# Skagen â€“ Garbage Watch, Garbage Company, Garbage Service



## Fly high (Aug 14, 2010)

Skagen â€" garbage watch, garbage company, garbage service: I am a disappointed paying customer: Paid US$180 (!!!) on board of an Air Canada flight (I do not know why, its clicking kept me awake later, during this flight), then had a damage on the watch, wanted to BUY spare parts: No address to talk to, when you find the address, no one speaks to you back, ignoring you ("go f yourself" is what Skagen say, "you already purchased our watch, so we do not need you anymore"), Skagen watch is clicking so loud, clicking like an old wall metronome, need gkasses to see the time, why would anyone be so stupid to buy this piece of sh, with such a bad (no) service? I am very disappointed from this Skagen watch; I packed it into an envelop, and sent it "registered" back to the owner, as a donation to his family, that uses my money and dump on me. Do not buy Skagen, it is a piece of sh, and they sh on their customers.


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Can't believe you have registered just to have this rant  .

I've found Skagen to be the complete opposite: very helpful on the phone and very good prices on their repairs. This glass was replaced for less than Â£18 (incl. postage back to me) and the turnaround time was less than 2 weeks.


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## Fly high (Aug 14, 2010)

Hi Silver Hawk,

First, I am glad you are OK with them and that you got service.

I, however, have the full thread of mails I sent them, was waiting for their answer for 2-3 months (!), nothing! Disregard. I want to make sure no other stupid person like me falls into the same trap.


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## Fly high (Aug 14, 2010)

BTW, "Skagen" is a USA firm, a "Made in China" cheap watch, with "Denmark" cover. I just learned it. You can listen to it clicking, that will tell you about their quality.


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## Andy the Squirrel (Aug 16, 2009)

The audible ticking is probably because the mineral crystal is so thin. Silver Hawk, do you know what movement is inside it?


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## Clum (Feb 14, 2009)

Fly high said:


> why would anyone be so stupid to buy this piece of sh, with such a bad (no) service?


I don't know, why were you?


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## Drum2000 (Apr 2, 2010)

I don't think that I have ever seen a duty free watch for sale "mid-flight" that has been anything more than a bit of fun. You're better off at the airport.


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## Mutley (Apr 17, 2007)

Clum said:


> Fly high said:
> 
> 
> > why would anyone be so stupid to buy this piece of sh, with such a bad (no) service?
> ...


:rofl:


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## citizenhell (Jul 12, 2010)

Thank you for rendering this warning to the rest of us, it's very public spirited of you to warn us against such a purchase. As you are obviously a thoughtful person to do this, I'm a little confused as I can find your entry on the introduce yourself thread, an unmissable opportunity to let the rest of us know of your interests, watch collection etc. Did I miss this, or was it merely an oversight on your part that you will quickly put right. Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughful insights into the world of horology in the future.


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## Fly high (Aug 14, 2010)

Dear citizenhell,

I am, as I said in my opening post, a disappointed customer. I do not have a watch collection, and the one "good" watch, I purchased on board of an Air Canada flight, cost me US$180, as my previous watch gone dead at that time. I really thought it is a good looking watch, and thought that in this cost, it must be something good (=reliable - I have no objective measures, as you probably have, to figure out what is a reliable watch). I was mistaken. I was cheated to think that this watchm, made in China, owner is a stupid rich American, with a label "Denmark" may be something good. It is a crook selling these watches, making bad name to Denmark, a lovely, honest, creative and reliable country. Crooks that know they sell garbage, and do not want to spent time to support it.

Dear Clum,

I am not sure I understand your humor.


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## citizenhell (Jul 12, 2010)

Hell, I'm no expert when it comes to buying watches & although i'm starting to collect them, i'm sure I'll buy some good ones & some awful ones, largely due to the fact that some of them will be bought online which eliminates the chance to evaluate a watch in-hand before purchasing. That's my risk & I'll live with the consequences & learn from them. If you physically have the chance to check out a watch before buying it, do so because that will provide the best opportunity to recognise if you are handling something you want to pay money for, rather than as you put it, buying a piece of s**t. Did you check first or simply buy out of the magazine?

As for the humour quote, I think the general point is if you are smart enough to realise that only an idiot would buy something that awful, then why did you do it?


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## Mutley (Apr 17, 2007)

Fly high said:


> Dear Clum,
> 
> I am not sure I understand your humor.


I do :smartass:


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## Haggis (Apr 20, 2009)

Fly high said:


> Skagen â€" garbage watch, garbage company, garbage service: I am a disappointed paying customer: Paid US$180 (!!!) on board of an Air Canada flight (I do not know why, its clicking kept me awake later, during this flight), then had a damage on the watch, wanted to BUY spare parts: No address to talk to, when you find the address, no one speaks to you back, ignoring you ("go f yourself" is what Skagen say, "you already purchased our watch, so we do not need you anymore"), Skagen watch is clicking so loud, clicking like an old wall metronome, need gkasses to see the time, why would anyone be so stupid to buy this piece of sh, with such a bad (no) service? I am very disappointed from this Skagen watch; I packed it into an envelop, and sent it "registered" back to the owner, as a donation to his family, that uses my money and dump on me. Do not buy Skagen, it is a piece of sh, and they sh on their customers.


Hi,

I have heard that you suffer from the Tick Tick Ticking syndrome, in extreme circumstances it is advisable to wear a tinfoyle hat, if that fails take the rest of your money out of your wallet and stick it in your ears. Your post is very interesting and much studied by psycology students the word over. If the tinfoyle hat does not work just take the pills prescribed.


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## dobra (Aug 20, 2009)

I too have a Skagen in the style of an Oris Pointer. Originally Danish, they exported themselves to the US of A, where they continue marketing "Danish" designed timepieces. All made in China? Their website shews watches galore, but little hard info. I lost my instruction manual, and because the watch has slipped below the radar, nought. Having burbled all that, the watch works,look presentable, and gives me the time, when strapped to my hairy wrist....

Mike


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## Fly high (Aug 14, 2010)

Guys,

Thanks to those with real answers.

Apparently, being on board af an Air Canada flight, stewardess with stroll selling duty free stuff, "Denmark" logo, "I need a watch now" and a price label of US$180, made me make a mistake. I wanted to pay for spare parts, but there was no one on the other side: "Skagen" (Made in china "Denmark") is not listening.


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

Iâ€™d take the watch to a local (reputable) watchmaker and see if it can be repaired. If it canâ€™t you wonâ€™t be any worse off than you are now.


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## citizenhell (Jul 12, 2010)

This is a good place for advice - might be worth a post stating price range, style, functionality etc you'd like for your next watch & see what some of the experienced people on here come up with to avoid a repeat of your Skagen event.


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## BlueKnight (Oct 29, 2009)

We all get a disappointing purchase at one point. You should have returned it to Air Canada, as they are acting as the selling agent, and demand a refund or a replacement. Using the Forum as a sound board won't get you very far.

Cheers,


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## Loddonite (Apr 5, 2009)

Fly high, nice of you to register here and on WUS to warn people of your experience with Skagen.

I can see you are very upset about your experience.

Skagen's US website has several pages devoted to customer service, including forms for repairs, parts replacement, contact phone, fax, email details returns address, warranties and the like and on, and on... so it is surprising that they have not responded to you. (The European website has most of these including the contact details)

The ticking must have been very loud to be the reason you couldn't sleep on a plane. Perhaps that would have been the time to return the watch to Air Canada.

What kind of damage? What parts did you need?

As far as I am aware Skagen's owners are a Danish couple now living in the USA and the company has an outlet/office in Skagen, Denmark so I don't see a problem with them putting Denmark on the dial.

I hope you have better luck with your next watch.


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Problem with impulse buys, on an aeroplane or otherwise, is that the impulses can be w-r-o-n-g. As you grow older and wiser, you learn to distrust those impulses. Or not ... I've made some questionable purchases this year, but dealt with them. Took them to watchmaker, or lived with the faults. In one case, sent watch back to the seller, got refund, endured his insulting feedback, and followed up with even more telling feedback on him. Case closed, moving on.

I see Skagens at Costco and BJ's regularly, and don't think much of them. Sub-$100 price range, unknown movement, banal styling, bleh.

Your problem with buying a watch on a flight is that the light and ability to really examine the thing is atrocious. So if you made a snap judgment and bought because you needed a watch, you got what you paid for: an impulse buy item, questionable seller (airline? no, really, who buys watches or jewelry from flight attendants?), a little bit of use, then breakage.

Taking for granted that you truly have tried to get legitimate remedy from Skagen (not "sell me spare parts so I can fix it myself," not many manufacturers will be able to oblige), I presume that your expectations of them are impractical, or they don't feel you're a customer worth keeping. I would ask Air Canada to refund your money, or go to your credit card company for a charge back.

Telling this crowd not to buy Skagen is rather futile ... like telling wine connoisseurs to boycott McDonald's ... I haven't seen any Skagen fanatics here on the forum. Try WUS ... more ears to bend. Let us know if you make forays into quality timepieces.


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## Fly high (Aug 14, 2010)

Guys,

First, thanks to David Spalding! I am not a boy anymore, but thanks for the nice answer and description, which, amazingly, fits my character! I did take ALL the blame for stupid purchase, and I did take the blame for making the damage to the watch, and I did want to PAY to repair my watch. I did go to many local shops, all said there is no local Skagen representative so they have no spare parts . It looked simple enough to send email to Skagen, propose paying by credid card or sent a cheque, or PayPal, for the spare part, right?

Wrong. After 1 mail and 2 reminder mail, they asked me where am I located and that is the last I've heard from them. Since then, 6 mails, never heard from them. So I packed the clicking watch (had to break it, otherwise the mail service will think it is a bomb clicking in the envelop)

I hate a company the ignores me after taking my money. I hat Skagen.


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## ENY55V (Mar 17, 2006)

It is GREAT to have people like Fly high to "rant" about their experiences. The more the better (opinions) about the not so popular brands. This should give everyone a better perspective of the market. :thumbsup:


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

If you wrote e-mails to Skagen and/or the airline in *anything* like the rant mode you've posted here, I'm not in the least surprised they decided you weren't worth replying to with any useful help









Did you take the watch to *any* watchmaker and simply ask if the watchmaker - a professional - considered it to be ticking "too loudly"? Or not? And was it a proper watchmaker, not a Main Street/High Street glitter store with only sales assistants? :to_become_senile:

I'm sorry, I have no sympathy for you - after doing enough research to find out the owners of the company, and their current location, I'm sure that a simple pleasant "written letter" explaining your problem, and backed up by saying a "good" watchmaker - a member of one or other of the many national horological societies has agreed the watch is ticking too loud/faulty, would have produced much better results than a rant via e-mail. :yes:


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## ollyhock (Feb 9, 2009)

Fly high said:


> Skagen â€" garbage watch, garbage company, garbage service: I am a disappointed paying customer: Paid US$180 (!!!) on board of an Air Canada flight (I do not know why, its clicking kept me awake later, during this flight), then had a damage on the watch, wanted to BUY spare parts: No address to talk to, when you find the address, no one speaks to you back, ignoring you ("go f yourself" is what Skagen say, "you already purchased our watch, so we do not need you anymore"), Skagen watch is clicking so loud, clicking like an old wall metronome, need gkasses to see the time, why would anyone be so stupid to buy this piece of sh, with such a bad (no) service? I am very disappointed from this Skagen watch; I packed it into an envelop, and sent it "registered" back to the owner, as a donation to his family, that uses my money and dump on me. Do not buy Skagen, it is a piece of sh, and they sh on their customers.


im getting a vibe that your not bonding with your new time piece :grin:


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## langtoftlad (Mar 31, 2007)

Perhaps...

You know what? I can't be bothered.

:sleep1:


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## Fly high (Aug 14, 2010)

mel,

You did not really read my post, right?


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

Fly high,

I tried to offer some practical advice but you seem to have missed my post. Do you still have the watch and what state of repair is it in?

If you still have it, take it to a local watchmaker for an independent opinion and for an estimate for the cost of repair. Thatâ€™s a logical step to take at this stage.

Many quartz watches have an audible â€œtickâ€ that can be considered loud; I have a few myself. But none I own are anywhere near as noisy as an old pin pallet watch.

I understand your displeasure with a faulty purchase and do sympathise, but I have to question if you have explored every possible solution to the problem other than complaining and venting your spleen.

Try something a little more practical; it may yield better results.


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## HappyLad (Oct 28, 2009)

Loddonite said:


> snip...
> 
> As far as I am aware Skagen's owners are a Danish couple now living in the USA and the company has an outlet/office in Skagen, Denmark so I don't see a problem with them putting Denmark on the dial.


I do.....

Putting any Danish emblem on the watch is an attempt to associate the product with that country. If the product was manufactured in China, then why should it be associated with Denmark?

If its made in China, then stick a Chinese flag on it, don't try to confuse the buyer and obfuscate the location where it was made.


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## langtoftlad (Mar 31, 2007)

HappyLad said:


> Loddonite said:
> 
> 
> > snip...
> ...


As long as they don't put "Made In Denmark", I don't see the problem.

Danish company, Danish owners, Danish design ??? - I think the Danish association is justified.

Age old discussion, what justifies "Made In..." label? The components, the assembly, blah blah.


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## normdiaz (May 5, 2004)

Fly high, Skagen's service must have gone seriously downhill since I dealt with them. I had bought a ladies Skagen for my daughter. When the battery died, her husband tried to put in a new battery (He's good with computer repair but needs to leave watch 'tinkering' alone :cry2: .) and (per my watchmaker) "broke" the movement. I sent the watch to Skagen's service center in Nevada and they returned it in, I thought, a reasonable time running like new for $34 which I considered reasonable relative to the original discounted purchase price of the watch. They included return shipping in their charge and included a checklist of services performed. I had absolutely no complaints as to their communications, turnaround, quality of service, or price. Unless things have recently changed drastically at Skagen, I am puzzled by your experience. From your description, maybe they got bought out by Invicta. :wink2:


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## langtoftlad (Mar 31, 2007)

Was it this?










listed at *C$104.00* - not C$180 :dontgetit:

Air Canada duty Free

I find it difficult to believe that the tick of a watch could be heard above the background noise level of an aircraft cabin in the cruise.


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Fly high said:


> Guys,
> 
> First, thanks to David Spalding! I am not a boy anymore, but thanks for the nice answer and description, which, amazingly, fits my character! I did take ALL the blame for stupid purchase, and I did take the blame for making the damage to the watch, and I did want to PAY to repair my watch. I did go to many local shops, all said there is no local Skagen representative so they have no spare parts . It looked simple enough to send email to Skagen, propose paying by credid card or sent a cheque, or PayPal, for the spare part, right?
> 
> ...


Friend, I'm seeing warning lights on my caution advisory panel. You took the watch to several repair(?) shops and they all said they couldn't get spare parts?

If I'm understanding/recalling, the problem wasn't that it wasn't keeping time, but that the tick was too loud for you?

Email is convenient, but it's also convenient to ignore. Written correspondence or a phone call is best.

Then you packed the watch and "had to break it, otherwise mail service would think it is a bomb ticking." So ... you broke it so that you could put it through the post. Huh?? Did you think to simply pull the crown out (which on many quartz watches will stop the movement) or have a shop remove the battery?

I'm getting an awful strong sense of :Troll: ... or you're really new to the world of watches, and have plenty to learn. (Dont' worry, we all had to start learning sometime.) Be a sport and post a pic of your broken watch....


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Al Capone convinced himself he was a valuable member of society who had been rail-roaded by the Police and Law Enforcement Agencies of the time. I think "Sky High" has convinced himself he's right and Skagen are wrong and nothing very much anyone adds here will serve any useful purpose. - Ooh! maybe it'll put folks post count up :lol:

Yes I read his post and waited a couple of days before replying. I'm sorry, I agree with David!

:Troll:


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Time to lock the thread?


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

langtoftlad said:


> Perhaps...
> 
> You know what? I can't be bothered.
> 
> :sleep1:


I'm drunk............... :alcoholic:


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## howie77 (Jun 21, 2009)

ENY55V said:


> It is GREAT to have people like Fly high to "rant" about their experiences. The more the better (opinions) about the not so popular brands. This should give everyone a better perspective of the market. :thumbsup:


mwarf!


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Andy the Squirrel said:


> The audible ticking is probably because the mineral crystal is so thin. Silver Hawk, do you know what movement is inside it?


Made in Japan, Miyota, Cal 1L22 :thumbsup: ....I've just had to change the battery.


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## Badger (Jan 5, 2004)

I have about half a dozen Skagens. Nowt wrong with 'em. Nice design, good materials, Japanese movements. Who cares if they are made in china? So are many Seikos, Casios, Citizens and dozens of other leading brands.

As for repair - a local watchmaker should sort it you.

Egads

Dave


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## ENY55V (Mar 17, 2006)

I really feel for this chap.

It seems that many have forgotten when Tag-Heuer were selling their Â£99 watches (or was it Â£110?) on airplanes in 1990.

My 1989 solar panel Pulsar steamed up in Thailand (in 1993) - I had to buy a watch, there and then, and bought a Tag-Heuer for Â£235 (not every purchase is programmed). Some 7 years later I regretted what I bought but found some "schmuck" on eBay that almost paid me Â£195 for a useless piece of s**t. :bangin:

This is how much Tag-Heuer wanted to charge me to have the watch serviced.

Customer service, in general, has gone down the drain - and we should all look for a revival

:cheers:

Would that be with Dell, Virgin Media, Vodafone, eBay, British Gas - and so on - I am surprised that no one hasn't had problems in one way or the other with companies/suppliers/customer service.

The watch is s**t - end of story. I am not really sure how can one complain to the airline. Canadian airline - will it come under UK trading standards (UK sales act) or ....what?

There is an International warranty with watches and, any good company, should try to help. Local shops cannot assist - so it seems and Skagen are not answering email.

I will be pretty pissed off too.


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## Johnny 1989 (Aug 30, 2010)

Hi there

My Dad bought a Skagen watch off of QVC (UK) a few months back & he caught the strap, damaging it quite badly, a simple phone call to their UK offices (in Birmingham) and within three weeks the watch was sent off, the strap replaced & it returned back to him good as new.

I rather like their watches to be honest, they're pleasant enough to look at and aren't loud at all.


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## Redwolf (Jun 15, 2010)

I just spent 20 mins reading this thread, I really dont know why lol!


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## newwy (Jul 19, 2010)

Bluestifford said:


> I just spent 20 mins reading this thread, I really dont know why lol!


yeah, me too...........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


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## Theevaultkeeper (Sep 20, 2010)

+1 :thumbsdown:


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Johnny 1989 said:


> Hi there
> 
> My Dad bought a Skagen watch off of QVC (UK) a few months back & he caught the strap, damaging it quite badly, a simple phone call to their UK offices (in Birmingham) and within three weeks the watch was sent off, the strap replaced & it returned back to him good as new.
> 
> I rather like their watches to be honest, they're pleasant enough to look at and aren't loud at all.


Welcome Johnny, Im sure that the original poster of this topic caused most of his own problems with his attitude ......

Im glad you had a positive experience, this is probably more representative of the brand than the subject of this topic....


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## Daveinspain (Feb 28, 2004)

David Spalding said:


> Problem with impulse buys, on an aeroplane or otherwise, is that the impulses can be w-r-o-n-g. As you grow older and wiser, you learn to distrust those impulses. Or not ... I've made some questionable purchases this year, but dealt with them. Took them to watchmaker, or lived with the faults. In one case, sent watch back to the seller, got refund, endured his insulting feedback, and followed up with even more telling feedback on him. Case closed, moving on.
> 
> I see Skagens at Costco and BJ's regularly, and don't think much of them. Sub-$100 price range, unknown movement, banal styling, bleh.
> 
> ...


Class line


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Like I said before, gets the post count up :lol:

(that's me plus another one as well! )


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