Fitting back in watch

[Mike at Vauxhall]

"Customer" today came in with a watch, the back was off . Said battery had been changed elsewhere, but they couldn't get the back on.( I think there was more to the story) I fitted back , a fairly easy pulsar watch. And he put a donation in the charity box. This situation hasn't happened for a while, but annoyed me for several reasons. Sometimes I charge £3 or £4 , sometimes I insist on a fitting a fresh battery and charging accordingly or sometimes I just ask for a charity donation. What do other members do, as I should standardize my response to this service.

[Craig Gardner]

Same charge as fitting a new battery in my shop

Craig

[Flash]

Same charge as fitting a new battery in my shop

Craig

 

Same here

[Tom D]

as soon as you see ag4 or similar you know its a cheapskate , if its a good watch  I tell them if only you had brought it to me would  have been a fiver . sorry it has to go to the watchmaker it will be a tenner

[SteelCityShoes]

I won’t touch them if the back is off. I’ve seen alsorts from people trying to do it themselves or from markets who can’t finish the job: scratches, cracked ceramic (that one was an expensive fix), bent connectors, broken winders, bent backs, you get the idea. It’s too easy for someone to blame you for damage they’ve caused.

 

I used to do them but I’ve been stung a few times and once I realised none of the jewellers near to me will do them either, I took up their policy to save the hassle.

 

If you’re going to do it, I’d check for any damage in front of the customer, tell them it’s at their own risk and charge the same as if you’d fitted a replacement battery.

[Mike at Vauxhall]

 

I think we've all been had by the " it wasn't like that before " brigade. I'm always fairly carefully( better improve that to very) with pre job inspection.

 

My personal "favourite " was a good few years back, woman with a £50/60 watch came in saying she just dropped her watch and now the back won't go on. Didn't give it much thought, just clicked the back straight on. Hey presto, apparently not only is the watch NOW not working, but I've also scratched the dial. Busy me, all that within 10 seconds!

[keysinthecity]

as soon as you see ag4 or similar you know its a cheapskate 

 

Just trying to work out what you mean - do you mean that if you see the battery in the watch has a reference like 'AG4' then you know the customer is a cheapskate? Because 'AG4' is a reference used on cheaper batteries so the customer has previously taken it to market stalls or similar?

[Tom D]

yes  if its got a pound shop battery in it  then  its pretty certain that  the owner has been poking about in the watch , so he or she is a cheapskate

[Mike at Vauxhall]

And all the scratches on the back, where they've used a butter knife( or God knows what) to take the back off.