You’ve been buying stuff on the internet for years. Now you’re looking to send your watch out for service. While both a “typical” e-commerce purchase and sending your timepiece away for service often start with you, your computer and a website, the similarities end there. Many aspects of the process are very different. Let’s clear up any confusion about this process...
When you visit a site to make a purchase from say Amazon.com, Walmart.com or just about any other online store, you find the item you want, you put it in your “cart” and when you’re ready you pay. The item is shipped to you and you’re done. Not so when you take a personal item, often one with much sentimental value and send it to us...kinda the opposite of a purchase.
To make this process easier, we offer free shipping both ways. We also send you a free evaluation and estimate. That means you visit our site, fill out our form and immediately print out a US Mail label as well as instructions for you to send your watch safely to us. We provide the label so that: A) there are no errors in labelling, we are nearly 100% ensured that the watch will arrive at our facility. This cuts out lost watches...something we all want to avoid. And B) you pay nothing at all up front. We pay for the shipping so that we may examine your watch and then send you a written, binding evaluation for service at no risk to you. If you decide NOT to proceed, we can instruct us to either recycle the watch for you or for us to send it right back. You pay nothing at all, zilch, nada. That way this process is painless and transparent. You pay NOTHING unless you decided to have the work done and you know EXACTLY what it will cost before giving the thumbs-up. No up front costs, no surprises.
The down side of sending of your watch is obvious: your wrist must manage without it’s regular companion for a while. A major advantage of this process is that it can all be completed from the comfort of your home. (The hardest part is often finding a suitable box...not something we can really help with ;-)
Once we receive your watch, we log it into our computer systems, evaluate your watch and send you an estimate. We then wait for your approval. Once approved, parts are pulled (and sometimes must be ordered), the watch is moved in line to be worked on by one of our watchmakers. After it is serviced, timepieces are cleaned up and placed in Quality Control to ensure it behaves itself. If it passes the tests, it is moved to invoicing and then to our shipping department for its return journey back to you. As you can see, this process is much more involved than pulling an item off of a warehouse shelf, packing a box and shipping it out to you; exactly what happens when you buy online.
Because this process has multiple steps, please be aware that you will be without your watch for a few weeks. For more details on the timeline, visit our blog article “I want to get my Citizen Watch serviced. How does this work?”
One more note, we know you are sending of what is often a dear friend. We promise to keep you updated about your timepiece’s status each step of the way. For more info about communication, visit our blog article “Citizen Watch Repair: Great Communication about Your Timepiece”
In addition, we are always here to answer any questions you might have. Feel free to use our “Status Request” feature on our site, email us or give us a call. Our call center is open from 9 AM to 4:30 PM Eastern Time.
We look forward to serving you :-)
Any questions? We’re here to help. Call us at 770.263.8669 or email us at care@watchhelp.com