Horological Meandering

I left reflecting on the service experience I have had with other brands over the last few years and thought i would share. I sometimes read about the problems, but generally I have had a good run, or maybe my expectations are too low

1)  Rolex Submariner:  Dropped off for routine service after 12 years of frequent use.  Watch was running fine, but felt I owed it to the piece.  Location was the Rolex Sevice Center in Manila (Makati) Philippines.  Very professional staff and really nice service counter.  Piece was ready in 10 days and they returned all used parts to me, which I think is rare.  Really impressed with the quality and speed.  This was a few years back.

2)  JLC Duometre Chrono:  Stopped running after a few weeks.  Watch was dropped at a Boutique where purchased and sent to Switzerland.  Six weeks service time, a nice hand written letter of apology and explanation and an extension of the guarantee.  Pretty good.

3) Blancpain split seconds perpetual:  Routine service.  This one scared me a lot given the complications.  Dropped at the Swatch Group Service facility in Kuala Lumpur.  Very nice office and front line service.  Luckily, they had one top level Blancpain watchmaker in the Region so off it went to Singapore.  Five week turnaround time and quite happy with the quality and speed.

4)  Longines Legend Diver:  This one was the best.  I loaned the watch to a friend who managed somehow to pull off one of the crowns.  Back to the Swatch Service Center in Malaysia with watch in one hand and crown in another.  At the counter the staff looked at the watch and took it into the back for a technician to examine.  She returned and started to fill in the paperwork for service.  When she said unfortunately there would be a wait, I enquired "how long?" expecting her to say a few weeks at best.  She proceeded to say apologetically since I had come by after 12:00 PM she wouldnt be able to have it repaired before the end of the day, but that I could collect it the following afternoon.  I was amazed.  Price was exceptional for a brand new crown and as promised fixed within 24 hours.

5) Patek 5205G:  Watch would not run out of the box.  Off to the AD to hand over in Hong Kong on June 10 and was fully repaired, serviced and in my hands from Patek on July 15.  Again, was impressed with a 5 week turnaround.

So, not all experiences are poor.  What does good look like?  I'm not quite sure.  All of the above were serviced by the respective brand technicians in Hong Kong, Singapore or Malaysia.  The JLC went to the motherland to be fixed, but time away was also good.  Is there a geographic difference?

So as the GP manager tells me to expect a call in 6 weeks and another 6 to 12 weeks for repair, I feel a little deflated but see this probably as normal turn around. Maybe they will surprise me as well

Dave

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