Well that would be their costs (more or less) - I mean try and get as close to that as possible. Some store managers won’t have that power, but plenty I think could give you 30% off.
They made a mistake - ask if you can get the same type of discount as before (50%). Then stop talking and let them mumble - they’ll either say yes - or try and come as close as they can. Stores don’t like making mistakes (good stores) - and will be happy to try and fix it (make you happy) if they can.
Talk to the manager though - otherwise they are going to have to get the manager anyway.
Don’t forget to get them to resize the metal band for you…
I’ve got mine (a rather basic one, but with a titanium body/band and water resistant) for ~ 150 euros. Bought it (new) from Germany.
It has eco-drive written on both sides.
Let me add (FWIW) - getting an Eco-Drive watch is no guarantee of never having to change the battery :smack:
My wife purchased an EcoDrive watch in 2005 (I think). It stopped just short of the 5 year warranty. Back to Citizen, battery replaced, new 1 year warranty. Failed again just short of the 1 year. Repaired. Failed after 2 months. Repaired again. Worked until just after the warranty. This time, in frustration, I left it face up on the sun-catching windowsill in the kitchen for a month. It restarted, and has run OK for quite some time. But the watch never autocorrected the time as it was supposed to, and I suspect that if it stops again we will get a new one (not an EcoDrive) and put up with changing batteries.
I’ll second Citizen watches being total crap, and recommend a different brand. I had one that kept breaking over and over, always out of warranty. Every time cost me $130 but I kept paying it because my wife bought me the watch for a special occasion and it had sentimental value. Finally the fourth time I gave up, with apologies to my wife, and bought something else.
So where were you guys in the lengthy thread I posted in IMHO asking for opinions on watch brands?
It’s a little late to be throwing all the advice in that thread into question NOW, but if you have anything else to suggest, be my guest, since I’m considering the trade-in anyway…
Older ecodrive a for women sometimes had problems charging (face wasn’t as big for solar panel as men). As the technology got better - this has pretty much gone away (or so I’m told). I never had a problem - and have had ecodrive for close to ten years and other citizens close to 20 years.
Citizen is considered a very good watch brand. Ask any jeweler about repair rates on citizens vs other brands.
Also - keep in mind with the Eco Drives - that they still have a battery in them. It is recharged by solar power. While they are decent - like all batteries - they will eventually die. I’ve heard figures of about 10 years. Regular watch batteries last about 5 years (for watches without a lot of complications). So it isn’t like you are saving a lot of convenience here. Getting a battery replaced is cheap and simple. Getting one on the Eco Drive replaced is I think around $20 (they are sometimes soldered in I believe).
Well, I gave the department a call and talked to a manager. She actually remembered/recognized that particular watch, and offered apologies (though nothing else).
It’s not the replacing of the battery that was my main issue — it was the very real possibility of me not recognizing that a battery would need to be replaced until it was too late, which is why the solar powered watch appealed to me.
Are you saying that shouldn’t be a consideration at all in my purchase thinking? Because if so, maybe I should just keep this one. (Although if the model is as old as you thought it might be, and the Eco-Drives are better made as you said, then maybe it is still worth the upgrade. I dunno.)
I have several men’s Eco-Drives ranging from 1- 10 years old and they have been flawless workhorses. Much better reliability than the kinetic Seikos. You should get about 10+ years out of a Eco-Drive before the rechargeable battery needs replacing.
Eco-Drive is pretty much my go-to brand at this point. www.jomashop.com occasionally has some great sales on eco-drives.
It will just stop (non Eco Drive) - then take it to any jewelry store and they will replace it. Do if every few years if you can’t go a day without watch.
Yeah, I meant too late in terms of it’d stop on me.
So I’m guessing you’re presenting me with the possibility of keeping the watch I have. How should I decide whether to do that? The factors that I see are the battery issue, the age of the model (non-supported, and any advances in technology that have arisen since then), better quality that might be worth the extra money, and price.
(Not that I know some of the factors above or how to weigh them, but there you go.)
I’ve got a 12+ year old Citizen dive watch (battery) that’s never given me a problem. It’s been in the ocean hundreds of times, down to 130 ft max. It’s my everyday watch too. I just replace the battery once every 2 years.
My parents bought me an Eco Drive around 2000 or so for Christmas. As noted, it does still have a battery, which is recharged by the solar face, and batteries do have limited life spans. After about 8 years it stopped, so I took it to a jeweler to have the battery replaced (it’s basically sealed, the watch has no back). They sent it off to Citizen, who not only replaced the battery but also replaced the glass, which had become scratched over the years. It was like a new watch when I got it back, and has worked like a charm ever since.
In case anyone was wondering, I exchanged it for a solar powered Seiko (for more money, of course). I went with the Seiko because it was the other brand I kept hearing in the watch thread in the same breath as Citizen, it and the Citizen I looked at had comparable styles, but the Seiko was $50+ cheaper, and I couldn’t see why I should spend the extra cash.
'Course, it’s too big for my wrist, so I’m without a watch until Saturday when I can get it adjusted, but oh well.
