Forest Cobbler Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 Let me set the scene. It's Tuesday morning and Mark (The Boss) is in the shop on his own. A customer brings in a Tissot 1853 watch and asks him to fit a new battery. During the course of conversation the customer mentions that the watch is 14 years old and that he last had a battery fitted, elsewhere, five years ago. Because of this and the fact that the watch is marked Water Resistant 50m, Mark does not say anything about not being able to guarantee it's water resistancy (we do not have a pressure tester, though I think we'll be getting one soon). The customer goes off to do some shopping. When Mark takes the back off, he notices that the seal (one of those horrible rigid red nylon ones) is damaged, and that the inner rim of the case is also damaged. Both look like old faults, not like something he has just caused himself. He changes the battery and puts the back on. When the customer returns, Mark has a shop full of people and forgets to mention the damage. Big mistake. The following day the customer bring the watch back, full of water. Rust is evident. It turns out that he hardly ever takes it off, whether he's swimming, aqua diving, bathing or in the hot tub! We tell him that he's been lucky it's not leaked before, but we'll dry it out and see if we can get it going again. I phoned Jevon & Stanley to find out how much a new movement and seal would cost (£30 + VAT + P&P). Ian agrees that the customer has been lucky that it's lasted that long, and suggests that we ask the customer to go halves on the cost of repair. But to tell him that there will be no guarantee given for it being waterproof, as it almost certainly won't be. The customer refuses. Says it's our responsibility, that he's never had a problem with it before. He is demanding that we get the movement and seal replaced at our expense, and says he'll have to try to remember to take it off when he's in the hot tub. I'm just curious to know what you would do in the same situation. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamparker Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 Pay the full price to get it fixed. You should have stopped when the back was opened and you spotted any damage to the watch and seal and wait for the customer to inspect. If you have taken money for the watch to have a battery fitted, then i would say you are at fault and should pay all costs in rectifying the situation and it shows good customer service. We recently had a rotary watch in, got the back off ok but it would not go back on. I even sent it to Lee and he had to remove the seal to get the back on, but it had popped off in transit back to us. I then sent it back to rotary to get it repaired but it was discontinued and they offered us 30% of a new watch. I had a word with our customer and he had found a watch in Argos he liked and it was in the sale so it cost £65.00 he was happy and has been back a few times since. The way we dealt with it has kept the customer happy and i have nearly made the money back in other sales from the same customer. Gray 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 take the hit and pay to get it fixed, them get the customer to sign a disclaimer of sorts saying he understands that water resistancy cant be guarenteed, keep the disclaimer safe incase he comes back again, you are only talking around £45 not the end of the world really Gray 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 I concur with both of the above. Always keep the customer happy. Unlike some wholesalers who don't.... We are at the pointy end.... Although I did tell a customer to feck off once.........He just annoyed me...It was something to do with a Tibbe key.....I confess my sins. kobblers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 I don't feel any better by confessing............Must be a Catholic thing. kobblers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forest Cobbler Posted March 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 I like the idea about a signed disclaimer, thanks Derek. I'll get something printed out and ready to go. And yes, I agree, in the interests of good customer relations Mark's just going to have to pay out for the repair. It's a bit annoying though. But it's quite a good advert for Tissot if a 50m watch can go through all that and still not leak for so long. Often felt like telling a customer where to get off Argy, but not done it yet. Did tell one the other day that if he was going to complain about the cost of a bracelet adjustment, then he should have asked how much it was going to be beforehand, not after I had done the job. Valerie derek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike at Vauxhall Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 Unfortunately it looks like you will end up paying, however the customer was very ,very lucky for the water resistance to have been lasted for so long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forest Cobbler Posted March 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 We've been having discussions this morning about which pressure tester we should get, and have read many of the posts on here with interest. Lee's post back in 2007 was excellent. But we have a couple of questions. If a watch passes the pressure test, do you give a guarantee? And if so, what form does it take? Roughly what are you charging for a wet or dry pressure test? Thanks, Valerie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 gaurantee it for same length of time as you would your battery, get some cards printed up and have a box for crossing outy for yes or no passes, i'd say using a wet tester is better as that way you can see any leaks visually, i did have a dry one but prefer using the wet tester, price wise an additional £10? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simes Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Water resistance means little in my experience. I have a nice Fossil watch. Supposed to be water resistant to 100atm. Forgot to take it off in the pool one day and it steamed up and stopped working. Back had never been off! Tried to get Fossil to replace/repair FOC and they stood their ground. As above, the customers perception of good customer service will be valued at far more the £45. The message in the Pub could be, "they ruined my watch" or "they fixed it free of charge". I always try and think of how much the next conversation down the pub could cost me rather than the cost of putting it right. I had a problem on a car once when programming car keys. Not entirely my fault, but certainly not the customers. The cost to me was about £800! On having the car repair fixed he came in with a bag containing various wines and a small bottle of whisky to say thanks. Within a week I had a referral from him for a car key for his neighbour. He still comes in for things from time to time. x minit uk, grahamparker, k4mrc and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forest Cobbler Posted March 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 As above, the customers perception of good customer service will be valued at far more the £45. The message in the Pub could be, "they ruined my watch" or "they fixed it free of charge". I always try and think of how much the next conversation down the pub could cost me rather than the cost of putting it right. I'll tell The Boss what you've said. It might make him feel better. In the meantime, the watch is on it's way to Jevon & Stanley. Thanks, Valerie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike at Vauxhall Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 A bit off the line of the thread, but one of my many pet hates is when a customer sometimes sneers and says " I'm hardly likely to be going scuba diving ,am I ? " when you inform them about the loss of water resistance during battery change. The other one is , when they say" but it will be alright in the shower though? " . " No, no it won't, weren't you listening to what I just said, cretin! " ( this is what I want to say, what I actually say is. " no." kobblers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forest Cobbler Posted March 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 The latest in the Tissot watch saga. We've paid to have the movement and seal replaced, we requested and got a note from Ian at Jevon & Stanley stating that the watch had failed all the water restistancy tests and could therefore not be classed as waterproof. We asked the customer to sign a disclaimer. He said " I'll wear it when I get in the hot tub this evening, and if it leaks then I'll buy myself a new watch." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 oh ffs what a complete tool Mike at Vauxhall 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike at Vauxhall Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Derek's previous comment sums him up completely. You've made a mistake. You've corrected the mistake. Because of the age of the watch it has failed the test.( completely understandable). You've informed him that the watch is no longer water resistant. It would be nice for him to sign the disclaimer but not completely necessary. If he gets water in the watch that is his problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forest Cobbler Posted March 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 I take it all back. The Tissot customer has just been in. He said "It hasn't leaked yet, here's £20 towards the cost of repairing it." ! Amazing. V Mike at Vauxhall and I love Keys 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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