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3 Posts
I must hesitantly tell my story because I feel that it needs to be told. But please understand, this is not a slander or rant. It is an unfortunate outcome regarding someone who has posted here in the past, and in my internet search led me here as a forum for these particular watches.
Last fall, I received my father's Accutron Spaceview. it's a 1967 Swiss chapter ring, originally bought by my Grandfather and now passed down to me. It hasn't worked in years. A local jeweler tried to fix it, but the issues were never resolved. Truth be told, he likely made matters worse.
After some internet searching, I found Bob Piker. I had some communication with him regarding the watch, and he was very confident that it could be returned to original working condition. I packaged the watch up and sent it to him.
His communication was excellent. He was very patient with my regular email asking for delivery confirmation, updates, shipping information, etc. Never once did I have any fears about the watch's security.
His assessment was that that the coil set was gone, but with their replacement and a proper setup it would be a fine working instrument again. Total cost, $400.
Funds were sent via paypal on October 23. In early November, I received it back with the old coil set. I was thrilled to wear the watch that has now been in my family for 3 generations. My pride was short lived when I noticed that it lost time. It seemed the minute and hour hands stopped moving altogether when I wore it. The second hand always advanced though, never skipping a beat. Out of curiosity I checked the watch with my strobe tuner and noticed that the watch holds a firm 370 hz, which didn't make sense.
I emailed Bob and he asked me to take a wrench and tighten the back. His theory was that the gasket was too thick and that the mechanism for setting the time was not disengaging properly. I replied to him that I am not set up for watch repair and that I would rather send it back to him so he could look at it again, which I did.
He had it for another two weeks, said that he had looked at it again, that it was working fine, and returned it to me.
Nothing has changed. It sits on my desk and the hands advance. As soon as I put it on, within minutes they don't move any further until I push on the setting button. But within minutes, it does it again. Now that it sits untouched, I notice that it loses about 5 minutes every three days or so.
Bob did refund $200 of his fees. All communication with him has been very cordial. If I were to press him again I'm sure he would look at it but on it's last return to me it was inspected by Canada customs and I was taxed on the value of the watch, so I'm wary of shipping it out again.
Again, this isn't a slander to Bob. His website has a long list of satisfied customers (which is one of the reasons I went to him) and I hope that his future customer's experiences don't end like mine. I just think that it should be noted that there aren't always happy endings with his service.
With Regrets.
67
Last fall, I received my father's Accutron Spaceview. it's a 1967 Swiss chapter ring, originally bought by my Grandfather and now passed down to me. It hasn't worked in years. A local jeweler tried to fix it, but the issues were never resolved. Truth be told, he likely made matters worse.
After some internet searching, I found Bob Piker. I had some communication with him regarding the watch, and he was very confident that it could be returned to original working condition. I packaged the watch up and sent it to him.
His communication was excellent. He was very patient with my regular email asking for delivery confirmation, updates, shipping information, etc. Never once did I have any fears about the watch's security.
His assessment was that that the coil set was gone, but with their replacement and a proper setup it would be a fine working instrument again. Total cost, $400.
Funds were sent via paypal on October 23. In early November, I received it back with the old coil set. I was thrilled to wear the watch that has now been in my family for 3 generations. My pride was short lived when I noticed that it lost time. It seemed the minute and hour hands stopped moving altogether when I wore it. The second hand always advanced though, never skipping a beat. Out of curiosity I checked the watch with my strobe tuner and noticed that the watch holds a firm 370 hz, which didn't make sense.
I emailed Bob and he asked me to take a wrench and tighten the back. His theory was that the gasket was too thick and that the mechanism for setting the time was not disengaging properly. I replied to him that I am not set up for watch repair and that I would rather send it back to him so he could look at it again, which I did.
He had it for another two weeks, said that he had looked at it again, that it was working fine, and returned it to me.
Nothing has changed. It sits on my desk and the hands advance. As soon as I put it on, within minutes they don't move any further until I push on the setting button. But within minutes, it does it again. Now that it sits untouched, I notice that it loses about 5 minutes every three days or so.
Bob did refund $200 of his fees. All communication with him has been very cordial. If I were to press him again I'm sure he would look at it but on it's last return to me it was inspected by Canada customs and I was taxed on the value of the watch, so I'm wary of shipping it out again.
Again, this isn't a slander to Bob. His website has a long list of satisfied customers (which is one of the reasons I went to him) and I hope that his future customer's experiences don't end like mine. I just think that it should be noted that there aren't always happy endings with his service.
With Regrets.
67
