[Closed] I should be bloody annoyed shouldn't I?

Get a Casio. This luxury item is causing unnecessary stress.

That sucks. I'd be wanting a full refund (£85!?) and buying one of [url= https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bergeon-8008-Rubber-Ball-65mm-Watch-Case-Back-Opener-Suction-Friction-Grip-Tool-/123622036748 ]these[/url] (cheaper ones are available)*, a pair of jeweller's tweezers and a pack of Renata batteries. You could go mad and get some new o-rings and a bit of silicone grease too.

Timpsons' owner prides himself on customer service so an email to head office might be in order if the guy in the shop won't do you a refund.

*I am assuming it's a threaded caseback, to be fair the press-on ones are much more of a pain.

Yesterday I went to our local Timpson’s

with my 30 year old Omega

🙁

Dorsetknob - I know, I know.

finbar - it is a press-on back. But I've secured it in the past with my own press.

Get your money back and move on with your life OP.

Money back and don't take anything but swatch watches, fake rolex's or stilletos to Timpsons!!

Refund and go to a jewellers.

He's offered to fix it.

He's offered to send it away.

You've said you can fix it yourself trivially.

What exactly are your expectations here? You've bought and received a lifetime's worth of replacements.

I think that it is now against the law to be annoyed at #keyworkers.

Timpsons’ owner prides himself on customer service so an email to head office might be in order if the guy in the shop won’t do you a refund.

Timpsons give their staff the authority to resolve problems themselves - giving the customer option B (send it on to to another department)  because the customer wasn't happy with option A (solving the problem at the store)  was part of that.

So that's two perfectly reasonable offers to resolve the problem. What else can they offer?

Refund and go to a jewellers

Only of course the OP can't because they're all closed for some reason. Unless they sell essential compost too.

@peekay 😄👏

As an aside, James Timpson did a really interesting Desert Islands Discs, well worth a listen

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b074vw94

Get a Casio. This luxury item is causing unnecessary stress.

Better still, just use your phone

Get a Casio. This luxury item is causing unnecessary stress.

£24.99, change the battery yourself. (I've had it 6 years or so, It's had 2 batteries) 🙂 🙂

https://flic.kr/p/2kJB2fA

Timpsons’ owner prides himself on customer service so an email to head office might be in order if the guy in the shop won’t do you a refund.

Timpsons give their staff the authority to resolve problems themselves – giving the customer option B (send it on to to another department) because the customer wasn’t happy with option A (solving the problem at the store) was part of that.

So that’s two perfectly reasonable offers to resolve the problem. What else can they offer?

Er... a refund?

Only of course the OP can’t because they’re all closed for some reason. Unless they sell essential compost too.

Only you can with many who are doing drop off and collection services from their door or you he could wait a few weeks.

TBF if your going to the bother of wearing a watch......

I wouldn't want to wear that Casio either.

Watch is so much handier than a phone. Thw irritation of days when I have not got my watch on for what ever reason is high. Almost as high as the op i guess.

But yeah timpsons are reserved for key cutting in my book

Or get a kinetic watch. My Seiko is about 15 years old and, as long as you were it every few days, will hold enough charge and of course never need battery replacement.

You just have to move your wrist to recharge the battery, hence why it is predictably referred to as the w*nk watch by my wife.

One day I'll tell her that she doesn't need to recharge it with me every weekend....

2. What should I do next?

Buy a Rolex.

I am actually much more inclined to wear a watch these days as it will show me notifications etc. Just the simple act of being able to see who is calling and deciding whether to answer or not is a bloody joy without having to hunt in your pocket when it's not always convenient.

I’ve had it 6 years or so, It’s had 2 batteries

so much for the "Ten year battery" then!!

Someone made trivial mistake at work. They have offered to fix it. What is the problem to you? Your reaction was to suggest that they couldn't be trusted to make a second attempt. Even surgeons and pilots who have dozens of lives in their hands don't have that sort of scrutiny.
The additional cost to you is another trip there and back. You have suggested you can fix it yourself, which is the option I recommend if that expense is too great.
To me it sounds like you just have buyers remorse at shelling out £85 in the first place. If that is really the case then ask for your money back, and just pay for the single battery replacement.

Bloody 'ell - I feel like I've had right telling off by the00.

But you're right. Worst things happen. I guess I'm going through one of those periods when cock all seems to go right and I've had a few failures recently; oven, dishwasher etc..None of which is the fault of Mr. Minit!

I don't suppose the guy at Timpson's is very happy about this situation either.

Thanks for the bollocking!

I'll take it back Friday and apologise for being a stroppy arse.

I went to one of our local jewellers with fathers old Rotary for a new battery, was quoted £25 and then charged £65 when I went to pick it up 4 weeks later. Absolutely raging but as it was a verbal quote there wasn't much I could do about it. Over two years ago and it still peeves me.

Er… a refund?

do you think he'll still have the old battery to put back in it?

I think that it is now against the law to be annoyed at #keyworkers.

Deserves much more credit, lol.

Buy this, never go to Timpsons again

Timpsons quoted me £85 to replace my dive watch battery, telling me they'd have to send it off for two weeks because of the pressure sealing. Took it to an actual dive shop that I found the same afternoon and they did it in 5 minutes for £15.

If you were in the states you would have popped round and shot him by now.

But no, your in the UK, so you moan about it to your mates and put the kettle on.

I think that it is now against the law to be annoyed at #keyworkers.

🙂

Get refund, take it to proper jewellers, and move on.

Just be thankful it's not a self-winding mechanical movement, the service cost would make you cry.

Or get a kinetic watch. My Seiko is about 15 years old and, as long as you were it every few days, will hold enough charge and of course never need battery replacement.

Sadly not true - Kinetics need the capacitor/ battery replacing every so often. In my limited experience, that involves sending it to Seiko, who then charge you 10% less than the cost of buying a new one

who then charge you 10% less than the cost of buying a new one

That's generous.

Oh, watch you mean...

Or get a kinetic watch. My Seiko is about 15 years old and, as long as you were it every few days, will hold enough charge and of course never need battery replacement.

Sadly not true – Kinetics need the capacitor/ battery replacing every so often. In my limited experience, that involves sending it to Seiko, who then charge you 10% less than the cost of buying a new one

Well its true so far, 15 years in to near daily use. In fact, thinking about it, it was a wedding present so nearly 20 years of use.

If I was him I think I’d offer to fix it, then put a tiny turd in the back before returning it! 😀

Phone back, apologise and say you'll try to pop in on Friday to let him have another go. That de-escalates it right now for both of you. Re-apologise on Friday and you will be on good terms and he will try his best to sort it for you.

So I phoned the “technican” this morning and gave him an earful.

I'm sure that really helped.

I can't abide people who are rude or demeaning to people who they consider beneath them. So a mistake happened. So what?

I think that it is now against the law to be annoyed at #keyworkers.

Very good.

I use the local jewellers when i need to.

However one of the two watches I own is this, negating battery changes 😉 :

Crap light on those though eh m_oaa?

Yes - and uncomfortable. 🙁

I am saving, one day, for a significantly better outdoory watch.

I don't think you need an outdoor watch. Unless you don't have a phone/GPS/laptop/tablet/PC etc.

I don’t think you need an outdoor watch...

I'd like to see you referee a rugby match with an PC in yer hands

I’d like to see you referee a rugby match with an PC in yer hands

Wade Dooley used to hate that.

The exact same thing happened to my wife’s watch (it was only cheap though and not 30 years old).

A couple of days after having a new battery the back came off. I went back in to Timpsons and spoke to the nice man who put it back on and a minute later gave it back to me. No one got angry and everyone had a nice day.

I don’t think you need an outdoor watch. Unless you don’t have a phone/GPS/laptop/tablet/PC etc

I have a 'posh' watch (Seiko, given to me by a fellow forumite) that looks nice at work with a shirt on and the occasional time I want to pretend I have some style or class as a person with 'Director' as a job title.

I have a bash it about, waterproof to many fathoms, with stopwatch, non-sweat absorbing, outdoor watch because my posh watch would never survive and I use those functions all the time.

pretend I have some style or class as a person with ‘Director’ as a job title

I was an 'Associate Director' of something once 🙂

I dunno, just saying.

By some bizarre coincidence, my son texted me last night to say his watch battery had died. He hasn't had much experience in such issues and neither have I in a lockdown type situation.
What's his best bet for getting it replaced?

Send it to Derek. 😉

(The other Derek I presume 😉 )

🤣

Timpson’s

There's your problem...

No way I'd let a Timpsons gibbon change the battery in a Casio (mainly because I have my own opposable thumbs), let alone a vintage Omega!

I'd not hand it back to them to "Make good" if it had really been pressure tested the back shouldn't fall off, they've clearly not carried out the work they were paid for and given the value of the watch (and presumably personal/emotional value?) wouldn't trust them to not balls it up further if given a second chance.
Tell them you want a refund, and never use them again.

I'd google a local watch maker, get them to give it the once over and do the pressure test Timpsons claim they carried out...

I don’t think you need an outdoor watch. Unless you don’t have a phone/GPS/laptop/tablet/PC etc.

Dunno, my general estimation of others is partly based on whether or not they wear a watch. Relying on a phone/asking others for the time indicates a general lack of preparedness (IMO).
The someone wears is entirely up to them, but I just don't think you can rely on people who don't wear a watch... Is that odd?

I just don’t think you can rely on people who don’t wear a watch… Is that odd?

Speaking as someone who always wears a watch, yes, thinking people who don't wear one are unreliable is pretty odd.

What’s his best bet for getting it replaced?

Most of them are very easy to DIY, he might need a case back remover or a small screwdriver depending what the watch is. If he's happy enough to have a go (and maybe he's not because he's asked you...) he could almost certainly buy any necessary tool and the battery for much less than Timpson's or similar will charge. What's the watch? If it's something really posh he might be better off not risking the learning curve.

@franksinatra

Sadly not true – Kinetics need the capacitor/ battery replacing every so often. In my limited experience, that involves sending it to Seiko, who then charge you 10% less than the cost of buying a new one

Well its true so far, 15 years in to near daily use. In fact, thinking about it, it was a wedding present so nearly 20 years of use.

Sounds like you've been lucky. When I looked at them the life of the cap was estimated at 10years so little different to the '10 year batteries' that Seiko fit

(though in the Seiko's I've got/had with the 10 year batteries they last nothing like that long. looking back through my emails I've got a mail to Seiko complaining that the battery supplied with the watch lasted just over 2 years and the replacement fitted by Seiko just over 3 years. The next seemed to last 7 years but when I sent it back for battery replacement that time, at a total of 12 years old, Seiko said there was a more serious unknown problem and quoted £171 for a 'vintage quartz movement service'. . That was the point at which I vowed never to buy an expensive watch again....

though in the Seiko’s I’ve got/had with the 10 year batteries they last nothing like that long

Casio have "10 year battery" proudly printed on a lot of their watches, though if you ever read the manual that's dependent on you not using the light, alarms or time signals that are a big feature of the same watches. I'm not sure what Seiko can be using as a get-out on a standard 3-hander though.

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Timpsons’ owner prides himself on customer service so an email to head office might be in order if the guy in the shop won’t do you a refund.

</div>
<div class="bbcode-quote">

Timpsons give their staff the authority to resolve problems themselves – giving the customer option B (send it on to to another department) because the customer wasn’t happy with option A (solving the problem at the store) was part of that.

So that’s two perfectly reasonable offers to resolve the problem. What else can they offer?

</div>
Er… a refund?

Thats within the power of the shop staff too. No need to go to head office. The shop staff haven't refused a refund - they hadn't been asked for one in the OP - they've offered solutions - the OP didn't say whether he'd taken up their offer or refused it - just that he's cheesed off. But the worker in the shop has authority to solve the problem - the customer just has to be clear about what would make them happy.

Speaking as someone who always wears a watch, yes, thinking people who don’t wear one are unreliable is pretty odd.

I suppose I simply see a watch as being a basic tool for day to day functioning; so if someone doesn't wear one, to me it indicates they don't consider/keep track of time, worry about being prompt or ultimately whether or not they're wasting other people's time. And I suppose I tend to assume that attitude extends to other aspects of their life.

Don't misunderstand me, It's not something I see as a defining characteristic, I'm not hugely distrustful of the watchless.
I married one, my missus almost never wears a watch (although she is consistently late and disorganised) I still love her.
But she's she's not a particularly reliable or attentive person, it's not intentional it's just a minor facet of her personality, and to some extent lots of other non-watch wearers I've known over the years, there's no malice there, they're just a bit unreliable...

Maybe its a correlation vs causation thing, it's not that people who don't wear watches are unreliable, it's that at least some people who are unreliable, happen not to wear watches and I've erroneously linked the two things...

#keyworkers

👏🏽