One bad customer service story made me remove a brand from my shortlist

Three weeks is bad but the dismissive reply is worse. I had something similar with a microbrand, though in their case they just never replied at all. I still see their watches pop up on my feed and it bugs me

Honestly, one bad support interaction wouldn't be enough for me to write off a whole brand. People have off days, emails get lost. If the watch itself is good and the price is right, I'd probably still buy it. But that's just me.

I get that perspective but for a skeleton watch where servicing and movement care matter more than on a standard three-hander, a brand that can't answer basic pre-sales questions is a real red flag. Support quality often mirrors how they'll treat you after the sale.

Removed a brand for a different reason once, but it was also customer service related. Took them six weeks to replace a defective crown. By the time I got the watch back I had lost all enthusiasm for it. Sold it a month later.

This is why I tend to stick with brands that have a local service center or at least a known good AD. Skeleton movements are fiddly and if something goes wrong you want to talk to a person, not an email queue.

Did you ever try calling them instead of email? Some brwnds are terrible at email but fine on the phone. Not excusing it, just wondering.

The full voicemail box is almost impressive in a sad way. I've had good luck with smaller brands actually — they tend to answer emails personally because there's only three people running the whole operation. The bigger mid-tier ones are where support seems to fall apart.

I keep a mental list of brands I won't deal with based on support alone,so I get it. But I also wonder how much of this is just luck of the draw. One person on the other end having a bad week can torch a brand's reputation for someone forever

Fair, but when it's a pattern across multiple channels like the OP described, that's not one person having a bad week. That's a company that doesn't prioritize it.