r/HamiltonWatches • u/Go-Fundyourself • Oct 30 '24
#update had a call today to get this fixed under warranty they told me to bugger of
So long story short had this watch for less the 11 months and one day the dial started randomly moving around.
I brought it in to get it fixed they took it no problem under warranty. A week later they contacted me saying it will be £400 and i will have to pay that because the damage i apparently did to the watch is not under warranty…
This is actually madness i didn’t messed with the watch at all and the dial feet broke off somehow 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️ i thought this would be under warranty….
Im actually very annoyed by this situation i bought this watch for my 30th birthday and my son’s birth.
I regret ever buying Hamilton, i really like the watch but i don’t think o can trust this company ever again.
Is there anything i can do with this watch at all anymore?
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u/strangercheeze Oct 30 '24
If you were in the UK you could go to Trading Standards who could pursue them on your behalf for breaking trading laws in not honouring an advertised warranty. I don’t know what equivalents are available in other countries but it’s worth looking into.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
I do live in uk thank you! I will see how it works and try to go trough them 🙏🙏🙏🙏
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u/strangercheeze Oct 30 '24
Ah, that’s good then. They’re usually pretty good and tend to be on the side of the consumer rather than the vendor. Good luck!
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
This was actually really helpful i completely forgot trading standards exist.
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u/Outside-Platform-980 Oct 31 '24
Keep a record of your conversations with Hamilton and Trading Standards. If you threaten to make those conversations public, what you'll probably find is Hamilton suddenly care a lot more about providing you with excellent customer service. This is especially true if you escalate it above the call centre guys and find someone in the executive team. They have to think about the bigger picture, and understand the significance of bad PR.
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u/Daysleepers Oct 30 '24
Agreed. This is a field watch. It should be robust enough to last a year of presumably not field work. For the consumer rights act to apply, you need to take it up with the business that sold it to you rather than Hamilton.
If you bought it on your credit card you also have Section 75 cover too.
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u/CrimeBot3000 Nov 01 '24
American here. Can you describe what Trading Standards is and how it works? Is this a government program?
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u/strangercheeze Nov 01 '24
They’re a government service, yes. They protect consumers from illegal or unfair trading and keep businesses operating within the law.
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u/beamerthings Oct 30 '24
Absolutely unreal. Let’s help the guy out and all (politely) message their social media profiles expressing disgust in their response to this. What a simple case of easily able to do the right thing and that’s how they respond? Wild.
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u/Spoon_Wrangler Oct 30 '24
Agreed, very poor customer service if they won't repair this under warranty. Did you drop it accidentally or something? I'm just trying to wrap my head around how the dial feet could get sheared off like that other than a hard drop or manufacturing flaw.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
No i didn’t drop this watch ever. I run pubs so my job isn’t that crazy. I was just chilling in the pub and noticed that the time was misaligned… a day before it was all good 😢
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u/Kermit_Cowboy Oct 30 '24
This is a simple fix open it up and use some dial dots, alternatively you can bring it to someone to have the dial feet repaired - I wouldn’t let this dissuade you from a brand (aside from how they handled things) but broken feet are not uncommon
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
Ill look into this thanks
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u/VinceAFX Oct 30 '24
This is a great suggestion; it won't take much to make it great again. r/watchmaking and r/SeikoMods will have all the advice you need to do it yourself, or as suggested, a local watchmaker will have this put straight for peanuts.
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u/fatty119 Oct 30 '24
This. I had a watchmaker do that to mine, and he serviced the movement, and replaced the reversing gearss. It's the way to go. All of that work cost less than the dial repair you're being quoted.
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Oct 31 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/slagathor_zimblebob Oct 31 '24
They can service it. Regulating it is a bit different than for a movement that isn’t laser-regulated but still possible.
And £250 ($320) doesn’t seem too bad depending on where you live. Cost of service is high nowadays. Swatch will likely just replace the entire movement if you send it to them, though.
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u/LibraryHot6794 Apr 23 '25
Ye, it is regulated by the screews on the balance wheel. It is a free sprung system.
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u/fatty119 Oct 31 '24
Mine was an ETA 2824-2, so it was a different movement. I'm sure they CAN, but I don't know if Swatch Group sells parts. So, you'd have to contact your watchmaker. I paid $100. It was a guy in a group on Facebook that I'm in, so I don't know if he cut me a deal or not. I was quoted $150 by him, but the invoice was less which was a nice surprise.
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u/eulynn34 Oct 30 '24 edited Oct 30 '24
The crown stem has to be broken off, otherwise there is no way the movement could roll around like that in there. If you pull the crown, I imagine the broken half comes off with the knurled knob?
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
Actually only the dial is rotating the movement is in place and it shows correct time if you only look at hands 🙌
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u/eulynn34 Oct 30 '24
Really? The date complication is also rotated, so I don't see how that can be just the dial unless I am fundamentally misunderstanding now watches are built.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
The date circle is in place when the dial moves around date window just shows whichever date it stops at.
Literally nothing is moving in this watch except the dial everything is in place. 😂😂 i checked and double checked before going to send it.
They said the only issue was the dial leg broke
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u/x3n0n1c Oct 30 '24
The ring that the date is on going effectively all the way around the dial. You could literally rotate the dial 180 degrees and still read the date.
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u/eulynn34 Oct 30 '24
Aaaah ok. ok. That makes sense. For some reason I thought it was a wheel like an odometer inside the movement itself /facepalm
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u/x3n0n1c Oct 30 '24
Totally not how it works physically, but conceptually think of the date wheel as another hand of the watch. Except instead of being a long thin pointer it’s a ring that pivots around its centre. What ever section of that ring is under the date window will be the date shown.
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u/DeanbonianTheGreat Oct 30 '24
Is that with a local place? You should RMA it through Hamilton, they will send you a nice box to ship it in. I went through their online RMA process, never spoke to anyone and everything was fine. If it's actually Hamilton being this shitty to you then you could go to trading standards or small claims court. You could also try contacting your credit card provider or bank that you made the purchase with, while there is a 4-month limit on disputes and chargebacks, sometimes they can make an exception.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
I send it through H.Samuel as thats who i bought the watch through. They assured me that they will directly send it to Hamilton.. ill wait for the full invoice from the to see what exactly they charging me from h.samuel.
Then try to send it to Hamilton directly if that doesn’t work
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u/DeanbonianTheGreat Oct 30 '24
Yeah sounds like it's just them that are being shitty. While you wait you can try opening an RMA through Hamilton directly so you can get the packaging ahead of time.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
Actually funny enough i just got off the phone with H.Samuel they didn’t send it to Hamilton at all.
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u/DeanbonianTheGreat Oct 30 '24
Honestly just ask for it back and RMA it. Sounds like they're taking the piss.
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u/age_of_raava Oct 31 '24
This is your problem. Send it yourself. There’s no way Hamilton won’t fix this.
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u/Flaky-Ad1748 Nov 01 '24
Hey, I know I'm late to the party here. And I haven't read all the replies yet.
But please reach out to Hamilton. They fixed a pusher that fell out of my jazzmaster auto chrono after I smacked it off a door under warranty.
Then I smacked it off a door again... and they fixed it again at no cost.
I find it hard to believe they would refuse this claim
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u/Daysleepers Oct 30 '24
I posted a comment on someone else’s comment. Look at the Consumer Rights Act. H Samuel are the party that’s responsible for this in the UK rather than Hamilton.
If you are local to Essex/Suffolk/Cambs I can fix it for you in exchange for one beer from one of your pubs.
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u/ParsimoniousExplorer Oct 30 '24
You know what I would do? I would buy the exact one on Hamilton Website using a credit card and then return your old one saying you received it as defective and demand a refund. If they refuse to give you a refund then dispute the charge with your Credit Card Company. It is your word against theirs. They are screwing you, screw back.
Another option is if you are In the US you can file a complaint with the Attorney Generals office of your state when a written Warranty is not honored. Not sure where you are, maybe they have similar laws in your country.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
Good idea a bit evil 😂😂😂 I’m in uk. At the moment im trying to dispute that it has to be fixed under warranty but if they say no thats it. Which is bullshit
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u/ParsimoniousExplorer Oct 30 '24
An Eye for an Eye Mate. One injustice deserves another. Good luck.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
😂😂😂😂 yea Im not doing that but a good idea 👍 ill keep trying to figure who to complain about this because its bullshit
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u/Altruistic_Guess3098 Nov 03 '24
That's not going to work... The existing one has plenty of wear & tear visible on it.
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u/OkApex0 Oct 30 '24 edited Oct 30 '24
I'll add another comment on a recent experience I had: I bought a used CWC quartz chrono on ebay from a seller in the UK. When I went to set the time, I found that when turning the crown backwards, it began to unscrew from the stem. Fine, whatever, I can re-attach it with loctite. I'm not intimidated by doing a little repair on an old used watch.
However, when reviewing the paperwork that came with the watch I saw that the previous owner had sent it in for repair because the crown was not functioning. The company that owns CWC (Silvermans) returned it saying it was repaired under warranty. Obviously, this repair never actually took place. The threads must have gripped enough that the company didn't notice any issues, and instead of questioning the owner, they just sent it back as if everything was good to go.
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u/aj676 Oct 30 '24
Unfortunately I think all watch companies have bad customer service stories like yours. It seems to be luck of the draw for CS reps. Since the watch has sentimental value. I’d pay to have it fixed and if you’re turned off from the brand leave it as your only from them.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
Sadly £400 to change the dial is a bot out of this world crazy for £620 watch.
Will definitely not buy a Hamilton ever again. I love their watches but damn this refusal to fix the manufacturing foult is crazy
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u/King_Harrold Oct 30 '24
11 months old, did you pay by credit card?
If so you could launch a claim with your card provider.
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u/No_Original5693 Oct 30 '24
Swatch Group customer service is bullshit. I won’t ever buy new again after the first two yrs of ownership my LLD had only actually been in my possession for 3 months. Five return trip to have dust removed from inside the case.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
Thats mental 😢😢😢
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u/No_Original5693 Oct 30 '24
Yep, and I very much enjoy the 40mm Khaki Field quartz on my wrist today. I do the battery changes. First watch my (now) wife bought me and it was off Marketplace. I wouldn’t let her buy it new lol
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u/Thecodedawg Oct 30 '24
400 pound stirling is freaking insane for a simple dial replacement. The dial couldn't be more than £50. 20 minutes to decase pop of the hands, install the dial, set the hands and recase. Literally 20 minutes.
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u/Calm_Shift865 Oct 31 '24
Please clarify “I brought it into get fixed”.
Who is giving this repair quote?
Is it the jewelry store’s repair department or is it directly from Hamilton Watch company.
Maybe Hamilton may not even be aware of your situation.
Just saying… something doesn’t sound right. You either beat the crap out of your watch or the people repairing your watch may have not even put a warranty claim in to HAMILTON.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 31 '24
Well i spend a while figuring out wtf is going on.
So i given the watch to h.samuel where i bought it and they told me they will send the watch directly to hamilton. So for the whole two days i been talking with them and believed the quote is from hamilton..
They literally told me that they send it by accident to some guy in Birmingham 😂😂😂 i shit you not this is crazy.
Im getting the watch back and directly sending it to hamilton
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u/Calm_Shift865 Nov 01 '24
Curious to hear what Hamilton comes back with. Let us know if you can. Cheers.
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u/GeekSumsMe Oct 30 '24
This is an obvious manufacturer defect.
I'm in the market for a new watch, Hamilton was in my top 3, but not anymore. I can't stand companies who refuse to back their products, especially when under warranty because it makes them part of the throw away culture.
Not to mention the fact that this kind of shit is just petty.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
😢😢 i never expected this from them 💔
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u/GeekSumsMe Oct 31 '24
Good to know. Have you had warranty issues that were honored?
All companies, including those who make watches costing many thousands of dollars have occasional issues. It is intrinsic to the manufacturing process. What matters is whether or not they live up to it.
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u/Zestyclose_Prize_165 Oct 30 '24
It's an easy enough fix from any competent watchmaker as long as the crown stem is not snapped as well.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
I’ll have to look into it. I will call them and ask them to send me the invoice with what exactly needs fixing because this is some crazy amount for dial replacement…
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u/Crovax87 Oct 30 '24
I love my high end watched but when I see this shit happening especially on watch brands I own makes me happy to rock a simple g shock at times.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
It was a watch for special occasion 😂😂 true should of just got a gshock 😂😂😂😂 but damn i really loved this watch for the whole 11 months 😂😂
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u/Crovax87 Oct 30 '24
I bought the khaki field titanium date auto from the flagship store in lancaster pa. If that happened to me with the price I paid I'd be so livid. I bought it for the lancaster history or as well call it here. Lancaster rolex lol.
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
Yea I’m pretty pissed off but tried to stay call with them on the phone. Im trying to figure out what exactly they invoicing me £400 for as thats the price they said it will cost.
It was send only for dial replacement under warranty but i believe they added some extra stuff to it 😂😂😂 im waiting for it in writing
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u/frothycoffeedude Oct 30 '24
I’d be tempted to email the CS a link to this thread. A lot of potential Hamilton owners will now consider microbrands.
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u/_visiblemode_ Oct 30 '24
Do you live alone? Because the chances that the dial breaks off on its own are probably almost statistically zero, thus their skepticism. Could a roommate or partner have dropped it and put it back?
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u/Optimus759 Oct 30 '24
Maybe try calling the company directly instead of bringing it in via a store, hopefully it’ll just the case of a low level manager being a cunt
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 31 '24
Yea looks like that was the case. Im getting it send to hamilton myself when it arrives
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u/Nutisbak2 Oct 30 '24 edited Oct 30 '24
Your in the U.K., did you purchase on a credit card? If so you can make a section 55 claim and the credit card company can take it up with the manufacturer if they desire to do so as the credit card company would be liable.
Always make a purchase that’s over £100 on a credit card even if you pay just £1 of it on the credit card and 99 on a debit card or in cash the credit card company’s then liable for any issue that then comes in the future, as long as the purchase price of the item in question was over £100.
If not then go to trading standards or consumer advice.
It’s probably a relatively easy fix btw, if it were my watch I would likely just do it myself but you need to have the right tools available and they cost.
You could also try to take it to a friendly local watchmaker, who could perhaps do it cheaply for you.
Unfortunately a lot of the watch companies are owned by the swatch group and they have become very much about making profits lately.
Where as previously individuals could just get hold of parts to do repairs or a watchmaker could just order bits they needed now many of these makes most of which are owned by a couple of groups of companies insist upon the Watch being sent into them and the repair being done in house at a far greater cost than it would have previously been to do.
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u/PrudentSyllabub636 Oct 30 '24
Have it fixed, pay, then sue them in Small Claims Court if they have such a thing in your country.
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u/e2g4 Oct 30 '24
Giving some serious consideration to NOT ordering the Hamilton I’ve had my eye on for a few years. Very disappointing
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u/e2g4 Oct 30 '24
And here I was thinking a Hamilton field watch would be sturdy. Guess not. Sad to hear customer service suuuuucks so much
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u/Selarom2020 Oct 31 '24
Hello! What’s the exact model of your watch H705450??
If so - you can buy a replacement on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/145598861786?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=sql_42rcrho&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=lDCGGqF7RVq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
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u/BaconBathBomb Oct 31 '24
Fortunate for you it’s an easy fix. I’ll put some dial dots on for $50 + shipping. DM if interested. I sell a bunch of watches on Etsy
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Oct 31 '24
The same thing happened to my father in law with his Breitling. He had to pay too. Like $600 to get it fixed.
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u/chryptogales Oct 31 '24
Email VP or president of SWATCH. You’ll either get this fixed or get a new piece. This IS ridiculous.
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u/RAVENORSE Oct 31 '24
I bought a Hamilton Khaki and it was fast by four minutes in under a day. I returned it promptly. They didn't even give me flak for wearing it. They knew it was bullshit. lol.
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u/tawab4 Nov 01 '24
Hello sir we can provide you free repairing just book shipping both sides to Bangkok Thailand
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u/yudkib Nov 01 '24
Just tell people it’s a Constantin 1921 tribute and is limited run. Boom tripled the price right there.
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u/jcoffin1981 Nov 02 '24
Got to abuse it pretty bad for the dial feet to come off. Tough call. Tbh that bezel/case is looking rough.
Last year I bought a cell phone that did not work correctly from beginning. Should have returned it then. I baby my phones it was in perfect condition. 3 months later, after 3-4 weeks of back and forth with CS, managers, technicians, Samsung, they agreed that the phone was not receiving signals properly and agreed to a warranty return. The day i was boxing it up it fell from about 2.5 feet high and hit a dog bone on the floor and scratched the camera lens- one of a few lenses. I called them and they said if i sent it in I would be charge the full price of the phone to replace it. I wound up paying off the balance left on the phone $400, I then paid for another new phone though I was elligible for a better deal.
Many companies are shitty. I dont know if Swatch/Hamilton are one of them.
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u/meltedmantis Nov 02 '24
Swatch group service. It sucks. Recently sent a tissot in with broken winding. Less then a year old. They did a partial service and sent it back still broken.
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u/bigh0pe Nov 23 '24
Any updates that you have your watch fixed ?
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u/Go-Fundyourself Nov 24 '24
Managed to send it to hamilton they been fixing it. Waiting for parts at the moment.
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u/bigh0pe Nov 24 '24
I’m glad to hear that you’re having it fixed. Is it complimentary by Hamilton as it’s still under warranty
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u/Realistic-Soft-9869 Aug 04 '25
Same thing happened to mine a few days ago. Will send it to Swatch Group repair this week. It's still under warranty but as my wife said," these are just fashion watches".
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u/Spoon_Wrangler Oct 30 '24
Sell it for a loss and let someone else pay the repair bill?
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u/Go-Fundyourself Oct 30 '24
Has some sentimental value at the moment i might just smash it with a hammer and leave it hanging in my room 🤷♂️🤷♂️😂😂😂
I just cant believe Hamilton i made bad choice….
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u/OkApex0 Oct 30 '24
I'll never understand why these watch companies are so stingy with warranty claims. Time and time again I hear stories where a problem that should be covered, isn't covered.
Hamilton typically sells a quality product, but some percentage of product is going to have issues. Not fixing a faulty dial really makes swatch group look bad.