Tag Heuer Servicing Scam?

WolfSong2000

I'm not overly familiar with Tag watches, but I do know Seiko and know their reputation for potentially (and I emphasize the word potentially) being unreliable and requiring regular servicing to deal with this - Tag watches may be along the same vein...some of the "top end" watches can cause more problems than they're worth - as the OP is finding out.

I'm not a horologist, nor do I have a working knowledge of every watch brand on the market, but of the brands I am aware of (entry level to mid range, mostly) I'd put Citizen watches top of the list every time.

I personally own a citizen eco drive watch - best investment I ever made. No battery required - the face of the watch acts as a solar panel. Also less internal mechanisms to go wrong (Seiko's "kinetic" watches are notorious for having issues as the movement is so complex). I wear my watch every day - it's been bashed endlessly, but still keeps good time and I would change it for any other brand of watch, no matter what the price.

As for servicing...yes, with expensive high-end watches they need to be serviced regularly. Personally I think it's a rip-off, but it's the way they're built - the market the watches are aimed at are assumed to be able to pay for regular servicing for the watch.

Dave_C_2

Why settle for second (excuse pun) best watches?
Radio controlled watches are much more accurate.

Dave

bazster

What a load of hooey. The more you pay for a watch, the more it needs regular servicing? Never heard such tosh in my life. If they're that badly made, why are they so damned expensive? Romford market seems a better bet by the minute.

Azari

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

I assume you think you are an "expert" horologist from your profound statement !! Which you appear NOT be when some very easy checking is carried out.

What a rude and ignorant pair of statements.

You make two errors here:

Firstly you assume that someone needs to be an expert horologist to know that a well made watch does not need servicing after eighteen months whereas, in fact, you merely need the intelligence to notice that most people do not get their watches serviced for many, many, years, if at all and yet they continue to work perfectly well.

Secondly, you confuse 'well made' with 'expensive', a common misconception amongst the gullible and foolish.

If the vast majority of watches can operate correctly for over a decade without requiring a service, it is self evident that anything that anything that requires a 'complete overhaul' every three to six years cannot be 'well made'. (Given that these absurd watches do not perform and other functions, nor are more accurate, than the £25 watches that will operate for many years without servicing.)

~stinkerbell~

Who'd have thought a boring old watch question would provoke such a lively debate? lol

Am liking the thought of Romford market , baz!

Sigh - I do love my Tag and I wear it with pride. But who knew it would cost so much to run? Wolfsong made a good point about those who have one are likely to be able to afford pricey running costs. But I reckon there are many like me who bought it as a major treat and took a year to pay for it.

Just to reiterate my original point - I am suspicious that there really is no need for a service and that this is a great money-making yarn on the part of Tag. If they suggested it needed a service every 7-10 years then I could totally deal with that. But come on - EVERY time I need a battery change?

bazster

A bit of Googling suggests that these things come with a 2-year warranty.

Well for a start that seems a bit carp for such an expensive piece of tomfoolery, you could go into Argos and buy a watch for £15 that would have a 1-year warranty! If I were to pay that much for a watch I'd wanna see a 10-year warranty minimum!

But my main point is, since the thing is out-of-warranty anyway after 2 years, why bother using TAG for a battery change, and why get it serviced at all?

Just use a decent local jeweller for the battery change, I'm sure a good one would test and guarantee the seal.

And in the very, very unlikely event that the thing breaks down after a few years because it didn't have its oil changed or whatever it is they do in this service, you've got all the money you saved on servicing and battery changes to pay for it to be repaired - and chances are you'll actually have saved enough money to buy a bloody new one.

WolfSong2000

~stinkerbell~ wrote: »

Just to reiterate my original point - I am suspicious that there really is no need for a service and that this is a great money-making yarn on the part of Tag. If they suggested it needed a service every 7-10 years then I could totally deal with that. But come on - EVERY time I need a battery change?

Are they reminding you about the service because you didn't take them up on the offer last time? It could just be an automatic thing - they noticed that it was due for a service the first time the battery needed changing, but you didn't service it, so they're sending you a reminder? That's the only thing I can think of.

Again, I'm not a horologist, but a lot of the "top end" watches are built more for prestige than quality, although I've seen from experience some people can't appreciate quality when they have it - not pointing fingers at the OP, but I remember a customer bringing in an absolutely gorgeous, very, very old Rolex. He was looking for the face on the dial to be repainted. I told him the store I worked at didn't offer that service and that was the watch was valuable he should send it back to Rolex and get repairs done through them. The guy proceeded to get very annoyed with me and told me he'd sent it off to Rolex and they were hesitant to do anything as it was a museum piece watch, rare, and they didn't want to risk damaging it. I raised an eyebrow at this, but if this was the case, what the heck was the guy doing bringing the watch to a highstreet jeweller?! That watch deserved a more appreciative owner. lol.

Anyhow - I've never truly understood the fascination with "designer" watches such as Tag, but each to their own. As an aside, the manager of the jewellery store I worked at had a Tag which he adored, but it frustrated him no end as it was constantly going wrong and repeatedly had to go back in for servicing.

globalds

Last Tag I bought was a Kirium automatic ...
I was not happy with battery changes so planned ahead ..:)

pleasedelete

My tag is 11 years old. It has needed 2 batteries. 1st one sent it off. 2nd one went a day before I was going abrad for a month. Tag jeweller replaced battery but it is not sealed for depth. Been 2 years and not had any issues. I don't dive though!

I bought it in Bloomingdales in new York. The cost per day of wear is about 8p and decreasing everyday. I love it. The only watch I have had where the glass is still perfect and scratch free

Tina20

You pay 8p a day for THE TIME?

It's everywhere! On phones! On tv! On clocks! You can even TELEPHONE A TALKING CLOCK!

Why on earth spend a fortune on something so daft? Not MSE at all.
Last time I wore a watch I was 12, I lost it and haven't looked back since. Have never been at a loss, no-one has ever said 'gosh you are brave not wearing a watch' I've never lacked knowledge of the time.

And it's all gloriously free