Recent Rolliworks reviews?

[joeinc119]

Originally Posted by joeinc119

I came to this forum a few months ago specifically looking for reviews of Michael Young and Rolliworks and thought that I would share my experience.

After reading the reviews I originally decided on sending the watch to Michael Young in China to save some money but the watch was returned to me after being in USPS limbo for 2 weeks due to issues with the customs declaration. To make a long story short I would have had to re-ship and declare a lower value to get it through. I wasn't willing to do that because of potential issues with any insurance claim if the watch gets lost. The watch has major sentimental value to me as it was my fathers watch, given to me as a graduation gift almost 40 years ago. I'm sure he would have done a great job but I have no personal experience.

I then contacted Rolliworks and ,after a few emails, shipped the watch to them.
They contacted me after inspecting the watch and gave me an estimate. The bracelet was badly stretched and the entire watch was improperly polished. I also wanted them swap the crystal, dial and bezel to return it to "retail" condition.

They noted that the winding crown, hands and clasp front were badly worn and offered to replace them with original for a fair price so I agreed.

I received the watch back from them yesterday and I can honestly say that they did an awesome job. The watch looks and feels as new as a 50 year watch can. If anyone wants to see before/after pics, msg me.

So, I decided to revise this based on my recent non-responsive experience.

I had to send the watch back. It was stopping around the same time and not restarting unless i tapped the crystal. I assumed that the hands were touching at the same spot and needed to be adjusted (they provided the hands and installed). A few days after this review I contacted them and shipped the watch back. I haven't seen it since then. When I email for updates (now 3 months since i sent it) I get no reply and never get anyone on the phone. The last update I got was over a month ago. I received an email stating that the watch was ready to ship back to me. A week passed and no shipping confirmation, no watch, no update so i try to contact them.

Finally, I get an email response stating that the bench testing results did not match the final quality control testing results and the watchmaker had taken apart my movement to troubleshoot it without my authorization. There was no reason for them to disassemble the movement. None of the work that I authorized would require the movement to be disassembled. The watch was serviced about 16 months prior to sending it and was working perfectly prior to sending it to them to restore the bracelet and case, replace the hands and crystal and swap the dial and bezel back to original (i provided the dial and bezel).

So basically they have my watch (tremendous sentimental value) and have been paid. It's downright disrespectful to be ignoring a simple status request. My patience is gone. The only light at the end of the tunnel is that I'll be traveling to Miami in a few weeks for business and I'm looking forward to hearing an explanation IN PERSON.

My fear is that the watch and movement have now been sitting in pieces with no end in sight. I'm just thinking how dumb it would have been to send my day date there for bracelet and case restoration. Proceed with caution, it sounds like they have more work than they can accomodate and a ghost handling customer service.