IWC Schaffhausen

this time - my plastiki took me to the big apple.

Last edited: 19 August, 2011 - 11:42

...and a very long wait in front of VS as my wife went for shopping

Last edited: 19 August, 2011 - 11:42

So far my IWC has not taken me anywhere. Thanks to IWC and the way whole service chain works. I Bought my IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar yellow gold for £8125 in Sotheby's auction at London on 16th July 2010. Happy with my purchase, I couldn't wait to collect the watch which I did on 23rd July 2010.So particular about my watches I decided to hand over the watch on the way back to official IWC dealer Park House jewellers at Southampton,UK. It must be one of the worst moment of my life as it took almost 8 months to get my watch back. Here is my journey,

23/7/10 Sent to IWC UK service centre ref w4/29918
27/7/10 I called Parkhouse asking to add some requests to the service. Change of day-date calendar from German to English.
27/7/10 Parkhouse called service centre to add additional request and were advised that we would receive permission letter to send watch to Switzerland due to high complexity of movement.
27/7/10 Parkhouse called me to advise of above and that would take 6 weeks to get estimate from the Swiss. (6 weeks? I feel it is either lack of efficiency or lack of skilled manpower)
29/7/10 Parkhouse faxed permission letter and confirmed requirement of additional requests to UK service centre. Then called UK service centre to confirm receipt of fax.
13/8/10 I called to ask if glass could be changed to sapphire crystal.
13/8/10 Parkhouse called UK service centre requesting that quote for glass be added to estimate.
7/9/10 Parkhouse emailed me with estimate
7/9/10 I emailed Parkhouse saying I am happy to proceed with the estimate and requested additional price information for sapphire glass and day date change as previously requested.
9/9/10 Having been given additional information I asked to proceed with estimate declining sapphire glass (I was quote £1100 for Supphire glass) but which included day-date change.
10/9/10 Parkhouse emailed me to confirm receipt of proceed.
14/9/10 Parkhouse emailed UK service centre to proceed all work. Approx 20 weeks before watch due to be returned.
13/12/10 Watch received back at Parkhouse and upon checking we realised that all work had been done except day-date change.
15/12/10 Parkhouse called IWC UK for advice on best way to proceed and advised that they would look into it and get back to us. When they did get back to us we were told the day-date change could be done in the UK. This was then late into December and nearing service centre Christmas holidays shut down. We also have an internal policy of not sending expensive customer goods out after the 17th December and prefer to keep items in our vault until normal business hours resume after the New Year holidays.
7/1/11 Contacted IWC UK who advised that would be better to send back to Switzerland due to complexity. Subject to QC and customs watch to be returned mid-February.( I was glad to hear this as i don't believe IWC UK will have that expertise in house)
7/1/11 I advised of above and in agreement that this would be better to send the watch again to Switzerland even that means further delay.
17/2/11 Parkhouse called IWC UK to check progress. No reply.
18/2/11 Parkhouse called IWC UK to check progress. No reply
21/2/11 Parkhouse called B&N sevice centre as know that they share office space and advised that the records indicated that work on watch was awaiting estimate in Switzerland. Parkhouse advised of previous mistake by IWC that day-date change had not been done. IWC advised that they would look into this and get back to us.
28/2/11 Parkhouse(Paul Lewis) called IWC UK to get current status and discovered that IWC Switzerland and estimated for Day-date change and service!
28/2/11 IWC UK confirmed that adding the service was a mistake and removed this from the estimate and Parkhouse urgently proceeded the estimate and asked that we be given an expected completion date and could this be speeded up due to time wasted re- estimating for work that was not required. IWC UK advised that they would email the Swiss and get back to us as soon as they have a reply.
1/3/11 Parkhouse called IWC UK for update from Switzerland and advised that still no reply and promised a call as soon as they had news.
25/3/11 Paul Lewis from Parkhouse called me to give good news that watch has arrived.
26/3/11 THE DAY. Today I am going to collect my watch and fist time going to wear it on my wrist since I bought on 16/7/2010 (after 8 months). I sincerely hope that IWC have done all the work which they have been asked to do.

I don't know whom to blame about the whole thing was handled and delay it caused. I hope IWC will look in to this not to blame anyone but to make service process more efficient. No doubt that it's a company that produces extraordinary watches but I wish they are also supported with the excellent after sale service

I would also like to mention here special thanks to Paul Lewis and his team at Parkhouse Jewellers to follow it up relentlessly with IWC UK. They were fantastic and tried their best to do whatever they can to get my watch back. I hope that this is just one of the incidence with someone less fortunate like me and sincerely hope that nobody shall go through the same experience as mine.

Last but not the least, I will still proudly continue wearing my Da Vinci Perpetual and recommend any one to go ahead and buy IWC watches even with the risk of facing their after sale services. it's worth it.

Guys, I wish I could say I've worn my Ingenieur or Aquatimer
or Big Pilot to some exotic destination,,,but the truth is,
the most exciting place I've worn any of my watches to (IWC
and non-IWC alike)is probably a local Scrabble tournament.
I lead a very dull life...sigh...

Steve

My 3261 Saint Exupery UTC has been with me since September 2009. It has been crossing the Pacific with me cruising at over 500 MPH / 38,000 feets several time now on my 17 hours flight between Los Angeles and Bangkok.

kistarzan Wrote:Hello, I just bought my first IWC ten days ago and I am located in Austria.
Since I am working as a sales manager for Middle East and Africa this beautiful watch will join me on my trips from Morocco to Iran, from Lebanon to South Africa.

After visiting Cologne and a destination in the Middle East, me and my Fliegerchrono will take of for a trip to Jeddah-Dammam-Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Last edited: 18 December, 2012 - 16:26

A trip from New York via Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City, Colorado Springs, Denver, Tucson, Las Vegas, Death Valley to San Francisco. 6 45 minutes documentaries for Dutch tv.

Hi,

It has been a while since my last post. I bought my first IWC back in 2001, at our local IWC boutique in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. It is the Portugieser Rattrapante in steel. I still own it, as well as everything that came with it, including that little swiss "army" knife. Where did it take me ? Well, I could name a couple of nice spots in the world. Maybe I will but for me the answer to this question is that it has taken me to the point were I realize that this is THE one watch I will never sell. Every time I strap it on, its breathtaking looks, feeling, its whole experience hits me. A bit "strange" because this is purely based on subjectivity as more complicated (and good looking) pieces (incl the da vinci rattrapante) have been added and sold.....But in the end that might just be the single most important reason..

Kind regards,
Mark

Cheers from Rotterdam,
Mark

Last edited: 16 February, 2012 - 21:38

Need help setting the time on a Portuguese Perpetual Calendar 502121. Please advise