Many of you know I am new to watchsmithing here. I have worked on gens for years and really enjoy what I'm doing. I just recently got back into reps and noticed there was a need for honest, qualified, detail-oriented individuals with some technical ability. So I do the time on probation and get approved as a watchsmith here.
Now I'm wondering why I ever left the gen world. I am ready to go back and be done with reps FOREVER. In the last month I have dealt with somewhere between 15 to 20 individuals. Even with such a small number of customers I already have a massive headache on my hands.
Member (I will NOT name names) sends me watch with intermittent chrono and rotor noise. I open watch and notice chrono bridge is not on straight (big .25mm gap at one corner), also rotor is rubbing movement because everything was slapped in there crooked. The back of the chrono hand is wobbling around, not held tight since the rear jewel is not where it's supposed to be. I mention all of this to the member. I take everything apart to perform full service. During reassembly I have to "bend" the bridge into place and hold it with heavy pressure while tightening screws down. I test everything and send it out, chrono had run for 15 hours in different positions without skipping a beat. Keep in mind I'm sending my standard detailed pics with captions every step of the way.
Member receives watch, emails me stating that calendar isn't lined up and chrono hand is not resetting to 12. I remind him that this is an A7750, not an ETA, and that operation may not necessarily be "perfect" (I have the bent chrono bridge in the back of my mind, along with a wobble in his chrono heart cam from an irregular mounting post). Of course I'm thinking maybe he is just nitpicking, but want to rule that out, so I ask him to try the start/stop/reset sequence immediately after the failure to return to 12 and let me know if that fixes it (it consistently worked for me while in my posession). I assure him that I stand behind my work and will pay for shipping both ways if I overlooked something and need to correct it. I also ask him to manually advance the time until day/date changes and tell me if it lines up.
I expect the member to report back with the results. If he reports persisting issues, my next step will be to ask for pics. Instead, the member emails back with a challenging tone. We end up going back and forth with things becoming more and more combative. They escalate to the point that he tells me that "if" I want to try and fix it (I already told him I would rectify the issue, so not sure why the "if") he wants the watch to come back perfect with these issues resolved and no new issues, at no expense to him (I already told him I'd pay for everything twice, so not sure why he's insistent on this). If these conditions are not met, he will have to replace the movement. To make things easier, I can just opt for a straight refund. Oh, and by the way, I am welcome to purchase the movement from him at a "reasonable" price. Do you believe this?
In his last email he FINALLY attaches pictures. They appear to show the date badly misaligned, though I can't tell since the time on the watch is 10:50 or so (could be in time change mode). They also show the center chrono hand apparently resetting to 2 and 3 seconds after midnight. He should have sent these pics from the start; they rule out nitpicking. If accurate, they indicate something may actually be wrong.
I explain to him that "if" there are problems it could be a simple matter of improperly installed date/day jumpers (you know they look very similar and I have mistakenly swapped them before) and loose center chrono hand tube. I tell him I can resolve these in minutes if he will just SEND THE PIECE BACK TO ME and allow me to right the wrongs.
The short story is that he now appears to be blackmailing me for a new movement or a full refund. I have to wonder if this was his goal from the outset, as he never once took me up on my offer to return the watch on my dime for resolution. He also ignored my request for a phone conversation. He only insisted in saying I am wrong (he used those exact words). He of course did the requisite dropping of big names, implying that Ziggy, Francesco, etc. service many A7750s and would disagree with me.
Our emails and interchange were so pleasant in the beginning. I must have sent a half dozen detailed emails documenting every little anomaly I found. I was really enjoying working on his piece - it is a fantastic watch! Only when there was an issue did things go badly, and I mean they have gotten quite BAD. I'd post the entire thread here, but that would be neither professional nor an efficient use of time and space.
Maybe it's the rep clientele? In my years of servicing gen watches, I never had issues like this. My clients came to my house or met me at theirs, we talked fondly about the pieces, I provided service, they paid me (and paid me well). If there were questions or issues, we dealt with them amicably. None of my deals ever blew up like this.
Reminds me of my carpet cleaning days. When we started out, we served the bottom-feeders who had unrealistic expectations and weren't willing to pay. We'd get there and find vomit stains, cigarette burns, mold, etc. and they'd want the whole place cleaned for a hundred bucks. Later, when we got more established and were charging 3x to 4x the price, we were dealing with pristine homes and buildings, white carpet without so much as a black lint on it, really ideal conditions with owners who were willing to pay whatever it takes to maintain their possession.
Sorry, just venting.
I'm not a quitter, but I am seriously considering getting out of this.
Now I'm wondering why I ever left the gen world. I am ready to go back and be done with reps FOREVER. In the last month I have dealt with somewhere between 15 to 20 individuals. Even with such a small number of customers I already have a massive headache on my hands.
Member (I will NOT name names) sends me watch with intermittent chrono and rotor noise. I open watch and notice chrono bridge is not on straight (big .25mm gap at one corner), also rotor is rubbing movement because everything was slapped in there crooked. The back of the chrono hand is wobbling around, not held tight since the rear jewel is not where it's supposed to be. I mention all of this to the member. I take everything apart to perform full service. During reassembly I have to "bend" the bridge into place and hold it with heavy pressure while tightening screws down. I test everything and send it out, chrono had run for 15 hours in different positions without skipping a beat. Keep in mind I'm sending my standard detailed pics with captions every step of the way.
Member receives watch, emails me stating that calendar isn't lined up and chrono hand is not resetting to 12. I remind him that this is an A7750, not an ETA, and that operation may not necessarily be "perfect" (I have the bent chrono bridge in the back of my mind, along with a wobble in his chrono heart cam from an irregular mounting post). Of course I'm thinking maybe he is just nitpicking, but want to rule that out, so I ask him to try the start/stop/reset sequence immediately after the failure to return to 12 and let me know if that fixes it (it consistently worked for me while in my posession). I assure him that I stand behind my work and will pay for shipping both ways if I overlooked something and need to correct it. I also ask him to manually advance the time until day/date changes and tell me if it lines up.
I expect the member to report back with the results. If he reports persisting issues, my next step will be to ask for pics. Instead, the member emails back with a challenging tone. We end up going back and forth with things becoming more and more combative. They escalate to the point that he tells me that "if" I want to try and fix it (I already told him I would rectify the issue, so not sure why the "if") he wants the watch to come back perfect with these issues resolved and no new issues, at no expense to him (I already told him I'd pay for everything twice, so not sure why he's insistent on this). If these conditions are not met, he will have to replace the movement. To make things easier, I can just opt for a straight refund. Oh, and by the way, I am welcome to purchase the movement from him at a "reasonable" price. Do you believe this?
In his last email he FINALLY attaches pictures. They appear to show the date badly misaligned, though I can't tell since the time on the watch is 10:50 or so (could be in time change mode). They also show the center chrono hand apparently resetting to 2 and 3 seconds after midnight. He should have sent these pics from the start; they rule out nitpicking. If accurate, they indicate something may actually be wrong.
I explain to him that "if" there are problems it could be a simple matter of improperly installed date/day jumpers (you know they look very similar and I have mistakenly swapped them before) and loose center chrono hand tube. I tell him I can resolve these in minutes if he will just SEND THE PIECE BACK TO ME and allow me to right the wrongs.
The short story is that he now appears to be blackmailing me for a new movement or a full refund. I have to wonder if this was his goal from the outset, as he never once took me up on my offer to return the watch on my dime for resolution. He also ignored my request for a phone conversation. He only insisted in saying I am wrong (he used those exact words). He of course did the requisite dropping of big names, implying that Ziggy, Francesco, etc. service many A7750s and would disagree with me.
Our emails and interchange were so pleasant in the beginning. I must have sent a half dozen detailed emails documenting every little anomaly I found. I was really enjoying working on his piece - it is a fantastic watch! Only when there was an issue did things go badly, and I mean they have gotten quite BAD. I'd post the entire thread here, but that would be neither professional nor an efficient use of time and space.
Maybe it's the rep clientele? In my years of servicing gen watches, I never had issues like this. My clients came to my house or met me at theirs, we talked fondly about the pieces, I provided service, they paid me (and paid me well). If there were questions or issues, we dealt with them amicably. None of my deals ever blew up like this.
Reminds me of my carpet cleaning days. When we started out, we served the bottom-feeders who had unrealistic expectations and weren't willing to pay. We'd get there and find vomit stains, cigarette burns, mold, etc. and they'd want the whole place cleaned for a hundred bucks. Later, when we got more established and were charging 3x to 4x the price, we were dealing with pristine homes and buildings, white carpet without so much as a black lint on it, really ideal conditions with owners who were willing to pay whatever it takes to maintain their possession.
Sorry, just venting.
I'm not a quitter, but I am seriously considering getting out of this.
sad though for a lot of yanks to loose out on a local(national ) watchsmith though, because of a difficult custumor like this one sounds to be!!
