Audemars Piguet

It is also important to note that the two individuals with whom I dealt here in the U.S., Axelle Lima, Client Care Manager of AP's Florida service center, and Derek Blauser, who works at the AP boutique in NYC, were both extremely helpful and professional. In fact, I could not have asked them to do more, as they both sympathized with my position, and advocated on my behalf.

The problem that I had with AP was not about individual personalities or failures, but rather an arguably ossified, anachronistic corporate culture that has its roots in AP's home office in Switzerland.

I have long been a fan of some of the golden era vintage AP models, and have owned several over the years. I acquired a manual wind VZSS from the '40s about a year ago, and, while it was in good shape overall, the original hands (hour and minute) had been replaced at some point, and the replacements were inappropriate.

With the help of the above-mentioned Axelle, I was able to ascertain that AP had a correct, NOS set of hands in Switzerland. That was great news, but alas, life is not so simple. The first disappointment, and it was not a surprise, was that AP was unwilling to send the hands to Florida to have their own, U.S.-based technicians fit them to the watch. Now, we're not talking about a request from an independent watchmaker, nor are we talking about a complicated procedure. Nevertheless, AP insisted that the watch be sent to Switzerland for a full assessment before any repair work would be undertaken.

I understand that AP is probably not alone in this rigid policy (I had a similar experience with PP years ago), but it is ridiculous, and for obvious reasons.

Unfortunately, I haven't even gotten to the heart of the issue yet. Much to Axelle's credit, AP did agree to ship the watch at their expense, and I was only to be charged if the watch were it to have actually undergone service in Switzerland. Both Axelle and Derek made it abundantly clear to AP's home office that I was solely interested in having the hands replaced, and that I was not interested in having the movement or case serviced, etc. 

Having waited patiently for several weeks, I received an email update that included diagnoses of a variety of issues, followed by a breakdown of "Work and components required", and "Options". Included in the required work was a "Complete maintenance service", at a cost of $1,927.00. That did not include the cost of the new hands ($257). There was other "required" work as well, and the total due for the service would have been $2,635.00. Had I chosen the "options" as well, the cost would have been $5,686.00.

The essence of the issue, and the reason that I find AP's related policies to be both disappointing and outrageous, is that they steadfastly refused to execute a minor repair that I had requested, without my submitting to additional (very expensive) work that I had neither requested, nor desired. 

I frankly find this type of corporate behavior to be astonishing. Can you imagine Porsche or Maserati refusing to send a cosmetic component to be installed on an American-based car by one of their authorized dealers in the U.S.? More to the point, can you imagine them refusing to replace the part unless the customer allows the service department to do a several thousand dollar tune up and valve job? There simply is no reasonable excuse.

Yes, I understand that the company has pride in its products, and that they would like every vintage timepiece that arrives at their factory to leave in the best possible condition. I also understand, as alluded to above, that they prefer that their watches be serviced by AP technicians. I certainly have no problem with them recommending service, either. But the extreme edges of their policies are, in my view, both short-sighted and ultimately detrimental to the company. 

As a final note, the subject watch was returned to the original seller, who, while equally aghast at AP's behavior, graciously took it back and refunded my money. Now I ask you, with which of the two do you imagine that I will be more likely to engage in business in the future?

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