Why the dramatic rise in RSC UK service costs?

[eye4detail]

Hi all,

I'm wondering why there's been a dramatic rise in RSC UK service costs in the last year or so?

The UK already has the some of the most expensive RSC service charges in the world, but why has it been bumped up so much of late?

As a result, good independents like William Rice have also increased their service prices.

We're talking £460 ($720) for a basic service nowadays, which is a fair bit more than in the US and elsewhere.

Has anyone got any information on this please?

Thanks,

Regards

[Mrpedigree]

Currently Its £550 at an AD here in Cheltenham

[Puffy]

more expensive to run a car

this time last year i paid bill rice about £350 to service a vintage piece

getting ridiculous

[Red Series 3]

Sorry guys that doesn't meet the current costs in Australia.
It cost $880 for a basic service on my sub LV.
I had the crystal replace on top of this as well.
I actually think I am paying a bit for the quality of customer service I receive which I am happy with.
The staff at the Sydney service centre know me by name and treat me very well, there are not many places I go where I get the same standard of personal service.
I am much happier paying 30% more and going to a rolex service centre than going to swatch and paying $550 for servicing an omega.
There is no Breitling service centre in Sydney and I have a good friend than has invested heavily in their pieces. He has had a watch go back in under warranty with the watch sent away for 3 months only to come back and have the same issue. Sent back away. It has been away for longer than he has had it.
If you get good customer service and the work completed to the highest possible standards with no issues, the price is a bargain.
I was just thinking I personally see no value in having mechanics service my car. I complete all work on my motor vehicles myself even though It is not really cost effective for me to do so. I could make more money working in my field. But I like the fact that the work is done to my standard.
I have done this for the last 13 years with no minor or major breakdowns or component failure.
I do my own plumbing as well so maybe I have some issues.
But I want to create a background to what I constitute as value. I wish I could pay more money and buy mobile phones that will last more than 18months - 2 years at least Rolex hasn't started engineering obsolescence into their products

[Mrpedigree]

i have heard about a place thats services rolex ,its on an industrial Estate in stroud Gloucestershire they are apparently really reasonable at £200 per service ! but they are not an AD so does that matter ?

[Ironstark]

Originally Posted by Mrpedigree

i have heard about a place thats services rolex ,its on an industrial Estate in stroud Gloucestershire they are apparently really reasonable at £200 per service ! but they are not an AD so does that matter ?

You get what you pay for. Both in terms of quality of work and after care.
If you go to an RSC you should have no concerns.

[ralpie]

Actually $720 isn't much more than USA. They wanted $700 to service my Big Block.

[TSW]

Prices on spare parts have been increased two times since november last year.

[eye4detail]

Ok, after further research, I thought I would clarify a few things on this thread:

The service price I quoted of £460 is only for a vintage Air-King/Oyster Perpetual, i.e. the most basic Rolex there is.

Just over a year ago (around March 2011), the same service would cost only £295.

The equivalent service with William Rice costs £368 now, and £230 only 17 months ago.

The price of servicing a vintage Sub or GMT is $1000....yes 1000 US dollars!
(i.e. around £650)

A modern Sub/GMT is around the same as a vintage AK, i.e. $720 (£460)


Based on these figures, RSC UK servicing has gone up 56% in one year!

One of the main reasons, from what I can tell, is that Rolex have built a new service centre, with greater capacity, as well as extending the service warranty to 2 years instead of the previous 1 year.

As a result, William Rice has put his prices up by 60%!

This is also true for the other independents as well.

In a time of economic double-dip depression, worse than the 1920s and 1930s, this just strikes me as ridiculous!

Rolex new and secondhand prices have also gone up significantly over the last year alone, and they are making it very expensive to be an owner.

[The Stig]

I am of the opinion it's a profit motive.

[Venusfly]

It's currently $800 here in the United States, or at least in New York (as of September 19 2012).

Took my two 26mm Oyster Datejust Presidents to the Rolex Store on 5th Ave in New York on September 19th, and it was $800 for basic movement plus add on costs for all parts. Each watch was just a bit under $1800 total. Total damage for both is $3,718.09.

[RRGHOST1]

There are three options open here 1) get watch serviced after about 6-7 years as usual at RSC or 2) Leave watch none serviced until something goes wrong(and i would imagine there are quite a few of those around) or 3) If you are going to keep the watch and never selling it and just enjoying it,getting it serviced as cheap as possible with maybe none genuine Rolex parts. Which is the best option i wouldn't know really as all options have got their pros and cons. Anyone think of any other options?

[ludicree]

Service costs are mainly labor costs. The UK is not the cheapest place to live. So I guess the cost for service personnel is in the upper third range. Good watchmaker personnel is very hard to find, says Rolex.

Prices in Euro seem to be in the same range as far as I know. It is a lot of money, but the service does a job without compromise including the almost complete rebuild of watches from an incredible big period of time and model variety. That is a far bigger organisation than just repairs.

You can always go to a freelancer for normal service needs, without rebuild. As long as genuine spare parts are used.. the job should be OK and a huge save.

[GrahamF]

Just e-mailed an AD in London, (Ernest Jones at Brent Cross) & they quoted me GB£495.00 to clean/service my Datejust including case/bracelet refurb/polish.

[Steveatbath]

I believe that watch club can arrange this for somewhere closer to £300. A colleague uses them regularly on his 3 - 10 year old watches

[darrenvs]

I worked for a Rolex AD until 4 months ago. I had to set up a Rolex approved workshop in the store, provide a Rolex accredited watchmaker and send him on the training.
Now all of this came out of the store's pocket.
The workshop and tools all had to be Rolex approved cost in excess of £50k
The watchmaker salary would be in exccess of £30k. Plus a refit of the store to Rolex standards cost the best part of £100k. I also spent £10k on 2 new case tools, and waterproofing equipment to allow the watchmaker to work on the newer Oyster models which nearly 6 years old in some cases and now need servicing.
Also this had to be finished on Rolex's time schedule, using their contracted suppliers and shop fitting teams.
So it's not all the AD fault, Rolex are piling on the finacial and physical pressure

[Vincent65]

it is a bummer, but whaddayagonnado? Let's all sell our watches and...

[bobbipiazza]

Does this mean that watch service is now more expensive in Great Britain (as compared with Geneva) or on par?

[GrahamF]

Originally Posted by Steveatbath

I believe that watch club can arrange this for somewhere closer to £300. A colleague uses them regularly on his 3 - 10 year old watches

Great, is that using genuine Rolex parts do you know??

[beetleything]

Originally Posted by darrenvs

I worked for a Rolex AD until 4 months ago. I had to set up a Rolex approved workshop in the store, provide a Rolex accredited watchmaker and send him on the training.
Now all of this came out of the store's pocket.
The workshop and tools all had to be Rolex approved cost in excess of £50k
The watchmaker salary would be in exccess of £30k. Plus a refit of the store to Rolex standards cost the best part of £100k. I also spent £10k on 2 new case tools, and waterproofing equipment to allow the watchmaker to work on the newer Oyster models which nearly 6 years old in some cases and now need servicing.
Also this had to be finished on Rolex's time schedule, using their contracted suppliers and shop fitting teams.
So it's not all the AD fault, Rolex are piling on the finacial and physical pressure

Yikes - that's a lot of money upfront for something that might not pan out!!

[CF999]

Originally Posted by Vincent65

it is a bummer, but whaddayagonnado? Let's all sell our watches and...

If you want cheap try Timex.........

[dacattoo]

Consider the Bernie Madoff effect. Rolex had a huge shake up after the Madoff affair in personell. This might indicate a big financial hit which might equate to price increases to compensate. We most likely will never know as they are [B]not[B] a public company and are very secrective.

[PhilK]

Originally Posted by eye4detail

Hi all,

I'm wondering why there's been a dramatic rise in RSC UK service costs in the last year or so?

The UK already has the some of the most expensive RSC service charges in the world, but why has it been bumped up so much of late?

As a result, good independents like William Rice have also increased their service prices.

We're talking £460 ($720) for a basic service nowadays, which is a fair bit more than in the US and elsewhere.

Has anyone got any information on this please?

Thanks,

Regards

Was quoted £425 for a lady datejust and £455 for a Sub with Date from an AD yesterday.

[supertrooper]

Originally Posted by eye4detail

Based on these figures, RSC UK servicing has gone up 56% in one year!

Yikes! That is horrible, to say the least. Very opportunistic of Rolex, given the depressing international economic situation.

Originally Posted by eye4detail

One of the main reasons, from what I can tell, is that Rolex have built a new service centre, with greater capacity, as well as extending the service warranty to 2 years instead of the previous 1 year.

The 2 year Service Warranty has been in effect in other RSC's since 2010. So I guess, that could not be a part of the reason behind the 2012 price increase in the UK.

http://forums.timezone.com/index.php...=5002858&rid=0

Originally Posted by eye4detail

they are making it very expensive to be an owner.

Agree on this. It's a sad situation indeed for us who love the brand.

[Naya72]

I can buy a new watch with the money that I spent to service my explorer II... but after looking at the quality of their work... I think I can live with that...

[kanikune]

First off, I think it's totally fine to send watch to RSC or some reputable watchmaker for service.

When I "started" seriously this hobby, I decided I'll service my watches. Some don't have time, some don't have intress, so not all need to be watchmakers, too. But if service costs are too much, you can get proper instruments for the price (or less) of one proper overhaul. Of course more demanding tools are needed for more demanding jobs. And time is needed to learn things needed. And then there is risk of messing your watch properly.
Just throwing it out as one option.
Sure does bring watch closer to the owner.

I am just so cheap that it has definitely effected on my decision :)

[brandxbrand]

Originally Posted by dacattoo

Consider the Bernie Madoff effect. Rolex had a huge shake up after the Madoff affair in personell. This might indicate a big financial hit which might equate to price increases to compensate. We most likely will never know as they are [B]not[B] a public company and are very secrective.