I have an old watch that’s maybe at least 10 years old and I very seldom wear it. Sometimes I don’t wear it for two years because I forget that I have this. The style is unique in a way because it has two layers of tiny stones around the bezel which is not common.
The last time I had the battery replaced was maybe 3 or 4 years ago. The service center located on the top floor of Rustan’s in Makati informed me that it has a lot of scratches around the bracelet, on the crystal, plus there’s a missing stone.
The watch’s movement stopped again and I figured naubos na naman ang battery kaya laging alas onse y media ang oras.
I brought it to their shop in Shangri-la to have the battery removed na lang since I don’t intend to use it for the next year. Wala naman akong pinupuntahan so hindi kailangan ang relo. I’ve decided to just have the battery removed while I am not wearing it.
The store in Shangri-la gladly received it and promised to send it to their service center in Makati.
After a little over a week, their service center called to inform me that they’ve opened my watch and sadly the battery had already leaked. I suspected that but what I didn’t expect was the whopping cost to restore my old watch.
FINDINGS:
battery leakage
dirty movement
not water-resistant
one stone missing
one extension link pin missing
crystal scratched
case and bracelet scratched
dial discolored
crown stuck up
The lady who called was very polite. When I asked her how much would the new battery cost, the cleaning, plus any repairs necessary, she couldn’t tell me. She evaded telling me over the phone the cost estimate. I knew already that it was probably 10,000 because she couldn’t tell me.
I asked again how much. She would email me daw the quotation. Nerbyos na ako. How expensive could it be that it was so difficult for her to tell me over the phone?
She asked what I wanted to be done or if they would just remove the battery. I told her as much as possible I want it cleaned and serviced.
I also mentioned that the crown (pihitan) is stuck.
The crown can no longer be repaired according to her. They have to replace it with a new one. In my mind, I was thinking oh my it might cost an additional 4,000 pesos hula ko. She added that since the crown is made of white gold and has a stone at the tip, it would cost 47,000 pesos to replace the whole thing.
The Globe cel signal inside our house is very poor so while speaking to her, I went out to the Juliet balcony. When I heard forty-seven thousand pesos, nabigla ako, my estimate of 4,000 was too low, kulang ng zero. Oh my God! My voice was so loud our neighbors probably heard me saying oh my God! T
Then she added- to clean it, service, etc. would be an additional 30,880. Nanay ko po!!!! Sobra akong na shock. There was a driver walking in front of our house, napatingala kasi he heard my loud voice. Oh my buhay, ale luya, tinola and patola, ang mahal naman ng aabutin. Grabe.
Plus meron pang optional work so total Php 95,880. I was standing on the balcony, buti na lang nakahawak ako sa pinto kung hindi baka natalintaw ako, nahulog pa ako. Susmaryosep. Ninety-five thousand pesos eight hundred eighty pesos??????? (Hay buntunghininga).
REQUIRED INTERVENTION:
Complete service – Php30,880
– complete watch disassembly
– buffing of case and bracelet
– crystal assembly
– watch magnetization, and demagnetization, if necessary
– movement refurbishing
– movement check
– battery replacement
– hands replacement
– dial and hands fitting
– crown replacement – Php47,000
– complete gasket replacement
– watch assembly
– water resistance test
– functional check
– extension link screw replacement
Dial replacement P18,000
Nung araw merong half-page advertisement ang Philippine Airlines Php 777.00 all-inclusive with a round trip ticket to Hongkong, 3 days two nights kasama pa hotel, airport transfers, half-day city tour, and continental breakfast.
Dati rati Php 7,500 lang ang brand new Volkswagen.
My male classmate from UST was so proud to announce to his close friends that his father bought him a Mitsubishi Lancer in cash for P75,000. That was 37 years ago.
Nung araw, 34 years ago, one time I visited a big food and seafood exporter to the US. The owner told me he was selling his house in Greenhills for P500,000 because his business needed money for additional capital.
So 30 years from now, baka yung Php 95,880 pambili lang ng kape. Anak ng kapre.
The service center manager also mentioned that my watch’s dial is already looking yellowish. Tutoo na mukha na talagang luma. She said replacing the dial with a new one would cost an additional Php 18,000. Nay ko po, siguro hayaan ko na lang syang manilaw. Mabuti nga yun, it will become more unique. Walang face na naninilaw, parang may hepatitis.
Ano ba yan. It’s cheaper to have your car serviced. Ang kotse ang laki-laki, ang daming bakal, ang daming kukutingtingin, huhugasan pa at sasabunin, change oil, brake pads and fluid. Itong loob ng relo, hihipan lang yan tanggal na ang alikabok. Hay naku. I don’t know what to do. I will just probably retire this watch. Okay na lang kahit puro 11:30 a.m. ang oras nya.
