[Ruud Van Driver]

Originally Posted by Speed

See my old thread for the sad story up to now. However, it gets worse.

In summary for those who don't want to check the link... the hour hand on his 312 would not hit the hour marker dead center on the hour. I.e. 1, 2, 3 o'clock etc. He had an AD send to Panerai to adjust and it came back exactly the same. Subsequent efforts resulted in no change.

http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=493894

My buddy had the AD send the watch BACK to Panerai again. They said it had to go back to Switzerland. Whatever...as long as one of their folks can fix this hour hand situation.

So the AD calls him back and says this is what Panerai will do...

1. $100 for a polish
2. replace the dials
3. replace the hands
4. clean the bracelet,buckle for $236

Estimated turnaround time... SIXTEEN WEEKS!!! :

He scratched the bezel himself / wanted it taken care of...this is insane I told him. Besides. If they intended to refinish the rest of a barely worn 312, that is more insanity.

OK...re: #2 & 3...they won't charge him. But even at no cost...as I finished smacking my head...what the hell good would replacing the dial and hands do? Isn't the issue of an hour hand not hitting the marker due to an adjustment of the movement?

Was the dial miscut? Don't think so. The Minute hand looks fine.

Re: 4. Umm....it's a 312. There is no bracelet! I told him I thought they had the fix plan for another watch. He's asked the US Panerai Customer Service manager ( at my ongoing insistence ) to call him.

Mind you my friend is a guy who would scream like a stuck pig if the Jamba Juice Clerk would not honor an expired 10% off coupon so I am flabbergasted at his inability to get something done with Panerai via complaining. He keeps telling me ballers spending 5 figures on higher end PAMs will get all the attention. Please. This is insanity!

I feel bad as I recommended the stellar TS who sold him this watch. The other watch he bought at the same time from the TS was "running fast" - lesson for me is NEVER recommend a TS to a nervous nellie / non WIS. But I digress.

A poster in my last thread (and our own Jocke) who looks to be a watch maker said it was a simple adjustment. Apparently not for Panerai.

Again, I DREAD having to send my own 312 in for service when the time comes!

I have have an idea, Bill. I'm heading up to the OP boutique in a while and I'll ask my guy to run it past the in house watch maker.

Depending on what they say, it might be worth having the watch couriered here and fixed. I'll take my MacBook so he can see the original thread properly (as opposed to my phone) and I'll post up again this evening when I'm back home.

Originally Posted by benlee

I wonder if this is indicative of service quality of the entire Richemont group? I have heard complains also about IWC as well.

I've had some pretty good service from Richemont when the clasp on my Montblanc bracelet failed. It took a bit of kicking and screaming on my part but I go there in the end. I think it very much depends on what part for the world you live in though. Apart from the OP boutique and my Rolex AD, customer service in Singapore tends to one generally pretty poor.