Complaint Review: Wuischpard & Son

I had used Peter Wuischpard of Wuischpard & Son for watch case repair for the past year. In the beginning, Peter was excellent - but expensive. Howver, as I sent him more work I began to see a decline in the quality of the work and lack of attention to detail. I had recently had two 1932 Bulova Jump Hour watch cases replated by a company in Canada - and they turned out awesome. But I had one case that had a bad hinge but the case we very good...so I sent it to Peter and asked him in writing to: See what can be done with the hinge, and polish the case. Later, I called him, and he had the case in the "to-do" box. I told him verbally, "Just look at the hinge and see what can be done...and if nothing - that's ok. Otherwise, just clean and polish (a $50 charge).

So a month or so later I get a PayPal invoice request that the Peter wants to paid - $250!! I write to Peter....and he responds defensively a few days later how hard he worked and how long it took. Apparently, he took it upon himself, with no authorization from me, the client, to remove all the old palting from the case, and replate the whole case! I was so angry!! I wrote back again and said i never authorized or even asked him to do all of this work and I had no intention of spending $250 on this watch case and now there was no money to be made on a resell of the watch. Peter agin wrote defensively that fixing the hinge meant he had to remove the old plating ot it would look right, and that "it was a very hard and arduous task!" So for the sake of keeping a positive relationship with him, I sent him the payment...but I was fuming mad!

So I receive the watch case, and....it was totally ruined! The "new" finish of the "new" plating was trask - pitted/low spots. But to add insult to injury, the "o" on the brand "Bulova" logo was either a larger font ofr a zero...but it was larger then the "v" and the "a" and you could tell it had been modified or re-stamped.

Now Peter claims he never re-stamped the case....but I am certain he ruined the stamp while trying to remove the old plating and therefore tried to fix it and cover it up before replating. It looked like crap! The case was totally ruined!! I have two other models of this rare watch case and Bulova model (it was only made one year - 1932) and I could easily compare an original case and brand stamp, and Peter's repair variant.

So I again wrote to Peter and told him my unhappiness in very frank language but asked nicely for a full refund. Peter took a whole week to respond, and when he did, he said his feeling were hurt and ahgain emphasized how long it took and how hard he worked! I personally don't care how hard someone worked or how long it took for them to ruin and totally devalue my watch case!! He never refused a refund - he just never sent one.

Peter is a nice guy....but he's well beyond his prime as any kind of craftsman of watch case repair - if he ever was a hnds-on watch case repair craftsman. I know he worked for his grandfather and his father and Hamilton Watch Company....but I doubt he was ever a sit-down, watch case repair craftsman. I have also sent him some cases that were not ruined....but they were not done to a high-quality as he claims and it was very expensive.

So....if you have an heirloom watch case to be repaired, don't be shocked if Peter charges you and arm and a leg and you feel disappointed in the result. I only hope he doesn't spend a whole day ruining your watch case and add insult to injury by charging you $250 (or more) for the outcome. He has no customer service sense or values and will not refund you any money. Proceed with Caution with Wuischpard & Son!!!