January Sale - 2025

Discuss Christopher Ward watches
exHowfener
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1256
Joined: Thu May 28, 2020 6:26 pm
CW-watches: 1

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by exHowfener »

Perhaps other forum members/mods can answer this: What's the setup at CW regarding responding to email and sending orders out - is it the same people or separate job roles? And does this change at peak demand times like the sale with everyone "pitching in" to get the job done?

What I'm trying to establish is - does receiving lots of email correspondence distract (and therefore delay) from the task of sending out the orders?

Just curious.
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left
User avatar
timepieces_and_bags
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1015
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2024 2:33 pm
CW-watches: 12

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by timepieces_and_bags »

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 10:14 am ^^^^ Okay, so you're waiting for a reply to your email to CW's customer service and getting impatient.

Do you carry on waiting patiently of fire off another email in frustration, maybe forwarding off the back of your original one?
No impatience from my side Guy, and sorry if my phrasing didn’t carry across properly. I was more just trying to report the news. It’s only been 24 hours and I would expect maybe a 2-3 day response time at the moment. Will just be interesting if the watch is despatched before the cancellation email is attended to though!

I somewhat take the philosophy that sending one or more chaser emails is counterproductive in a busy time. There’s clearly a lot to attend to, so just sending more emails is making a problem worse. After a fair few days I guess it’s worth a follow up just in case it’s genuinely been missed.
These users thanked the author timepieces_and_bags for the post:
Bahnstormer_vRS
I post a few watch pictures now and then to a little Instagram account - 16 followers and counting!
User avatar
Bahnstormer_vRS
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 39302
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2012 3:06 pm
CW-watches: 34
LE-three: 1
LE-foura: 1
LE-fourb: 1
LE-six: 1
Location: Hertfordshire, UK

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

^^^^ @exHowfener

Customer service and despatch are very separate functions within CW, and work in different parts of the building at The Yard, aka CW Towers #2. Has been for many years.

However, it has been known for it to be 'all hands to the pumps' to help the despatch team at Sale time.

Guy

Sent from my Galaxy S23 Ultra using Tapatalk
These users thanked the author Bahnstormer_vRS for the post (total 2):
exHowfenerthomcat00
In small proportions, we just beautie see:
And in short measures, life may perfect bee. - Ben Jonson (1572 – 1637)

Inscription on the Longitude Dial
Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 5NB, England
Ralphhardwick
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Dec 07, 2024 2:23 pm

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by Ralphhardwick »

This whole sale/dispatch/delivery saga is highly entertaining and does help to keep me on the edge of my seat in anticipation.

According to my account, the 2 watches I ordered on the 10th went from "Being prepared for despatch" to "despatched" but with "No method" listed as the shipping method around 2 hours ago. But no email to let me know is sent received as yet.

They know how to keep you guessing :D

On a more pedantic level, I thought that the correct spelling was 'dispatched' not 'despatched'.........
These users thanked the author Ralphhardwick for the post:
tikkathree
User avatar
timepieces_and_bags
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1015
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2024 2:33 pm
CW-watches: 12

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by timepieces_and_bags »

Ralphhardwick wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 1:03 pm On a more pedantic level, I thought that the correct spelling was 'dispatched' not 'despatched'.........
I searched this exact question the other day and both are correct; ‘Despatch’ seemingly both a bit more of a traditional spelling but also used more by Brits vs. ‘Dispatch’ being more typical in the US.
These users thanked the author timepieces_and_bags for the post:
Bahnstormer_vRS
I post a few watch pictures now and then to a little Instagram account - 16 followers and counting!
LambethCW
Senior
Senior
Posts: 130
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2025 10:23 pm
CW-watches: 1

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by LambethCW »

I bought my first proper watch, C60 Trident, to treat myself after coming all clear on a medical screening test. I was then v excited when I read it might arrive in 48hrs. That was 5 days ago. Now this is oddly reminiscent of waiting for the ‘all clear’ screening letter which took 2 weeks!

Plus my kids are starting to make hay with “Is daddy’s watch here yet”, bless ‘em.

I also routinely get mocked for being on my camper van forum so I dare not tell them that a watch forum actually exists but I think they have their suspicions!
These users thanked the author LambethCW for the post (total 2):
Bahnstormer_vRSthomcat00
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.
1x C60 Trident Pro 300 blue
1x Seiko 5 Sports Automatic SNZG11K navy blue
1x Hamilton Khaki silver dial
1x Tissot 40mm PRX Mint Green
1x Seiko mini Samurai red dial
JAFO
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 5971
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2020 3:59 pm

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by JAFO »

The pilot watch appears to have been purged!
These users thanked the author JAFO for the post:
nycWATCHnerd
Danwilko90
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2025 8:13 pm
CW-watches: 1

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by Danwilko90 »

veecee wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 5:29 am New to the forum and gutted I missed out on the initial drops! Hopefully no white Sealander GMTs amongst those deals...
https://www.christopherward.com/sale/c6 ... 2-HKO.html

One on there now.
These users thanked the author Danwilko90 for the post:
veecee
CW C60 Trident Pro 300
Wenger Urban Metropolitan Automatic
Orient Star Basic Date Automatic
User avatar
nbg
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 14365
Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2013 6:43 pm
CW-watches: 14
Location: UK

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by nbg »

Whilst I didn’t order anything in the sale this time, I have done so on a few previous occasions.

I have however read the thread . :)

The time interval between order and dispatch has always seemed to be a lottery, other than the consistent point that the gap between the two dates tends to be less at the outset, than once the sale has been in full swing for a few days.

I have no idea whether CW give a higher priority to watch sales, rather than orders that are just for a bargain basement strap. However as an observer it would make sense if the process was slightly tweaked, if that isn’t the case:

- Watches only in the sale for the first week.
- Straps added to the sale after a week.

One would have to be a rather sad entitled individual to become rather exercised about the dispatch of a strap, however I can understand that some (particularly customers new to the brand perhaps?) may become concerned if a watch isn’t shipped within a week.

Perhaps sales flow would also be enhanced (and better targeted) for existing customers if the preview period was an exclusive preview, not a free for all available to anyone who scours the internet, or tries to jump the intended start time by trying to discover hidden sales URLs etc.

I.e. preview is customer specific, based upon someone signing up to a specific preview sales link email.

Neil
These users thanked the author nbg for the post:
Bahnstormer_vRS
Other watch forums of interest:
TZ-UK
User avatar
akirk
Trusted Seller
Trusted Seller
Posts: 3465
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:59 pm
CW-watches: 11
Location: Bristol, UK

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by akirk »

I think at the heart of it is simply good customer service which is often mainly about communication...
For example, one of my orders last week was for a strap and a watch - the strap arrived and the only emails I had said that the order had been dispatched. When you click through from the order emails everything on there says dispatched. It is only if you go to the account that it says partially dispatched.
An email to check went to customer services and an automated response says that they will reply within 72 hours, though this can vary in busy times...

It is currently lacking in a joined up approach... improving communication and making systems talk to each other better would really help
These users thanked the author akirk for the post:
JRC
nycWATCHnerd
Senior Guru
Senior Guru
Posts: 619
Joined: Sat Jun 22, 2024 8:46 pm
CW-watches: 1
Location: New York, NY

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by nycWATCHnerd »

CW uses ZenDesk for customer service inquiries. I am not sure what systems they use for the website and/or sales and inventory.

I have worked in IT for more than 30 years and have always managed the service desk (directly and then indirectly through others). ZenDesk can be a very good system if implemented well and focused on both the business and customer needs though not always easy to do. I am not sure how CW have implemented it so I am going to give some general information.

All emails (inquiries) come into a que and tickets are created. They are often tracked by the email address. The inquiry will stay in that Main que until someone (a customer service agent or other person with access and authorization) takes ownership and places the ticket in their personal que. The upside of someone taking ownership is the hope they will deal with it quickly but the downside is that you are now at the mercy of that person's individual work load, communication abilities, and ability to get it resolved.

Based on this, it could be that if a customer has sent an email and then a follow up reply email but no CW CS Agent has taken ownership of the ticket, the ticket drops to the bottom of the Main que. This assumes that they order tickets based on date (oldest on top and newest on bottom) which tracks with what @Bahnstormer_vRS posted earlier (and I copied below). The worst case is to send a new email rather than respond to the initial ticket because that will create a new ticket which assures it will be at the bottom of the que and only creates more unnecessary work for the CS team.

In my past experiences with Customer Service I have had both good and bad interactions/outcomes based on the person I was dealing with. In one instance, I called after not hearing back for a few days and was told the person who had "ownership" of my ticket was on vacation and did not reassign the ticket to another member of them team. There are both automated system ways and manual process rules to deal with this situation which it appears CS has not put in place. I am not advocating for people to call if you have not yet received a response or a timely response (see next section).

If you read my earlier post, you will know that CW probably receives at least twice as many orders per day during a sale but does not add twice as much staff to manage it all. Someone else mentioned that "it's all hands on deck" which probably helps but is not the same as having people trained in a specific role doing that role. So, what should you do?

Be patient and stop sending follow up emails unless it is in response to a message from someone at CW.

Please know this is based on my own experience managing IT Service Desks serving 10s of thousands of users. My Technicians wanted to help everyone as quickly as possible but there was never enough time, never enough resources, and never enough time to read all the tickets in a timely manner according to our customers perspectives. At several different companies with many different IT staff members they always said their biggest time suck was responding to multiple email/requests about the same issue. They got the first one and know you needed help so follow-up emails and/or tickets just wasted time that could have been spent on helping people solve the issues. I never condoned the practice but it was an unwritten rule that for habitual offenders, the more you communicated the same request the longer you were going to wait to get help.

Please know I am not making excuses for anyone at CW. I have had my own frustration dealing with Customer Service during non-sale times. I have many years of experience with these types of issues but even I will not (really) make any unsolicited recommendations because I do not understand their specific business, business processes, and needs. I am simply trying to give some perspective and help people understand that at the end of the day, this is about too much work and not enough people during a crunch time even if there might be a better solution if they plan for it.

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 10:14 am The following was posted on the CWE Facebook Group yesterday, by someone in that position;- "Ok, so update on all of my customer service issues. Apparently, whenever you send a follow up email, it bumps you to the back of the answering queue, because they answer emails in the order that they are received, and when you follow up, that makes your email the most recent one. So tip: when you email Christopher Ward support, never ever follow up, or you will wait much longer."
Jacko75 wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 10:45 am Not sure this us true. I've been chasing up a none sale order from 3rd jan and just replying in the same e mail chain. Had responses the same day 4 times now. SO not sure generating fresh e mail is quicker.
Trs1982 wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 11:40 am I've had the same experience in previous support cases. Once the thread was live after the initial response from CW, replies were prompt.

Perhaps that's the difference; new queries join a queue and open queries will then join an "open ticket" timed thread until closure. I imagine there are internal SLA's to close a case once picked up by an agent.
exHowfener wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 11:58 am Perhaps other forum members/mods can answer this: What's the setup at CW regarding responding to email and sending orders out - is it the same people or separate job roles? And does this change at peak demand times like the sale with everyone "pitching in" to get the job done? What I'm trying to establish is - does receiving lots of email correspondence distract (and therefore delay) from the task of sending out the orders?
timepieces_and_bags wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 12:10 pm I somewhat take the philosophy that sending one or more chaser emails is counterproductive in a busy time. There’s clearly a lot to attend to, so just sending more emails is making a problem worse. After a fair few days I guess it’s worth a follow up just in case it’s genuinely been missed.
Ralphhardwick wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 1:03 pm This whole sale/dispatch/delivery saga is highly entertaining and does help to keep me on the edge of my seat in anticipation.

According to my account, the 2 watches I ordered on the 10th went from "Being prepared for despatch" to "despatched" but with "No method" listed as the shipping method around 2 hours ago. But no email to let me know is sent received as yet. They know how to keep you guessing :D
LambethCW wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 1:25 pm I bought my first proper watch, C60 Trident, to treat myself after coming all clear on a medical screening test. I was then v excited when I read it might arrive in 48hrs. That was 5 days ago. Now this is oddly reminiscent of waiting for the ‘all clear’ screening letter which took 2 weeks!

Plus my kids are starting to make hay with “Is daddy’s watch here yet”, bless ‘em. I also routinely get mocked for being on my camper van forum so I dare not tell them that a watch forum actually exists but I think they have their suspicions!
nbg wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 1:57 pm The time interval between order and dispatch has always seemed to be a lottery, other than the consistent point that the gap between the two dates tends to be less at the outset, than once the sale has been in full swing for a few days.
akirk wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 2:09 pm I think at the heart of it is simply good customer service which is often mainly about communication...
These users thanked the author nycWATCHnerd for the post (total 5):
JRCgannetexHowfenerthomcat00Adstheman
JRC
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2025 9:05 am
CW-watches: 4

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by JRC »

nycWATCHnerd wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 2:54 pm CW uses ZenDesk for customer service inquiries. I am not sure what systems they use for the website and/or sales and inventory.

I have worked in IT for more than 30 years and have always managed the service desk (directly and then indirectly through others). ZenDesk can be a very good system if implemented well and focused on both the business and customer needs though not always easy to do. I am not sure how CW have implemented it so I am going to give some general information.
What an interesting insight. Thanks :thumbup:
User avatar
tikkathree
Trusted Seller
Trusted Seller
Posts: 8790
Joined: Fri Jan 24, 2014 12:21 am
CW-watches: 1
Location: East Anglia - arr 'aas right buh

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by tikkathree »

There's a line in the fillum "Shakespeare in Love" which I believe is apposite at CW sale times in regards to the how/when/why/whom? of order processing and account updating: it all ends well.

Last edited by Bahnstormer_vRS on Thu Jan 16, 2025 3:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Fixed youtube link
C60 MKI, MKII, MKIII: "some",
C6 & C60 Kingfishers,
C600 Tritechs,
C63 "some",
C65 "some",
C4, C40, C8, C9, C3, C5, C20 & 23FLE
Some other brands
User avatar
Bahnstormer_vRS
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 39302
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2012 3:06 pm
CW-watches: 34
LE-three: 1
LE-foura: 1
LE-fourb: 1
LE-six: 1
Location: Hertfordshire, UK

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

Mega restock a few minutes ago.

Guy

Sent from my Galaxy S23 Ultra using Tapatalk

These users thanked the author Bahnstormer_vRS for the post:
Trs1982
In small proportions, we just beautie see:
And in short measures, life may perfect bee. - Ben Jonson (1572 – 1637)

Inscription on the Longitude Dial
Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 5NB, England
User avatar
timepieces_and_bags
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1015
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2024 2:33 pm
CW-watches: 12

Re: January Sale - 2025

Post by timepieces_and_bags »

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 4:06 pm Mega restock a few minutes ago.

Guy

Sent from my Galaxy S23 Ultra using Tapatalk
Some interesting pieces on there! Looks like someone's really found an old drawer.
These users thanked the author timepieces_and_bags for the post:
Bahnstormer_vRS
I post a few watch pictures now and then to a little Instagram account - 16 followers and counting!
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post