Thread: Chealwatch - "The Butcher of Rye"

One to cross off the list then

Thanks for the warning. I'll be avoiding them.

On a positive note, the two watches I have sent to Stephen Burrage at Ryte Time came back unscathed and working well. I would recommend him.

Originally Posted by redmonaco

He says that the faults did not occur in his workshop ...

That's probably true, as I've warned before, I'm led to believe he farms out a lot of his work to amateur repairers.

He certainly won't be the first or last who works like this, that's for sure. I once had a repairer local to me who explained about everything he had done on a repair job of mine. He went in to great detail about what he had found, how long he had spent on certain aspects of the job etc. All with his own fair hand, hence justifying the chrarge he was about to make. Years later, I got to be friends with an amateur repairer, who I found out used to do jobs for this guy, and yep he remembered my watch very well. He had done all the work (luckily for me, a good job).

Farming out of repair jobs is very common in the trade.

Cheers

Foggy

A quick google should prevent any sane person from using him. Granted that mistakes do sometimes happen but it is how they are put right that counts.

I had my Seamaster battery change and reseal done last year and all was good. But receintly sent him my Orange Monster for a crown change as it would not screw down - after getting it back I noticed the quick change date would not work, I emailed him but he said it was not related, I put it down to a sloppy date change by me on its return but reading this I'm not so sure.

Originally Posted by lewie

I had my Seamaster battery change and reseal done last year and all was good. But receintly sent him my Orange Monster for a crown change as it would not screw down - after getting it back I noticed the quick change date would not work, I emailed him but he said it was not related, I put it down to a sloppy date change by me on its return but reading this I'm not so sure.

Neither am I!

Thing I can't understand is his total refusal to put things right. His attitude is astoundingly bad. I gave him 4 chances to rectify the matter but he'd rather just be obnoxious. Makes me very determined to make him pay though!! :)

Good luck. You are right to let us know and I hope this bloke doesn't get any more work from TZ'ers. I hate these sort of people.

Interesting thread guys....Thought he was rated but obviously something not right here

Always worth photos before you post .

I sent my Grandad's Tudor watch to Mr Heal a couple of years ago. It needed a dial refinish and relume on the hands. He said that it needed a service too. I agreed to the work and was very pleased with the appearance apart from a mark on the new glass. The dial refurb was outsourced by Mr heal. However the watch kept on stopping. I emailed and the inference was the watch was worn, what do you expect? It did not have this issue originally. I sent the watch back asking for everything to be fixed. On its return some weeks later, the watch now ran fine but the glass had not been changed.
I will not use again

Peter

I had a watch serviced by him in 2005 - a TAG Heuer 4000 automatic. The watch had been owned by me since 1994 and had since been serviced by the UK TAG agents at the time (Duval?) in about 1997. As I live in Ashford, I decided to drop the watch into him as he lives in Beckley, near Rye. The workshop is an out-building from his house. Chris was probably past retirement age back then and my guess would be, that his watch servicing income supplements his pension. He has a full workshop and he allowed me inside to complete the paperwork. The workshop contained many watches that were in for service or repair. I cannot imagine that he farms work out to others. Judging by the level of complaints about him, I would say that the 'standard' of work is pretty consistent, sadly. My own experience was good - well, for about 18 months when I unscrewed the crown to change the date and couldn't retighten the crown afterwards. That provided the impetus for me to buy my first Planet Ocean so something good came of it. I later had the TAG serviced by Ernest Jones and I sold it about a year or two ago.

Perhaps the curmudgeonly attitude comes with retirement age in watchmakers. I also have my other half's 1927 ladies' Rolex in with a retired (and evidently quite renowned) ex-Rolex watchmaker at the moment. It needs a new balance shaft and so far, it's been in there for 2 years and 4 months! Each time I call, I get told it will be the next one he does (the shaft needs fabricating by him) and could be 'just another few weeks'. The last call I made was early December and I was told it could even be before Xmas. Still waiting....

I always hate to read threads giving someone a panning on forums but sometimes it sounds like it's justified - very sad. Maybe it's time for him to give it up now.

who is this other ex-Rolex watchmaker?

Perhaps the curmudgeonly attitude comes with retirement age in watchmakers. I also have my other half's 1927 ladies' Rolex in with a retired (and evidently quite renowned) ex-Rolex watchmaker at the moment. It needs a new balance shaft and so far, it's been in there for 2 years and 4 months! Each time I call, I get told it will be the next one he does (the shaft needs fabricating by him) and could be 'just another few weeks'. The last call I made was early December and I was told it could even be before Xmas. Still waiting....

Originally Posted by UKWatchGuy

who is this other ex-Rolex watchmaker?

I don't know if I should put his name up or not, to be honest. I know he's very well respected and he's also done a very good and quick job on a couple of vintage Omegas of mine in the past. I don't really have any other experience of having very old vintage watches serviced that have required parts that need to be fabricated so I'm unsure as to whether this is unusual or not. It's just that over two years seems an inordinate amount of time to me.

I'd say that two years is rather excessive!!

I'm always really surprised about the watch servicing industry and about people who think it is acceptable that servicing should take over 2 years!!!! Name and shame. 2 years is ridiculous!

I'll try and call him again at lunchtime. If I feel I'm being fobbed off, I might post his name this afternoon. Has anyone else had an experience re. watch servicing that has taken as long?

This makes really sad reading, I think you have been more than patient and reasonable, I would certainly take it further.

Well, I've just called the guy. He knew instantly which watch I was talking about and said that he'd got the piece of tungsten steel (does that sound right?) with which to fabricate the balance staff. He said that he'd been busy working his way through the backlog of other watches in size order that also needed parts fabricated from this steel. The Rolex, being the smallest, is next up and he anticipates turning the staff either late this week or early next. The part will then need to be fitted and tested and the movement will then need to go back in the case and tested once more. He thinks it will probably be another 2-3 weeks and he proactively acknowledged that it had been 'too long' in being put right. Fingers crossed.

I used Chealwatch about 5 or 6yrs ago, and thankfully I was one of the lucky ones judging by this thread.
It was for a TAG Heuer Kirium which had stopped completely, he gave me a quote via email to service it... it came back after 4 weeks, fully working & without any scratches... and he contacted me to say it would be £40 less than he'd quoted as he'd given me an original price for a Chronograph service.

It does sound like sadly, things have gone downhill since then... so I'll not be taking a chance again. Thanks for the heads up.

I used him many years ago to service a watch, dial came back damaged, one of the chorono buttons didn't work (it worked fine before it was sent) amd te AR coating on the glass was marked. I'd rather try and service it myself then let this incompetent bafoon anywhere near any of my watches again!

Originally Posted by BSB

I cannot imagine that he farms work out to others. .

Why?

I've said he does, or certainly did, and Neil has also confirmed in this thread.

His turnaround times have always been pretty quick, so if he does do it all himself, he's got to be cutting corners e.g. dipping movements rather than dismantling and cleaning/oiling properly etc. I'd rather he was farming out work, so long as the ops were suitably qualified to do the jobs.

Cheers

Foggy

Originally Posted by Foggy

Why?

I've said he does, or certainly did, and Neil has also confirmed in this thread.

His turnaround times have always been pretty quick, so if he does do it all himself, he's got to be cutting corners e.g. dipping movements rather than dismantling and cleaning/oiling properly etc. I'd rather he was farming out work, so long as the ops were suitably qualified to do the jobs.

Cheers

Foggy

If you read the rest of my post, you will see that I actually visited him at his house/workshop. Nobody previous to me gave the impression they had done so nor did they imply he had told them so (I could be wrong). Therefore, I was saying that his busy workshop didn't give that impression as everything seemed to be on benches at the time. There has been a subsequent post that confirmed he does farm work out.

Originally Posted by BSB

If you read the rest of my post, you will see that I actually visited him at his house/workshop. Nobody previous to me gave the impression they had done so nor did they imply he had told them so (I could be wrong). Therefore, I was saying that his busy workshop didn't give that impression as everything seemed to be on benches at the time. There has been a subsequent post that confirmed he does farm work out.

Fair enough, I wasn't explicit enough in my earlier post. It was made clear to me by Mr Heal himself, following a problem I had, that he farmed work out. That was the reason given to me as to why the problem may have occurred. For the record, he did subsequently put right the problem.

Regards

Foggy

Originally Posted by Foggy

Fair enough, I wasn't explicit enough in my earlier post. It was made clear to me by Mr Heal himself, following a problem I had, that he farmed work out. That was the reason given to me as to why the problem may have occurred. For the record, he did subsequently put right the problem.

Regards

Foggy

I'm glad your problem was solved, Foggy. I didn't realise he'd had a conversation with you about sub-contracting work out.

I had an Omega sent to him, when it came back the hand fell off and he rectified it though I had to pay postage to him.

The worst I have is another fellow, had a Speedmaster with him for over 2 years, had another watch for about 8 or 9 months, there was difficulty sourcing parts. I believed him, but when I sent him a ecodrive watch to sort out the hour hand alignment as it was not in the right positionswhen the minute was going around, he sent it back charged me 2 quid extra for the special delivery. I had it for about 2 or 3 weeks and then noticed the same problem. Sent him an email and he said he would sort it as long as I paid the postage back Last time I will use him. I am very patient with these skilled job people but they sometimes take the piss.

I will only use Roy Taylor and someone else recommended from now on.

I don't normally like to get into this kind of thing, especially when it's someone's livelihood, but I couldn't, in clear conscience, recommend Chealwatch after he serviced my Zenith El Primero Flyback.

When I received it back the subdial hands were dirty and bent, there was a large mark on the dial, and the flyback function didn't work. When I questioned him regarding the flyback, he said "why would you want to reset the chronograph without stopping it?". There's not really a lot you can say about that! He begrudgingly agreed to have it back!

I sent it back, and it came back looking cosmetically much better, but functionally it still wasn't right.

I thus took it into Goldsmiths, who had a watchmaker who was familiar with Zenith movements, and it came back working as it should.

I have since only used main dealers for servicing.

The problem is of course, that one bad apple reflects on all independent watchmakers - I am sure some of the guys are very good, but when you've had a frustrating (and costly) experience with one, you're cautious in the future.

Hello all - first posting here, so appols up front if i say anything stooopid.

As the title says, i had just packaged up a watch for repair and was about to send it to Cheal Ltd when i discovered this post via Google search.

I would really appreciate any advice you could give me. The watch in question is a Tag 1500 Series, which has sat in a drawer with a broken bracelet for about 5 years since an accident . I re-discovered it recently and set about trying to find someone who could fix it up at a reasonable price. I should add that i am not trying to be cheap about this and went to a couple of Tag " dealers " who were, in all honesty, quite aloof and offensive about a) the watch itself being small fry to them and b) how long it would take and what it would cost.

If you could recommend anyone who could clean and service the watch and repair the bracelet then i would be most gratefull. I do have the provanence and proof of ownership for the watch as i purchased it new in 1996 and have the dealer receipts in my name.

Thank you

Tag_Watch.jpg

Originally Posted by Michael_Mcr

Hello all - first posting here, so appols up front if i say anything stooopid.

As the title says, i had just packaged up a watch for repair and was about to send it to Cheal Ltd when i discovered this post via Google search.

I would really appreciate any advice you could give me. The watch in question is a Tag 1500 Series, which has sat in a drawer with a broken bracelet for about 5 years since an accident . I re-discovered it recently and set about trying to find someone who could fix it up at a reasonable price. I should add that i am not trying to be cheap about this and went to a couple of Tag " dealers " who were, in all honesty, quite aloof and offensive about a) the watch itself being small fry to them and b) how long it would take and what it would cost.

If you could recommend anyone who could clean and service the watch and repair the bracelet then i would be most gratefull. I do have the provanence and proof of ownership for the watch as i purchased it new in 1996 and have the dealer receipts in my name.

Thank you

Tag_Watch.jpg

Drop walkerwek1958 a PM, I'm sure he could sort you out and he comes highly recommended.

Originally Posted by Michael_Mcr

Hello all - first posting here, so appols up front if i say anything stooopid.

As the title says, i had just packaged up a watch for repair and was about to send it to Cheal Ltd when i discovered this post via Google search.

I would really appreciate any advice you could give me. The watch in question is a Tag 1500 Series, which has sat in a drawer with a broken bracelet for about 5 years since an accident . I re-discovered it recently and set about trying to find someone who could fix it up at a reasonable price. I should add that i am not trying to be cheap about this and went to a couple of Tag " dealers " who were, in all honesty, quite aloof and offensive about a) the watch itself being small fry to them and b) how long it would take and what it would cost.

If you could recommend anyone who could clean and service the watch and repair the bracelet then i would be most gratefull. I do have the provanence and proof of ownership for the watch as i purchased it new in 1996 and have the dealer receipts in my name.

Thank you

Tag_Watch.jpg

Send it directly to Tag Heuer and have them carry out the work.

If you contact their customer service, they will give you instructions on how and where to send in Manchester

A worthwhile thread. On the basis of these stories Heal sounds like a total joke and completely unsuited to the vocation.

I'm sure he'll read this thread as I understand he has recently registered. Hopefully he'll use it as impetus to retire and save a lot of unsuspecting people a lot of heartache.

Originally Posted by Michael_Mcr

Hello all - first posting here, so appols up front if i say anything stooopid.

As the title says, i had just packaged up a watch for repair and was about to send it to Cheal Ltd when i discovered this post via Google search.

I would really appreciate any advice you could give me. The watch in question is a Tag 1500 Series, which has sat in a drawer with a broken bracelet for about 5 years since an accident . I re-discovered it recently and set about trying to find someone who could fix it up at a reasonable price. I should add that i am not trying to be cheap about this and went to a couple of Tag " dealers " who were, in all honesty, quite aloof and offensive about a) the watch itself being small fry to them and b) how long it would take and what it would cost.

If you could recommend anyone who could clean and service the watch and repair the bracelet then i would be most gratefull. I do have the provanence and proof of ownership for the watch as i purchased it new in 1996 and have the dealer receipts in my name.

Thank you

Tag_Watch.jpg

You could also try Duncan at Genesis watchmaking. He's just serviced my Tag 4000 and put a new crown and sapphire crystal on my Tag 1000. Great job he did too.

Dave

Originally Posted by Kiki Picasso

Send it directly to Tag Heuer and have them carry out the work.

If you contact their customer service, they will give you instructions on how and where to send in Manchester

I wouldn't bother with TH, they will not fix the bracelet, just quote to replace it, which will be extortionate, a service from them will also cost ££££

My mate had trouble also, sent a tag link auto in and a week after getting back it needed rework. Said the guys customer service was appalling and he declined any form of responsibility and actually charged him again for something he believed he had already paid for. He didn't argue as he just wanted the watch back.

No surprised to see the other poor service stories

I also had a horrible experience with Chris Heal. I sent him a watch for a regular service a few years back. It came back with dirty wipe marks on the inside of the glass and dust on the dial so I sent it back to get it cleaned up. This time it came back with clean dial but the watch was 4 minutes slow per day. I called to complain and tried to get my money back, his excuse was it must have happened in transit. He refused to give me my money back and told me to send it back to him to look at. He was also very rude at this point.

I wasn't stupid enough to let him touch my watch this time around so I took it to an AD to get it put right but I never got my money back.

Originally Posted by Plake

I'm sure he'll read this thread as I understand he has recently registered. Hopefully he'll use it as impetus to retire and save a lot of unsuspecting people a lot of heartache.

Mr. Heal has obviously changed his position on internet forums, as previously quoted in Cannop's original H&V thread:

Originally Posted by Cannop

A couple of weeks after this I read adigras post about Chealwatch in H&V and that was the final straw. I contacted Chris again and told him that I had read a number of reports of poor workmanship of his, I wasn't happy with his level of communication, and I wanted my watches back. He replied saying that:

"This is the problem with forums, they can be very one sided as there is no facility to reply to any posts, so I don't know what you may have read about our company I think we will comply with your request and return the Omega not repaired along with the Tag Heuer that is fully working".

It would seem as though it's taken him this long to work out that in order to reply to the numerous threads damning his shoddy work then he needs to register on said forum, incompetence all round I'd say!

Originally Posted by blogger

+1, heartily recommended - he did a brilliant job of service and refurbishment of my Tag Aquaracer - even after Cheal had had his hands on it!

Interesting, Paul mentioned that he'd worked on another TZ-UK member's Aquaracer following it's "Els Bels" style trip to Chealwatch Ltd. after I contacted him saying that I'd had a very similar experience with my Aquaracer WAB112 (see my first reply in this thread).

Originally Posted by Kiki Picasso

Send it directly to Tag Heuer and have them carry out the work.

If you contact their customer service, they will give you instructions on how and where to send in Manchester

No!!! Don't send your watch to Tag Heuer UK (LMVH). Their service is terrible! Duncan Potter @ Genesis Watchmaking is your man...

Originally Posted by Wazza

No!!! Don't send your watch to Tag Heuer UK (LMVH). Their service is terrible! Duncan Potter @ Genesis Watchmaking is your man...

Funny, I've also heard that about LMVH.

Oh and Duncan@Genesis is most definitely your man (amongst others!).

Originally Posted by Kiki Picasso

Send it directly to Tag Heuer and have them carry out the work.

If you contact their customer service, they will give you instructions on how and where to send in Manchester

I have been this route before with regular servicing of the watch and TAG dealers ALL seem to have this well practiced line that goes " oh it will have to be away for 6 months and it will have to go back to Switzerland to the master craftsman that first assembled it and ....blah,blah,blah .... OR .... we can send it off to our people who will do a service every bit as good in two weeks for nearly the same cost ".

I am not trying to cut costs or corners, i just want to find someone who is concerned about doing a decent job for a decent price. If i send this watch back after not being serviced for 4 or 5 years ( because it has laid in a drawer ) i will just get fleeced by TAG

Originally Posted by Wazza

No!!! Don't send your watch to Tag Heuer UK (LMVH). Their service is terrible! Duncan Potter @ Genesis Watchmaking is your man...

I'd disagree.

I had to send my Monaco back to them and the service was top class. They even give you a reference so you can check on an internet page of how the repair is progressing and what stage it's at. Took just under three weeks.