SPOTLIGHT ON: Timpsons Watch Repair Service

 

380.513

Some of you may vaguely recall the time I bought a classic (steel case) F1 for my wife from Japan and needed the glass replaced pronto so that I could give it to her for her birthday. For speed's sake I took it to a company called Timpsons who are not watch specialists themselves (they do shoe repairs, dry cleaning and key cutting amongst other things) but this doesn't really matter since anything more technical than a battery change and the watch gets sent to a proper watch repair centre (which also does work for 'Watch Lab' incidentally - who service TAG Heuer, Cartier, Breitling and Omega). Really they are just providing a convenient drop-off location, and to be honest I've used them a couple of times already and had quick, efficient service, so why not? 

So when I decided that my 380.513 needed a new glass and perhaps a replacement bezel I didn't think twice about dropping it off with them when I picked up my wife's 380.508 (which had also had a replacement glass). That one took about 6 days to get a quote, and a couple or three weeks to get back, this time not quite in time for my wife's birthday (so this must have been the second half of April 2022). 

So after two weeks with no quote I decided to call in to the store and was told my watch had come back and was in the safe. This seemed a bit odd since I hadn't received a quote, but okay, great. I looked at the watch and clearly the bezel hadn't been replaced. I tilted the glass to catch the light, and clearly the glass was still scratched. It turned out the watch hadn't gone anywhere, it had sat in the safe for two weeks. When they said the watch was in the safe they assumed that it was my wife's which I had already collected...

The lady apologised and promised to send the watch off and to make sure it was dealt with urgently, she apologized profusely and promised me 10% off whatever the quote was when it came through. So the quote came through a while later, maybe two weeks later - which was odd since, I've had quotes in 48 hours from them before, but whatever, I guess they must be busy or short-staffed like everyone else.

I accepted the quote and then about three weeks later, I went to the store and enquired about my watch. Again it was in the safe, only this time it had actually been away and the glass had been replaced. The bezel however was still faded and clearly not new. Once again the watch was sent back and once again I waited patiently for something to happen.

At the end of June rather than call at the store I decided to send an email to the service centre and asked if there was any news on my watch. I was told that the watch had been returned to the store in May and they said I should have been notified that it was ready to collect. I told them, the watch had come back to the store, and had been returned as only half the job had been done.

I got another email apologising and saying that the watch had been assigned a new repair number and they were waiting for the bezel to come from TAG Heuer and as soon as it was in it would be fitted and returned to the store. Okay then...

A couple of weeks later I was in the supermarket where the Timpsons store is located and again I enquired if the watch had come back in. The lady there, who is very nice actually, rang them and told me that they said the watch had to go back to 'TAG Heuer' to have the bezel fitted. This I took with an extremely large pinch of salt.... even if that actually meant what she was implying, I seriously doubt TAG Heuer themselves were going to supply and fit a bezel for £35. 

Then at the end of July I sent them another email, and again I was told that they were waiting for the bezel to arrive from TAG Heuer, thus confirming my belief that their previous story was utter bullshit. And then finally on the 8th of August I received an email from them telling me that actually the bezel was no longer available and so they were sending the watch back to the store with just the glass repaired and I would now only be charged £130 instead of £165.

I replied, asking how come every time I have an F1 glass repaired they charge a different price? First it was £120, then £85, now £130. Do they just make up whatever they think they can get away with? I was told that 'prices fluctuate all the time'... right.

In the end I paid £120 since the lady in the store was so embarrassed by the shoddy service I had received. I actually feel sorry for her because no doubt a lot of people would have been really shitty with her, when it's the service centre that are useless. I don't know why this is, as I said previously I have had really good service from them. Frankly I wish I had taken the watch to my local repair guy instead... that's certainly what I shall be doing going forward, even though it isn't nearly as convenient.