap and bars were damaged beyond repair
I sent it back to rotary and they replaced the strap and bars for £97 - which I then claimed from insurance
the watch was at least 3 years old at the time
in my experience a lot of manufacturers will produce a range of goods using the same basic parts with slightly different designs, this helps keep costs down for them - I would contact the manufacturer of your watch directly myself and see what they say
Good luck

bluecandy5

A watch will corode no matter what the cost and that inc a omega or britling or even rolex.
It is possible to have parts corrode however the jewellers could replace the parts but not necesserialy from the original watch manufacturer. Most jewellers have what are called spring bars and thats what attatches the bracelet to the case and again most jewellers will have their own brand of bracelets available.

Check again, just obv be aware you prob wont get an idenitcal bracelet.

WolfSong2000

Just wondering if I can figure out which jeweler this is, as I used to work for a major highstreet jeweler .

What kind of watch have you got? Sometimes with the metal bracelets, I did have to take a pin out to get easier access to the back of the watch, so this is what may have happened - pin then broke, etc, etc. Place where I worked had spare spring bars, so if your place is the same, they may have some that would fit...depends on selection and watch brand, though. Plus, if all the spring bars were damaged/corroded then it wouldn't make sense to replace just one as another would inevitably break...

Again, depending on the brand, you *may* still be under manufacturer's guarantee, but trying to prove that the damaged links were a manufacturing fault with a 5 year old watch could be tricky...still, no harm in writing to the watch company and explaining the problem.

If all else fails, just get a new strap . Am really curious as to this watch brand now, though. lol.

chazsucks

Sounds fishy to me! You should never trust them to change the batteries I think they've messed up your watch and are trying to find excuses, stand your ground and tell them that it was in fine condition when you gave it to them, ask to speak directly to either the store manager (if he helps) then if not you can get into contact with whoever is above him. Chances are he won't want to get a bollocking himself and will sort something out. Good luck x

suzybaby2001

Hello,
thanks for all the advice, I went in today to collect my watch and they were really apologetic. Apparently the phone call I had earlier in the week to ask me to collect it, there's no more that can be done etc. was not accurate. After a phone call by the store to customer services I was able to choose a new watch to replace mine, and I've also got mine back.