Buying a timepiece is just the first experience and given the current environment, I can say the experience is not great for many - but that will be for another post. To make matters worse, the servicing and support after sales is also anything but acceptable in many cases.
I have had several bad experiences with salespersons as well as service staff from major brands and that is not only sad but unacceptable. It tells me brands are only interested in pushing numbers - selling watches but when they come back for a service, are treated more as an issue than another chance to enhance the buying decision. Allow me to give some negative personal experience...
Poor Sales Experience 1
Three of us went to an Ion Orchard Boutique on the ground level when the boutique just opened - probably around early part of 2012. I was wearing an "entry" model with an ETA7750 movement. Issue was this - If you had pulled the crown and stopped the watch with the seconds hand at the 60 position and the minute hand was at the 25 marker and you now wound the watch forward 10 minutes to the 35 minute marker, depressed the crown and the watch runs for 60 seconds, should the minute hand be at the 36 minute marker after 60 seconds? No, not this particular piece - the minute hand will be short of hitting the 36 minute marker. I asked the sales lady why this was the case.
She brought the watch to her watchmaker and came back to tell me "All automatic watches are like that" to which I told her my Seiko 5 does not have the same issue. I left the boutique disappointed with such cavalier attitude and response and when I got home, wrote an email to the Brand Manager who told me to return the watch to the Boutique. I thought help was at hand, so, I return the watch. Two weeks later, they told me the watch was ready for collection. The same sales lady greeted me at the Boutique and this is what she had to say - "We compared your watch with those in our inventory and they are all the same!".
I promptly sold my watches from that brand and has never gone back to the Boutique nor wanted to be associated with that brand. No follow up from the Brand Manager. Perhaps it was an "entry" model and not worthy of attention. As a fix, I had done some research and it seems that if you wanted to fix this "feature", wind the watch forward 5 minutes of the intended time and turn it backwards. The gears will engage properly and the minute hand will advance "correctly". This is true for all 7750 movements.
Poor Sales Experience 2
More recently, I had gone to a Boutique at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) to ask for the availability of a particular watch - this was December 2021. As I approached the Boutique, I was stopped in track by the Security Officer who asked me if I had an appointment. Just to clarify, the shop had all of ZERO customers and the Boutique salesperson was seated behind the shield "working" on her computer. The Security Officer closed the door, walked in and spoke with the Boutique staff. She came out from behind the desk and looking annoyed, asked me what I wanted.
I asked her for a particular "Octagonal" Chronograph watch to which she said - "This watch will only come in next year but I don't know when." So I asked her if there was any watch available to which she replied "All the watches here are for display only", pointing to all three watches in the boutique. Very effective way of telling me to get out so she can continue her work on the computer.
When brands treat their customers with poor, non-existent service, why then do we want to give them our hard-earned money? The best is to vote with our feet and walk away. After all, there are many more brands out there deserving of our support. I guess with the demand for watches out-stripping supply today, watch brands can afford to take their customers for granted.
Poor Servicing Experience
What inspired me to write this post was the post made by @perezcope on his IG account where he highlighted the experience of sending his Pre Vendôme Panerai for inspection and potential service to Panerai in Neuchâtel. Not only did they damage the watch, they had the audacity to send the watch back in a damaged condition!
I had a similar experience with a Swiss brand years back. I had sent in my 1993 "vintage inspired" rose gold anniversary piece for servicing. I was told by the person handling my watch that they could service it in Singapore and she proceeded to make a quote to me which I promptly agreed to. Two weeks later, I was told they needed to send the watch back to Switzerland. No reason was given but she was "nice enough" to say that since I had accepted the initial quote, they will honour the quote and all additional charges will be absorbed by the brand.
Three months past and I received a call informing me that watch was ready for collection. Bearing in mind this was a 1993 anniversary piece and the patina has developed quite nicely and I sent it in around 2010 for the said service. When I arrived at the servicing centre, the lady took out the watch and had this to say - "Sir, you are so lucky! We changed your rose gold hands for free!"... What? Changed the hands? No one asked me if I had agreed to the change? I asked what the issue was and her response was "The hands were corroded" - what nonsense! I asked for evidence but they could not produce it.
I am sure someone tried to service it locally thinking he/she could do the job. After all, how difficult could it be to service a watch that has a pocket watch movement. But they screwed up the servicing, probably damaged my watch and sent it back to HQ to be rescued. But what was totally unacceptable was "blaming" it on my watch - hands were corroded they said. Even if they were, shouldn't they ask me before they replaced the hands? They should have shown me the evidence of the corrosion and the extent to which they were corroded. Only when I agreed that they can proceed. But no, they went ahead without getting consent from me. The watch came back with brand new hands and a nicely patina dial and markers. Difference in patina between the hands and the rest of the watch was so obvious.
All the experiences I have had so far in this journey is that many brands don't pay much attention to the after sales aspect of watch ownership. They seem to think that their job is done when the watch is sold. They keep pushing numbers out the door without as much as thinking about the servicing that is required post sales.
Having had those experiences, which is by no means the only negative ones, I have also had good experiences too. Brands that pay attention to their customer base knows all too well that the ownership experience extends far beyond the purchase - that is just the start. The ownership experience must be seen as a journey. A constant journey of engagement with the owners. After all, we don't only buy one piece from a brand but a negative experience will surely drive us away. And maybe for good.
