So after seeing Dear Leader's thread on Swatch Group's repair process I thought I'd share mine with Seiko's. The back story is I bought a Landrek 8F56 on reddit for a good price because it had slightly misaligned hands:
Well about a week after I got it, I noticed that overnight it had stopped ticking. I pulled the crown out and pushed it back in, and it went around about 50 seconds and then stopped again.
So after calling some local watch repair shops, none of which wanted to touch it, I found Seiko USA's repair website, which didn't inspire a ton of confidence based only on the look: https://www.seikoserviceusa.com/
However, they list their repair prices very transparently up front based on movement type. The prices probably aren't the cheapest, but they generally aren't outrageous either. Prices for mechanicals range from $118 (7S line) to a slightly eye watering $983 (5R8 line, yay spring drive!). Quartz movements range from $98 (ani-digital non-divers) to $735 (9T). Discontinued calibers (including my 8F56) are $154.
Here's the full list: https://www.seikoserviceusa.com/pages/serviceprice/
The other slightly unsettling thing is that, you have to ship your watch along with a printed out piece of paper with your info. No online registration beforehand. This is obviously how things used to work, but it's a little jarring in 2021. https://www.seikoserviceusa.com/repairo ... wtorepair/
With few other options, away it went on the Thursday before labor day.
And, to my surprise, I already heard back! I got an email from Seiko this morning with the following:
When you click the link you are taken straight to the page with all the pertinent info, and the repair they recommend, with the option to make the repair or return the watch. However, unlike the Swatch group repair, they don't show you a photo.
I clicked on repair, entered my credit card information (Mastercard and Visa only), and was taken to a confirmation page. I also received an email confirmation that said the watch would be assigned to a watchmaker ASAP. However, no timeline was given, and it's unclear if I will receive email updates. You can also check the status of the repair on their website by putting in your repair # and email address. Currently that just shows the same confirmation page I saw right after I entered my payment info.
Overall I am pretty happy with the process. The only uncertainty is whether/how I will get updates on the repair. I suspect that I'll get email updates, but we will see! I'll keep everyone updated on the process.
tl;dr:
- Site is basic, but prices are transparent.
- Must ship watch with piece of paper containing your information.
- Quick confirmation with repair estimate.
- Not as comprehensive as Swatch Group repair experience.
- So far so good.
As you may have noticed, we we're offline this morning. This was caused by the "Thanks" plug-in going rogue and using up way too many server resources. This triggered an automatic suspension by our hosting provider as they thought it was a malicious attack. The "Thanks" plug-in has been disabled, hopefully temporarily so I can determine if that was indeed the cause, and take steps to prevent it from happening in the future.
I apologize for the disruption and for any confusion that may have caused.
Seiko USA service
Seiko USA service
I wish that watch were 38mm?
Re: Seiko USA service
Good luck! I think more threads we have like this, the better it will be for everyone. More knowledge is always great.
This is how SGUS operates as well. It's odd in this day and age, but there must be some method to the madness.
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- Potato_With_Arms
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Re: Seiko USA service
Let's hope your experience with Seiko repair is better than mine:
I sent my VK67 Chrono in for repair because the Chrono seconds would get caught/stop running. Received it back a week and a half later, and to my dismay it still had the same problem.
Sent it back again and the reported fix was a movement swap. Received it after a month and now the original issue appears fixed, but the 12hr subdial hand was clearly misaligned.... So I sold it
-Fairly efficient
-Somewhat incompetent ( at least in my case)
I sent my VK67 Chrono in for repair because the Chrono seconds would get caught/stop running. Received it back a week and a half later, and to my dismay it still had the same problem.
Sent it back again and the reported fix was a movement swap. Received it after a month and now the original issue appears fixed, but the 12hr subdial hand was clearly misaligned.... So I sold it
-Fairly efficient
-Somewhat incompetent ( at least in my case)
Re: Seiko USA service
That's a bummer. I hope your experience was an aberration!!Potato_With_Arms wrote: ↑Wed Sep 08, 2021 9:36 pm Let's hope your experience with Seiko repair is better than mine:
I sent my VK67 Chrono in for repair because the Chrono seconds would get caught/stop running. Received it back a week and a half later, and to my dismay it still had the same problem.
Sent it back again and the reported fix was a movement swap. Received it after a month and now the original issue appears fixed, but the 12hr subdial hand was clearly misaligned.... So I sold it
-Fairly efficient
-Somewhat incompetent ( at least in my case)
I wish that watch were 38mm?
Re: Seiko USA service
I used an AD to send a Seiko 5 with a 4R for an overhaul from the Seiko service center. Thanks to covid the total time the watch was gone was almost 8 months, but it came back to me running great. I think the total was just over $200.
Re: Seiko USA service
The watch arrived today. They replaced the movement and aligned the hands. It came in a small USPS box with peanuts and was set to my local time. All in all, the watch was out of my hands for 18 days, including shipping both ways. Not bad at all.
I wish that watch were 38mm?