I appologise for thread duplication here, but I think that there are many members who dont read the Heros/Villains Section (I know I dont usually!)
This is my latest and last experience of "service!?" from Chealwatch. It isnt a one off as years ago I had a problem too, that time though, I just accepted it. This time Im not!!
So My story below:
He put an almighty scratch to the back of a Glycine I sent him some years ago. I shouldnt have sent him another, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt that it was a one off. This time he has excelled himself with bad workmanship and even worse customer service!!
1. Sent a watch to him as the rotor had come adrift. The watch was in very fine condition with no marks that I could see anywhere, and most of you know how fussy I am. It came back with the rotor attached, but I saw the tell-tale "Butcher of Rye" stratches and dents on the back from his lack of caseback opening skills. My fault for trusting him with another watch I thought.
Then I noticed that there was a large sticky mark on the dial (around 3mm long!!) I immediately emailed him about the mark on the dial. He stated that it was not there when he sent it out to me so it must have appeared in the post...!!??. The fact that is was a sticky residue meant that was a false statement. It must have been picked up in his workshop and he cant have looked at it before he sent it out.
2. I sent it back to him so that he could remove the mark. He didnt accept that it was his fault but told me to send it back for him to look at.
3. It arrived back with most of the mark removed but not all, it still show a sticky residue. However, it now also has fluff and fibre under the crystal. And the back has, you guessed it, more scratches...
4. I contacted him about these new faults and he didnt reply to my emai, or a chase up email. I emailed him today (16 days after the first email) and hit a brick wall with him. He says that the faults did not occur in his workshop anbd denies all responsibility. I offered to bring the watch to him (at HIS convenience) so that he could remedy the dial and fibres while I waited. He said they dont do a while you wait service. I pointed out that I was asking for a bit of "customer service" and that it could be at his convenience and would end the matter (remember that Id accepted the scratches to the caseback as part of his usual service.)
Upshot is that he is not interested in putting his damage right, and that is the end of it. This guy need an attitude transplant and should not be alowwed near watches or people IMO>
Looks like I will take him thru the small claims court for the costs of rectifying his bad workmanship, and to pay my court costs too.
.
My Advice: Dont trust him with your watches. I dont think he is bothered by loss of business either, hes probably near retirement and certainly comes across as a "Basil Fawlty" but without the humour.
If anyone would like to get in touch with me to bolster my case (I notice that there is LOTS of negativity on forums regarding Mr Cheal) then please do so.
Twice bitten...
He did a decent job on an issued Seiko chrono I had some years ago, but I've heard nothing but horror stories of late. Conversely Mr.Potter at Genesis did some excellent work on my CWC diver recently in readiness for my hols. You do right to air your disgust here.
F.T.F.A.
One to cross off the list then
Thanks for the warning. I'll be avoiding them.
On a positive note, the two watches I have sent to Stephen Burrage at Ryte Time came back unscathed and working well. I would recommend him.
That's probably true, as I've warned before, I'm led to believe he farms out a lot of his work to amateur repairers.Originally Posted by redmonaco
He certainly won't be the first or last who works like this, that's for sure. I once had a repairer local to me who explained about everything he had done on a repair job of mine. He went in to great detail about what he had found, how long he had spent on certain aspects of the job etc. All with his own fair hand, hence justifying the chrarge he was about to make. Years later, I got to be friends with an amateur repairer, who I found out used to do jobs for this guy, and yep he remembered my watch very well. He had done all the work (luckily for me, a good job).
Farming out of repair jobs is very common in the trade.
Cheers
Foggy
Why, oh why did you decide to give him a second chance after he'd already butchered a Glycine, albeit years ago?!?!
Last year I sent my Tag Aquaracer quartz for a simple battery change and decided to have a full service including bracelet & case refinish, there was also a problem with the date which hadn't been changing. It came back with exactly the same date problem and then stopped working altogether before miraculously springing back to life a few months ago, God know's quite what Chris did to it; if anything, and I question whether it had been refinished at all! When I contacted Chris to take the matter up with him he reluctantly [and unapologetically] said "I suppose you best send it back then" with no hint of an offer to reimburse me for postage costs - even when I received it back for the second time it still wasn't right.
This was long before I discovered TZ-UK and I lacked any WISdom at all, I've since researched Chealwatch Ltd. and if I knew then what I know now I'd of been more inclined to take my watch into the local Timpson, as Foggy said it's been suggested that Chris simply farms work out to third parties and this would help to explain the inconsistencies in his "work", though not excuse it.
In a way I feel lucky that he didn't butcher my watch the way he's butchered yours (sorry!), I'm due to send it off to Paul (walkerwek1958) for a "post-Chealwatch" health check and a proper bracelet & case refinish because I don't think my watch was ever serviced the way that it should've been, let alone refinished!
Do let us know how you get on...
Last edited by MST; 30th July 2012 at 17:12.
A quick google should prevent any sane person from using him. Granted that mistakes do sometimes happen but it is how they are put right that counts.
I had my Seamaster battery change and reseal done last year and all was good. But receintly sent him my Orange Monster for a crown change as it would not screw down - after getting it back I noticed the quick change date would not work, I emailed him but he said it was not related, I put it down to a sloppy date change by me on its return but reading this I'm not so sure.
Neither am I!
Not good Mr Heal. Retire, you've been past it for the last few years.
Last edited by Thewatchbloke; 23rd August 2019 at 15:20.
Thing I can't understand is his total refusal to put things right. His attitude is astoundingly bad. I gave him 4 chances to rectify the matter but he'd rather just be obnoxious. Makes me very determined to make him pay though!! :)
Good luck. You are right to let us know and I hope this bloke doesn't get any more work from TZ'ers. I hate these sort of people.
Interesting thread guys....Thought he was rated but obviously something not right here
Always worth photos before you post .
I sent my Grandad's Tudor watch to Mr Heal a couple of years ago. It needed a dial refinish and relume on the hands. He said that it needed a service too. I agreed to the work and was very pleased with the appearance apart from a mark on the new glass. The dial refurb was outsourced by Mr heal. However the watch kept on stopping. I emailed and the inference was the watch was worn, what do you expect? It did not have this issue originally. I sent the watch back asking for everything to be fixed. On its return some weeks later, the watch now ran fine but the glass had not been changed.
I will not use again
Peter
I had a watch serviced by him in 2005 - a TAG Heuer 4000 automatic. The watch had been owned by me since 1994 and had since been serviced by the UK TAG agents at the time (Duval?) in about 1997. As I live in Ashford, I decided to drop the watch into him as he lives in Beckley, near Rye. The workshop is an out-building from his house. Chris was probably past retirement age back then and my guess would be, that his watch servicing income supplements his pension. He has a full workshop and he allowed me inside to complete the paperwork. The workshop contained many watches that were in for service or repair. I cannot imagine that he farms work out to others. Judging by the level of complaints about him, I would say that the 'standard' of work is pretty consistent, sadly. My own experience was good - well, for about 18 months when I unscrewed the crown to change the date and couldn't retighten the crown afterwards. That provided the impetus for me to buy my first Planet Ocean so something good came of it. I later had the TAG serviced by Ernest Jones and I sold it about a year or two ago.
Perhaps the curmudgeonly attitude comes with retirement age in watchmakers. I also have my other half's 1927 ladies' Rolex in with a retired (and evidently quite renowned) ex-Rolex watchmaker at the moment. It needs a new balance shaft and so far, it's been in there for 2 years and 4 months! Each time I call, I get told it will be the next one he does (the shaft needs fabricating by him) and could be 'just another few weeks'. The last call I made was early December and I was told it could even be before Xmas. Still waiting....
I used Chris many years ago for a pocket watch (2000?) and it came back fine but he did tell me that the job had been subbed out even back then.
Later I sent him a Rolex DJ. Again it came back working OK but with his now legendary hallmark of a large scratch on the caseback.
Needless to say I phoned him and gave him an earhole full of my "charm" and he agreed to pay for the postage and repolish the back which he did but I knew then he would never get any more of my stuff.
Amazing he is still at it and apparently getting worse no doubt due to his advancing years.
Avoid.
Cheers,
Neil.
I used him twice a few years ago. The first time was fine and everything went smoothly. The second time I had to send the watch back to him twice to make it right (it was a hand swap on a Seiko). Very unapologetic attitude and seemed surprised that I was annoyed when they phoned me up to ask me for payment for postage so that they could send it back to me the second time. Not used him since, and won't again.
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
I always hate to read threads giving someone a panning on forums but sometimes it sounds like it's justified - very sad. Maybe it's time for him to give it up now.
who is this other ex-Rolex watchmaker?
Perhaps the curmudgeonly attitude comes with retirement age in watchmakers. I also have my other half's 1927 ladies' Rolex in with a retired (and evidently quite renowned) ex-Rolex watchmaker at the moment. It needs a new balance shaft and so far, it's been in there for 2 years and 4 months! Each time I call, I get told it will be the next one he does (the shaft needs fabricating by him) and could be 'just another few weeks'. The last call I made was early December and I was told it could even be before Xmas. Still waiting....
I don't know if I should put his name up or not, to be honest. I know he's very well respected and he's also done a very good and quick job on a couple of vintage Omegas of mine in the past. I don't really have any other experience of having very old vintage watches serviced that have required parts that need to be fabricated so I'm unsure as to whether this is unusual or not. It's just that over two years seems an inordinate amount of time to me.
I'd say that two years is rather excessive!!
I'm always really surprised about the watch servicing industry and about people who think it is acceptable that servicing should take over 2 years!!!! Name and shame. 2 years is ridiculous!
I'll try and call him again at lunchtime. If I feel I'm being fobbed off, I might post his name this afternoon. Has anyone else had an experience re. watch servicing that has taken as long?
This makes really sad reading, I think you have been more than patient and reasonable, I would certainly take it further.
Well, I've just called the guy. He knew instantly which watch I was talking about and said that he'd got the piece of tungsten steel (does that sound right?) with which to fabricate the balance staff. He said that he'd been busy working his way through the backlog of other watches in size order that also needed parts fabricated from this steel. The Rolex, being the smallest, is next up and he anticipates turning the staff either late this week or early next. The part will then need to be fitted and tested and the movement will then need to go back in the case and tested once more. He thinks it will probably be another 2-3 weeks and he proactively acknowledged that it had been 'too long' in being put right. Fingers crossed.
I used Chealwatch about 5 or 6yrs ago, and thankfully I was one of the lucky ones judging by this thread.
It was for a TAG Heuer Kirium which had stopped completely, he gave me a quote via email to service it... it came back after 4 weeks, fully working & without any scratches... and he contacted me to say it would be £40 less than he'd quoted as he'd given me an original price for a Chronograph service.
It does sound like sadly, things have gone downhill since then... so I'll not be taking a chance again. Thanks for the heads up.
I used him many years ago to service a watch, dial came back damaged, one of the chorono buttons didn't work (it worked fine before it was sent) amd te AR coating on the glass was marked. I'd rather try and service it myself then let this incompetent bafoon anywhere near any of my watches again!
Why?
I've said he does, or certainly did, and Neil has also confirmed in this thread.
His turnaround times have always been pretty quick, so if he does do it all himself, he's got to be cutting corners e.g. dipping movements rather than dismantling and cleaning/oiling properly etc. I'd rather he was farming out work, so long as the ops were suitably qualified to do the jobs.
Cheers
Foggy
If you read the rest of my post, you will see that I actually visited him at his house/workshop. Nobody previous to me gave the impression they had done so nor did they imply he had told them so (I could be wrong). Therefore, I was saying that his busy workshop didn't give that impression as everything seemed to be on benches at the time. There has been a subsequent post that confirmed he does farm work out.
Fair enough, I wasn't explicit enough in my earlier post. It was made clear to me by Mr Heal himself, following a problem I had, that he farmed work out. That was the reason given to me as to why the problem may have occurred. For the record, he did subsequently put right the problem.
Regards
Foggy
I'm glad your problem was solved, Foggy. I didn't realise he'd had a conversation with you about sub-contracting work out.
I had an Omega sent to him, when it came back the hand fell off and he rectified it though I had to pay postage to him.
The worst I have is another fellow, had a Speedmaster with him for over 2 years, had another watch for about 8 or 9 months, there was difficulty sourcing parts. I believed him, but when I sent him a ecodrive watch to sort out the hour hand alignment as it was not in the right positionswhen the minute was going around, he sent it back charged me 2 quid extra for the special delivery. I had it for about 2 or 3 weeks and then noticed the same problem. Sent him an email and he said he would sort it as long as I paid the postage backLast time I will use him. I am very patient with these skilled job people but they sometimes take the piss.
I will only use Roy Taylor and someone else recommended from now on.
I don't normally like to get into this kind of thing, especially when it's someone's livelihood, but I couldn't, in clear conscience, recommend Chealwatch after he serviced my Zenith El Primero Flyback.
When I received it back the subdial hands were dirty and bent, there was a large mark on the dial, and the flyback function didn't work. When I questioned him regarding the flyback, he said "why would you want to reset the chronograph without stopping it?". There's not really a lot you can say about that! He begrudgingly agreed to have it back!
I sent it back, and it came back looking cosmetically much better, but functionally it still wasn't right.
I thus took it into Goldsmiths, who had a watchmaker who was familiar with Zenith movements, and it came back working as it should.
I have since only used main dealers for servicing.
The problem is of course, that one bad apple reflects on all independent watchmakers - I am sure some of the guys are very good, but when you've had a frustrating (and costly) experience with one, you're cautious in the future.
Hello all - first posting here, so appols up front if i say anything stooopid.
As the title says, i had just packaged up a watch for repair and was about to send it to Cheal Ltd when i discovered this post via Google search.
I would really appreciate any advice you could give me. The watch in question is a Tag 1500 Series, which has sat in a drawer with a broken bracelet for about 5 years since an accident . I re-discovered it recently and set about trying to find someone who could fix it up at a reasonable price. I should add that i am not trying to be cheap about this and went to a couple of Tag " dealers " who were, in all honesty, quite aloof and offensive about a) the watch itself being small fry to them and b) how long it would take and what it would cost.
If you could recommend anyone who could clean and service the watch and repair the bracelet then i would be most gratefull. I do have the provanence and proof of ownership for the watch as i purchased it new in 1996 and have the dealer receipts in my name.
Thank you
Tag_Watch.jpg
Drop walkerwek1958 a PM, I'm sure he could sort you out and he comes highly recommended.
Send it directly to Tag Heuer and have them carry out the work.
If you contact their customer service, they will give you instructions on how and where to send in Manchester
A worthwhile thread. On the basis of these stories Heal sounds like a total joke and completely unsuited to the vocation.
I'm sure he'll read this thread as I understand he has recently registered. Hopefully he'll use it as impetus to retire and save a lot of unsuspecting people a lot of heartache.
+1, heartily recommended - he did a brilliant job of service and refurbishment of my Tag Aquaracer - even after Cheal had had his hands on it!
Last edited by blogger; 5th August 2012 at 07:40. Reason: Misspelling
You could also try Duncan at Genesis watchmaking. He's just serviced my Tag 4000 and put a new crown and sapphire crystal on my Tag 1000. Great job he did too.
Dave
I wouldn't bother with TH, they will not fix the bracelet, just quote to replace it, which will be extortionate, a service from them will also cost ££££
My mate had trouble also, sent a tag link auto in and a week after getting back it needed rework. Said the guys customer service was appalling and he declined any form of responsibility and actually charged him again for something he believed he had already paid for. He didn't argue as he just wanted the watch back.
No surprised to see the other poor service stories
I also had a horrible experience with Chris Heal. I sent him a watch for a regular service a few years back. It came back with dirty wipe marks on the inside of the glass and dust on the dial so I sent it back to get it cleaned up. This time it came back with clean dial but the watch was 4 minutes slow per day. I called to complain and tried to get my money back, his excuse was it must have happened in transit. He refused to give me my money back and told me to send it back to him to look at. He was also very rude at this point.
I wasn't stupid enough to let him touch my watch this time around so I took it to an AD to get it put right but I never got my money back.
Mr. Heal has obviously changed his position on internet forums, as previously quoted in Cannop's original H&V thread:
It would seem as though it's taken him this long to work out that in order to reply to the numerous threads damning his shoddy work then he needs to register on said forum, incompetence all round I'd say!
Interesting, Paul mentioned that he'd worked on another TZ-UK member's Aquaracer following it's "Els Bels" style trip to Chealwatch Ltd. after I contacted him saying that I'd had a very similar experience with my Aquaracer WAB112 (see my first reply in this thread).
No!!! Don't send your watch to Tag Heuer UK (LMVH). Their service is terrible!Duncan Potter @ Genesis Watchmaking is your man...
Funny, I've also heard that about LMVH.No!!! Don't send your watch to Tag Heuer UK (LMVH). Their service is terrible!
Oh and Duncan@Genesis is most definitely your man (amongst others!).
I have been this route before with regular servicing of the watch and TAG dealers ALL seem to have this well practiced line that goes " oh it will have to be away for 6 months and it will have to go back to Switzerland to the master craftsman that first assembled it and ....blah,blah,blah .... OR .... we can send it off to our people who will do a service every bit as good in two weeks for nearly the same cost ".
I am not trying to cut costs or corners, i just want to find someone who is concerned about doing a decent job for a decent price. If i send this watch back after not being serviced for 4 or 5 years ( because it has laid in a drawer ) i will just get fleeced by TAG
I'd disagree.No!!! Don't send your watch to Tag Heuer UK (LMVH). Their service is terrible!
I had to send my Monaco back to them and the service was top class. They even give you a reference so you can check on an internet page of how the repair is progressing and what stage it's at. Took just under three weeks.
If I were in your position I'd use either Duncan Potter at Genesis Watchmaking or Paul (walerwek1958) of this very forum, as a matter of fact I'm just prepping the Aquaracer that "The Butcher of Rye" had is hands on last year to send off to Paul this week.
Last edited by MST; 7th August 2012 at 13:00.
Thanks all for the advice - i have gotten some pm's too with good advice.
"RaulGonzalez" has offered to service and repair the watch and he is based near to me - might i ask if any of you are able to recommend ?
If i ever win the lottery (hohohoho) i shall do some serious investing in watches, but for now i just have the TAG ( which in all honesty i had forgotten about until i redicovered it recently .... ) and a Breil which is cheap, but looks nice.
When those 6 numbers come up it will be a Zenith or an IWC..... or likely both !!
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