The owners of a luxury watch felt very ticked off when months after sending it for repair they were still waiting to know what had happened to it.
Regarded as a family heirloom the Swiss dress watch was part of Omega’s De Ville watch collection, known for its sleek design and craftsmanship.
Worth close to £1,000, by the time seniors Barbara and Andrew Barnes came to Crusader for help they were exhausted with their battle for clarity.
++ If you’ve been affected by this issue or feel you’ve been a victim of injustice, please contact consumer champion Maisha Frost on maisha.frost@express.co.uk
“This watch is personally very precious, it’s been with us for years, that matters even more than the money value,” explained Barbara.
She had first sent it to national chain Timpson for a service in January. Replacement parts from the maker were needed and the couple were told current turnaround times were around three weeks.
Some negotiation in February then followed regarding cost with a first quote, including parts, of £495. “We said we found that a bit steep,” say the couple. The price was reduced to £445 with the understanding the work would be completed in four to six weeks.
In March they were told it would be a further fortnight and when Barbara called in early April “the customer care team suggested a further reduction due to the time it was taking and the charge was dropped to £345,” she added.
In mid-May the pair learned there was still a wait for a new part. “It’s now 21 weeks, we’re at our wit’s end after so long a delay and little information,” they declared.
Crusader responded to their plea for help by compiling the details on the couple’s behalf, sending it off to Timpson and then chasing to ensure it was received. Very shortly after that there was relief all round when Barbara and Andrew heard last month that the company’s workshop manager was “urgently” looking into the matter.
“The length of time this repair has taken is not acceptable, we’re committed to putting this right,” Timpson customer support told the couple.
This has now happened. “The moment Crusader got involved, things changed and we were taken notice of,” declared Barbara and Andrew. Immensely relieved at the outcome, they are also a bit disappointed, reflecting: “it would have been nice to have had more recognition of our struggle with another goodwill gesture”. [names have been changed]
Be alert to these holiday scams
Holidays and scams are match made in hell and the most common according to Artificial intelligence (Ai) expert AIPRM are: fake accommodation lists and phishing travel apps, AI tools that impersonate travel customer service agents, QR code payment fraud, fake travel insurance offers and currency exchange counters, public WiFi attacks and hotel WiFI voucher fakes, parcel delivery notification scams when away overseas, bogus holiday booking sites and crypto romance cons.
