Time to complain

July 25, 2005 8:17 AM

I have a three-year-old Swiss Army officers watch that I took to a (trusted) jeweler last week to have the battery replaced. The next day condensation appeared inside the glass and now the thing has gone kaput. It had been working fine up until the battery died (and for a few hours after it was replaced). Do you think the jeweler is liable...or am I out of luck? Any advice before I return to the jeweler to complain?
posted by punkfloyd to grab bag (9 comments total)

This is the kind of thing where good and bad jewelers show their true differences. I'd go back and calmly report exactly what you've reported here. A responsible place shouldn't even need to be goaded to fix it for free. If they're marginally less responsible you might have to point out to them that the whol reason you paid them to replace the battery rather than figuring it out youself is the assumption that they'd know what NOT to do to create damage.

If they continue to be jerkoffs about it you can suck it up and pay to get it done elsewhere (and optionally demand compensation/small claims court, which is likely not worth it) or tell them to go ahead and fix it, pay by credit card and then tell the cc company to refuse the charge, which may or may not be a successful tactic.
posted by phearlez at 10:40 AM on July 25, 2005

Technically, I think hiring someone to do work with the present intention to pay by credit card and refuse the charge, is fraud. (In fact, it seems like paying any bill by credit card, if your intention at the moment you sign is to go home and refuse the charge, is fraud.) So that's probably not a good thing to do.

Take it to a better jeweler and get it fixed, then file a BBB complaint (and, if fixing is expensive, maybe a small-claims complaint) against the first jeweler.
posted by spacewrench at 12:15 PM on July 25, 2005

I think you might be out of luck. Usually when you replace the battery on any water resistant watch it becomes no longer water resistant, unless you have a watchmaker service the piece accordingly. I don't think there are many jewelers who know how to do this.

Where the actual condensation came from is another matter. Were you out in the hot sun after getting your watch back from the jeweler? I wouldn't be surprised if it were your own sweat that managed to get in there and cause the damage you described.
posted by ducksauce at 1:01 PM on July 25, 2005

What ducksauce says. They're only water resistant until they're opened up.
posted by Miko at 1:28 PM on July 25, 2005

the watch was made in Switzerland so that would mean that the capsule, when sealed last, was sealed in a cool, dry, high altitude place. Unless you live in Denver and this was done last February, I'd say the conditions this time around were different, warmer, more humid and at a lower altitude. That could explain the condensation, however I've had similar watches and never had a similar outcome from jewelers. I'd go complain at the original jeweler, if they won't fix it for free, go elsewhere.

Oh, and be sure to tell ALL of your friends, relatives, neighbors and coworkers in the area about the crappy service.
posted by Pollomacho at 1:38 PM on July 25, 2005

I recently had the battery on my Movado changed. It took a few weeks because they had to send the watch to Movado for them to service. As I understand the policy, Movado's are water sealed and once they break the seal they need to reseal after the new battery is installed. They can do that, the jeweler can not.

You should check to see if Swiss army has a similar policy? They may.
posted by szg8 at 2:55 PM on July 25, 2005

Just to add to the discussion, I just had the batteries on two water resistant watches replaced at the mall (in Tampa) and they replaced the seals and pressure sealed them as well. Cost $20 bucks each, but worth having the water resistance guaranteed.
posted by qwip at 3:40 PM on July 25, 2005

On most depth-resistant watches, the seal is a very thin O-ring that the back cover and the watch body compress. There's no magic to restoring the seal; you just have to thoroughly clean the sealing surfaces, then lubricate the O-ring with an appropriate grease. (And be careful not to nick the O-ring.)

punkfloyd's jeweler was obviously not careful or thorough enough. Nor were ducksauce's or Miko's. This is the main reason I always change my own watch batteries. I have done this numerous times, and my watches are always watertight, at least at the shallow depths I get to. I also have a jeweler-changing-battery horror story that's much too long for here.

If you can't do it yourself, go to a watch-repair shop, not a jeweler. The people behind the counter at jewelry stores are usually salespersons, not technicians.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:35 PM on July 25, 2005

As a jeweler and parttime watchmaker myself I can tell you that what Pollomacho said is very accurate. As keep in mind that most salespeople are just that. AND at my store if a watch has condensation we WILL NOT repair it for free as we are trained, and cannot attest to how it was worn outside of the store (crown pulled out and so forth).
posted by CCK at 8:05 PM on July 25, 2005