Zenith Service center in US ( Not LVMH NJ? )
Zenith has the history and the beauty, but their after sales customer service is the worst in the industry. I have heard horror stories about the Zenith NJ service center. My watch was serviced one time 5yrs after I bought it, and I have retired it from rotation since. I recently started wearing after 8yrs if retirement, and I get a ton of complements. I want to get it serviced but probably not in NJ service center given all the negative reviews I have been reading. Where do yall get your Zenith serviced in the US?
14 comments
Sort by
I haven't had my Zenith serviced again since I sent it to Zenith NJ. This was a few years ago, but it took them several months (said it was due to waiting for parts from Switzerland). Then when I got it back they had polished the case back and erased all the writing. It was an older model from 2000 that just had laser inscribed writing that wasn't very deep in the metal.
Next time I'm thinking of using Govberg in Philadelphia (https://govbergwatchrepair.com/), Grand Central Watch in NYC (https://centralwatch.com/repair-services), or another one recommended to me by the US Moser Rep was Swiss Watch Repair Corp 515 Madison Avenue ((212) 758-3224). I haven't used any of these, but thought I would throw these out there for you.
I had such a poor (like talking to a cable company rep) experience with their customer service, that I sold my Chronomaster Sport and vowed to never buy a Zenith again.
If you can’t get customer service right, you have no business being IN business (especially luxury).
Trying to resurrect this month old thread, I am still doing research on 3rd party repair shops to get my El Primero serviced. I came across this shop in Miami FL. https://www.grayandsons.com/zenith-el-primero-chronograph-watch-repair anyone here done business with them? Or repaired watches with them? Would you recommend?
After months of searching and calling different 3rd party here is where I stand. Zenith will not sell parts to 3rd party watch repair. I spoke to Roland at RGM and even they passed on having this watch serviced, he explained to me the risk is the springs on the date, month etc are extremely fragile and 3rd party can't order replacements.
The other option is to take the watch overseas and have it serviced in Swiss or London. This might be a bit extreme but Zenith (LVMH) NJ has such a horrible reputation. I hope someone from Zenith reads this thread ( highly unlikely ) and does something about it.
"Send your watch to Zenith", this only works from select countries in the EU.
Hope it's alright that I'm reviving an older thread, but since there doesn't seem to be much info out there on servicing a Zenith, I thought I would share my experiences so far.
Back in March, I sent a ca. 2010-2011 Zenith Port Royal 5, with an Elite cal. 680 movement into Govberg for service. According to them, they can't service any Zenith in house and they all have to be sent back to the NJ service center. They quoted me a minimum of 10 weeks due to covid-related delays.
It took over 4 weeks for a quote from Zenith (Govberg estimated 2 weeks): $600 for a full overhaul and $173 to replace the scratched sapphire crystal. So far, they estimate it will be done in late June. Will keep you updated on the results!
Thanks for sharing that info. On Friday I shipped mine to zenith NJ to be received there on Wed. I will also post here as it progresses through their service center.
After a lot of contemplation I shipped my watch off to LVMH after sales service in NJ for repair/service. Before I shipped the watch I found that the chrono pushers were not properly engaging. They way they want the watch shipped is to wrap it in bubble wrap, drop a note as to what needs to be done and contact information. What I found was Fedex wont insure for more than $1000, if you need more you need to buy private insurance. Its been 2+ weeks since they received my watch and they have not contacted me yet. I am planning on calling them today to see where we are at. I will keep you posted here on how this goes... right off the bat it does not look like a good sign.
After not hearing back from Zenith for more than 3 weeks after they received my watch, I emailed Zenith and got "we are experiencing higher than expected wait times", please send us your tracking number. A couple of weeks have passed since I responded to that email.
Yesterday I received an estimate on the repairs ( $760 + tax) and the only way to pay for it is mail in money order or FAX the credit card number. Is Zenith operating in the year 2022? WTF! and there is no address or FAX number specified. I am on hold on the telephone number they have on the form for over 30min now.
After waiting 30 mins a nice lady answered the phone, she sent me an email asking for permission to take my credit card over the phone, to which I replied. She then took my credit card number and said I do not have to return the form ( there was no way for me to return the form coz there was no address specified ), and that she will put in a note for the service department to start the service on the watch.
I asked her why list of parts only includes gaskets and why condition of the watch is marked scratched? To that she replied all functional issues will be corrected and repaired and I won't be seeing any additional bills. She does not know why condition was marked scratched ( there are no visible scratches on my watch ). And it will take 3-4 months for them to finish the service and return the watch to me.
I just got an email saying my watch will be delivered this Friday. I am anxious and curious to see what they have done to the watch service wise. The chrono pushers were stuck, and the watch would stop randomly before I shipped it off to service. Hopefully now these issues are fixed and its in as-good-as-new condition. I will post here after having it on my wrist for about a week.
My watch arrived this morning after service from LVMH, it was boxed in a nice Zenith case. Looks like the watch was cleaned and serviced, but not polished ( which is good ). Case had a little ziplock with 2 gaskets but it does not say if these are new or old. I am assuming these are the old gaskets they replaced. The chronograph works as expected, the watch is keeping time accurately and running ( prior to service it would stop randomly ). Overall I think they did a decent job. But ZERO communication regarding what was done just a bill of sale included in the packaging, no one called me from Zenith, no emails except for Fedex shipping information. Zenith after sales customer service SUCKS big time in the US. Too bad, they made great watches.. and I won't be buying any.
Here is the post on what the service was like... absolute disaster!!
https://www.watchcrunch.com/watchdawg/posts/newley-serviced-zenith-inside-fogged-up-15851#comment-174282
Now I am going to have to call them and get this issue fixed. Wish me luck, I will post here how this nightmare develops.
I called LVMH number listed on the invoice, the wait times were around 8mins ( they never used to pick up their phones before ), a nice lady Louise answered my call and got my AFS number ( service repair number ) and asked me about the issue, she tried telling me that when you go between extreme temps the watch would fog up ( Inside really? in the nearly 20yrs I have had this watch I never had this issue nor do any of the other watches in my collection have this issue). She put me on hold and the call dropped. A nice lady Mary M called me back and said I should have a Fedex label to ship the watch back, and gave me more instructions on what to include.
I am going to make a trip to Fedex this afternoon and send it back to them. The short time I had it on my wrist ( weekend ) I got a ton of compliments from random people and wanting to know what I am wearing etc. Zenith makes nice watches .. I wish their service/repair center in the US held up to the same quality of work.
Got my watch back today from Zenith LVMH NJ. This time the receipt had details on what was replaced on service.
The watch was sandwiched between 2 pieces of foam and wrapped in bubble wrap inside a Fedex box. I put the watch in the refrigerator for a few minutes and took it out to see if it will fog inside, and it did not. I will get a chance to spend a few hours at the ice rink this week, and it is supposed to be super humid outside, this will be the real test.
Overall I give LVMH a C on the service. The only thing good to say about them is that they were able to accept their fault and attempt to fix it. It took almost 10 months to get the watch services to my liking.
I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER ZENITH IN THE USA BECAUSE OF POOR SERVICE.