PANERAI Service Issue

May 13, 2014,04:34 AM
 

Hi All,

I have been collecting Panerais since 1997 & have collected fair amount of pieces including lots of Special Editions. I must admit the boutique purchase experience has been excellent all this time and staff is very forthcoming and helpful in securing some rare pieces in the past. As the watches are getting older off course they require service & in some cases watches are either loosing time or gaining time. Recently i gave in my PAM197 rose gold 8 Days watch for complete service & care and gave a free hand to the boutique manager to do the best job possible and pre-approval from my side for any estimate to speed up the process. After a month the watch was ready & i happily went to the boutique and paid a hefty price for the service and in that too they changed the hands though there was no need. Since i gave a free hand so i had no choice but to accept the hands change etc. The watch was perfectly polished and looked as good as new. Loved it!!
But after 5 hours of wearing i realised that it had lost 15 minutes and as a benefit of doubt i re setted the time and checked again after an hour and so and found that again it lost 9 minutes..I was shocked and i own several watches with mechanical winding and automatic movements but never seen this kind of deviation. Totally unacceptable. I immediately sent a SMS to the boutique in charge and notified him about the problem however he claimed that he had wound the watch in the boutique and had tested the good time keeping for 3 days. Nevertheless he told me to send it back. Funny thing is that when i was picking up the watch the manager was praising about their new service centre & how the new service staff is trained etc etc. In my record this is my second unpleasant experience with Panerai and to me i have been seeing the prices of Panerai inflate over the years with little or no improvement in after sales services. In fact the service bill came with a piece of declaration from quality control department stating that watch was carefully checked etc..
I have no issues sending back the watch but it upsets me for the fact that it is the second time around with two different watches serviced thru same service centre. Panerai must take service seriously and actually do good quality control. 
Ovi














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sorry to hear....some questions

 
 By: Ancienne Le Brassus : May 13th, 2014-05:32
Given that you're such a good client of the AD, I doubt that the manager would be pulling your leg about checking the quality of the watch before handing it over to you. but that might be the case... or somebody might have checked it for her/him and didn'... 

Re: Iam a boutique client

 
 By: Horology75 : May 13th, 2014-06:16
& offcourse aim not doubting his claim. I have noticed that watch stops functioning completely & after several jerks starts again and that explains the time loss. i wonder why it stops.. ovi

It is plausible there was a "drop" along the way.

 
 By: Bill : May 13th, 2014-07:32
As noted above is seem like it left the service center in good condition and it was dropped along the way. However this does show a flaw in the boutique system that highlights the fact that they should recheck the watch as they said they did for several d... 

Thanks Bill , i will keep you all posted

 
 By: Horology75 : May 13th, 2014-08:53
The watch was not dropped or anything. Its simply a case of negligence of the service centre of Panerai. I think boutique staff is not at all responsible for this and should not engage in verification and quality control. Its the job of the brand to ensur... 

you're right

 
 By: Ancienne Le Brassus : May 13th, 2014-10:23
I agree completely. I hope it gets taken care of soon, and in the right way.... I would hope the manager at the AD will be your advocate in this. S

I agree with you however.

 
 By: Bill : May 13th, 2014-11:02
The unfortunate reality is that the Boutique staff interface with the client and whether they are at fault or further down or up the line a simple measure of running the watch prior to delivering to the client will effectively help the client perception o... 

PAM

 
 By: Arie - Mr Orange : May 13th, 2014-08:32
Things can go wrong. That's a fact. But: The 2 new PAM's I ever bought at AD's (359 & 379) both broke down within 1 month due to runaway screws....(staring at me from behind the glas of the exhibition caseback). Now I'm not a statistics expert, but I'... 

LOL [nt]

 
 By: Horology75 : May 13th, 2014-08:55

Oh dear...

 
 By: Jester : May 20th, 2014-09:21
I will NOT want to see the quality of Panerai be anywhere close to the quality of Italian sports cars... NO please...

Possibly Magnetized

 
 By: Boxcar : May 13th, 2014-12:11
I have an Omega that had similar issue. Turns out it had somehow got magnetized. You might check that out. Nice watch ! Hope you get it running correct.

frustrating, yes

 
 By: onnomon : May 14th, 2014-11:44
Not long after I received a PAM190, the SS version of the 197, it took a little tumble onto my hardwood floor. The watch stopped running, close inspection yielded what looked like a bent mainspring. For my repair (about a year ago), they had to send it ba... 

sorry to hear about your ordeal..

 
 By: ocwatching : May 15th, 2014-12:58
and i am sure it will be taken care of... these things happen I guess..its just unfortunate that its with panerai (2X in your case) I have had one issue similar to yours as I took delivery of a 339 from AD and it probably got knocked around in ship..I exp... 

Sorry to hear your experience

 
 By: AnthonyTsai : May 15th, 2014-14:11
I'm sure the watch was functioning perfectly fine as advertised when it left the Panerai Service Center. You do have that QC paper where it shows it was tested. So my guess, like what others have already mentioned above, is the watch either got damaged wh... 

If I had a dime....

 
 By: sergio : May 17th, 2014-07:54
for every complaint against Panerai's service, I've read in various Panerai fora, I would have a lot of dimes. Truth be told the brand has expanded so much, over the last few years and that, I'm sure, put the Service Centre under a lot of strain. Personal... 

Panerai service issue

 
 By: BrianTexas99 : May 21st, 2014-18:50
I have three Panerais, including a PAM 317. I dropped the 317 and the case cracked. I took the watch to the Panerai boutique in dallas. Three weeks later I received a call from Steve at the boutique telling me the watch would cost $16,000 to repair! I was... 

Completely agree with you Brian

 
 By: chinguel : May 29th, 2014-17:49
Completely agree with you Brian. Panerai should be change that. Any way after reading all the bad reviews on Panerai Ceramic watches i would never buy any Panerai ceramic watch.

Update

 
 By: Horology75 : June 22nd, 2014-05:42
Just to update all that watch is expected back from the service workshops of Dubai by the end of the month. Trust this time they will do a perfect job! Panerai style… Ovi

No update...

 
 By: Horology75 : July 13th, 2014-13:29
They promised me watch will be done by end June and now no sign of when the watch will be ready. This is totally unacceptable ! Never expected this sort of service from the Panerai workshops...Panerai needs to spend less on marketing and invest more in go... 

Agree w you, Panerai service sucks

 
 By: foubourg : June 23rd, 2014-06:38
Saw your post, and I feel for you. All my experiences with Panerai service in the US and all other Richemont brands IWC and Jaeger in the USA is pathetic. It's the same service center in Dallas. Just because of this reason I stopped buying most Richemont ...