Citizen Watch Company Reviews 211

I like watches. I mostly like them thin, well made, accurate and reasonably priced. but I do own one diver's watch. I am a big fan of Ecodrives, I have owned three for over 12 years. I keep them in a semi sunny spot and two of them have never even had the case opened to replace a capacitor/battery. (Once you open a case waterproofing is compromized unless you opt for expensive factory servicing,) I have called Citizens for extra links and have gotten admirable service at reasonable cost. Thanks!

My ten year old Citizen Blue Angels Skyhawk flipped out while on holiday in Turkey last month. I sent it in to Citizen and 12 days later I have it back as good as new! Thank you so much Citizen!

Reading other reviews I think I can only endorse what has been said about their service department. As it happens my wife's solar powered wristwatch was problematic very soon after purchase in February this year in as much as it had a habit of stopping every few days, with some shuddering of the second hand, and after many attempts to get it working properly our patience wore out and it was returned to Citizen Watch Co (by the retailer) to have the problem resolved. A couple of weeks later back it came with no indication as to what had been done and It was soon evident that the problem had not been resolved. Back it went to Citizen's Service Department and, despite several telephone calls by the Retailer to check on progress, it took a month to be returned. By now it felt like the watch had been longer with Citizen than with my wife.

At one point we were given to understand that someone in the Service Department may have suggested that the watch should have been examined more thoroughly on its first visit back to them.

If Citizen Watch Co. does have a good reputation for the quality of its watches it is a pity that the Service Department does not follow suit and demonstrate a more considerate attitude to its customers. Having said that, why am I not surprised at this situation - earlier this month I wrote to the Group Managing Director in the nature of a complaint and I have not received an acknowledgement, let alone a full reply.

Citizen Watches are great quality for the price, the main thing that lets their watches down (in most cases) is the lack of Sapphire Glass. When you are spending a good few hundred on their watches it's disappointing to get a mineral crystal that is going to get heavily scratched over time.

What makes it even worse is when you have to deal with their service centre (I am in the UK so can't speak for other service centres). They a quite rude which isn't a good start but they are always finding ingenious ways to increase the bill. My latest experience involved a glass replacement, having had the watch 9 years it had get heavily scuffed over the time and also had a small chip. I was quoted £36 to replace the glass, this then jumped to £78 as they felt they needed to replace the seals... £36 for the glass, yet £42 for the rubber seals, yeah, that makes sense. I never wear my watches in or near water so them not to worry about the seals but they refused to do one without doing the other. This is the service you get from Citizen Watches UK.

Only buy if you don't intend to keep it for a long time or you don't mind getting your pants pulled down every time something needs doing, oh, and if you don't mind getting spoken to like dirt every time you need to deal with them

I still feel very sore about my experience with Citizen a couple of months ago, when I sent them a practically unworn Satellite Eco-Drive watch costing £900 that I had purchased from an authorised Citizen dealer in Sydney Australia last year, as the stopwatch and time zone would not adjust.

For convenience I sent it to Citizen UK rather than the dealer in Australia. When they received the watch they claimed it had been opened as there was a missing warning label and fingerprints on the inside of the watch.

Further, they charged me £268 for a full service, when neither the dealer, who I have bought from previously with no trouble at all, or myself had any reason to open the back of the watch, aside from the fact that I had never used that function. I own 54 (FIFTY FOUR) Citizen watches and should know by now (as does the Citizen dealer) that there is never a need to open the back of an Eco-Drive, aside from the fact there was a 1 year guarantee on the watch!!!

When I finally received the watch back, it was sent in a crappy little cardboard box, which says a lot about the value they place on their high end watches.

Go for safety, buy a Seiko instead - their service dept is professional and second to none.

Great looking watch..As it's an Eco Drive, you'll need to keep it exposed to sunlight so it keeps working.

Rotten. Citizen don’t honour their warranty. Cheaper watches last longer, we have never had the minute hand refuse to move on even the cheapest of watches. They say it’s our fault we must have dropped it! Which we haven’t. Would recommend never to purchase a citizen watch just expensive trash and poorly built.

Very poor service from Citizen UK. I have a 15 year old ecodrive that I sent in to their service centre. This is the watch that is supposed to never need a battery and last a lifetime according to their marketing waffle. I sent it in when it stopped after learning it did indeed need a new battery. They rejected it saying that it was now obsolete. I managed to get the job done at an independent watch shop. This is very poor product support and reflects the attitude of the company which obviously adheres to the modern throwaway society model. Seiko on the other hand are quite happy to repair older watches at their service centre. It will be the last Citizen watch I own.

Citizens watch does not have any warranty on their bands. My band broke three times in two years. Each band cost over $100. Do not buy this product.

The battery has gone in my 10 year old watch. In the adverts it says it never needs a battery. What should I do.

I thought that when I got a new citizen waatch, that it would be great. Within the first month, there was condensation inside. I sent it in, 4 weeks later I get it back. Then about one month later, the band just breaks. I was just walking dpwn the hall when it broke? Now they have had it for over 6 weeks and dont know how long it will take to get "parts" in.

Citizen your customer service is terrible

Was very happy when my partner bought me a Citizen watch a few years back, they are expensive and as there was a sale on was an opportunity not to pass up as I thought great quality should last a long time plus the 5 year guarantee, thought job done. Apparently that is not the case as 3 and a half years into owning the watch the strap, metallic in construction the usual thin pin inside just came away one day, I thought no problem I've got the guarantee somewhere, couldn't find the receipt and the watch was sat on a shelf gathering dust then a then weeks back I find the receipt and guarantee and send the watch for repair what do I get back a email saying they want £78.96 because they recoken accidental damage?? And it's not covered?! They have deemed Ive damaged a pin inside a sealed area? How exactly? or is it that I have a few tiny scratches on a glass on a 4 year old watch and I've been mistreating a watch worth hundreds? Or is it that I sent a receipt showing I paid a small amount off the RRP? either way it shows either one of three things A: Your expensive "QUALITY" watches actually have little quality! B: Your Service Centre Warranty is worth nothing and is nothing more than a trick in your advertising, which is also why the only way to, in my knowledge to book a service is online with no actual human contact to discuss or query a concern C: Once you've had the money your actually not that interested and if you see I receipt like mine showing customers got off lightly in original purchase you try get a bit back like this? Either way i am now down the cost of the secured postage to get watch to you and it seems could of put it In an envelope with just a stamp because it's a cheap piece of metal with no quality and now no use why insure that? Absolutely Disgraceful practice!