Complaint Review: Bears Watch Repair/Providence Watch Hospital - Cranston Rhode Island

In order to clearly convey how I came to deal with the dishonest dealings at "Bears Watch Repair/Providence Watch Hospital", I must begin my story a month ago.

A month ago when I purchased a wristwatch, my new posession was quite a departure from my normal habits. I am not used to wearing finery, and this watch was the first "good watch" I had ever purchased. I first saw the watch for sale online. It was advertised as a "British Military Overun", the 'overun' pertains to 'production overun'. It was moderately priced and a "one-of-a-kind" item. Being a soldier recently come home, I thought I would splurge and buy this watch. It suited me, I thought, and convincing myself that such a fine posession was symbolic of the refinement I myself would have to undergo, making the transition from the meager life of a soldier to that of a civilian, I hesitated little in submitting my payment in exchange for that symbolic instrument to mark the progress of my new-found life.

I received the watch in "as new" condtion, as promised. The flimsy leather strap, which would not have been original issue with such a watch, was kindly supplied by the retailer as a "gimme". I sought to replace this strap. I did so with a stainless steel bracelet. I undertook these things because I was very fond of this watch. Even so, the watch was not yet able to be worn. The bracelet was a bit too large for my wrist. Besides, I didn't care for the clasp it came with, a purely aesthetic feature. I obtained a new clasp and took these things to "Bears Watch Repair/Providence Watch Hospital". Their job was simple. Here was a watch complete with a bracelet. They were to make the bracelet shorter by removing some links, and replace the clasp. I left my watch in their care for three days. Here is the sad part of the affair.

I cannot begin to tell of the horrors they inflicted on my poor watch. The glass crystal and the case back came back all with scratches. There is no exuse for this. The work was not on the watch itself, but only in the fitting of the bracelet and the clasp. In the place where the clasp joins the bracelet, there were left sloppy tooling marks. When confronted, the owner of "Bears Watch Repair/Providence Watch Hospital" denied having scratched the watch entirely. As for the bracelet, he shrugged off the shoddy worksmanship as "normal". Keep in mind that I have not yet had a chance to wear this watch, a watch in new condition before this. As "Bears Watch Repair/Providence Watch Hospital" absolutely refused to compensate for the damage they inflicted on my property, except of course unless I could find someone to fix it for "$5 or under", a statement adding insult to injury, I sent the watch back to the retailer from which it had originally come.

The watch now sits at the retailer. It is waiting for me to reclaim it, something I am not yet apt to do. Some work has been done to salvage it. Certain scratches are deep and cannot be removed. The retailer, who I speak of now, says that looking at the watch under a loupe, it appears that the scratches on the case back were made on purpose!

The watch is now in the possession of the retailer who is certainly more of an expert than I am in these matters. Basically,"Bears Watch Repair/Providence Watch Hospital" mauled my watch. It was a watch that I treasured, on which I expended a great deal of time and resources. The retailer, who now has my watch, concurs on the extreme negligence on the part of "Bears Watch Repair/Providence Watch Hospital". He will contribute all he can to see that such bad business practices do not go unpunished.

This is just as much about justice as it is about monetary compensation. Were it exclusively the latter, I could afford to suffer it without much harm to my financial situation. I cannot suffer to look at the watch, with its permanant scars, unless justice is served and my mind put at ease. If I cannot obtain some form of compensation, much less an admission of guilt from "Bears Watch Repair/Providence Watch Hospital", I may as well sell this watch. Otherwise, every occassion on which I check to see what time it is, I will become disgusted, reminded of how I was taken advantage of and forced to swallow without retribution.