Jaeger-LeCoultre

Hi everyone,

I really need some piece of advise here!

I have bought 3 months ago a watch (reverso squadra duetto) from a JLC authorised dealer.
As it was not in stock, the AD ordered it saying it would come at latest, in 1month 1/2.
Also, he asked me (people are going to find it scandalous) to pay the full price when ordering the watch...
As I had the money anyway for it, I was willing to do it in exchange of a reasonable discount (they're never huge from ADs)...
Well, 3 months later the watch is still not there. I keep calling the AD every week of so, and among the "apologies" etc.. etc.. he is not able to justify the delay, nor giving any alternative date. According to him, JLC are not able to  estimate when we'll get the watch. The dealer says JLC will put up some kind of package to apologize but again, no more information.

Please, the guy that know well JLC/ADs, can you tell me if this is normal??
I'm thinking to call JLC directly and possibly involving more serious actions.

Thanks everyone,

Yog

Do a test with Rolex and their Daytona, or PP with a Chrono or a simple Nautilus, you will see that this kind of thing may happen.



In any way I want ot justify this kind of situation, by the way.

I understand your frustration, and I am somewhat surprised by this situation concerning a watch which is not a 2011 novelty.

Send me all your details and the details of your AD by PM, I will forward all this to my contact, and then, we'll see.

Best,

Nicolas.

For me, this is totally unacceptable....

A deposit may be required, but full payment and not delivery?

Personally I would not pay ahead of delivery, unless it s a special
order, and then only a deposit.....

I would contact JLC and inform them of the situation....
I am certain that they would not appreciate the situation....

I would then demand the money back and if still wanted the watch order it from a JLC boutique...
You would pay full price but you would have the watch- rather than paying with a discount but without
a watch...

Good luck and let us know..

Cheers

ps. On the JLC website you can find the relative addresses including the one of the JLC boutique


in Paris which is closest to you I believe and offers great service...

I would have gone nuclear on the AD but I would not have paid list to begin with...  You should not have to deal with this.  Good Luck.

paid in full and waited 3 months and its still not here??? Wow...hope they have a good excuse ready

All the details I asked in my first answer.

Can you PM me all these details please?

They will follow that and investigate, as they weren't please to learn that.

Looking forward to receiving your PM,

Best,

Nicolas.

Just to explain a bit more:

When I originally bought the watch I thought that an AD was actually a kind of representant of JLC and therefore that there was nothing really to be afraid of.

Now, a relative of mine just bought a few months ago a relatively expensive ROLEX. He didn't pay ANY deposit for it, and he received it within 4 weeks with all compliments.

I'm really, really frustrated. The worst is that as soon as the watch was not delivered after the longest, promised delay (2 months) I started to complain seriously and asked for an exact date (it was for a present due beginning of February but let forget that..). Well, the AD insisted that JLC are not capable to give any date. I told him I could'nt believe any serious manufacture on this earth is not capable to do a rough estimate (days, weeks, month?). He said, well, I know, I understand, but this is exactly as it is. Now, can you believe that?

I don't know who is being dishonest here and for what reason? The AD? JLC UK? JLC? But anyway, I'm really upset. We used to have in the family many horological passionated.Nobody has  never, ever been treated like that.

Just to be fair, I have been told that some kind of package from JLC will be offered to apologize and the AD will give me a (ridiculous) 150$ voucher (what can you buy with that in a jewellery...). Of course I'm not really interested in any promotional JLC product (whic I guess it what he meant...) and I would have preferred a relaxed, agreable, transaction as I'm generally used to.

Just to reply to the person that suggested for a refund and go buying elsewhere. As a matter of principle, and also for practical reasons, I don't intend to do that. Not to say than when I conclude a deal, evenknow payment has not been done, I don't come back on my word. Honestly, I think JLC should honour their order asap.

Nicolas, thanks for suggesting to help, I'll contact you privately.

They're really not happy with that, I can tell you.

Looking forward to your PM,

Best,

Nicolas.

I'll call the AD again on moday. From there we'll see what are the news and if I'll need to contact personally JLC or more (which at the moment I prefer to avoid).
I appreciate JLC are angry about this. I hope nevertheless that they're angry for all the story as I really would like to know why I could not be kept informed about the delays with the respect that is due to any customer.  Of course the fact that this happen while the AD comfortably holds my money is even more frustrating. Hopefully, I'll post more on monday.

By then guys, I whish you all a good week end!

yog

Updated, of course.

Best,

Nicolas.

I have been in contact with the AD today and here are the – rather deceiving – news. JLC UK has now estimated to supply the watch in…May !

This is almost 6 months to get it! A very long shot indeed from the “at latest end of January” when I ordered it very beginning of December.

 

If I believe my AD, and I’m under the impression the person I have spoken to today is being honest, (even know I keep the bitterness for having paid for a customer service good only for a swatch...), there is no justification whatsoever given from JLC except for the classic “customers delivered according to chronological order”. Really? I’d be pleased if other people having recently ordered this specific watch (or who knows someone in this case) can confirm this...

Now, a friend of mine has been quoted last week “8 weeks” from a different AD. The email he forwarded to me is mostly disturbing:

 “Hello XXXX.

 

Apologies for the late reply.

Here are the details you require.

The Ladies Steel Jaeger-Le Coultre squadra duetto on a steel bracelet retails at £YYYY.YY

The delivery time on this item is approximately 8 weeks as there is no stock available from the factory at the moment.

I have also been advised that Jaeger are due to put their prices up in April. So you would in effect have to pay the new price on delivery, if you wished to place an order for the watch.

Please let me know if we can be of any further assistance.

 

Kind regards

 

ZZZZ”

 

When challenged on this point, JLC UK has denied the delivery time given by the other AD. Apparently the guy invented it without having consulted them? Strange he is aware about their last pricing evolutions... And what is it meant by "you would in effect have to pay the new price on delivery". People would have expected something like you have better to order asap? Very strange...

 

I let you guys judge from yourself, but I’m really starting to feel there is something wrong here, somewhere.

 

Finally, the AD said he would try to see if a watch can be sourced somewhere else in order to shortcut this surprising, “unexpected”, delay. I’ll let you know tomorrow as it goes.  But don't think I'll be happy to be served before anyone else. If there is a fair list, I'll stick to the list!

 

But can you believe a delivery misjudgement as big as that? And why always this obscure communication? If someone tells you he wants to buy something for a present beginning of February, you cannot say the thing will be there middle of January, at latest end of January and after 3 months state we're going for May! I don't know but this doesn't relate to the kind of service I've been used to.

As Nicolas promised to try getting some insights, I’m eager to see what news he'll bring.

If you guys think my impressions are wrong, you're more than welcome to say it. At this point, I still want to believe there is some kind of mistake/misunderstanding somewhere in the chain.

 

But I’d like to get, with the respect that is due to every customer, apologies and a real gesture for the unexpected delay.

 

Yog

This message has been edited by yoghi on 2011-03-07 09:07:34 This message has been edited by yoghi on 2011-03-07 09:16:49 This message has been edited by yoghi on 2011-03-07 09:21:54 This message has been edited by yoghi on 2011-03-07 09:22:30 This message has been edited by yoghi on 2011-03-07 09:24:31 This message has been edited by yoghi on 2011-03-07 09:28:05

Just to let you all know Ithat 've been told by the AD that the situation is being adressed/investigated by JLC and hopefully I'll  have (appeasing?)  news soon.

Yoghi

Looks that with all the communication tools available todays it still take time to explain why things go wrong...

- patience maybe you might feel better..
Despite all what has been quite extensively described and elaborated by you -
sincere regrets of course, BUT:

- I guess , our kind moderator (next to others,maybe) had exercised some help, in facilitating attention to your issues.
So one might be optimistic, that there WILL be an answer, also for you..

Anger, and impatience make things worse, many of us have experienced.
So, chin up pls - sometimes it gets worse before it will get better ..

Regards, hs

...forum/emails is that sometimes you might get a wrong opinion of the writer mood!

Hello hs, thanks for your encouragements! But just to get this right, I have no anger at all! Of course I’m annoyed and frustrated by the all experience, but I guess there are more important things in life.

Nevertheless, it’s good to get people advices and experiences. And it is also good if you can find people out there that can help. But also, it makes sense to use a forum to share your experience because it would help other people in the future and it would also remind companies that you cannot just go over the customer. After all, if any other professional was to do the same thing (delays not respected, no communication/explanation or even estimations, and all of this for a sum of money that some people need to work half a year to earn..),  he will not stand very long!

The customer satisfaction should be the professional (here manufacture+AD) satisfaction. And the passion people have for watches (or any other appreciable item) doesn’t mean you can treat them badly because they will continue to come to you anyway!

So as I said, no anger, just very annoyed.

But let stay optimistic as you suggest ;-)

A good week end to all of you!

Yog

This message has been edited by yoghi on 2011-03-11 06:15:32

…got the watch from the AD last Friday, apparently just received from Switzerland. It has been delivered yesterday to the lucky owner (with a thousand of apologies to everyone who was originally involved with this family present, and a few messy arguments for the recipient…).

So first of all I'd like to thanks people here that helped with this. I'd like particularly to thanks Nicolas -amanico- for his friendly suggestion to forward the problem to people of his knowledge. I guess this has contributed.

Anyway, the AD eventually delivered the watch. I have also to admit, they did it with a lot of class the way they apologized and sincerely showed me how sorry they were through a nice gesture.

Nevertheless, I am sad I have heard nothing from JLC (even through the AD). No explanation, no gesture to show that they were sorry for the way the delay was handled. But as the watch seems to have come directly from Switzerland, I’ll wait to see if the local UK office of JLC will do something in the coming week.

The watch now:

Really astonishing (by far better than pictures on the official website)! Off course the quality of this JLC watch is as usual and I don’t need to say here how well finished it is (the inside is probably even better…). As for the design, it really looks to me as one of the most achieved lady watch I ever seen.

The white face is extremely elegant, with the day/night and date (in the 6) complications really adding something. I know men are generally (and rightfully) not interested in diamonds, but I’d like to say that even if they often spoil ladies watch (there are too much!), it is not the case here as they are just enough what is needed to make a lady happy without hiding the watch (by the way this is true for all lady reversos I’ve seen with diamonds).

The second face is also beautiful. It is black, no diamonds, giving a chance to the owner to be a bit less “blingy” during the week, when going to work or other activities where “blingy” is not welcome (this is also the opinion of the Mrs Lucky, not only mine). The four screws in the corner, which originally (on pictures) didn’t appeared to me to be adequate, now look just fine. My guess is that there is a hint here with these screws, but also in the middle with an opening that show a central decorated part of the oscillating weight, to the elaborated movement that is insight – maybe a reminder for ladies wearing haute horlogerie watches? The hands on this face present a thin central unfilled part. I like it, but I think they make time reading a bit harsh sometimes (I guess you can see them better on the gold version). The engraved bands on both the upper and lower part of this face make it a true recognizable reverso! I also like the hexagonal crown, typical of the squadra collection.

I guess a few pictures will better speak for the watch than the short description I’ve made, but at the moment it doesn’t look easy getting some. But if there are not enough around and some people are interested in, I’ll try to get a few shots.

There is nevertheless an issue with the watch as I noticed while quickly inspecting it, that there was a discrepancy between the minutes shown on the two faces. The black face is in fact late by two minutes (e.g. 10.10 is shown on this face while the white-diamonds face shows 10.12). I hope it is only a matter of placing the minute hands more meticulously but it might be more serious. This last point is really frustrating for a watch of this quality - particularly after all the issues with the delivery. As the watch has been waited for so long (and also because I don’t want to spoil the family satisfaction and happiness…) I’ll wait sometime before presenting it back to JLC for fixing. But it seriously upset me and makes me wonder how these things can happen when dealing at this level !

So, I’ll wait to see if I hear something from JLC regarding the original issues around the delivery of this watch...

But I want to remain fully honest and say this is truly an amazing wristwatch for ladies !!

As for the minute’s hands problem, I’ll probably open another forum in a few months to let you know how it goes!

Yoghi