Recently I sent my Yemen to a big watchmakers in London I got them off their impressive website. They had quoted me £340 to service the watch, but when they got it they then quoted me £606. I phoned and asked why and they said it needed some parts. I told them I didn’t like the way they did business and to return it. When I got the watch back I posted it to Simon Freese for a service. He inspected the watch and said a service wasn’t required as it was running OK, but said he would do it if required. I decided to have it back and sent him my broad arrow as I knew that hadn’t been done. He serviced the watch and charged me £294. The moral of this story is always use recommended companies.
There are good and bad doctors, lawyers, accountants, car mechanics, builders, etc., so it makes sense that there are good and bad watchmakers too. "They had quoted me £340 to service the watch, but when they got it they then quoted me £606." Having said that, was the first price this place gave you really a quote, and not an estimate? There's a difference, and no watchmaker I know will give a firm quote on a watch service/repair sight unseen. If it was a quote and they tried to charge you more, yes that's not good. If the price was an estimate that could change upon inspection of the watch, that is actually pretty normal.
My watchmaker priced a watch I send to him for service at 50 euros.When he opened the watch he said that it needed a part and it would cost 85 euros in total. So I am with Archer on this one :There's a difference, and no watchmaker I know will give a firm quote on a watch service/repair sight unseen.