The Ups and Downs
This is one of those posts that just happen as unplanned exercises. A few things happened recently with Timex that have me irritated. This is on top of the recent post about what I considered some disappointing releases. I am generally a fan of Timex but I just don’t understand some of the forces driving the rolling behemoth that is Timex.
Repair 1
For years I have been sending older Timex watches in for repair. Things seemed to be pretty efficient and they were very helpful. They were really good at fixing watches over ten years old most of the time. It was usually a 6-8 week process. Two or three years ago things started going sideways it seems as Timex was going through a lot of changes. I have posted about this before. Recently I had some frustrating experiences with Timex regarding repair but it also involves their Customer Service in general.
In May of 2026 I sent in a Allied Chronograph because the movement had given up. Just worn out I guess you could say. The chronograph complication not working. It is now Oct 2026 and I have no idea what the situation with my watch is? I knew that anything over 5 years old might not be able to be fixed. I also knew it was out of warranty and I would have to pay at least $30, but it was a common movement and I figured they had to have some around somewhere. It’s basically a Scout chrono? They are a world wide operation and have facilities and parts in several countries. I understand that at some point they can’t and don’t want to repair older watches, and want you to get new ones.
What happened is they seem to have completely lost track of the watch or don’t want to tell me what happened to it. I never got the normal invoice they send after inspection to determine cost. Usually the invoice comes around a month later, then after you pay via PayPal, the repairs are done and it is shipped to you via Fedex, with no tracking info, mostly from the Philippines. It just shows up one day. I contacted them to get a status update and their Customer Service acted like I was crazy. They had lost track of my watch. I had to send them USPS tracking data and a copy of the Repair Request they should have had in their system. I even sent them an image of the watch! This was months ago. They still have not been able to tell me what is going on other than an “investigation”. The emails from customer service are mostly vacant, useless and downright confusing as they get different repair request confused or mixed up! They don’t know anything and are just running a screen for the rest of the operation.
Sometimes they respond to emails within a day or two, but then sometimes they never get back to you? It is so inconsistent and the old “left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing” seems to prevail. It seems the Repair Team and the Customer Service Team are not on good terms? I’m pretty sure they have lost the watch or sent it to their Rewound program(more on that later), or to another customer. Somewhere along the path someone dropped the ball. The last I heard from them was last month and “…please be assured that the case remains under active review…”. Then today, I get some confusing email mixing the two above mentioned repairs orders?! It just shows how complex a huge company can be and how the various departments involved operate disconnected from each other. Sometimes I wonder if anyone else uses the system like I do? If its this messed up does anyone persist or ever try again?
Repair 2
As I have posted before, Timex did lose another of my watches a year or two ago. I got it back eventually, but the situation was similar. They could not find it. They told me it went to another customer instead, but I’m not sure I believed that. In another case before, they have also sent me a Frankenstein replacement. The next recent situation happened during this wait for the above watch. I sent in a 30-year-old diver-style with Indiglo feature. The watch, a 48522, was one that looked like a diver but only had 30m WR! However, I think they are cool looking with big gnarly bezel. The 1985 catalog puts them under the “Men’s Sporty Fashion” category. The movement was not working. I had taken it to a local watchmaker first, thinking to avoid the Timex system. He said he did not think he could do anything for it, so off it went to Timex. It did not take long for this one; Timex informed me they could not find parts. This is understandable. It had an M649 movement with Indiglo backlight. Apparently these are problematic and not available? In general, I have noticed backlit quartz watches from the mid ’90s are not something watchmakers like to work on.
Timex offered to replace the watch with another neo-vintage watch, that was completely different looking, without rotating bezel. It was a cool looking Reef Gear model that I had never seen before? They must have got it from their Rewound program. What was weird was they wanted to sell me a strap with it that I did not pick or want. They ask customers to not send straps with watches in for repair, anyway.
I emailed that I would take the replacement but didn’t want the strap. It took two weeks for them to respond after they had told me, “Kindly reply the soonest possible with your confirmation to avoid further delays.” Then suddenly I got a Paypal invoice and paid it right away. Interestingly, the invoice listed a watch that was not even what I was getting? It’s as if they used another invoice to save time? I have seen this on Repair Team paperwork before where listed is a watch designation not for the watch repaired? So now, I’m expecting the Reef Gear model to just show up some late morning on a Fedex truck.
Rewound
Oh, no! Rewound ist kaput! While my two repair requests are cooking, I decided to check in with Timex Rewound and see if any cool refurbished watches needed a new home. When I went to the site, the shopping feature was not available. You could still send in a watch for recycling and get a coupon from Timex.
Its been a while since I had visited the site, so I don’t know how long ago they quit reselling refurbished watches. It has been a rough summer with the World Cup and being sick and working on my ADU project, so I just haven’t been checking it out. It must have not been very popular? I also don’t think it was advertised enough by Timex or Matter, the company running it.
I emailed the contact to find out what was up. They responded informing me that the sales are suspended indefinitely but gave no reason. They did remind me that I could still send in old watches to keep them out of landfills. Matter Systems is the company that is running the program for Timex. They help companies create recycling and reuse programs for consumer industrial waste. Usually things like this come down to $. It was probably costing more to continue and not a lot of people were interested in buying refurbished watches or sending old ones in?
Recycling is a troubling topic. It sounds great and there is lots of talk, but in general in the US, our recycling record is dismal. We allow companies to produce consumer goods and packaging without having to even consider recycling and reuse. Have you noticed at your local recycling operations how few plastics types are actually being recycled? Just because a product has a plastic number with recycling logo doesn’t actually mean anyone is recycling it. Glass and Styrofoam are just getting sent to landfill.
As for buying refurbished watches, I am all in. Most of the watches I own and buy are preowned. My most common watch acquisition process involves buying old non-running watches an bringing them back to life. I keep watchmakers busy, and strap companies happy and recycle lots of batteries. I suppose Rewound could have done better at getting and selling more watches, but I did enjoy looking there occasionally. I bought a few there, too. Most people might not know that they had watches from all makers, not just Timex and not just quartz. Their prices were not the best and maybe some of their selection was, let’s say, not popular.
Final Thoughts
Timex has been a low-priced watch leader for generations, and most of their watches mid-century were not even intended to be repaired, just replaced. Even though they have a repair program, I would guess the vast majority of Timex owners don’t want to go to the trouble of getting “inexpensive” watches repaired and some don’t even take the time to get new batteries installed. They just throw watches in a drawer when they stop working and get another. Or maybe they sell them on eBay or Poshmark when they stop working? Retailers no longer back warranties for watch repair or replacement like Fossil and Eddie Bauer once did.
Obviously Timex is not very good at watch repair. Maybe I should phrase it as not consistently good at watch repair? They have gone above an beyond for me in the past on more than one occasion, but have also been completely inept at times. I think this because they don’t get much repair business for the reasons stated above. In reality, they don’t want to repair watches or recycle them, they want to sell new ones.
The flood of fashion quartz watches produced from the late ’80s to the early 2000’s have reached end of life and are becoming a recycling problem or a collector oddity. Those days are over. Timex is moving upscale and everything is more expensive to do. I can’t say that newer Timex watches are any better for repair or recycling, but it is probably safe to say they may last longer? Solar watches are keeping a few batteries out of the recycling system. Mechanical watches are more popular again, but have their own repair problems. They are more likely to be repaired than replaced, but overall with the economic situation, fewer watches are being made and sold.
Timex has only a 1-year warranty for free repair or replacement that only works with receipt from an authorized dealer. After one year $30 is still a good deal for a repair, but a one year period shows that that they are not really interested in repairing watches. Also, they can make it difficult to get things repaired at times. They will usually try to replace with a same or similar, or completely different, watch before attempting to repair. Their products change so fast and so often that the chances of them maintaining parts for most of their lines is not even a consideration. Everything now is limited production or even preorder!
Leave a Reply