Marc Jacobs designer watch broke after 18 months... :(

champagne_b

Last year (April 2012) for a late 40th birthday present to myself, I thought I'd treat myself to a fairly expensive Marc Jacobs watch. I spotted it on Pinterest, fell in love with it and then found out that it was available at House of Fraser. Anyway, I really liked the style as it is quite chunky looking with a thick rubbery bezel and strap in black and gold. I've worn it almost every day since then and it generally worked well and kept time pretty accurately.

However recently I've noticed that the rubber has been peeling off from around the bezel, and last week the gold back of the watch fell off!

Obviously I'm not very happy about this so am planning on taking it back this weekend. However I was wondering if I could get some advice as to what my rights are beforehand?

As it's been nearly 18 months since I bought it am I still entitled to a refund from House of Fraser as its been more than 12 months? Or will they fob me off? (no pun intended).

I pretty much wore this watch every day but really looked after it too, I never bashed it around nor took it to the gym (cos I never go to the gym) so I would have expected the watch to last far longer than 18 months. At least several years if not more. I think that's a reasonable expectation right?

I feel a bit of a mug now for spending that kind of money even though it was a "special" birthday and was basically something to cheer myself up with!

So if anyone has any advice here on where I stand with this now it will be very welcome... I don't want to go there and be fobbed off with some line or other and just leave feeling disappointed etc.

angelil

Do you mind being asked how much you actually paid for the watch?

What does the warranty/House of Fraser receipt say?

And...to be honest!...Marc Jacobs are hardly watch specialists so in that respect no, I am not surprised that it didn't last so long.

frugal_mike

The sale of goods act states that if an item is inherently faulty and has nor lasted a reasonable amount of time then the retailer has to either repair, replace or refund the item. The customer can state a preference, but they can't force a retailer to give a solution that is more expensive than one of the other options. Also note that if they choose to refund they are allowed to deduct money to take into account the usage you have had.

However since it is more than 6 months since you purchased the watch the law will assume that it is not inherently faulty unless proven otherwise. The retailer would be within their rights to do nothing until you prove the fault is inherent with an independent report from an expert.

champagne_b

angelil wrote: »

What does the warranty/House of Fraser receipt say?

And...to be honest!...Marc Jacobs are hardly watch specialists so in that respect no, I am not surprised that it didn't last so long.

The warranty just says the usual 14 days with receipt etc. Not long enough to test an item out to see if it will last.

And sorry but it doesn't matter if MJ aren't "watch specialists" - they have chosen to make and sell them at premium price so it should have been good quality. A friend of mine has had a gucci (which is not a watch specialist) for five years and regularly wears it and it's lasted pretty well, and still looks good. A cheap ladies' watch I bought from Oasis clothes shop years ago (not a watch specialist either) once lasted me four years! I've had cheap watches from Argos that have lasted longer than this!

ThumbRemote

The first step is to talk to the retailer. They may deal with it for you, or they may claim that it's outside a year so it's not their problem.

If so, try writing to their head office to see what they say.

If this fails, get an independent report stating that the watch was inherently faulty (ie the damage isn't caused by misuse, but by poor manufacturing on the watch itself). Send this to the head office.

If this fails again, send a letter before action.

Finally go to the small claims court.

champagne_b

frugal_mike wrote: »

The sale of goods act states that if an item is inherently faulty and has nor lasted a reasonable amount of time then the retailer has to either repair, replace or refund the item. The customer can state a preference, but they can't force a retailer to give a solution that is more expensive than one of the other options. Also note that if they choose to refund they are allowed to deduct money to take into account the usage you have had.

However since it is more than 6 months since you purchased the watch the law will assume that it is not inherently faulty unless proven otherwise. The retailer would be within their rights to do nothing until you prove the fault is inherent with an independent report from an expert.

Thanks for this info.

I don't want anything more expensive than this, and if they give me a refund or a partial refund I will take it, (and avoid Marc Jacobs' goods in the future), but I do think expecting this item to last longer than 18 months is a reasonable expectation imo.

champagne_b

ThumbRemote wrote: »

The first step is to talk to the retailer. They may deal with it for you, or they may claim that it's outside a year so it's not their problem.

If so, try writing to their head office to see what they say.

If this fails, get an independent report stating that the watch was inherently faulty (ie the damage isn't caused by misuse, but by poor manufacturing on the watch itself). Send this to the head office.

If this fails again, send a letter before action.

Finally go to the small claims court.

Thanks for this advice. It all seems too much trouble really and ordinarily I wouldn't bother, but I guess seeing as it cost a lot of money it's not something I just want to give up on, at least without trying. Just wondering though, will I be liable for costs if I lose at the small claims court? Also, who should I be taking to small claims court if it doesn't work out - the retailer or the manufacturer?

ILW

Bear in mind you bought a cheap watch but paid a premium for the name on it. It still has the name.

C_Mababejive

Its sad but true that so called designer watches are often just cheap mechanisms rebadged and rebranded to be sold at exhorbitant prices. I understand that Marc Jacobs (who..?) watches are made by Fossil. Fossil make lots of so called designer watches and badge them up. Fossil has a watch making plant in China...

I was amazed to learn recently that even high end brands such as Omega are owned by the Swatch group. Forget about images of Swiss craftsmen whittling away in olde worlde workshops in some obscure Swiss Canton. No,these things are banged out on production lines and sold as brands not related to the inherent value of the product.

Brands like Omega jealously guard their brand to run a cartel of high price maintenance and operate their obscure warranty system where if you dont buy from an Omega dealer at inflated prices,they dont guarantee their product!

ThumbRemote

champagne_b wrote: »

Thanks for this advice. It all seems too much trouble really and ordinarily I wouldn't bother, but I guess seeing as it cost a lot of money it's not something I just want to give up on, at least without trying. Just wondering though, will I be liable for costs if I lose at the small claims court? Also, who should I be taking to small claims court if it doesn't work out - the retailer or the manufacturer?

You won't be liable for costs.

You deal with the retailer at all times.

champagne_b

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Its sad but true that so called designer watches are often just cheap mechanisms rebadged and rebranded to be sold at exhorbitant prices. I understand that Marc Jacobs (who..?) watches are made by Fossil. Fossil make lots of so called designer watches and badge them up. Fossil has a watch making plant in China...

I was amazed to learn recently that even high end brands such as Omega are owned by the Swatch group. Forget about images of Swiss craftsmen whittling away in olde worlde workshops in some obscure Swiss Canton. No,these things are banged out on production lines and sold as brands not related to the inherent value of the product.

Brands like Omega jealously guard their brand to run a cartel of high price maintenance and operate their obscure warranty system where if you dont buy from an Omega dealer at inflated prices,they dont guarantee their product!

I think you are right about rebranding cheap watches for exorbitant prices, and on some instinctual level I think I suspected this, but for some reason chose to ignore my instincts at the time cos I liked the watch so much! It's nice to have some evidence I guess that my instincts were spot on and I should have listened to it!

Thanks for the tip about Omega -it also makes sense if MJ watches are made by fossil, as the receipt I have for it says "fossil" not Marc Jacobs...which I thought was weird.