A little service story...

Incurable · Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:47 pm Post subject: A little service story...

So do I have a big red-X pasted on my forehead or what...

I seem to have this kind of thing happen all the time. I have a Traser watch that I needed to send in for service under warranty. The watch itself is nothing fancy-schmancy or anything but offers a few things unique and useful. First, it is equipped with the mb Microtech tritium capsules making it a great night-time watch. It's also one of the only (other than Ball) automatic watches (ETA 2824-2) available with the 'Traser' capsule lume. It's all black (PVD) with a reasonable quality, solid end link bracelet, sapphire crystal, AR coated one side, 40mm, 100m water resistant and really cool BLUE tritium capsules. All things considered, a relative bargain at the sub-$400 price I paid for it. Like I mentioned before, I wear it primarily at night, in rougher conditions or even camping.

So I send it in for service because the rotor/winding mechanism went south on me. In a few weeks, I get it back so I check the winding, set the time and put it on. I've been wearing it for almost a week now and I'm AMAZED at the regulation. It's less than a second off, WOW... Previously, it gained almost 15 seconds a day, not untypical for this movement as supplied from the watch mfg. The other night, I wake up and check the time. Huh? I don't see the seconds hand lume/capsule at all. I figure my eyes are just groggy so I look closer and wait to catch the movement of the fast moving hand. Still nothing... Hmmm, on go the glasses, still no lume. WTF... I get out the loupe and, guess what... they replaced the seconds hand with one that has no tritium capsule at all, just Luminova or the like. My heart sank, then anger sets in. What the hell... The lume is the only reason I bought the watch in the first place, especially the blue. What makes them think that they can replace the hand w/o the tritium lume and I will be OK with it??? NOT. There was no reason to replace the seconds hand in the first place considering the problem with the watch.

I'll be on the phone first thing Monday expressing my dissatisfaction and hope they don't give me some cock-n-bull story about unavailability or such. This is unacceptable considering it's the one thing that makes this watch unique and useful over other, similarly equipped watches. Hopefully they can restore it properly and I'll be happy in the end. On the other hand, why should I even have to be dealing with this? Sheesh...

Sometimes I think I have the Red-X I was talking about pasted on my forehead when it comes to these kinds of things. Too bad considering the regulation is exemplary, as was all the rest of the work. I sent them only the head and they even sent it back w/a strap installed. Unnecessary but a nice perk. So enough ranting... what did I expect for +/-$400. On the other hand, why me...?? Would you folks have the same reaction or am I being overly-anal about this pedigree watch? I think not...
_________________
It may appear that I'm doing nothing but, at a cellular level, I'm actually quite busy...

Lisa · Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:57 pm Post subject:

Okay, I can use that newfangled urban dictionary word again. That's hinkey. I'd be pretty mad at them for replacing the seconds hand, too. Do you think they accidentally messed up the original somehow when working on your watch? Hope they can set things straight and I would definitely roll some heads if they act like it's no big deal - losing that good tritium lumed hand is a big deal.
_________________
"The brain is easily the least intelligent organ in the body." -- Dave Barry

uncle aj · Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:30 am Post subject:

Why would they want to change the second hand? This doesn't sound right, surely something must have gone wrong for them to replace a second hand. It's not as if they wear out.

_________________
I'd feel lost without my GPS
Uncle AJ's, an equal opportunity dictatorship.
It wasn't a dress!!

Incurable · Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 7:35 am Post subject:

I'm kind of thinking along the same lines as Lisa, they messed up the original and were forced to replace it. The thing that doesn't add up is this new hand is amazingly identical to the original, just minus the tiny tritium capsule. I know they're glued in and maybe they broke it or something, possibly misplaced?? To find another just like it only w/o the capsule would be difficult. It's bright red and somewhat unique in shape. I don't know.

I'll call tomorrow and see how forthcoming the service center is. This is a 3rd party outfit that just serves as the USA service center for Traser. How they'd happen to have a matching hand sans tritium is strange indeed. Traser is actually located overseas in Switzerland. Their USA contact is some suite in SoCal. We'll see...

Addendum: I just inspected it again w/the loupe and I think it's the same hand. The new lume is applied to some kind of a backer applied to the back of the hand. I think they broke or lost the capsule. I can see this getting messy. Little thing, big deal to me...
_________________
It may appear that I'm doing nothing but, at a cellular level, I'm actually quite busy...

Lisa · Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:03 pm Post subject:

I still say it's not a little thing! But I'm kinda nutty about lume, too. Let us know what they say. Sounds like they DID knock off the capsule and they should have noted that, rather than apply the new lume.
_________________
"The brain is easily the least intelligent organ in the body." -- Dave Barry

Incurable · Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:06 pm Post subject:

Well I spoke with them this morning. I was referred to a guy named Boris (who names people that?) I refrained from attempting any Rocky or Bullwinkle jokes and explained my situation. These folks are located back east and his demeanor was appropriately blunt and insolent. He did express some disbelief that such a thing could happen at his facility. He instructed me to send it back, to his attention, and he would take care of it. He also mentioned that they have the capsules available so he couldn't quite understand why what happened, did. After speaking with him, I realized I didn't specifically mention that these tritium capsules are the limited edition BLUE (quite cool, BTW), not green like most the others. I have a feeling that is the source of the problem and this episode isn't over yet. Finger's crossed...
_________________
It may appear that I'm doing nothing but, at a cellular level, I'm actually quite busy...

DSJ · Moderator Status: David Joined: 09 Nov 2008 Posts: 474

Make sure you mention the blue in the correspondence with the sent watch.

Incurable · Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:35 am Post subject:

Yeah, I did... I left my contact info w/instructions to get ahold of me if there were any complications. We'll see if this gets long winded or what. It's just a small blip on the scale of life but I do get tired of folks that won't just 'man up' and face situations. He probably lost/busted it and, realizing they had no way of properly replacing it, did a band-aid job hoping I wouldn't notice and his boss satisfied w/his time to fix.... or not. We'll see.
_________________
It may appear that I'm doing nothing but, at a cellular level, I'm actually quite busy...