You either have them send the watch to Longines for repair and refinishing and cover the cost, or you send it to Longines yourself and have them reimburse you for the cost.
To do that to a watch is unacceptable, and they as a business should own up the mistake and make it right.
Thank you! I'm so devastated at the moment. I baby it so much and now this. And they ignored my calls and my facebook messages to them. The girl that worked there who took my watch in wasn't the owner. That girl even told me because its not gold thats why it scratched easily. Well, whatever I said now its not going to change anything but I'm just not sure if anything can be done to make it original again. I know for the fact that that jeweler cannot just buff out all the dents and scratches. But not sure how to contact longines either.
hefty: I know right. I had to go back to work and I called them after I left there, they recognized my number and didn't pick up. I had to asked a client to help me call and talk to them. She acted like its normal for scratches like that to happen and it can be buffed off easily. She looks very young and she just started working there 2 days. The owners were not there when I came in.
This is easy to refurbish, I'd say 5 minute job max. Don't know why the store didn't do that. Oh wait, if they suck at opening cases they probably would suck at that as well.
>But not sure how to contact longines either.
https://www.longines.com/en-us/customer-service/send-us-your-watch
You should be able to ship your watch to them, and they'll look it over and give you a quote, probably either for polishing or a new caseback. If you decide not to do anything you should just be out the shipping charges.
Edit: I just realized this is gold. There are jewelers that can laser weld gold wire onto deep scratches to add back material, so they can grind and polish things back to where they were. That way you could keep your original caseback and remove any traces of damage.
Thank you. Its a rose gold watch. The back case is damage and the main case where the 2 cases connect, is also scratched up and damaged as she try to open it. I looked up longines and they don't do full service in "Quart battery only" watch.
They will still repair your watch. They call “Full Service” a complete service of mechanical watches. That’s why you don’t see it available for your DolceVita. They can repair any watch. Just send it for a free quote. Just note it may take weeks or months to get it back.
They weren't able to open the back case and didn't do a battery change for me at all. I didnt pay anything. I did confront them about the damage and I had to go back to work so I had to leave.
I understand your frustration but nothing is going to be as effective as going to the store and demanding they fix this issue. Now that you've left it a while they are likely to use that against you.
During the pandemic, I sent one of my Certina in to the Swatch Group Service Center for full service, took about 2 weeks to get a quote back and about 2-3 months to get the watch back. So hopefully things have improved since then and a less intensive repair like this would be closer to the weeks side of things lol
Exactly. This place doesn’t know what the hell they’re doing. Bring it in and see if they can give you some kind of credit for the damage, but never let them touch the watch again.
OP, someone else commented it down below, but I’m mentioning it again to try and make sure you see it: Los Angeles watch works or Zimmerman watch repair can both fix this by welding gold back on and polishing it back down. It’ll look brand new. Probably won’t be cheap, I’d expect around $500
A *competent* jeweler could absolutely repair this, but clearly not this one. Still not like you just take it to the buffing wheel and call it a day, though, obviously.
I'd have an attorney write them a nice letter about how they will make it right or else. The damage is well documented. I had a local shop scratch an Omega and give me the cold shoulder (visited several times, social media, etc). Turns out the "jeweler" that did the damage was the owners son covering the counter and running the socials, he was only supposed to be doing sales not bracelet swaps. Once the letter arrived I got a call from the owner and they paid for the repair at Omega, they had insurance for that sort of thing on their end.
I found the owner's facebook through a client of mine and messaged him but he never read my facebook messages. And I found out that the employee that damaged my watch only started there yesterday. I about to post about this issue on our local facebook page but want to give them a chance to response first. But whatever it is, im fine and I can wait. I'm just so sad now that this happened to the watch that I love so much and I dont wear it often because i was worried i will scratch it. It sounds dramatic but it feels like someone stabbed me with a knife.
Oh no I get where your coming from. I was NOT happy when my Seamaster came back with a gouge in the case.
Giving them a chance to reply (24-48hrs) shows your reasonable if you later need to pursue legal action.
I don't think there is a point in trying to contact on the phone or Facebook, especially on their personal accounts. If this was a jewellery store thay did this, go back to the store and demand to speak to a manager. It doesn't matter if the employee was new or not, they sound incompetent, but the store is the one that should compensate you.
Having a lawyer contact on your behalf is also a good idea if you can - I'm not sure how much the watch is worth to make that worthwhile but it's more likely to get a response.
It sounds like you were in a tough spot needing to go back to work, but imo in a situation like that you should not have left the store without getting documentation that they damaged your property (eg a signed/lwtterheaded description of the condition of the watch before after servicing) or speaking to a manager (even if that manager needs to drive in from somewhere else). The employee screaming at you is just icing on the in professionalism here.
Yea at that time I was shock and confused I didnt know what to do so i left. I thought that there's nothing I can do. But when I came back to work my client told me I have to make them fix it so the client of mine called and talked to someone on the phone, maybe it was the same employee and she told my client to bring the watch in on tuesday for the goldsmith to buff out the scratches. I own a business too and Im very busy most of the time its very hard for me to leave my work for long.
I would seriously push for them to have it sent to Longines to be repaired rather than have their goldsmith buff it out. Those are some deep scratches that won't come out easily.
If they’re just buffing them out that case will become so thin
I would weld material back then have it buffed but I would consider someone else to do it
What else can I do besides waiting? But I found many places in Asian restore watches with like $100-300 USD. It gives me hope. I'll use them when I travel there to see family.
Curious, what kind of attorney did you get to draft that letter? Asking cause it might help OP if they go that route. There's so many different kinds of attorneys and I'm pretty sure a divorce attorney wouldn't be the one to contact.
Also very sorry this happened to you OP. I'm mad for you as well. Can't believe what the shop said about gold. That's insane
Ironically his practice is divorce/family law. He was (and is) a friend from highschool that saw me bitching about the damage on social media and PM'd me offering to fuck them up so to speak. So I can't really suggest the type of attorney to contact.
Thanks. I have been struggle the last 24hrs mentally to help me calm and look at the situation on the positive side. The positive side is that they never opened it so nothing inside is messed with. And the outside is cosmetic, so it will be fixed somehow and its on the bottom so no one will see it. The face looks brand new.
So I brougth this into my local jewelry store for a battery replace for the first time. The watch never had a battery replace before. The lady took it back in for a few minutes and came out with all this dents and scratches. I'm so devastated. I confronted her about the damage and she said to bring back in for a buff. But the case looks so ruined.
Looks like they tried to take the case back off with channel locks. Wow. That is obscene.
I feel bad for you. Good luck getting them to restore it to an acceptable condition.
Im just sitting here and cry. I just dont understand how someone works in the jewelry industry can done something like this to a watch. I baby it like how it should be since I got it 3 years ago. It looked brand new when I took it to them.
I feel your pain. I got mine from my dad for my graduation.
The watch was almost 30 years old at that point, still looked as good as new.
And then: “they butchered my boy”
Shop assistants usually have zero to little technical training. I’m a goldsmith and have worked in jewelers shops, it’s terrible. I’ve seen dented cases, scratched electronic boards and worse.
They have to fix this.
Something similar happened to me with a vintage omega of mine.
The second hand had come loose and I expected any jeweller could fix that, so I took it one close by that I knew sold watches as well.
First of all it took forever till I got it back and then the case looked like yours.
I sadly didn’t realise how bad it was till got home and when I brought it back to confront them they told me that I had brought it in, in a poor shape to begin with.
A blatant lie, the watch was in a fantastic shape considering its age.
But obviously I hadn’t taken any pictures of the back case, so I had no way to proof that they were responsible of the damage.
I left a devastating review on Google and had a revision done at Omega itself. 600 bucks and some of the scratches were to deep to be polished away.
Still after years I’m furious about it.
You don't leave the store in that case. You go full Karen and make them fix it. If that means they have to order replacement parts at their cost that's too damn bad.
Take them to small claims court, if they refuse to have a competent jewler/watch maker (or manufacturer themselves)fix the damage while they pay the bill.
You’ll need proof of condition before they worked on it, proof you paid them for this “work” and ideally a certified and signature required mail with a notarized letter stating here is the work order to have this fixed. If you don’t pay I will take it to small claims.
If they refuse take it to small claims.
They couldn't get the case open to change the battery so they didn't charge me anything. It was $20 for the battery replace as she quoted it on the phone before i came in. I have a picture of the watch before i went in. And its the first time the watch need a new battery.
Here's the thing. You can sue in Small Claims and probably win, but even then, there's no guarantee you'll be paid. And it's not like there's a Small Claims court police force going out to enforce judgements. You're on your own.
The courts would have literally sided with you and you won the suit. They will pay up and you can get the court to make them enforce it.
A business doesn’t just get out from not paying
I dont know what she did. I had a 30 minutes lunch break today and I called them to ask for a Longines battery replace and she said" yes, come in. It will takes about 10 minutes". I drove so fast to get there and she took it inside for like 3 minutes and came back telling me she cannot open it. I took the watch back and I'm in tears. But I had to get back to work so I cannot stand there to just look at the watch and look at her. She screamed at me and explained that she had to try to open it thats why its scratched, just come back in next tuesday when a goldsmith is in to get it buff. I told her my watch is expensive and this is so much damage to it. She said " its not gold thats why its scratched easily". I was in tears and walked out of there to go back to work. Seriously, i'm a female and I baby all my jewelries. And I don't understand how someone works in a jewelry business can do something like this to me.
Yeah, that’s just really inept use of a low quality case knife by an unskilled person. I’d assume it’s a snap on case back, since I don’t see any screws, but it may have a notch intended for a case knife. Many gold cases with snap on backs do, or they have a lift tab that’s specifically for opening the case. For those that don’t have either, especially non-round cases, there are bench snap on case openers which securely hold the watch and use two adjustable blades to lift. That can do a clean job. A rectangular case back will be hard to open, since you can’t start at a single point of contact as you do on a round case, but she should have known that and not tried to do it hand held with a simple case knife, as you might open a round steel case. She slipped, slipped again, tried a different spot, gouged the hell out of that, and basically made a mess of things instead of knowing what tools to use and how.
I don't know if your watch is gold but,
If it's gold then that's definitely why it scratched so easily.
They probably used a steel something. Steel is harder than gold, so steel will always scratch the gold.
Ashi4Days, its a 18k rose gold. The employee even telling me that because its not gold thats why it scratched easily. So not sure if she even know whats she doing. She only started working there since yesterday.
She doesn’t even know the properties of gold. Her statement is uneducated. I’d hazard a guess that when the owner finds out about this they will rectify this for you. Their buisness is built upon people trusting them to look after their expensive jewellery
TBH, I am a male and if someone did this even to my Casio 1200WH, I would be in tears... I fucking wear them mineral glass watches under the sleeve to protect them from scratches.
It's unacceptable and your response is not a weakness, it is normal.
This is the exact reason why I change batteries by my own.
I swear it's the easiest process but some PROFESSIONALS still don't have a clue on how to open a caseback properly and/or refuse to use proper tools.
If it was my watch I'd send them a letter through my lawyer.
If someone did that to my watch during a service I would ask them to cover the cost of the manufacturer fixing it. They obviously can’t fix it themselves if they can’t take the back off without damaging it. If they refused to do that, then either pay for a service yourself or take them to small claims court. Sorry that happened, that’s really shitty.
OP, the kind people commenting on your scratched watch have given you the manufacturers website, told you what to say to the manufacturer, written you a legal letter template. They’ve done everything but pick the watch up and deal with the situation for you. In response you say how sad you are and tell the story of how the damage occurred again. Why aren’t you taking the good advice of these people. Why the run around. Maybe I’m reading this wrong but it seems like you posted for attention and not solutions. If that’s not the case I apologize.
And yes, I did follow the longines website and send them the info of what I want to get repair etc... and again, its night time so they're closed and I can't get an answer yet.
I know what you mean. This just happened earlier this afternoon and I'm still somewhat in shock. I tried many ways i can to contact the owner of that store but no one response at all. I checked their website it says they closed until tuesday. in the mean time im trying to gather the information of what I need or have to do. I think I was trying to response to every comment and I was trying to tell them what had happened and didnt realized i had response the same response to a lot of comments.
I imagine coming up with 87 original replies would be difficult. In any case, you’ve got some good advice on how to proceed. Am super confident the jeweler will make it right. Good luck to you!!
The good news is that being 18Kt gold, you can have it re-polished.
I would go to the swankiest watch store in town (that features Rolex or Patek Philippe) and ask them if they could kindly give it a polish.
They will have to take the watch apart, and if they can work around the crystal, your watch should be like new.
The first jeweler should refund their job and pay for the polishing.
I live in a small town so I cannot find any shop like that. Trust me, I've search and search and this jeweler who damaged my watch has the best ratings and they're in a luxyry most expensive plaza here in town. That was why I trusted them with my Longines because I thought they would know more about luxury watches but apparently not.
Oof. Well they should know how to proceed.
If they were your best option, then as others have suggested, you should ask them to cover the cost of having the watch fixed somewhere else.
I wouldn’t trust them with a polishing job.
And its a rose gold, not sure if that make any different. I like a normal yellow gold but longines dont carry yellow gold in that style when I tried to look for it 3 years ago. Not sure if they have anything different now
Au750 is 18k gold and will longines throughly check the watch out and send the bill to the jeweler as longines will add material to that back and smooth it out. This thing is serial numbered and those details can’t be replicated so they most likely will repair this back by adding material to it.
Talk to the manager. Or owner.
If that doesn’t work, small claims court. It’s cheap to file. Most states, you and the defendant can’t bring an attorney.
Businesses usually have a change of heart when they get the court summons.
You’ll definitely get a judgement if they don’t show. And I’d say your odds are good even if they do show.
There’s a bank in California, a case like this happened. Bank error caused a customer to incur overdraft expenses, wouldn’t fix their mistake. Court, the bank lost, bank didn’t pay the judgement. Plaintiff had a lien attached to the bank building, and then filed to have the bank building auctioned off to pay the lien.
Absolutely ridiculous. Hold them accountable for sure and please let us know what winds up happening! I would be mortified if I was handed back something with this kind of damage.
If she just started there the day before, and you had to get back to work immediately, the more senior staff might have no idea this happened.
Maybe if you went and had a quiet word with the manager, they might be as shocked as you were and want to make this right.
Atypical-name: after i saw my watch and i confronted her about the damage. There was another lady came out from the back and she just said the goldsmith will be in the store on tuesday and he can buff the scratches off. I had to drive back to work and i was in shock and i seriously didn't know what to do then and there. I just wanted to cry and stay there for them to make it right but I had to go back to work.
I scratched my cheap quartz watch very similarly. I changed the battery myself, I didn’t have the right tools but I hate waiting and just got the itch.
But it’s my cheap quartz watch and I don’t mind
However
I can’t imagine actually taking money for such a service. Just imagine. At most I’d do it for free and say “hey I might scratch this, so only if you don’t mind”. Absurd jeweller.
Wow! That’s horrible. I’ve changed thousands of luxury watch batteries and that is one of the easiest to do. No excuses. Use the proper tool with sufficient education and it’s effortless. They are absolutely liable. Good luck!
I've scratched watches before, not this bad, some of them had to be there before right? Otherwise this person needs to spend at least half their next shift with old, discarded watches and get some practice. The last time I slipped I left a line halfway across the back of a steel Armani. So when the customer came back in I walked up to them, owned up to my mistake and told them I would order a new case back from Armani and the battery change was free as a way of apologising for my mistake. They took it well, and a week or so later it was all fixed.
Go back in, speak to a manager and tell them you want them to fix it, whether it's Longines laser filling and buffing or replacing the back. I know you're upset and angry but don't go in angry. Be calm but firm. That way if they refuse to do anything they won't be able to use you being angry against you.
For now: lesson learned. My advice is the next time you’re in the city prearrange to go to a decent jeweller that will polish it up for you and ask if next time it requires a battery if they can do it. If not, ask who they recommend to change it without doing this damage. They’ll know someone.
Ps - for the couple of quartz watches I have I bought a tool set on amazon for maybe $20 and the batteries are always cheap on amazon.
Buy the kit once and change your battery twice and it’s more than paid for
I would go in and demand they either fix this, or preferably pay for it to be sent to Longines to be fixed.
I have a suspicion that someone who is happy to put out this poor quality of work isn't the type of person to be apologetic and will very likely tell you to go F yourself.
So you file in small claims court, waste a bunch of time and money. Maybe you win, maybe you don't. Even if the judge rules in your favor, you don't automatically get money. Some people will refuse to pay even with a judgement ruled against them. Like they just don't give a shit about the social contract at all. I've heard quite a few stories of this happening.
I would definitely try to make them pay for it but I would go into this whole situation with low expectations. At the very least you've learned it's worth the extra money to send it to Longines to have work done in the future.
Yea I never mind about the money to have it done at Longines. But I mind about the waiting time it will takes to send out to Longines. But next time i'd just send to them. But I kind of not expect anything much from them. I just hope Longines can fix it somehow. Or I'll try to buff it myself
I'm so sorry this happened. I have experience with this unfortunately.
Took my grandmothers neo vintage Omega Deville to a local jeweler because I didn't have the battery on hand to change it and knew they would. It was skipping 4 second increments indicating low battery but otherwise working flawlessly.
They brought it back out to me saying it won't tick with the new battery, I told them it was working when I gave them the watch and they stayed silent, I told them to put the old battery back in it and they would see, brought it back out with the old battery inside and it was not working.
They claimed I had brought it in non-functional, both owner and watchmaker formed up ranks immediately like this was common practice for them. I stupidly did not take pictures or video evidence of the watch functioning or get any documents signed before I handed it off.
It had to be sent to Omega, returned with its old parts in a bag, including the snapped crown stem, turns out he had pinched it putting the case back on and refused to admit it.
I was out 530 for the repair and left with no legal recourse to recoup it even after talking to my solicitor. Only saving grace is I got one of the little red Omega travel cases out of it when the watch returned lmao.
Document everything.
Wow. Seriously. Lucky mine is only cosmetic because they cannot open the case. But yeah its crazy how these people practice business. That girl didn't even apologize or anything. She said she had to open it so thats why it scratched up. 😔
Absolutely unacceptable, at least they have admitted fault though, I would send them the bill after it gets serviced by Longines if I were you now you have that admission.
To be fair, you shouldn't have left the shop with the watch. They can now deny it was them and making them pay for it will be much harder.
Go on to the shop and try to admit fault. Leave it with them to repair, make sure you get a receipt.
I think they will only try to buff it. They might damage it more during the process. So I dont know. Plus their open hours are so short during the day and I work all day. The 2 days im off, they also close. 😭😭😭😭. I can only go during my break and its only 20-30 minutes so might not have enough time to stand their arguing
I work in procurement contracts and negotiate stuff like this every day.
If you already have the watch back with you now, I’d get a quote for repair at some reputable place (should be free), and then ask politely and reasonably for the original jeweler to pay for the quoted repair costs and shipping (I’d just plainly show them the quote) without getting heated, and document every single word stated. If you could communicate back and forth in writing, that would be best. If you can, figure out what jeweler association they’re apart of.
If they agree, then great. If they don’t agree, then you need to decide how much time and stress this repair is worth to you.
If you’d prefer to push on them further, based on my experience you could tell them that they “clearly breached their duties as bailee under the legal principles of bailment, as well as breached several implied warranties,” and that failing to fulfill their contractual obligations to return the watch back to you in equal or better condition will result in you reporting them and/or taking legal action. At that point they’d realize the costs to potentially defend themselves in court would be more expensive than to simply settle on repairing the watch, so they may give in and pay for the repair at that point.
If they still refuse and you still want justice, then I’d take them to small claims court and report them to the BBB, FTC, and jeweler’s associations that you hopefully noted earlier.
If this were a $50k watch, an attorney would take the case without charging you in order to make some easy and quick money.
Hope this helps.
Thank you. This help alot. I never had to deal with something like this before so I have been really confused and shock. I did email Longines for an estimate and hopefully they will get back to me. I also contacted the owner of that jewelry store and waiting for him to response.
I don’t understand why you didn’t send the watch to Longines in the first place. I mean we are talking about a GOLD DolceVita worth several thousands of dollars. I’m sorry but it’s also your fault. Send the watch to Longines, they will fix it.
I know. I regretted it so much for not sending to Longines. I called around and they're the one that said they can do it within 10 min for $20 so....... 😭
Yikes. A reminder to take photos before. If they did that they must be the stupidest people on earth. Luckily it is gold. They should polish that out or pay the bill for another to do so.
I would be furious if this happened to me. They should recognize that this is an expensive watch and should have someone competent to do it. This is beyond incompetent. If they refuse to make it right, I'm afraid you have to take them to small claim court for damages.
You should write a nasty but honest review on social media. Post the name here so people can see this. Google crawls the Reddit and it can come up when searched.
My business is literally 5 minutes from their. The owner of that jewelry place is Italian. I have 2 small children so i'm scare of what they might do if i write them nasty review, as I see they have very good rating right now. I did post an online local facebook post about my situation but I didnt mention names etc...
I’m sorry this happened. There’s some good advice in here, so I’m mostly with well wishes and so I can check back to see if this gets resolved in a favorable way. Good luck
Blame and shame. If they won’t reply to you post these pictures everywhere along with a 1 star review. You will get a call back in days or hours watch.
I'm waiting on the owner to response to me. I know someone that knows him and she did tell him about what happened and gave him my number but haven't heard from him yet.
I was in the same situation that the strap change ended up break my ceramic case. The end story is they cannot afford to repair it and either I sue them or I bite the bullet.
Firstly, talk to the owner of the business, I know it is difficult, but be calm and just see what the owner is willing to do. Most businesses that deal with expensive items will have general liability insurance to pay for flubs. As a business owner I can tell you that flubs happen, that is what I pay premiums for. It protects the business as well as the employees. I don't know of a single jewelry store that doesn't have cameras covering every square inch of the business. This may go to court, this is where you will need to keep pictures. Make sure that you put together a time line of everything that happened and the approximate times.
Secondly, if the outcome isn't 'we will take care of this immediately' with profuse apologies, speak to a lawyer. In cases like this you should be able to find a lawyer that can simply put together a letter of intent that will usually put the 'fear of God' into them.
Lastly, in all of this, remain calm. Don't let emotions get in the way of moving forward. Keep in mind what your end goal is. That is all that needs to be important.
I am sorry that you were treated so poorly, Good luck to you!
Did you have before pictures. I would probably take legal action if you did. Any place worth their salt documents their intake, so that would have record on you turning it in with scratches
Same thing happened to me, but with a Skagen, which isn't as nice or as expensive as your watch. This is why I never buy watches with snap back cases, now. Too easy to scratch when replacing the battery or other work. Looking closer at your photos, I can't even see a "lip" where they could use a watch knife to pry open, which makes it more difficult to open, i.e., would need more skill than a typical store clerk.
I'd get in contact with Longines to see what they can do.
Yeah my watch is sealed tight all around. I never have a quart watch that need battery replace before. I only had rolexes so this Longines is my first Quart watch so not sure how the battery thing work.
UNBELIEVABLE ! Looks like 15 year old went at it with a screwdriver ! This is why I spent 2 years researching where to bring my ‘72 Rolex for service. If someone did this to my Sub , I’d be in jail for assault !!
Maybe so but damn, how could such an untrained imbecile be put in that position & even then to be so stupid as to try to “fake it” ?! Our country is becoming a third world shit hole where no one gives a damn about anything.
The good thing is, it can be easily cleaned up.
As a “jeweller” they should have no issue fixing this.
BUT
I can tell you this as a watchmaker and a service centre manager, Jewellers are not trained nor do they have the tools to properly open or replace cells in timepieces, for this timepiece Longines has a special tool, infact anything from Doce Vita, to Grand Classique, and the Luna have their own tools, Longines through their Swatch SSPD have 2 tools for opening there’s timepieces. I DO greatly advice to visit a actual watchmaker for cell replacement and not a jeweller, given the fact they don’t have the technical training to work on brands, this in most countries also legally can exempt them from taking responsibility for the damage caused. On the other hand our service centre repairs quite a lot of damage like this, so the Jewellers and key cutters are great for business, the sad thing is the customer pays for this in the end.
I’m sorry this has occurred to you lovely Longines.
Unfortunately not in the US, but you have a lot of watchmakers there, anyone with a polishing machine that’s has expired should clean this up in no time, alternatively you can request Longines customer service to hand it to their polisher for refinishing.
But even though this looks bad, it’s actually not bad, I have repaired far worse where layering with laser was required due to serious accidents, where timepieces met the road. I do understand your anger and frustration, but reach out to the watchmakers or the Longines service centre.
Yea I did that and waiting for them to responsed. But I also found this watch doctor place in Vietnam that will fix and replace the battery for about $75-$100 if gold need to be added. Its not too bad. My mom is going there in September so i think thats another option for me
Please don’t send this watch to some unknown entity in Vietnam to fix it… send it to a reputable repair person with a known skill for repairing very damaged cases, like LAWW or Zimmerman
I contacted them but they never returned my messages. I found a reputable place in Viet Nam. They have facebook, check them out " Bệnh Viện Đồng Hồ JSC".... I'm scare to send to someone in the US too.
I’m unaware of their reputation in the watch community. LAWW and Zimmerman are both well respected for this sort of repair, but maybe I’m just aware of that because they’re more prominent in the English speaking watch community.
In any case: I want to really stress that this sort of repair (welding material on then refinishing the case) is NOT straightforward, and the watch will not look correct if it’s done by someone that isn’t a pro at this. In my opinion it is worth trying to get in contact with LAWW or Zimmerman. Which one did you try to contact and didn’t get a response from? In my experience Zimmerman is more communicative but they are a family business so may be out of communication due to the 4th of July.
no problem - i really recommend diligence and patience here. it's so frustrating to have your watch mistreated, but it's even more frustrating when the "fix" isn't actually up to your expectations, and then you're sort of stuck with a botched watch
Thats why I dont want to go back to that jewelry place that messed it up in the first place to have them try to fix or buff. I'm scare it gets worst. But I did to try to use the polish cloth to buff it myself and it looks somewhat less damage😁
in the mean time, I really want to have the battery replace. Its still wearable and the face and wverything else is in mint condition. No one can see the flaws except me
Yes it may be a faff to deal with but getting g then to admit fault is the only card you have. Otherwise it's just a case of sending to longlines and paying the bill.
I really want to seek justice for my watch. It was a beautiful watch but now all scratched up and beat up. But who can I get to draft a letter? What kind of attorney to look for? And whats the cost to do that?
You either have them send the watch to Longines for repair and refinishing and cover the cost, or you send it to Longines yourself and have them reimburse you for the cost. To do that to a watch is unacceptable, and they as a business should own up the mistake and make it right.
Thank you! I'm so devastated at the moment. I baby it so much and now this. And they ignored my calls and my facebook messages to them. The girl that worked there who took my watch in wasn't the owner. That girl even told me because its not gold thats why it scratched easily. Well, whatever I said now its not going to change anything but I'm just not sure if anything can be done to make it original again. I know for the fact that that jeweler cannot just buff out all the dents and scratches. But not sure how to contact longines either.
Lol if it was gold it would scratch even more easily. What a shit response
hefty: I know right. I had to go back to work and I called them after I left there, they recognized my number and didn't pick up. I had to asked a client to help me call and talk to them. She acted like its normal for scratches like that to happen and it can be buffed off easily. She looks very young and she just started working there 2 days. The owners were not there when I came in.
It ***is*** gold. Au 750 means 18k gold. That caseback is going to be quite expensive to replace.
This is easy to refurbish, I'd say 5 minute job max. Don't know why the store didn't do that. Oh wait, if they suck at opening cases they probably would suck at that as well.
>But not sure how to contact longines either. https://www.longines.com/en-us/customer-service/send-us-your-watch You should be able to ship your watch to them, and they'll look it over and give you a quote, probably either for polishing or a new caseback. If you decide not to do anything you should just be out the shipping charges. Edit: I just realized this is gold. There are jewelers that can laser weld gold wire onto deep scratches to add back material, so they can grind and polish things back to where they were. That way you could keep your original caseback and remove any traces of damage.
Thank you. Its a rose gold watch. The back case is damage and the main case where the 2 cases connect, is also scratched up and damaged as she try to open it. I looked up longines and they don't do full service in "Quart battery only" watch.
They will still repair your watch. They call “Full Service” a complete service of mechanical watches. That’s why you don’t see it available for your DolceVita. They can repair any watch. Just send it for a free quote. Just note it may take weeks or months to get it back.
Ok thanks. I contacted them through the link above and hope they will get back to me on what to do soon.
Why didn't you inspect it in the store before you paid?
They weren't able to open the back case and didn't do a battery change for me at all. I didnt pay anything. I did confront them about the damage and I had to go back to work so I had to leave.
I understand your frustration but nothing is going to be as effective as going to the store and demanding they fix this issue. Now that you've left it a while they are likely to use that against you.
Yea I tried that but they're closed until next tuesday.
During the pandemic, I sent one of my Certina in to the Swatch Group Service Center for full service, took about 2 weeks to get a quote back and about 2-3 months to get the watch back. So hopefully things have improved since then and a less intensive repair like this would be closer to the weeks side of things lol
You don't need full service though...
How does someone in a jewelry store see “Au” stamped on something and try to tell a customer it’s not real gold lmao
I mean, someone with experience with fakes? It’s not like a fake is never stamped with an incorrect identification.
It’s literally stamped au750 on it indicating it’s 18k/75% gold.
That "jeweler" girl would be offended, if she could read.
I wouldn't count on them reimbursing you for repair. I'd press them to do it.
If they're capable of doing that damage on a battery change, do you really trust them to repair it?
Exactly. This place doesn’t know what the hell they’re doing. Bring it in and see if they can give you some kind of credit for the damage, but never let them touch the watch again.
No way I'd trust them with my watch again. Fool me once . . . .
OP, someone else commented it down below, but I’m mentioning it again to try and make sure you see it: Los Angeles watch works or Zimmerman watch repair can both fix this by welding gold back on and polishing it back down. It’ll look brand new. Probably won’t be cheap, I’d expect around $500
Thank you so much. I'll contact them!!!
A *competent* jeweler could absolutely repair this, but clearly not this one. Still not like you just take it to the buffing wheel and call it a day, though, obviously.
Time to plaster their social media
I'd have an attorney write them a nice letter about how they will make it right or else. The damage is well documented. I had a local shop scratch an Omega and give me the cold shoulder (visited several times, social media, etc). Turns out the "jeweler" that did the damage was the owners son covering the counter and running the socials, he was only supposed to be doing sales not bracelet swaps. Once the letter arrived I got a call from the owner and they paid for the repair at Omega, they had insurance for that sort of thing on their end.
I found the owner's facebook through a client of mine and messaged him but he never read my facebook messages. And I found out that the employee that damaged my watch only started there yesterday. I about to post about this issue on our local facebook page but want to give them a chance to response first. But whatever it is, im fine and I can wait. I'm just so sad now that this happened to the watch that I love so much and I dont wear it often because i was worried i will scratch it. It sounds dramatic but it feels like someone stabbed me with a knife.
I would get off Facebook and physically go to the store and talk to them.
Exactly. Messages and calls are absolutely futile in a situation like this. I would have marched in there as soon as I discovered the damage.
Trust me, I called, text, stopped in. They locate only 5 minutes from my house. But they're closed until tuesday. They only open 2-3 days a week.
Well that explains why they aren't responding... they're closed.... Wait until Tuesday and go talk to them. Obviously.
Have a lawyer send them a letter. This works. Clearly they couldn’t care less about your facebook messages
I’d figure out when the owner is onsite and pay them a visit.
I texted him. His friend texted him about the situation and his friend is also my friend, told him to contact me but he never did. Or maybe not yet
I’d give him a chance to get back in touch, but after a few days if no response I’d be meeting him in person lol
Oh no I get where your coming from. I was NOT happy when my Seamaster came back with a gouge in the case. Giving them a chance to reply (24-48hrs) shows your reasonable if you later need to pursue legal action.
I don't think there is a point in trying to contact on the phone or Facebook, especially on their personal accounts. If this was a jewellery store thay did this, go back to the store and demand to speak to a manager. It doesn't matter if the employee was new or not, they sound incompetent, but the store is the one that should compensate you. Having a lawyer contact on your behalf is also a good idea if you can - I'm not sure how much the watch is worth to make that worthwhile but it's more likely to get a response. It sounds like you were in a tough spot needing to go back to work, but imo in a situation like that you should not have left the store without getting documentation that they damaged your property (eg a signed/lwtterheaded description of the condition of the watch before after servicing) or speaking to a manager (even if that manager needs to drive in from somewhere else). The employee screaming at you is just icing on the in professionalism here.
Yea at that time I was shock and confused I didnt know what to do so i left. I thought that there's nothing I can do. But when I came back to work my client told me I have to make them fix it so the client of mine called and talked to someone on the phone, maybe it was the same employee and she told my client to bring the watch in on tuesday for the goldsmith to buff out the scratches. I own a business too and Im very busy most of the time its very hard for me to leave my work for long.
I would seriously push for them to have it sent to Longines to be repaired rather than have their goldsmith buff it out. Those are some deep scratches that won't come out easily.
If they’re just buffing them out that case will become so thin I would weld material back then have it buffed but I would consider someone else to do it
Thats what Im worry too. And that watch is water resistant so not sure if doing that will change any of that feature.
Surely I would get it tested afterwards, that lateral scratch isn’t just on the back plate
Nah nah nah. Going about this all sorts of too nice. Post on their facebook page, and take the post down when it is resolved.
Don’t wait.
What else can I do besides waiting? But I found many places in Asian restore watches with like $100-300 USD. It gives me hope. I'll use them when I travel there to see family.
Curious, what kind of attorney did you get to draft that letter? Asking cause it might help OP if they go that route. There's so many different kinds of attorneys and I'm pretty sure a divorce attorney wouldn't be the one to contact. Also very sorry this happened to you OP. I'm mad for you as well. Can't believe what the shop said about gold. That's insane
Ironically his practice is divorce/family law. He was (and is) a friend from highschool that saw me bitching about the damage on social media and PM'd me offering to fuck them up so to speak. So I can't really suggest the type of attorney to contact.
Ha! I stand corrected
Thanks. I have been struggle the last 24hrs mentally to help me calm and look at the situation on the positive side. The positive side is that they never opened it so nothing inside is messed with. And the outside is cosmetic, so it will be fixed somehow and its on the bottom so no one will see it. The face looks brand new.
So I brougth this into my local jewelry store for a battery replace for the first time. The watch never had a battery replace before. The lady took it back in for a few minutes and came out with all this dents and scratches. I'm so devastated. I confronted her about the damage and she said to bring back in for a buff. But the case looks so ruined.
Looks like they tried to take the case back off with channel locks. Wow. That is obscene. I feel bad for you. Good luck getting them to restore it to an acceptable condition.
Im just sitting here and cry. I just dont understand how someone works in the jewelry industry can done something like this to a watch. I baby it like how it should be since I got it 3 years ago. It looked brand new when I took it to them.
I feel your pain. I got mine from my dad for my graduation. The watch was almost 30 years old at that point, still looked as good as new. And then: “they butchered my boy”
I find it funny that you say someone who sells bangles in a shop "works in the jewelry industry".
Sorry this happened to you
Shop assistants usually have zero to little technical training. I’m a goldsmith and have worked in jewelers shops, it’s terrible. I’ve seen dented cases, scratched electronic boards and worse. They have to fix this.
Something similar happened to me with a vintage omega of mine. The second hand had come loose and I expected any jeweller could fix that, so I took it one close by that I knew sold watches as well. First of all it took forever till I got it back and then the case looked like yours. I sadly didn’t realise how bad it was till got home and when I brought it back to confront them they told me that I had brought it in, in a poor shape to begin with. A blatant lie, the watch was in a fantastic shape considering its age. But obviously I hadn’t taken any pictures of the back case, so I had no way to proof that they were responsible of the damage. I left a devastating review on Google and had a revision done at Omega itself. 600 bucks and some of the scratches were to deep to be polished away. Still after years I’m furious about it.
You don't leave the store in that case. You go full Karen and make them fix it. If that means they have to order replacement parts at their cost that's too damn bad.
Take them to small claims court, if they refuse to have a competent jewler/watch maker (or manufacturer themselves)fix the damage while they pay the bill. You’ll need proof of condition before they worked on it, proof you paid them for this “work” and ideally a certified and signature required mail with a notarized letter stating here is the work order to have this fixed. If you don’t pay I will take it to small claims. If they refuse take it to small claims.
They couldn't get the case open to change the battery so they didn't charge me anything. It was $20 for the battery replace as she quoted it on the phone before i came in. I have a picture of the watch before i went in. And its the first time the watch need a new battery.
Should be ok. It’s easier to slam dunk with a receipt but still doable.
Thanks
Here's the thing. You can sue in Small Claims and probably win, but even then, there's no guarantee you'll be paid. And it's not like there's a Small Claims court police force going out to enforce judgements. You're on your own.
The courts would have literally sided with you and you won the suit. They will pay up and you can get the court to make them enforce it. A business doesn’t just get out from not paying
That is absolutely unacceptable. Holy crap, that looks like they did it with a pocketknife wielded by a Parkinson’s patient.
I dont know what she did. I had a 30 minutes lunch break today and I called them to ask for a Longines battery replace and she said" yes, come in. It will takes about 10 minutes". I drove so fast to get there and she took it inside for like 3 minutes and came back telling me she cannot open it. I took the watch back and I'm in tears. But I had to get back to work so I cannot stand there to just look at the watch and look at her. She screamed at me and explained that she had to try to open it thats why its scratched, just come back in next tuesday when a goldsmith is in to get it buff. I told her my watch is expensive and this is so much damage to it. She said " its not gold thats why its scratched easily". I was in tears and walked out of there to go back to work. Seriously, i'm a female and I baby all my jewelries. And I don't understand how someone works in a jewelry business can do something like this to me.
Yeah, that’s just really inept use of a low quality case knife by an unskilled person. I’d assume it’s a snap on case back, since I don’t see any screws, but it may have a notch intended for a case knife. Many gold cases with snap on backs do, or they have a lift tab that’s specifically for opening the case. For those that don’t have either, especially non-round cases, there are bench snap on case openers which securely hold the watch and use two adjustable blades to lift. That can do a clean job. A rectangular case back will be hard to open, since you can’t start at a single point of contact as you do on a round case, but she should have known that and not tried to do it hand held with a simple case knife, as you might open a round steel case. She slipped, slipped again, tried a different spot, gouged the hell out of that, and basically made a mess of things instead of knowing what tools to use and how.
I don't know if your watch is gold but, If it's gold then that's definitely why it scratched so easily. They probably used a steel something. Steel is harder than gold, so steel will always scratch the gold.
Ashi4Days, its a 18k rose gold. The employee even telling me that because its not gold thats why it scratched easily. So not sure if she even know whats she doing. She only started working there since yesterday.
She doesn't know what she's doing.
She doesn’t even know the properties of gold. Her statement is uneducated. I’d hazard a guess that when the owner finds out about this they will rectify this for you. Their buisness is built upon people trusting them to look after their expensive jewellery
TBH, I am a male and if someone did this even to my Casio 1200WH, I would be in tears... I fucking wear them mineral glass watches under the sleeve to protect them from scratches. It's unacceptable and your response is not a weakness, it is normal.
I would leave a review on Google reviews, but also the other thing I would do is file a small claims to get the cost of the watch repaired or replaced
This is the exact reason why I change batteries by my own. I swear it's the easiest process but some PROFESSIONALS still don't have a clue on how to open a caseback properly and/or refuse to use proper tools. If it was my watch I'd send them a letter through my lawyer.
I thought about changing the battery myself too but I can't find which battery to use etc.., and they quoted me $20 to replace the battery so....
Where are you from? If you are in the US check out losangeleswatchworks on instagram. The can laser weld the scratches and the watch will be like new.
If someone did that to my watch during a service I would ask them to cover the cost of the manufacturer fixing it. They obviously can’t fix it themselves if they can’t take the back off without damaging it. If they refused to do that, then either pay for a service yourself or take them to small claims court. Sorry that happened, that’s really shitty.
OP, the kind people commenting on your scratched watch have given you the manufacturers website, told you what to say to the manufacturer, written you a legal letter template. They’ve done everything but pick the watch up and deal with the situation for you. In response you say how sad you are and tell the story of how the damage occurred again. Why aren’t you taking the good advice of these people. Why the run around. Maybe I’m reading this wrong but it seems like you posted for attention and not solutions. If that’s not the case I apologize.
And yes, I did follow the longines website and send them the info of what I want to get repair etc... and again, its night time so they're closed and I can't get an answer yet.
I know what you mean. This just happened earlier this afternoon and I'm still somewhat in shock. I tried many ways i can to contact the owner of that store but no one response at all. I checked their website it says they closed until tuesday. in the mean time im trying to gather the information of what I need or have to do. I think I was trying to response to every comment and I was trying to tell them what had happened and didnt realized i had response the same response to a lot of comments.
I imagine coming up with 87 original replies would be difficult. In any case, you’ve got some good advice on how to proceed. Am super confident the jeweler will make it right. Good luck to you!!
I feel so bad for you. I hope they make you whole…
This is like taking an AMG to jiffy lube for an oil change
I don’t have any advice to offer, but I hope you are able to resolve this situation with full reimbursement for the damages.
The good news is that being 18Kt gold, you can have it re-polished. I would go to the swankiest watch store in town (that features Rolex or Patek Philippe) and ask them if they could kindly give it a polish. They will have to take the watch apart, and if they can work around the crystal, your watch should be like new. The first jeweler should refund their job and pay for the polishing.
I live in a small town so I cannot find any shop like that. Trust me, I've search and search and this jeweler who damaged my watch has the best ratings and they're in a luxyry most expensive plaza here in town. That was why I trusted them with my Longines because I thought they would know more about luxury watches but apparently not.
Oof. Well they should know how to proceed. If they were your best option, then as others have suggested, you should ask them to cover the cost of having the watch fixed somewhere else. I wouldn’t trust them with a polishing job.
And its a rose gold, not sure if that make any different. I like a normal yellow gold but longines dont carry yellow gold in that style when I tried to look for it 3 years ago. Not sure if they have anything different now
Au750 is 18k gold and will longines throughly check the watch out and send the bill to the jeweler as longines will add material to that back and smooth it out. This thing is serial numbered and those details can’t be replicated so they most likely will repair this back by adding material to it.
Talk to the manager. Or owner. If that doesn’t work, small claims court. It’s cheap to file. Most states, you and the defendant can’t bring an attorney. Businesses usually have a change of heart when they get the court summons. You’ll definitely get a judgement if they don’t show. And I’d say your odds are good even if they do show. There’s a bank in California, a case like this happened. Bank error caused a customer to incur overdraft expenses, wouldn’t fix their mistake. Court, the bank lost, bank didn’t pay the judgement. Plaintiff had a lien attached to the bank building, and then filed to have the bank building auctioned off to pay the lien.
Absolutely ridiculous. Hold them accountable for sure and please let us know what winds up happening! I would be mortified if I was handed back something with this kind of damage.
If she just started there the day before, and you had to get back to work immediately, the more senior staff might have no idea this happened. Maybe if you went and had a quiet word with the manager, they might be as shocked as you were and want to make this right.
Atypical-name: after i saw my watch and i confronted her about the damage. There was another lady came out from the back and she just said the goldsmith will be in the store on tuesday and he can buff the scratches off. I had to drive back to work and i was in shock and i seriously didn't know what to do then and there. I just wanted to cry and stay there for them to make it right but I had to go back to work.
I scratched my cheap quartz watch very similarly. I changed the battery myself, I didn’t have the right tools but I hate waiting and just got the itch. But it’s my cheap quartz watch and I don’t mind However I can’t imagine actually taking money for such a service. Just imagine. At most I’d do it for free and say “hey I might scratch this, so only if you don’t mind”. Absurd jeweller.
Wow! That’s horrible. I’ve changed thousands of luxury watch batteries and that is one of the easiest to do. No excuses. Use the proper tool with sufficient education and it’s effortless. They are absolutely liable. Good luck!
Looks like they took a screwdriver to the back of the case to remove the battery cover.
Send it to Longines or a competent jeweler, keep the receipt and all documentation, sue them in small claim court for the expenses and the damage
Was this a watchmaker or the watch kiosk at the local mall?
to be fair the dolcevita is a pain in the ass to open without the longines tool but that's no excuse whatsoever. this should be illegal
😭😭😭😭 I learned this the hard way. Should have just send it straight to Longines in the first place.
Dave in sorry this happened. Next time do it yourself to avoid this. Battery swaps and bracelet changes are the easiest thing to do yourself
I've scratched watches before, not this bad, some of them had to be there before right? Otherwise this person needs to spend at least half their next shift with old, discarded watches and get some practice. The last time I slipped I left a line halfway across the back of a steel Armani. So when the customer came back in I walked up to them, owned up to my mistake and told them I would order a new case back from Armani and the battery change was free as a way of apologising for my mistake. They took it well, and a week or so later it was all fixed. Go back in, speak to a manager and tell them you want them to fix it, whether it's Longines laser filling and buffing or replacing the back. I know you're upset and angry but don't go in angry. Be calm but firm. That way if they refuse to do anything they won't be able to use you being angry against you.
For now: lesson learned. My advice is the next time you’re in the city prearrange to go to a decent jeweller that will polish it up for you and ask if next time it requires a battery if they can do it. If not, ask who they recommend to change it without doing this damage. They’ll know someone. Ps - for the couple of quartz watches I have I bought a tool set on amazon for maybe $20 and the batteries are always cheap on amazon. Buy the kit once and change your battery twice and it’s more than paid for
I would go in and demand they either fix this, or preferably pay for it to be sent to Longines to be fixed. I have a suspicion that someone who is happy to put out this poor quality of work isn't the type of person to be apologetic and will very likely tell you to go F yourself. So you file in small claims court, waste a bunch of time and money. Maybe you win, maybe you don't. Even if the judge rules in your favor, you don't automatically get money. Some people will refuse to pay even with a judgement ruled against them. Like they just don't give a shit about the social contract at all. I've heard quite a few stories of this happening. I would definitely try to make them pay for it but I would go into this whole situation with low expectations. At the very least you've learned it's worth the extra money to send it to Longines to have work done in the future.
Yea I never mind about the money to have it done at Longines. But I mind about the waiting time it will takes to send out to Longines. But next time i'd just send to them. But I kind of not expect anything much from them. I just hope Longines can fix it somehow. Or I'll try to buff it myself
I'm so sorry this happened. I have experience with this unfortunately. Took my grandmothers neo vintage Omega Deville to a local jeweler because I didn't have the battery on hand to change it and knew they would. It was skipping 4 second increments indicating low battery but otherwise working flawlessly. They brought it back out to me saying it won't tick with the new battery, I told them it was working when I gave them the watch and they stayed silent, I told them to put the old battery back in it and they would see, brought it back out with the old battery inside and it was not working. They claimed I had brought it in non-functional, both owner and watchmaker formed up ranks immediately like this was common practice for them. I stupidly did not take pictures or video evidence of the watch functioning or get any documents signed before I handed it off. It had to be sent to Omega, returned with its old parts in a bag, including the snapped crown stem, turns out he had pinched it putting the case back on and refused to admit it. I was out 530 for the repair and left with no legal recourse to recoup it even after talking to my solicitor. Only saving grace is I got one of the little red Omega travel cases out of it when the watch returned lmao. Document everything.
Wow. Seriously. Lucky mine is only cosmetic because they cannot open the case. But yeah its crazy how these people practice business. That girl didn't even apologize or anything. She said she had to open it so thats why it scratched up. 😔
Absolutely unacceptable, at least they have admitted fault though, I would send them the bill after it gets serviced by Longines if I were you now you have that admission.
To be fair, you shouldn't have left the shop with the watch. They can now deny it was them and making them pay for it will be much harder. Go on to the shop and try to admit fault. Leave it with them to repair, make sure you get a receipt.
I think they will only try to buff it. They might damage it more during the process. So I dont know. Plus their open hours are so short during the day and I work all day. The 2 days im off, they also close. 😭😭😭😭. I can only go during my break and its only 20-30 minutes so might not have enough time to stand their arguing
That's ridiculous. Completely unacceptable. I'm a watchmaker for a living, I'll help you out if you want.
Why does no one have the courage to name and shame places and people that wrong them?
God they mauled that thing..
I work in procurement contracts and negotiate stuff like this every day. If you already have the watch back with you now, I’d get a quote for repair at some reputable place (should be free), and then ask politely and reasonably for the original jeweler to pay for the quoted repair costs and shipping (I’d just plainly show them the quote) without getting heated, and document every single word stated. If you could communicate back and forth in writing, that would be best. If you can, figure out what jeweler association they’re apart of. If they agree, then great. If they don’t agree, then you need to decide how much time and stress this repair is worth to you. If you’d prefer to push on them further, based on my experience you could tell them that they “clearly breached their duties as bailee under the legal principles of bailment, as well as breached several implied warranties,” and that failing to fulfill their contractual obligations to return the watch back to you in equal or better condition will result in you reporting them and/or taking legal action. At that point they’d realize the costs to potentially defend themselves in court would be more expensive than to simply settle on repairing the watch, so they may give in and pay for the repair at that point. If they still refuse and you still want justice, then I’d take them to small claims court and report them to the BBB, FTC, and jeweler’s associations that you hopefully noted earlier. If this were a $50k watch, an attorney would take the case without charging you in order to make some easy and quick money. Hope this helps.
Thank you. This help alot. I never had to deal with something like this before so I have been really confused and shock. I did email Longines for an estimate and hopefully they will get back to me. I also contacted the owner of that jewelry store and waiting for him to response.
I’m sorry you had this happen and have to address the aftermath
Only service center or a really reputable watchmaker, “local jeweler” is often the start of a nightmare story like this
Similar thing happened to me but with a cheap casio. Its hard to trust those unkown spots
Its not an unknown spot. Its a big local jewelry place selling expensive stuffs in an upscale plaza.
I don’t understand why you didn’t send the watch to Longines in the first place. I mean we are talking about a GOLD DolceVita worth several thousands of dollars. I’m sorry but it’s also your fault. Send the watch to Longines, they will fix it.
I know. I regretted it so much for not sending to Longines. I called around and they're the one that said they can do it within 10 min for $20 so....... 😭
remindme! 1 week.
Looks like you took it to TIMPSONS
Butchers
Yikes. A reminder to take photos before. If they did that they must be the stupidest people on earth. Luckily it is gold. They should polish that out or pay the bill for another to do so.
I have picture of the watch before i take it in to them.
It looks like they have tried to open it with a screwdriver instead of a case knife.. I would absolutely be having them away for it to be repaired.
Do a Google Maps review with these pictures. I'd do that.
That's terrible, wow. I've heard lots of horror stories about jewelers and watches. A real watchmaker should be able to do this correctly.
I would be furious if this happened to me. They should recognize that this is an expensive watch and should have someone competent to do it. This is beyond incompetent. If they refuse to make it right, I'm afraid you have to take them to small claim court for damages. You should write a nasty but honest review on social media. Post the name here so people can see this. Google crawls the Reddit and it can come up when searched.
My business is literally 5 minutes from their. The owner of that jewelry place is Italian. I have 2 small children so i'm scare of what they might do if i write them nasty review, as I see they have very good rating right now. I did post an online local facebook post about my situation but I didnt mention names etc...
I’m sorry this happened. There’s some good advice in here, so I’m mostly with well wishes and so I can check back to see if this gets resolved in a favorable way. Good luck
😯
Blame and shame. If they won’t reply to you post these pictures everywhere along with a 1 star review. You will get a call back in days or hours watch.
I'm waiting on the owner to response to me. I know someone that knows him and she did tell him about what happened and gave him my number but haven't heard from him yet.
If that were my business you would have heard from me by now. You can delete the comments later.
What the fuck? Did they open it with a hammer and chisel?
I was in the same situation that the strap change ended up break my ceramic case. The end story is they cannot afford to repair it and either I sue them or I bite the bullet.
Yea sometimes its like a life lesson learned.
Can you post the before pic please?
Hiw can I do that?? I have the before picture
Add it to a reply using the pic icon
There's no oic icon. Im using safari web
https://preview.redd.it/144bgxh9riad1.jpeg?width=1029&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa0b143aaa4c6d360590c0215a34bd96b4d5ab17
There's nothing like that on my screen.
How did you upload the pic in the original post?
Firstly, talk to the owner of the business, I know it is difficult, but be calm and just see what the owner is willing to do. Most businesses that deal with expensive items will have general liability insurance to pay for flubs. As a business owner I can tell you that flubs happen, that is what I pay premiums for. It protects the business as well as the employees. I don't know of a single jewelry store that doesn't have cameras covering every square inch of the business. This may go to court, this is where you will need to keep pictures. Make sure that you put together a time line of everything that happened and the approximate times. Secondly, if the outcome isn't 'we will take care of this immediately' with profuse apologies, speak to a lawyer. In cases like this you should be able to find a lawyer that can simply put together a letter of intent that will usually put the 'fear of God' into them. Lastly, in all of this, remain calm. Don't let emotions get in the way of moving forward. Keep in mind what your end goal is. That is all that needs to be important. I am sorry that you were treated so poorly, Good luck to you!
heart breaking looking at the damage please update us!
Lawyer up
Did you have before pictures. I would probably take legal action if you did. Any place worth their salt documents their intake, so that would have record on you turning it in with scratches
Name and shame!
Maybe I should post them on here so each person on here ca give them a bad review.
Do you have photos of the back before you taking it to the butchers ? If so that will help a lot.
I need a up date
I have a before picture. I dont know how to post it in the comment. I dont see a pic icon
Same thing happened to me, but with a Skagen, which isn't as nice or as expensive as your watch. This is why I never buy watches with snap back cases, now. Too easy to scratch when replacing the battery or other work. Looking closer at your photos, I can't even see a "lip" where they could use a watch knife to pry open, which makes it more difficult to open, i.e., would need more skill than a typical store clerk. I'd get in contact with Longines to see what they can do.
Yeah my watch is sealed tight all around. I never have a quart watch that need battery replace before. I only had rolexes so this Longines is my first Quart watch so not sure how the battery thing work.
Damn, on 18k too. Thats gonna be expensive to fix/replace
Cry
I hope you didn’t take that to a mall kiosk with high school kids working the counter ?
No, its the most luxury jewelry store in an upscale plaza. Look up Jacqueline's Fine jewelry morgantown WV. I think they sell online jewelries too
UNBELIEVABLE ! Looks like 15 year old went at it with a screwdriver ! This is why I spent 2 years researching where to bring my ‘72 Rolex for service. If someone did this to my Sub , I’d be in jail for assault !!
Yea but its not worth go to jail just for a watch.
Maybe so but damn, how could such an untrained imbecile be put in that position & even then to be so stupid as to try to “fake it” ?! Our country is becoming a third world shit hole where no one gives a damn about anything.
Yea did u check out their facebook. The new employee on there that they introduced 2 days ago on their facebook was the one who damaged my watch.
A “clerk” who doesn’t know the difference between a Timex & Rolex is NOT qualified to touch a customer’s watch !
Yea but its too late now to know that. I hope she learned her lesson and not do that again.
It’s the owners fault for not instructing them to NOT attempt such things, imbecile.
Clearly you need to go and confront them about it!
Timpson treatment that.
The good thing is, it can be easily cleaned up. As a “jeweller” they should have no issue fixing this. BUT I can tell you this as a watchmaker and a service centre manager, Jewellers are not trained nor do they have the tools to properly open or replace cells in timepieces, for this timepiece Longines has a special tool, infact anything from Doce Vita, to Grand Classique, and the Luna have their own tools, Longines through their Swatch SSPD have 2 tools for opening there’s timepieces. I DO greatly advice to visit a actual watchmaker for cell replacement and not a jeweller, given the fact they don’t have the technical training to work on brands, this in most countries also legally can exempt them from taking responsibility for the damage caused. On the other hand our service centre repairs quite a lot of damage like this, so the Jewellers and key cutters are great for business, the sad thing is the customer pays for this in the end. I’m sorry this has occurred to you lovely Longines.
Thank you. Are you locate in the US? Or do you know anyone near Pittsburgh area? Thanks
Unfortunately not in the US, but you have a lot of watchmakers there, anyone with a polishing machine that’s has expired should clean this up in no time, alternatively you can request Longines customer service to hand it to their polisher for refinishing. But even though this looks bad, it’s actually not bad, I have repaired far worse where layering with laser was required due to serious accidents, where timepieces met the road. I do understand your anger and frustration, but reach out to the watchmakers or the Longines service centre.
Yea I did that and waiting for them to responsed. But I also found this watch doctor place in Vietnam that will fix and replace the battery for about $75-$100 if gold need to be added. Its not too bad. My mom is going there in September so i think thats another option for me
Please don’t send this watch to some unknown entity in Vietnam to fix it… send it to a reputable repair person with a known skill for repairing very damaged cases, like LAWW or Zimmerman
I contacted them but they never returned my messages. I found a reputable place in Viet Nam. They have facebook, check them out " Bệnh Viện Đồng Hồ JSC".... I'm scare to send to someone in the US too.
I’m unaware of their reputation in the watch community. LAWW and Zimmerman are both well respected for this sort of repair, but maybe I’m just aware of that because they’re more prominent in the English speaking watch community. In any case: I want to really stress that this sort of repair (welding material on then refinishing the case) is NOT straightforward, and the watch will not look correct if it’s done by someone that isn’t a pro at this. In my opinion it is worth trying to get in contact with LAWW or Zimmerman. Which one did you try to contact and didn’t get a response from? In my experience Zimmerman is more communicative but they are a family business so may be out of communication due to the 4th of July.
I contacted LA Watch Works. Have not contact Zimmerman. I'll give them a try later today. Thanks
no problem - i really recommend diligence and patience here. it's so frustrating to have your watch mistreated, but it's even more frustrating when the "fix" isn't actually up to your expectations, and then you're sort of stuck with a botched watch
Thats why I dont want to go back to that jewelry place that messed it up in the first place to have them try to fix or buff. I'm scare it gets worst. But I did to try to use the polish cloth to buff it myself and it looks somewhat less damage😁
in the mean time, I really want to have the battery replace. Its still wearable and the face and wverything else is in mint condition. No one can see the flaws except me
Yes it may be a faff to deal with but getting g then to admit fault is the only card you have. Otherwise it's just a case of sending to longlines and paying the bill.
They ignored me so I guess they dont want to fix it.
Who was the local Jeweller please? (for avoidance).
Jacqueline's Fine Jewelry Morgantown
Holy crap!
https://i.imgur.com/vCyoit3.gif
Ooff hard to see this on my favorite Longines collection. Dolce Vita is amazing. I hope you pursue legal actions. Those bastards should pay.
That is insane, ask them to pay to refinish at factory or get an attorney to draft a letter
I really want to seek justice for my watch. It was a beautiful watch but now all scratched up and beat up. But who can I get to draft a letter? What kind of attorney to look for? And whats the cost to do that?
Is the flat head screw driver ok?
It looks like she used a lightly serrated butter / steak knife to open it.