Reply With QuoteThat is incredibly good.
Over the past few weeks, I've noticed an issue with my GS Snowflake - the screwdown crown felt "gritty" and the threads seemed shorter than I remembered. Last week I finally got round to contacting Seiko UK and they asked me to send it in. "We will of course prioritise it, sir, as that's clearly not in line with what we expect from a Grand Seiko". Fine, thinks I, that is the expected sort of patter, I'll get it in the post and resign myself to being without it for weeks on end, but it will at least be fixed under warranty and done properly.
I posted it on Tuesday. It was delivered to the service centre at lunchtime yesterday.
I received a phone call at about 11 this morning, to tell me that the service manager had replaced the crown and tube, replaced all the seals and re-cased the watch, and was wondering if I would be OK to leave it with them for a few days to test it for accuracy and water resistance.
I'm shocked. If I'd been prepared to assume no impact on accuracy from this work, I could have had the watch back tomorrow. After being without my Planet Ocean for three months last year, I am just gobsmacked at Seiko's service, in a good way. I'd sort of forgotten that this sort of thing was possible in a world where any warranty claim needs careful examination and assessment... Of course, the watch could yet return having been worked on enthusiastically with pliers and a lump-hammer, but I doubt it somehow.
Anyway - top marks to Seiko UK!
That is incredibly good.
Very impressive, good on them.
'Service' really pushes me towards (and away from) brands and businesses these days.
Had similarly impressive service with a new Seiko Turtle that I'd bought from an AD overseas and received with a misaligned chapter ring. I contacted Seiko UK who asked me to send it to them and it was back within a week with the issue corrected and the watch pressure-tested and no charge. I'd half thought them to tell me I had to return to the seller, which would have been more hassle than I'd have wanted, but it was super easy. If memory serves, they didn't even ask for the warranty details.
Ant
I love Seikos and have five that all see regular use. No problems with them currently, but it's very reassuring to know how good the service can be, should I need it in the future.
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It's a shame to think of it as good old fashioned service however given some horror stories that appears to be an appropriate analogy, going beyond what the customer expects isn't the norm nowadays.
That is good service and it bodes well for me.
My MM300 is there for a service currently, so far they have been very prompt with the coms so fingers crossed.
I've used them on a couple of occasions, including for an SBDX001 MM300. I wouldn't hesitate in using them again, you should be in safe hands.Originally Posted by Sinnlover
I've used them twice this year, both times they have been cheerful, helpful and fast. I have been very impressed. As someone said upthread, we shouldn't have to think of good service as "old school" service but in a world of mediocrity and obfuscation, Seiko have stood out in a positive way.
I had to send a watch in to them for warranty repair in the depths of the first UK lockdown, it took a few weeks to get it back but i was happy with the service overall, and happy to cut them some slack given the circumstances. Doubt I will ever receive grand seiko levels of service on any of my cheapies, but always nice to know when someone has had such a good experience
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Last edited by enndriz; 11th March 2021 at 17:57.
I said it in another thread about good CS but really this is what should be expected for luxury items like high end (comparatively) watches.
You are paying as much for the brand and service as the raw item so that should factor in to their offering at that price range. The run around people get from some of the established brands puts me right off them.
Rolex have had my Datejust since early December and after some pretty poor and inaccurate information from two AD’s( I walked out the first one as the so called expert, knew very little about Rolex watches and the second one told me the service would be 130 quid!) I was told 10-12 weeks. Now I understand we are in a lock down etc so might not get the watch back until the AD reopens but I would have expected an update email. I chased it up last Friday with an email to the AD and almost a week later, no response. I’m very disappointed with the whole situation if I’m honest. Specially considering what the bill will be.
Well done Seiko!
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I suspect like the Stella Artois ‘reassuringly expensive’ adverts, Rolex are being ‘reassuringly slow’ - those little Swiss elves need a tiny crane just to lift your datejust before I goes into their tiny magical workshop and they set to work with little hammers and screwdrivers - even elves need to keep to 2cm social distancing!
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About two years ago I sent a new black edition turtle to them because of very poor bezel action, skipping the ratchet so about 30 clicks per revolution instead of 120. It came back within a fortnight fixed perfectly, and surprisingly with results of a pressure test that had also been carried out. Excellent service.
This thread reminded me that GS sourced some suitable spring bars for a discontinued model and posted them out to me, no cost whatsoever; they seem to be a good bunch.
I've just now taken off my Sub and replaced it with a GS for the evening!
It’s good customer service to check the performance of the watch and regulate if required, removing the watch from the case then replacing it shouldn’t have any effect whatsoever on the running of the watch but its always good practice to check. Its possible that a watch is running slightly fast or slow
when it arrives for work totally unrelated to the movement, but there’s always a risk that the owner checks the watch rigorously when it returns and claims the performance has changed, I call this the ‘pass the parcel’ syndrome because whoever touched the watch last cops the blame for any issues. It’s easier to go the extra mile and regulate a watch if its slightly out, it keeps everyone happy and safeguards against potential hassle.
That's tremendous service. I had a similar experience with Seiko. It was a small issue, and the watch was 20 years old, but it left a good impression.
interesting observations here:
I have the impression that all GS will be returned to Japan for repair and it seems not the case now;
While praising for their impressive after sale services, Seiko should have had invested more on their QC as I watched many xtubers complaining about their newly brought GSs which are indeed just released hot items.
They've had a service centre in Kent for a few years now. When I enquired, if you wanted polishing it needed to go back to Japan, presumably at additional cost.
I thought the same with my sportura kinetic theygot parts from Japan but done in UK.
Still I chased them a lot and comms were not good last year
LOL. It’s a farce really! If I hadn’t wanted a proper Rolex service (watch has no papers) I’d definitely have avoided Rolex.
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Great service from SEIKO, very impressive.
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
Fantastic service!!
Excellent - that is how to treat customers. Well done Seiko!
Good to read this, when I started getting into watches in the 1990s Seiko's UK service centre didn't have a great reputation, and if you had a Japan-only model they pretty much told you to send it to Japan if you want anything done. It's very encouraging to read that they've got their act togther and can now service the likes of Grand Seiko and MM300s. Presume that a Darth Tuna front-loading battery change & pressure test can now also be done in the UK, especially as they now sell them here.
Have a good weekemd all,
Steve
Update: as promised, my Snowflake was delivered back to me today - so they received it, assessed it, changed crown, tube and seals, tested it and returned it in a week. I remain flabbergasted, it’s easily the best service I have ever had from a manufacturer.
Hi, I suspect my mm300 will be due in near future. What is the current service cost?
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£292 +vat
They are really easy to deal with
Send the watch off once they know it’s coming, send a note with it telling them what you want done
They email you within 24hrs of its arrival and you agree the cost.
I am still waiting but it’s only been three weeks so far.
Thanks, what are you getting done?
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Just a basic service. The watch is in good nick but loosing 7 minutes a day.
I am petrified they change the dial and hands as I love the creamy lume on the SBDX001 and really don’t want a prospex logo on the dial over the Marinmaster text.
I see no reason why they would change it though.
Are you talking about the Service Centre in Maidenhead?
Somebody sent me the link a while back
http://misc.seiko.co.uk/PriceList-Se...lic-201904.pdf
I guess it's the same place?
Yep it’s the same place
The joys of inflation!
I do wonder if the movement bumps the price up a bit.
Yeah, I think I'd specify no cosmetic changes. I hate the prospex logo.
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Just to update this
Seiko have just been on the phone
The watch has been serviced, checked and its on its way back to me.
That is just shy of a three week turn a round.
Edit
And it’s back
Less that 24 hours after payment
Complete with natty service case and supporting documentation.
They even sent my letter and postage label back!
Last edited by Sinnlover; 19th March 2021 at 13:57.
That’s really impressive. For some reason I always thought that the MM300 had to go back to Japan for servicing. Looks like the UK service centre can pretty much cover everything these days, and with great service too
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You are all lucky UK boys in here Turkey seiko service not so good people on front desk or service people not helpfull or knowıng their job and if leave your watch to service must forget it 30 working days not one day early
Further update - I thought I would see whether spare part supply was similarly good. It seems to be.
I decided I would see about some spare shroud screws for my Darth Tuna (two of them have been chewed up/rounded in previous ownership). So I emailed the Seiko service people on Thursday to see what they could do. "No problem, a set of 4 screws will be £35 delivered".
The screws arrived on Friday. Again, excellent service. Now all I have to do is work out how to extract the knackered ones...
good news re the MM, was thinking about putting my 017 on the block before any work needed to avoid huge cost and sending to japan - but wayhay
Thread resurrection!
Just to add to my previous experience
I sent my kinetic gmt off for an new capacitor and reseal
Seiko yet again turned it around within a month and the cost was a very reasonable £33.
Seiko could teach a few of the other big boys a thing or two when it comes to customer service.
Now if they could only get their chapter ring alignment sorted…
And introduce a nice £1k-£1.5k no date dive watch.
But at the same time calm down on their recent pricing.
£1.2k for the black dial Willard is offensive.
Maybe also stop with the day-date Cyclops. Or Cyclops in general if possible.
Last edited by wileeeeeey; 2nd August 2021 at 16:13.
Especially considering there's an sla033 finishing on ebay in less than 3 hrs still on 1k!
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Another happy customer here. bezel lacquer/paint started flaking away on my brand new MM200 after a couple of weeks, thought I might have a battle on my hands and they would claim it was wear and tear or down to mis treatment - it was replaced under warranty no questions asked, and back to me in under 2 weeks.
BTW they have now sorted out the chapter ring alignment issues on new prospex models - by getting rid of chapter ring
Meanwhile, my mm200 went in last week and I was quoted October!Another happy customer here. bezel lacquer/paint started flaking away on my brand new MM200 after a couple of weeks, thought I might have a battle on my hands and they would claim it was wear and tear or down to mis treatment - it was replaced under warranty no questions asked, and back to me in under 2 weeks.
BTW they have now sorted out the chapter ring alignment issues on new prospex models - by getting rid of chapter ring
that’s a bit grim. Mine was around end of May, must have been lucky and got in before the rush
I can’t disagree with any of that.
- - - Updated - - -
That smarts a bit!
Amazing service, and very impressive. Other companies should take a leaf out of this book and show they actually care about their customers.
Just to add my 2d, Seiko UK service centre happily sorted out the turtle I bought from Creation a couple of years back and have been very good with the GS they serviced.
Despite it being outside of the warranty period for the service when I highlighted a problem, they had it back, confirmed the problem and replaced the movement at no cost to me.
On the flip side, it's worth mentioning that their GS service costs have increased significantly with a full service on the watch (quartz) going from £220 in 2016 to £448 in 2019. I was also quoted £150 for a replacement original strap in 2016 and £500 in 2019.
Tail end of 2015 the pound bought around 200 yen. Something happened in 2016, can't remember what, but the pound lost 20% of its value overnight, and sunk to around 120 yen for a while. It's recovered a bit recently, but nowhere close to those old days.
I agree about the cyclops. Looks a bit silly and really isn’t needed.
On the topic of chapter rings, as a monster fan I had resigned myself to misaligned chapters rings being part of the charm but as the prices kept increasing it was becoming harder to accept. However, on two most recent Monster purchases I have to say I was pleasantly surprised as the chapter rings and bezels were good! The build quality is back to how I remember it in the early Gen 1/2 models.
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