January 12, 2015
The Swatch Group Japan has been trying to monopolize repairs of brand-name watches it owns such as Omega and Breguet, causing Japanese watch repairpersons and foreign-made watch users problems.
Representatives of a local cooperative association of the industry visited Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Miyamoto Takeshi on January 10 to hold a meeting and handed him a written request that relevant regulatory administrations give guidance to the Swiss-based watchmaker to end its abuse of power.
Yamada Minoru, leader of the local cooperative society, complained that Swatch stopped supplying repair parts to local watch retailers some years ago.
The government of Japan requires anyone who wants to be a watch repairperson to pass a national examination. At present, however, the state-certified watch engineers cannot repair many brand-name watches due to the Swatch monopoly. The passing on of their skills and expertise has become difficult in Japan.
Customers are already complaining. A repairperson present at the meeting said: I sent a customer’s watch to the maker for a new battery. The maker recommended an overhaul. I refused. Then, the maker didn’t even change the battery. Another said: Swatch didn’t let me know how much an overhaul would cost until the watch is handed over to the brand-name maker. The customer said she/he didn’t want to have the watch overhauled because it was too expensive. Then, the maker demanded a cancellation charge.
The local watch retailors are angry at the way the Swatch Group is operating in Japan. They said, “Dominating watch repairs of its affiliated brands, the Swatch Group Japan unilaterally increased repair charges,” and “The Swatch Group used us to gain access to the Japanese market and is now keeping us away from the market.”
JCP Miyamoto in response said, “I really understand that you have great pride in your repair skills and expertise. I will do my best to find the best solutions.”
Representatives of a local cooperative association of the industry visited Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Miyamoto Takeshi on January 10 to hold a meeting and handed him a written request that relevant regulatory administrations give guidance to the Swiss-based watchmaker to end its abuse of power.
Yamada Minoru, leader of the local cooperative society, complained that Swatch stopped supplying repair parts to local watch retailers some years ago.
The government of Japan requires anyone who wants to be a watch repairperson to pass a national examination. At present, however, the state-certified watch engineers cannot repair many brand-name watches due to the Swatch monopoly. The passing on of their skills and expertise has become difficult in Japan.
Customers are already complaining. A repairperson present at the meeting said: I sent a customer’s watch to the maker for a new battery. The maker recommended an overhaul. I refused. Then, the maker didn’t even change the battery. Another said: Swatch didn’t let me know how much an overhaul would cost until the watch is handed over to the brand-name maker. The customer said she/he didn’t want to have the watch overhauled because it was too expensive. Then, the maker demanded a cancellation charge.
The local watch retailors are angry at the way the Swatch Group is operating in Japan. They said, “Dominating watch repairs of its affiliated brands, the Swatch Group Japan unilaterally increased repair charges,” and “The Swatch Group used us to gain access to the Japanese market and is now keeping us away from the market.”
JCP Miyamoto in response said, “I really understand that you have great pride in your repair skills and expertise. I will do my best to find the best solutions.”
