colinwillsher
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The concept of reaching as high as you can within any corporate structure to obtain good customer service is, in my experience, completely valid, whether you are just a man in the street or known to the top levels in the hierarchy.
And I write as someone who has been active over a number of years in training customer service departments. Again in my experience the organisations that have a clear competitive advantage have excellent customer service set-ups, in that everyone in the organisation recognises that however good the product or service they offer is, what keeps the customers coming back is good customer service. Moreover everyone in the organisation buys into this concept and sees good customer service as part of their responsibilities, whatever their actual job function.
So at all levels there is a commitment to keeping the customer happy. But sadly, in many organisations, especially here in the UK, customer services is seen as an entry-level position, often staffed by temporary or agency personnel, who receive inadequate training and poor management. In these cases, the complaining customer rarely finds that the experience enhances their perception of the organisation. Instead research shows that it creates an attitude of seriously considering - however desirable the product in itself - whether or not to do business with that organisation again.
In these circumstances, and I am sure that many of you can confirm this from your own experience, it is an approach to the CEO/Owner/Boss that is most likely to produce a satisfactory outcome, because at that level you do tend to find - although sadly not always - there is a clear understanding of the old business adage < Until you have customers, all you have is costs >, often coupled with < it is five times as costly to get a new customer as it is to hold onto an existing customer >
As for the question of Naming and Shaming on this forum, well I assume that everyone associated with the forum is responsible, mature ( at least, emotionally ), well-intentioned,
honest and reliable. And if any of you fine people have any views, thoughts, comments or advice on any matter concerning our mutual interest, then I surely welcome it.
And since I recognise that my satisfaction with any watch I buy could depend on good customer service, then I certainly feel that the post that started this thread is an entirely proper contribution to our community.
colin willsher
How many have considered this as an important factor when buying a watch?
Post-sales service and overall ownership experience. This is not a plug for any particular brand and given the recent thread on transparency. So from the onset, I do not work for any watch brand directly or indirectly, nor do I moderate any where for any ...
You have asked the question of the Century. Answer..Compare Martin Braun & Breguet
Hi WMc, You, my cyber friend, have hit the nail on the head. You have touched the trigger point which differs between ... Marketing Hype ... and Horological Heritage. You have also asked the question... why do some companies take so long to fix their mist...
Another Very Positive Experience with Chopard
Check out a previous post of mine on the Chopard forum: chopard.watchprosite.com Long story short: Purchased a Chrono One over the summer. A few weeks later there were issues with the date wheel. Sent the watch in to Chopard NYC. They called back ...
An important post
Whilst it’s probably wise to skip over a little bit the clear disappointment / anger you have towards Breguet and the way they have handled your servicing issues, I really agree with your post and find it to be very important. It’s become way too easy to ...
Thank you AFSG for your reply...
Thank you AFSG for your reply.... and agreement in principal. I think giving praise to the Chopards and Martin Brauns who do give exemplary service and screaming loudly about those that give abysmal service is tour only way to get heard. We obviously enjo...
the watches bubble
Thanks a lot for pointing out mate , true watches world had it kind of bubble, and yes those ones who pushed the brands lets call them spenders X who encouraged the brands to go on with their greed to mass production, to useless complications in a watch a...
I do now..
I have always been quite fortunate in terms of reliability of the watches i've bought, but i've had one or two problems and I think that after sales service is an area where the industry is HUGELY LACKING. I can vouch for the excellence of Chopard's after...
I as well
have had excellent service from Chopard. I sent in a watch for normal service, and it came back defective (I no longer remember details). I called them and was immediately told "Here's our FedEx acct, overnight it to us, we'll have it back to you within 2...
If a lack of watch makers is the reason for slow service.. How come
Hi Danny, If a shortage of watch makers is the reason we get slow service.... how come there are enough watch makers to make the product.... but not enough to fix it? Surely this is a management problem related to resource allocation. Sorry Danny, I don't...
Of course..
In an ideal world, such problems would be sorted before production continues, so to some degree you are right, but i imagine that your reputation is dependant on your product and not on millions of pounds worth of marketing an apparent 'reputation' as is ...
Yes. Also in selling a wafch.
I have disposed of two very fine and difficult to replace watches after having excessive difficulty with getting service for them. In one case I took a large loss but I didn"t care: I just couldn"t face the thought of continuing to try to get the company ...
But why not name the company
Hi Mkvc, But why not name the watches, so that the makers start to get their act together, and also to help new watch lovers not to make the same mistake. Why is there an unbalanced view in posts which name and praise the good guys...... but hide or omit ...
Because they tried hard.
At least in one of the two cases. In that case the company tried repeatedly to fix the watch, gave me relatively quick service, gave me a gift to palliate my unhappiness, etc. I ended up with great respect for the company in all matters except that they c...
You should feel you can name names
Really, why not name these companies - what qualifications do you require? It would serve two purposes - flag them as having servicing issues and allow others to maybe come forward with their own woes... or actively dispel these issues if indeed yours whe...
Couple of points
Hi AFSG, I think there are problems with dragging a brand through the mud on this forum, even if it is well deserved. First, it's not possible for the reader of the posts to verify the truthfulness of the complaints, which are coming mostly from anonymous...
Name & Shame... Raise & Praise..
Hi J, Your argument comes across often, by a few.... but I and many others believe that it is misguided in that, this is a Forum about watches and all relevance pertaining to the different makes and models. Service, be it good or bad, is very relevant to ...
Hi Jack,
You make some good arguments and I'm still totally against it. Ultimately it's up to TM and the management of this site to determine what they want to see on these forums. So far they seem willing to let a certain amount of venting occur (like yours and o...
Jeff, thank you, you are right.
I love it when the "layman" sees things in black and white. I hate it when I have to see shades of grey; I too would love to see things in black and white. It would make my life SOOOO much easier. True story - someone (a prominent internet citizen) droppe...
Balancing act - unicorns & vipers
Hi Jeff, Thank you for your comments, agree we can never verify the veracity of an online story – it’s a tough call. But then what is the alternative…? Never mention anything other than unicorns and rainbows? I think there is a fundamental difference of p...
Thank you, ASFG.
You have asked exactly the question(s) that we (site mods, executives) constantly wrestle with. Thank you for understanding that it is no easy, black and white task. As evidence that we do recognize the various facets of this complex issue, note that this...
When Will The Watch Industry Standards for Repairs Change?
Greetings: This was posted on another forum when a member had complained that he paid for a watch that was just released, it did not work and it was returned and held for repair for a many, many months. The brand name was replaced with question marks, bec...
If you bought a car as "exotic" as some watches
then you might have the same service experience with the car as with these watches. I offer this only as I have experience with L***s, a reasonably successful engineering firm and a long-time, small-scale automaker (and former F1 World Champion). While it...
Exotica or Not Does Not Matter
Hello Mike: The level of rarity should have nothing to do with it. While in law school, I sued Renault/AMC for a car that had 3 or 4 engines and 3 or 4 transmissions replaced. It certainly did qualify under New York State's "Lemon Law". I am not sure in w...
Watch companies and dealers will respond to service
requirements when new watch sales begin to drop because of poor service. The last few years have been a wonderful time for makers of mechanical watches--they have prospered beyond belief. Somewhere along the way they figured out that they could continue t...
This is exactly how I feel as well
Service will not improve until sales get hit as a result of potential customer not buying cause of future servicing fears. Cheers, Anthony
The analogy with cars isn't quite a perfect fit, gents . . .
. . . partly because a $50K vehicle is most likely owned by the dealership that leased it to you, or the financial institution that serviced the loan. Not too many of us would put a $50K watch on a credit card, so for the most part, the equivalent watch p...
Excellent, but...
A great story and post – I wholeheartedly agree with your overall point of view... I do note however you emailed the CEO right away... was that due to some sort of pre-established contact? If so, not quite the "man-in-the-street" option. I'm sure Chopard ...
Chopard's service extends to a man-in-the-street
Some time ago, while I was still a man-in-the-street, before I became a man-in-a-forum, I had some issues with my Chopards (I had two LUCs), and they fixed the the issues quickly. One was under warranty, the other was not, but because the issue was a know...
Not surprising
Yes, I'm not surprised. It's actually the way it should be... we seem to marvel at what in many other industries, at these price points, is a given...
Well, I was fortunate
enough to have met him at a Chopard event but even then, most would have re-directed my email to his service staff to follow-up and that would have been very normal and within expectations but he took it upon himself to see to it personally (god knows why...
Go to the top
The concept of reaching as high as you can within any corporate structure to obtain good customer service is, in my experience, completely valid, whether you are just a man in the street or known to the top levels in the hierarchy. And I write as someone ...
Yes, I want to add my example to vouch for Chopard
I have a Cedric Johner with LUC 1.96 movement and with assistance of Kong, Chopard HK service it at zero costs in 2 wks!! Kudos to Chopard again. On the other hand, it takes 2 mths for Breguet to give service quote and another 3-4 mths wait for oiling and...
Thanks for this excellent post. To answer your question
YES, of course, this is an important factor when you buy a watch. Who would buy a very expensive watch from a brand who doesn't want / know how to service it? It doesn't surprise me from Chopard. When I see all the care they take with their movements, it ...
God given rights?
After spending a tidy sum of $ on a watch, I would think that after sales service is crucial. While the watch is worth its value due the complexity, design, ect, the same must be expected of the after sales service. Or am I just being too idealistic? I ha...
Dummy learns the hazards of used watches and factory service
Thank you, SJX, for your thoughtful post. When the New Year turned, I realized that this is the year I would turn 50. My God, I thought, if I'm ever going to buy my dream watch, I better do it soon. So, on January 7th I bought my first (and probably only)...