Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

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H0rati0
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by H0rati0 »

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2019 11:31 am @Bidnet - an interesting observation and thank you for bringing it to our attention. All goes to emphasise CW's mantra of 'Do your research'; as I trust any self respecting watch buyer will do before committing to a purchase.

I have no knowledge as to why CW have sought to bring about this change and I don't propose to speculate or comment on their reasons for doing so. Overall though, it seems perfectly reasonable to me.

I will though stick to a few basic facts and compare the revised CW warranty / service recommendation with a number of other notable brands.


Christopher Ward (wef Trident Mk3) - Warranty 5 years, Service Recommendation 3 - 4 years.

Bremont - Warranty 3 years, Service Recommendation 3 - 5 years.

Omega (wef watches purchased after 1st July 2018) - Warranty 5 years, Service Recommendation 5 - 8 years.

Oris - Warranty 2 years, Service recommendation 3 - 5 years.

Breguet - Warranty 2 years, Service recommendation variable depending on model but, as a rule, 3 - 4 years.

There will no doubt be other Watch Manufacturers with shorter or longer Warranty and Servicing criteria.

What this shows though is that;-

1. CW are competitive in the market place and their criteria are still generous.

2. They are the only manufacturer (from the examples above) where the Warranty period overlaps with the Service Recommendation i.e. the other manufacturers mentioned have their warranty expiring before a service is recommended, and thus, as has been mentioned in the comparison with Car Manufacturers, it seems reasonable for a service to be carried out for the warranty to continue to apply.

Ultimately, you pays your money and you takes your choice. :)


Finally, as to why CW have brought this into play, it is certainly a valid question to be put to the Co-Founders at the next GTG.

Guy
60/60 was a great marketing tool which of course was necessary for clear differentiation. The new criteria may still be generous but seem now to be diminishing and dropping back into the mainstream while smacking of bad faith. Warranty should not be dependant on servicing as that brings all sorts of "maintenance" versus "fault" and "consumables" vs "parts" definitions into play. Suddenly the warranty document is thirty pages long and not worth the paper it's written on.

If CW have quality and consequent service problems, punishing the customer is not going to improve matters.
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by sproughton »

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2019 11:31 am
2. They are the only manufacturer (from the examples above) where the Warranty period overlaps with the Service Recommendation i.e. the other manufacturers mentioned have their warranty expiring before a service is recommended, and thus, as has been mentioned in the comparison with Car Manufacturers, it seems reasonable for a service to be carried out for the warranty to continue to apply.
I've bolded the part I don't get Guy. Your example show a common theme of a warranty expiring before, or at a similar time to the recommended first service. For CW to go against the grain sticks out like a sore thumb, especially given how much emphasis they put on the 60/60.

It looks like something that had been added as a bit of a get out of jail free card for CW.
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

sproughton wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2019 12:00 pm
Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2019 11:31 am
2. They are the only manufacturer (from the examples above) where the Warranty period overlaps with the Service Recommendation i.e. the other manufacturers mentioned have their warranty expiring before a service is recommended, and thus, as has been mentioned in the comparison with Car Manufacturers, it seems reasonable for a service to be carried out for the warranty to continue to apply.
I've bolded the part I don't get Guy. Your example show a common theme of a warranty expiring before, or at a similar time to the recommended first service. For CW to go against the grain sticks out like a sore thumb, especially given how much emphasis they put on the 60/60.

It looks like something that had been added as a bit of a get out of jail free card for CW.
It goes back to the analogy of having your car serviced to maintain the warranty.

CW are merely doing the same.

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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by nbg »

Clearly whilst no one would compare a CW to a Rolex:

Rolex - warranty 5 years
Rolex - normal service interval 10 years

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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by what-time-is-it »

This thread is going to run and run - whichever way you position it Guy, 4 years is not 60 months. How other companies position themselves regarding the duration of warranty is up to them, but CW a make a big thing of 60/60, when really it is now 60/48.

https://www.christopherward.co.uk/cserv ... -guarantee
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by FloridaPhil »

So, essentially, what we have here is a 4 year warranty at which time a service is required. The watch will then be warranted for a further year from the date of service - something that is quite normal in the watch industry.

CW needs to call it what it is - a 48 month warranty.
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

what-time-is-it wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2019 1:05 pm This thread is going to run and run - whichever way you position it Guy, 4 years is not 60 months. How other companies position themselves regarding the duration of warranty is up to them, but CW a make a big thing of 60/60, when really it is now 60/48.

https://www.christopherward.co.uk/cserv ... -guarantee
#DoYourResearch
#ReadTheSmallPrint
I disagree.

The Warranty is still 60 months i.e. 5 years

Its just you need to show good care for your mechanical device and get it serviced at 3 - 4 years for the Warranty to be valid. Simples. :eek:

Like it; buy it. :thumbup: I will. :D

Don't like it, well? There are a multitude of options but none of them include having a Warranty to 60 months.

Guy
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by what-time-is-it »

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2019 1:13 pm
what-time-is-it wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2019 1:05 pm This thread is going to run and run - whichever way you position it Guy, 4 years is not 60 months. How other companies position themselves regarding the duration of warranty is up to them, but CW a make a big thing of 60/60, when really it is now 60/48.

https://www.christopherward.co.uk/cserv ... -guarantee
#DoYourResearch
#ReadTheSmallPrint
I disagree.

The Warranty is still 60 months i.e. 5 years

Its just you need to show good care for your mechanical device and get it serviced at 3 - 4 years for the Warranty to be valid. Simples. :eek:

Like it; buy it. :thumbup: I will. :D

Don't like it, well? There are a multitude of options but none of them include having a Warranty to 60 months.

Guy
If CW are including a 'Free' service then I agree it's 5 years, if the customer has to pay for the service before it's 4th birthday, then that's an additional cost that hasn't been there before - essentially the customer is paying for the 5th year.
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by jtc »

I'd be interested to know how many buyers of a single "posh watch" know anything about servicing. So, advertising a 60 month warranty that's not valid after month 48 for an unserviced watch is a bit poor.
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by Curious »

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2019 1:13 pm
what-time-is-it wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2019 1:05 pm This thread is going to run and run - whichever way you position it Guy, 4 years is not 60 months. How other companies position themselves regarding the duration of warranty is up to them, but CW a make a big thing of 60/60, when really it is now 60/48.

https://www.christopherward.co.uk/cserv ... -guarantee
#DoYourResearch
#ReadTheSmallPrint
I disagree.

The Warranty is still 60 months i.e. 5 years

Its just you need to show good care for your mechanical device and get it serviced at 3 - 4 years for the Warranty to be valid. Simples. :eek:

Like it; buy it. :thumbup: I will. :D

Don't like it, well? There are a multitude of options but none of them include having a Warranty to 60 months.

Guy
Most other companies give at least two years of additional warranty after a service. How does CW handle it? If they also give one or two years additional warranty after a service, it would be definitely not a 5 year warranty because you would get a restored warranty after a service anyway.
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by Kip »

Things I have thought about reading this topic...

What if……CW double their 60/60 program to 60/120 with the same caveats (3-4 year service). Would that make those who feel a service is unfairly required under the 5 year warranty feel better?

Why is it that most manufactures warranty ends before service is recommended? Clever these makers….

If a part is faulty, it is still covered under the 5 year warranty and would be replaced for free. If a part fails due to lack of service, I pay. Seems fair to me.

My car has a 10 year/100,000 mile power train warranty. If I never had the car serviced aside from oil changes only, and the power train fails at 8 years/80,000 mile, am I covered?....doubt it. Hope I don't have to find out.

The rest of my car carries a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty, yet I am required to bring it in for required maintenance every 7500 miles. I pay for those…..does that translate to a 6 month warranty? Might be a good question for my dealer. I can see the eye rolls now.

Seems to me that CW is just being more specific regarding the warranty coverage and that they no longer wish to be taken advantage of due to lack of care/maintenance. If a part is defective it will still be replaced foc. If it has failed due to lack of proper maintenance, you pay.

The Warranty is still 5 years! They have simply added the specifics of a service requirement to it. This is the same as the service recommendation they have had posted for years.

I am not entitled to a warranty. I am entitled to the warranty, as advertised, when I bought my watch. That cannot change. If I decide to push the boundaries of the service recommendations, and I have on many occasions, that is my choice. The maker is not responsible for my choices.
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by richtel »

The OP cited a clause in a downloaded watch manual. Now I've scoured the website and can't find a reference to the 5 year movement warranty being conditional on servicing. Is there a contradiction between the manual and website?

https://www.christopherward.co.uk/cserv ... -guarantee
"60-month (5-year) movement guarantee
It’s extremely unlikely that your watch will ever develop a mechanical fault as it has a premium grade, Swiss-made movement at its heart. However, if it does develop a fault within five years, we’ll be happy to repair or replace the movement.
You can return the watch to us for diagnosis either by ordering a returns pack or, if you’re outside the UK, by requesting a refund for your shipping charges from our Customer Services team.
Quartz battery replacements are not considered a movement fault.
Not all mechanical issues are considered faults. We recommend regular watch Servicing at 3-4 year intervals to keep your watch in good working order: Book a service or repair"

https://www.christopherward.co.uk/cserv ... nd-repairs
"If it’s a repair to your movement that is required, and the watch was purchased within the last five years, it is highly likely we will repair or replace the movement free of charge under our 60|60 Guarantee. This will be confirmed when we receive the watch."
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by sproughton »

Christopher Ward announces lifetime* guarantee

*If you pay for it to be serviced every 12 months
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by golfjunky »

i take all of the manufacturers recommended service intervals with a pinch of salt anyway and unless anything went wrong i'd say somewhere between 7-10yrs is fine. there are many many people who do not service their pieces at all. I had my seamaster done after 7yrs, nothing was wrong with it but my thinking was if i do jump in a pool and one of the gaskets is on its way out then its better to just have to pay for a service than have it repaired from water ingress. most of the models with base ETA/stellita should be fine for donkeys years,
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Re: Change in 60 Month Warranty Policy?

Post by nordwulf »

Whatever they do, they should have a clear policy. "3 or 4 years" just isn't good enough. Who can service the watch? What qualifications should they have? What has to be included in a service? CW doesn't provide any details on their website on what is included when they service a watch. Do they imply only they can service a watch for the warranty to be valid? Does this new warranty only apply to watches sold from now on or older models as well?
Kip wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2019 1:54 pm My car has a 10 year/100,000 mile power train warranty. If I never had the car serviced aside from oil changes only, and the power train fails at 8 years/80,000 mile, am I covered?....doubt it. Hope I don't have to find out.

The rest of my car carries a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty, yet I am required to bring it in for required maintenance every 7500 miles. I pay for those…..does that translate to a 6 month warranty? Might be a good question for my dealer. I can see the eye rolls now.
You are not required to have your vehicle serviced by the dealer. The warranty remains in effect as long as the vehicle has been serviced according to the manufacturer's maintenance schedule. Anyone can do this maintenance, including yourself. At least that's how it is in the USA.
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0 ... aintenance

The manufacturer has to prove a failure was caused by improper repairs or lack of maintenance for them to deny a warranty claim.
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