What would you do? Modders taking a long time to complete work

[philwongnz]

My sympathies are almost entirely with the modders. From my own inept dabbling I can fully understand how hard it must be to find the time and inclination to complete projects for people you only know as names on a forum.

So, if you aren't prepared to wait as long as it takes, then get the work to date back from them... and start learning to DIY it.

Thanks for your reply. I didn't set them time lines nor did I say hurry up (I actually say take their time) but I guess when the mods being done should take around 2 weeks by other modders and is taken this long, for me is getting to a point where I am just not sure as per my original question. I can DIY a little bit, like removing dials and hands and even reset a keyless works for 4130, but I don't space for tools when I live in a flat in London vs having a small garage or small workshop in the garden. I study design and physics at school so everything used to be done by hand so doing some "mods" with limited tools I can definitely will try but I don't think I have the space to do pad printing, negative relief gilt dial and machining cases.

 

[philwongnz]

Modders are definitely the primadonnas of the rep world, can be very touchy and high strung. 9 months to a year is too much, did they give you time estimates when you started? I’ve dealt with several and had some special builds made, absolute max wait was 6 months.

No they didn't, but to my observations where similar work had been done within weeks by other modders that's when I start questioning/doubt myself and post this thread.

 

[philwongnz]

To give you a sense…each time I sent a gen for repairs to the AD, it took 6-9 months to come back

What type of watch is it? In RSC London my experience had been pretty quick. Less than 1 week to get a quote and 3-4 weeks for job completion, e.g a WG 4 digit day date with dial, hands and bezel replacement with full service. One time a rare watch needs to go to Switzerland that's when it took a few months. Sure if get Journe, complicated Lange or a PP minute repeater I can imagine it will sometime.

 

[philwongnz]

Good luck sending a gen Rolex back for a full service, 6 months is a praise-the-lord miracle.

Around 2-3 weeks in London for me, unless is something rare where it has to go to Switzerland.

 

[tripdog]

Modder #1 has 3 watches. 1 watch which was semi faulty when I got it (new watch sourced by the modder of which the modder modded) I sent it back to fix and 2 other watches are for further mods I sent. The mods for the two watches IMHO are not extremely difficult (some modders I read can turn it around in like 2 weeks). So far it has been 9 months. There were some personal issues with this modder which I appreciate but he doesn't really answer my messages semi promptly, e.g. took me over 1 month to get a reply from him last time (I send follow up messages like a few weeks later, i.e not messaging daily like a pest)

If he sent you a finished watch which was faulty on arrival then the issues should be rectified quickly - the watch should not be pushed to the back of his work queue. He screwed up, he should fix it as soon as is reasonable.

Modder #2 has 1 watch. Is a new build/build from scratch with parts sourced entirely by him and this watch he had built before. I requested some changes to the watch as it wasn't accurate and additional hands so I don't mind waiting. I waited over 12 months for the watch, got it and the second hand came off within days and also the plexi was cracked inside along the rehault. I sent it back and it has been like 4 months now. He also doesn't really answer my messages semi promptly, e.g. took me over 1 month to get a reply from him last time

Again, if this is supposedly a build he's familiar with it should have been completed quickly and without major issues, and if there were issues with the watch on arrival those issues should be fixed quickly - he's the one that screwed up, he needs to fix the issues as soon as is reasonable - i.e. within a week or 2, certainly not months or years.

If these are Supporting Vendors/recommended watchmakers on the forum then you should ask them for a definite date that the watches will be finished and ready to be returned to you. You can also leave a review in their sub-forums, that usually seems to give them the jolt they need to finish the work on your watches.

If these are people you've contacted in PM to have work done then I suggest that you ask for your property to be returned to you and that you find someone competent to finish the work.

 

[MaximillianGT]

Around 2-3 weeks in London for me, unless is something rare where it has to go to Switzerland.

In cities where they have both ADs and Rolex Services Centers, people prefer taking the watch to service centers over ADs. That’s why the wait.

 

[Zeta7]

Like others have said don’t waste your money on modders. They’re swamped and do the jobs that go fast and pay the most. If you want the watch completed by a certain date you need to discuss that with them before you send them the watch. Of course that’s going to cost you more money if they’ll even take the job. Most are doing this stuff as a hobby and deadlines turns things into work.

 

[MaximillianGT]

What type of watch is it? In RSC London my experience had been pretty quick. Less than 1 week to get a quote and 3-4 weeks for job completion, e.g a WG 4 digit day date with dial, hands and bezel replacement with full service. One time a rare watch needs to go to Switzerland that's when it took a few months. Sure if get Journe, complicated Lange or a PP minute repeater I can imagine it will sometime.

Try to go to any RSC in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo etc. Just so you are in London doesn't mean the entire world is like that.

 

[philwongnz]

Try to go to any RSC in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo etc. Just so you are in London doesn't mean the entire world is like that.

Yeah, hence I wonder where it is. I actually had taken watches from HK to UK to service as RSC in HK are thieves, they once told my dad they need to replace a perfectly good day date dial when he took the watch to service and later on the dial was available at aftermarket dealer (my dad is a grey dealer). The watchsmith work with front of staff to split the proceeds of "stolen" parts.

 

[Andy83n]

I have a build ongoing for a few months now.

It may take a few months more, it may not, but when it's ready it'll be worth the wait so I'm cool woth that.

 

[MaximillianGT]

Yeah, hence I wonder where it is. I actually had taken watches from HK to UK to service as RSC in HK are thieves, they once told my dad they need to replace a perfectly good day date dial when he took the watch to service and later on the dial was available at aftermarket dealer (my dad is a grey dealer). The watchsmith work with front of staff to split the proceeds of "stolen" parts.

Decades ago, my dad had a two-tone digital dial Datejust. Back then he worked in Taipei and the watch was losing time, so he brought it to the RSC in Taipei. The watch came back in a month or two, and everything was fine. So ten years later, he took it for another full service, this time in Seoul. Guess what? the RSC Seoul called him and told him the entire wheel train had been changed to aftermarket wheels. He didn't let anyone touch his watch for ten years, so the best guess is the RSC Taipei has done something to his watch he didn't know about that.

 

[Karbon74]

@Got20Mate
Adding you here to freak you out

 

[Zeta7]

Yeah, hence I wonder where it is. I actually had taken watches from HK to UK to service as RSC in HK are thieves, they once told my dad they need to replace a perfectly good day date dial when he took the watch to service and later on the dial was available at aftermarket dealer (my dad is a grey dealer). The watchsmith work with front of staff to split the proceeds of "stolen" parts.

Stealing parts from customers watches are just one way they scam customers. There’s a dozen other games they’re running on anyone who does business with them. It’s not just a few dealers doing it either.

 

[Got20Mate]

@Got20Mate
Adding you here to freak you out

This is honestly such a stressful read. Makes me want to open all my gens just to make sure everything is above board. Thanks a lot @Karbon74

 

[Jackster]

Sorry, but I think these modders of yours are taking the piss! If you cant turn a job around in a reasonable acceptable time frame then dont take on the job. When I was in business my mantra was "Don't deal with Tossers! (It served me well)
The modder who sold you the faulty watch should be ashamed of himself imo.
I sent my Gen Sub off for a service and it came back in 6 weeks, I think that is acceptable, any longer and I would be pissed.
My advice is to enjoy a good quality rep ootb and forget about mods until you can do what you want to do yourself.
Caveat: I am generaly an impatient man so dealing with modders probably wouldnt work for me!

 

[Zeta7]

Sorry, but I think these modders of yours are taking the piss! If you cant turn a job around in a reasonable acceptable time frame then dont take on the job. When I was in business my mantra was "Don't deal with Tossers! (It served me well)
The modder who sold you the faulty watch should be ashamed of himself imo.
I sent my Gen Sub off for a service and it came back in 6 weeks, I think that is acceptable, any longer and I would be pissed.
My advice is to enjoy a good quality rep ootb and forget about mods until you can do what you want to do yourself.
Caveat: I am generaly an impatient man so dealing with modders probably wouldnt work for me!

I was considering opening up a watch repair store and hiring an experienced professional. However there’s no experienced professionals in the area to hire. I only came across one older person who worked part time for a place in town. He wasn’t interested in working more than what he was doing already.

 

[Dave2302]

Sorry, but I think these modders of yours are taking the piss! If you cant turn a job around in a reasonable acceptable time frame then dont take on the job. When I was in business my mantra was "Don't deal with Tossers! (It served me well)
The modder who sold you the faulty watch should be ashamed of himself imo.
I sent my Gen Sub off for a service and it came back in 6 weeks, I think that is acceptable, any longer and I would be pissed.
My advice is to enjoy a good quality rep ootb and forget about mods until you can do what you want to do yourself.
Caveat: I am generaly an impatient man so dealing with modders probably wouldnt work for me!

Absolutely 100% agreed, exactly how I run my businesses past and present.

Sometimes, like doing one off modified car / boat etc builds unforseen issues arise that cause delays, if that's the case my first thing is a 2 minute whatsapp message, or a phone call to explain that there will be a delay and why.

On the flipside some customers can turn out to be an entitled pain in the sh1t box, but next time they call, I am far too busy, will have to refuse that job, etc etc yak yak yak.

Faulty watch wise, well car wise, everything is guaranteed unless the parts are supplied by customer, (rare I will let them do that), but if something does go wrong that job gets priority, even if I have to work late to change the deceased woteva.

 

[Zeta7]

Absolutely 100% agreed, exactly how I run my businesses past and present.

Sometimes, like doing one off modified car / boat etc builds unforseen issues arise that cause delays, if that's the case my first thing is a 2 minute whatsapp message, or a phone call to explain that there will be a delay and why.

On the flipside some customers can turn out to be an entitled pain in the sh1t box, but next time they call, I am far too busy, will have to refuse that job, etc etc yak yak yak.

Faulty watch wise, well car wise, everything is guaranteed unless the parts are supplied by customer, (rare I will let them do that), but if something does go wrong that job gets priority, even if I have to work late to change the deceased woteva.

You’re a professional and actually give a shit though. It seems like those are rare qualities nowadays.

 

[Dave2302]

You’re a professional and actually give a shit though. It seems like those are rare qualities nowadays.

Thank you kind sir

Yes I have to admit in the course of my lifelong large garage business until I was 40's when I sold up, and now my one man band specialist garage business I have always run them such. I would like 10 pence for every time I have been at regular garages sorting out some problem that they can't, and heard them answer the phone, obviously a call from a customer who has an issue, and the first words outta the garage guys gob is "Nuffink" to do wth wot we did M8"

Now, it might not be, that garage guy, (or me) when answering that call may well know that it won't be related, but the first words out of my mouth would have been "I am very sorry to hear that, please bring it back as soon as you can so I can take a look at it and sort this out for you" ..........

if it isn't related to the previous repair I will quietly show the customer the issue, explain why it is unrelated and offer to repair it for them at their cost and book it in. If it is something related to the repair then of course they get a lift home if serious, choice of whether to leave it here or when to bring it back, and it is fixed in front of anything else completely FOC. Sometimes, a pack of beers, a bottle, some chocolates etc depending on the customer and how big an issue will be left in the car for them upon collecting it. Sometimes a lift to and fro if they are remote to me and can't get a lift.

To get that in perspective, I have had 2 such "warranty" calls in 6 months this year, one was nothing to do with the work I did, an exhaust bracket had rusted and was rattling, I looked at it with the customer, he could see it wasn't the parts I'd fitted, I fixed it free of charge whilst it was on the lift, took me 15 minutes.

The other was an Alternator I supplied and fitted early last week shat it's pants 2 days later. It was a brand new OEM Bosch part, tested working perfectly after fitment, very rare failure rate on OEM parts, but like everything things can and do fail, it was fixed same day with a replacement unit delivered to me FOC by the supplier.

I am not the cheapest, I charge double what the local garages do, but half what the main dealerships charge, and they are 60 - 100 miles away depending where the customer lives.
I don't buy cheap parts, I don't work on un - serviced wrecks, but my regular customers appreciate the reasons why, and don't mind paying that premium.

I don't have to do that much work these days anyway, I mainly started this business to fund my Toyz and provide a much needed service locally. No website, no adverts, all work comes by word of mouth, which counts for a lot more in our area and for my own peaceof mind I can afford to be picky customer / vehicle wise.

 

[Zeta7]

Thank you kind sir

Yes I have to admit in the course of my lifelong large garage business until I was 40's when I sold up, and now my one man band specialist garage business I have always run them such. I would like 10 pence for every time I have been at regular garages sorting out some problem that they can't, and heard them answer the phone, obviously a call from a customer who has an issue, and the first words outta the garage guys gob is "Nuffink" to do wth wot we did M8"

Now, it might not be, that garage guy, (or me) when answering that call may well know that it won't be related, but the first words out of my mouth would have been "I am very sorry to hear that, please bring it back as soon as you can so I can take a look at it and sort this out for you" ..........

if it isn't related to the previous repair I will quietly show the customer the issue, explain why it is unrelated and offer to repair it for them at their cost and book it in. If it is something related to the repair then of course they get a lift home if serious, choice of whether to leave it here or when to bring it back, and it is fixed in front of anything else completely FOC. Sometimes, a pack of beers, a bottle, some chocolates etc depending on the customer and how big an issue will be left in the car for them upon collecting it. Sometimes a lift to and fro if they are remote to me and can't get a lift.

To get that in perspective, I have had 2 such "warranty" calls in 6 months this year, one was nothing to do with the work I did, an exhaust bracket had rusted and was rattling, I looked at it with the customer, he could see it wasn't the parts I'd fitted, I fixed it free of charge whilst it was on the lift, took me 15 minutes.

The other was an Alternator I supplied and fitted early last week shat it's pants 2 days later. It was a brand new OEM Bosch part, tested working perfectly after fitment, very rare failure rate on OEM parts, but like everything things can and do fail, it was fixed same day with a replacement unit delivered to me FOC by the supplier.

I am not the cheapest, I charge double what the local garages do, but half what the main dealerships charge, and they are 60 - 100 miles away depending where the customer lives.
I don't buy cheap parts, I don't work on un - serviced wrecks, but my regular customers appreciate the reasons why, and don't mind paying that premium.

I don't have to do that much work these days anyway, I mainly started this business to fund my Toyz and provide a much needed service locally. No website, no adverts, all work comes by word of mouth, which counts for a lot more in our area and for my own peaceof mind I can afford to be picky customer / vehicle wise.

For many years I had a family doctor, family attorney and Family mechanic. Each has retired over the last decade and I haven’t been able to replace any of them.