TGehrke
15
IWC Galapagos Aquatimer poorly constructed
IWC Galapagos Aquatimer poorly constructed
I purchased the IWC Galapagos Aquatimer in March 2010 and was happy with until approximately 9 months later when the rubber edge of the crown began to become frayed at the edges. The fraying of the rubber has happened all the way around the crown and I therefore decided to have the crown repaired assuming the warranty would cover this. To my astonishment IWC refused to repair the crown under warranty claiming that the rubber was damaged due to the watch having suffered some sort of severe impact. I work in an office environment and have not had the chance to take the watch diving yet. The fraying is taking place all around the crown and the watch has not had any severe impact -- it has only been subject to normal wear and tear.
It is very disappointing that a reputable watch company like IWC will not honor their warranty. As an amateur collector of high end watches it has been an expensive learning experience but I will clearly not buy another IWC watch. This message has been edited by dxboon on 2011-05-23 11:21:55
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IWC Galapagos Aquatimer poorly constructed
IWC Galapagos Aquatimer poorly constructed I purchased the IWC Galapagos Aquatimer in March 2010 and was happy with until approximately 9 months later when the rubber edge of the crown began to become frayed at the edges. The fraying of the rubber has hap...
added comments to IWC web site
Just add my comments to the IWC website -- will be interesting to see how they react.
IWC removes my post
IWC have removed my post without comment from their forum -- I think that says everything you need to know about the company. I didn't violate the terms of the forum and merely posted my experience with the IWC Aquatimer Galapagos and the company decided ...
My only suggestion...
It is always difficult to discuss about this kind of topic because it is always a "your word against his" situation. I understand your disappointment. But you have a AD I suppose. The role of an AD is not only to sell watches but also to be a link betwen ...
IWC censure negative customer feedback
Thank you for the suggestion. I will contact the AD as I have so far only dealt directly with IWC. By the way IWC run a customer forum on their website but apparently they only want positive feedback as I have posted to comments about this issue on the we...
Try Facebook and Twitter
If you use these tolls they can not always censor you and will get you a response. If that does not work that start a Facebook page explaining your problems and invite all your friends. I hope that helps and good luck getting your issue fixed.
Might be good if you can post a photo of the crown...
As a Galapagos owner, I am not seeing any issues on mine. The crown on my watch had in the past a little tough to pull out to adjust date and time after unscrewing from the lock position, but now it is working fine and other than that the watch has perfor...
Problems with IWC Aquatimer Galapagos
Apologies -- I am not a native english speaker and when I wrote crown I actually meant bezel. The problem is with the bezel (face of the watch). This message has been edited by TGehrke on 2011-05-21 16:23:30
In that case, that's even harder to imagine...
...why the rubber coating around the bezel would wear out that fast. My watch still looks brand new and I have been most impressed by the rubber coating. Now I can understand why IWC is suspicious and refused to repair your watch under warranty. Unless yo...
Using online fora as "weapons" ...
... in warranty issues is generally a problematic issue. The criticized brand normally has not an equal position there, even if it chooses to answer the accusations. As a community, we strongly encourage the owners of the watches to first make use of the ...
Poor customer service from IWC
I haven't addressed the issue with my AD but will given your feedback and others. I used another AD (also zurich based) to send the watch for repair at IWC in Switzerland. It took IWC 2 months to decide not to repair my watch under warranty. I have subseq...
IWC Aquatimer Galapagos poorly constructed
It is the edge of the bezel where the rubber is cracking/coming off (not the crown - apologies for my poor english) This message has been edited by TGehrke on 2011-05-21 16:23:17
What did you expect?
First, the watch part is made of rubber. There was no way it was going to be as durable as metal. Second, IWC runs its website for the purpose of helping it to make money. Why should it provide you a platform for negative comments? It is to the credit of ...
Another story from the IWC forum:
It is an interesting question with the IWC collectors forum: my two favourite brands are IWC and Breitling (and a lot of others... ) I used to be an active member on the IWC site forum, mainly the English one. I happened to write once that IWC should upgr...
Spot on...
It can be difficult and expensive getting a simple, classic watch fixed, $DEITY knows what it will be like with exotic materials, especilaly if they're limited production runs (I do wonder if limited production runs will have sufficent stocks of perishabl...
How long?
The other thing is that being technically able to re-produce the rubber coating does not necessary mean that IWC wants to do it even a few decades from now. We can only hope the best - at least the Galapagos owners. Best, Robert
Response to: (home) What did you expect?
MKVC, Given the watch is sold as a diving watch I did expect it to be fairly durable. This has turned out not to be the case and I should probably have done some research with regards to vulcanized rubber watches. I am not surprised that IWC doesn't want ...
Quite active....
for a day.... All your posts in this forum are directed against a watch company.... Moreover you do not provide any photos for your claim.... I used to own some IWC (one with rubber parts) and was never faced with any issues... Some of us have had some is...
Response to: (home) Quite active....
PinkPanther, I totally agree with you that the best course of action if you are not happy with a company's products is not to buy them again -- this is indeed my plan with regards to watches from IWC. That said I thought this type of forum was meant for w...
Please try to.....
read my comment more carefully about the anonymity.... Also, you have mentioned that you have yet to address this issue with your AD. Shouldn't that have been your first action- that would have been mine... I hope that you will have access to a camera soo...
Response to: (home) Please try to.....
I have read your post again about the anonymity but still don't get your point other than this is my first post to this forum -- must be missing something else?? I don't have a particular relationship with the AD that I used to buy the watch and I don't l...
Couple of points for discussion and considerations.
Hi TGehrke, 1) PinkPather is a long time forum member...look at his post counts. He is also known to some of the moderators and members, so I don't think it's fair to say he is "hiding" behind that forum nick. Surely you can appreciate, whilst this is an ...
Hi Horo, Thank you...
Hi Horo, Thank you for your comments. 1. I was only responding to PinkPanther's comments that I was hiding behind an alias -- which I am not. I also appreciate that PinkPanther is a long time member with many postings and that I have only just joined the ...
Rubber can be tricky...
First off, you purchased an expensive item and are now disappointed that now either has a quality defect or has been damaged. For that I am sorry. In general, in these situations you should utilize your AD to assist you in resolving the matter. They have ...
Response to: (home) Rubber can be tricky...
Bob, Thank you for your comments. I have tried repeatedly to escalate the issue with IWC but without success. I should have addressed this issue with my AD and will should this happen to me another time. I am not expecting IWC to fix the issue at this poi...
Interesting....
I view my Galapagos as my beater and I, for one, have found the vulcanized rubber to be far, far, far more durable than any metal would be. I know because I can be pretty tough with a watch. I use my Galapagos for any physical situation -- from hard skiin...
has any of the IWC Service People
looked at the Watch.?? since you're Careful with your Watch ?! it sounds like it's a Defect in the Product. whether they like it of not, they should Fix it at no cost ! best of luck Tony
Okay all, I'm locking this thread for the time being.
If our delightful HoMe mod wants to unlock it later, I leave that in his hands, but I think the OP has had the opportunity to air his grievances, warn prospective buyers as he stated he wanted to do, and receive feedback and advice from others on next ste...