Rip-Off Watch Battery Prices !!!!

[Gizmonster]

Cut a long story short - I needed a new strap and a battery for a watch that I haven't used in aaaages as the strap on my current one snapped and it wasn't cost effective to change the strap.
A trip to Timpsons - they only sell leather straps and not the metal ones ... so on to the battery ..... I almost fell on the floor when they said £20 for a battery. I'd already looked on Ebay and can I get one for roughly £1.50. Now I know they have overheads etc ..... but twenty quid for something that I can get for £1.50 (they'll probably be able to get it cheaper) that would take a few minutes to fit.
Anyway .... a quick trip to a local independent jewellers and I got a decent watch strap for a tenner and he gave me a battery for free, because it was out of date (April 2022). I got home and fit the strap and battery myself ..... everything works a treat - one happy chappy ..... but I keep thinking people must be daft enough to pay them prices or they would soon be out of business .... the mind boggles .....

[Gizmonster]

typo fix:

///// and I can get one for roughly £1.50. ////

[Buenchico]

Timpson's charge a high price for a one-off battery replacement (in part, at least) because they want you to consider using their 'lifetime guarantee' replacement service (which only costs a little bit extra), whereby they'll keep on replacing the battery in a watch (without any additional charge) throughout the life of the watch. I've used that service and had several batteries under it for a single flat fee at the beginning.

My most recent watch battery though was supplied and fitted in an independent jeweller's shop in Stowmarket for under a fiver. (I can't recall the exact price but I know that it was around three quid). However I once got ripped off by an in-store franchise place in Oxford Street (inside Debenham's, I think, but it might have been within Selfridge's) who charged me £20 to replace a watch battery - and that was thirty years ago!

Returning to Timpson's though, I asked the guy in their branch on the Asda car park in Ipswich if he could cut a Saab key for me from a blank that I'd bought online. He said that he could try but, as it was my own blank, he couldn't offer any guarantee that it would work. It was absolutely perfect and there was no charge at all for cutting it! (I gave him a fiver for a pint, of course!)

[barry1010]

That's strange, they sell leather, metal and cloth watch straps, leather starting at £8.
Have you got a very expensive watch? They charged me £4.50 to supply and fit a battery just before lockdown

[Gizmonster]

They did offer me the lifetime option for £25 .... which might work out okay if I kept the watch long enough :)

As far as I'm aware, the watch isn't that expensive, it's a Pulsar Quartz Chronograph 100m .... but that to me should be irrelevant. If the same battery was fitted to a cheaper watch, would they charge me less .... and if the same battery was fitted to a £10 000+ Rolex, would they charge me substantially more ??

[barry1010]

Some watches need to be resealed after a battery change and manufacturers can be very specific as to how it is done. That can affect the price of a battery change

[Ken4155]

Giz, i got my watch battery changed in the market-hall, last stall but one (or two)on your right if you've entered by the steps near the lift. Think it's mainly a mobile phone place. Had a choice of £10 for a 'normal' battery, £12 for a 'long life' battery - chose the latter. Still a rip-off but less so than Timpsons.
Got a key cut there (near Tesco) couple of weeks back- £9!!

[TheWinner]

we buy a card of replacement batteries. There's 40 in the pack. 10 x AG1, 10 x AG3, 5 x AG4, 10 X AG10, 5 x AG12 and 10 x AG13 from the Pound Shop. Suitable for watches, calculators, etc

[Gizmonster]

//// we buy a card of replacement batteries. There's 40 in the pack. 10 x AG1, 10 x AG3, 5 x AG4, 10 X AG10, 5 x AG12 and 10 x AG13 from the Pound Shop. Suitable for watches, calculators, etc ////
I also have loads of strips of those, but this battery isn't on them. It's a 395 a.k.a. SR927W a.k.a. AG7 .... I've just managed to find a pack of 2 for £1.55 on Ebay :)

Ken - I ended up going to "Roy's Jewellers" - it's on the alleyway that joins Croft St to Parker Lane (where Bootleggers pub is). The guy was really helpful - I would have gladly paid him a fiver for the battery, but he gave it me for free :)

[Khandro]

I buy them on Amazon for peanuts, & change them myself, it's dead easy. Though on some it's better if you own a vice, though there are alternative methods of closing the case.
Barry at 18:09 isn't true.

[Tuvok]

I agree about Timpsons.

Can’t remember if it was a strap or a battery, but there was an £8 difference if they fitted it.

[Buenchico]

Re. resealing . . .

Quote:
"Pressure testing - Every Timpson shop has a pressure tester to ensure your watch is water-resistant. Every watch battery replacement includes a pressure test as standard".

Source:
https://www.timpson.co.uk/repairs/watch

[Gizmonster]

Yea they did say that the watch would be pressure tested and it would have a one year guarantee .... but I still can't justify the exorbitant (in my opinion) price ....

[bhg481]

A few years ago I bought a gimmick or removing watch-backs. Nowadays I remove the back, look up the battery number, buy some more and change it myself. Look on Amazon for "Watch back Remover". They're only a few pounds, cheap enough that you'll save the cost with just one battery.

[Patsy33]

Daylight robbery. I was quoted the same for a battery a few months ago. I said no thanks. Got one for 5.99 in the end.

[Gizmonster]

//// A few years ago I bought a gimmick or removing watch-backs. Nowadays I remove the back, look up the battery number, buy some more and change it myself. Look on Amazon for "Watch back Remover". They're only a few pounds, cheap enough that you'll save the cost with just one battery. ////

Yea I've got all the gear plus loads of batteries, a full set of various sizes of pins etc, so if one of my pin snaps I always replace it myself. I opened up the back myself with one of my tools and looked for a battery, only to find I didn't have any. I knew Timpsons were expensive, but I thought I'd pop in whilst I was in town .... still amazed at the price, even though they try and justify it with the pressure test etc.
After I fit the new battery, I just tightened my watch up fairly tightly, not too tight. I probably won't use it whilst swimming anyway, so I'm not really bothered if it's waterproof or not.

[SlackAlice]

// Khandro
I buy them on Amazon for peanuts, & change them myself, it's dead easy. Though on some it's better if you own a vice, though there are alternative methods of closing the case.//
I do the same, easy to do your own. Although, I might have solved the problem indefinitely, because I have now got a solar powered watch which has been ticking over happily for the last 10 - 15yrs.

[Ken4155]

Ta Giz, if i don't get around to getting my own 'gear', i'll try Roy's next time the battery needs changing

[Khandro]

Alice- cool!
The tool is only necessary for watches that are round & have screw-in back. Some round, cheaper watches have pop-in back too like the rectangular ones. All you need to open them is a blade in the small nick in the back. Closing it after fitting the battery can be a bit difficult because the fit is so tight, That is why I suggest using a piece of a vice or a G-cramp & a piece of wood.