Is Seiko USA Service Center as bad as the reviews say? I want to get my dad's old watches working again.

I know this is a little off your question, but I’ll post in case it helps you salvage one of those watches.

I just this week became the owner of a Kinetic. In advance of buying this odd duck, I looked it up: Changing the capacitor yourself is doable (plenty of YouTube videos) and the part only costs about $25.

Whatever you do, good luck!

I don’t have any experience with Seiko servicing a watch but I had a local repair shop fix an old Seiko for me. Perhaps there is a local shop who can help you.

This. I’m not in the US, but I don’t use a seiko service centre, I have a local watch servicing agent that does almost all makes and models.

That Seiko looks a lot like a Tag Heuer Link from that same era. I agree with the local watch shop answer, or asking them if you ordered the capacitor if they would put it in for you if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself. On the other watch, which looks cool as well, if that is what they are charging for the movement and labor, that seems okay, maybe a little high depending on the movement they put in. I'm not sure what fits that watch, but I would ask what kind of movement they plan on using. 

That New Jersey service center has been there since at least the 1980's.  It used to be called CoServe and it is located in Mawah, NJ.  The big problem now isn't that the service center is so bad, the problem is parts supply.  Seiko is not stocking parts to the level it once did, if the watch is over 10 years old certain parts may not be available.

That capacitor tip that @TickyBurden gave is a pretty hot tip.  Most times with Kinetics a simple capacitor change can get you back in business.

I have one hot tip for you as well-  You can call the service center with the reference number and they can tell you if there is parts supply for that reference.  This is particularly useful if you need a bezel, or bracelet parts etc....  They won't sell you the part, you still have to send it in but at least you will know if the parts are available.  They may sell you links or bracelet parts but not hands or bezel parts.

If you are screwdriver-savvy, try sourcing a capacitor online and replacing it yourself?

I've repaired a total of one Seiko watch by replacing the capacitor. I pulled the old one out and searched for the replacement on Ebay. Pretty straightforward repair. 

Barring some type of extreme sentimental value, the Wittnauer sounds like it's beyond economic viability to repair. 

Thank you all. I’m hesitant to try fixing myself because I’ve never worked on a watch beyond changing a strap or sizing a bracelet, but I’ll look into it if it’s not as difficult as some of you say it is. 

The Wittnauer is sentimental, but it did come to mind that the cost to fix may be more than what it's worth. I'm not in a rush to fix it, though, so I'll probably just hold on to it for now. 

For your Witt, I’m doing the mental math for $300. 
 

New Citizen quartz base movement, $40. 
Movement holder that fits your watch and base, $10. 
New crown and case gaskets, $8. 
New crown stem, $10.

Labor to do the work, maybe three hours @$30/hr. $90. 
Water resistance testing. $20. 
 

All in, less than $200, plus overhead. That sounds like a reasonable figure if it also comes with a parts and l or warranty. 
 

Sold those Kientics as far back as 1995/96. The early models had capacitor problems. One other shop to call is Stoll in Ohio. They will at least be able to tell you if these can be repaired by anyone anymore. 

Thank you for this. Much appreciated. 

Just one additional piece of advice: Treat the replacement of the battery for the kinetic movements as a small service and not a battery replacement. You will have to open the case, remove the rotor, remove at least two screws and a small bridge.

The replacement battery will have an insulating film that can be tricky to place. It is also very close to coils, meaning that a slip can leave the watch inoperable. The bridge can be under tension, and it is possible to launch screws during that process. (Ask me how I know.) 

Nothing here is overly complex, but you need to be comfortable with placing small screws back into a movement.

Thanks for the advice. 👍

I've replaced the capacitors in two Seiko Kinetics now, one older one, and one newer one. Both were the same process and there's really two places where you can run into trouble. One is removing the rotor. That screw is tiny, and the slot was small enough I literally had to sharpen my smallest screwdrivers head, so that it would fit. Fortunately there's usually not a lot of torque on those, because I'm told if you press too hard on the screw it can damage the second hand gearing.

The second is the insulator strip, it's shaped very specifically and it's likely going to be different than the one that's already in there, so make sure to use the new one. There are locator pins on the movement to help you get it in place. Take your time, breath through your nose, and watch a video or two and you can easily manage it. 

This video appears to be your same watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1fCRTL3LXU

Also, my local watchmaker quoted about 60 bucks to do it, hour of labor and 25 bucks for part. Ended up doing it myself, but that should give you an idea.

Thank you for the advice. Appreciate it. 👍

The reviews you see are skewed negative because people who have negative experiences are more likely to leave negative reviews than people who have satisfactory experiences. I'm sure most Seiko customers receive good service from them.

To jump on the do-it-yourself bandwagon, I've not replaced a capacitor in a kinetic watch, but I have replaced a capacitor in a Seiko solar quartz watch. It was as easy as changing a battery in a regular quartz watch. (The capacitor even looked like a watch battery.) The capacitor cost about $20.

Thanks for the advice 👍

I had a local guy service my old quartz Citizen. the stem was bent and would not move. He ended up putting in a new Myota movement. He charged me $85.