Poll of the Day > My mom spent nearly $400 to get a watch repaired and I am mad.

(+) Yeah! (+)

This might sound silly, but let me explain.

So, a few months ago my mom found one of her father's watches he bought on a cruise ship in the 70s or 80s. It looks very nice, and I like how it looks for sure. She said I could have it.

When replacing the battery she must have done something to it and it wouldn't work so she said she would get it fixed.

Thinking nothing of it I say "okay cool thanks" thinking it'd cost like 50-100 dollars and i'd pay her back.

No, to get this watch fixed it cost $380, making it by far the "most expensive" watch I own by a good margin. So expensive, I don't even want to wear it for fear I'll scratch it or ding it.

On the plus side it should work very well for decades to come, and it literally looks brand new as if it was just bought.

However, seeing as I can just buy a brand new working one on ebay right this second for $100, I just can't help but be mad at how dumb of a decision this was without even consulting me.
https://preview.tinyurl.com/ybfjzqj4

So, I should be grateful she did get it fixed, and she will not ask me to pay her back. But I feel like while we aren't poor, there's a million other things to spend $380 on. If she had told me the price before she did it I would have said no thanks, don't bother.

I just can't help but be upset even though I should be grateful she got it fixed. I just....don't even want to wear it ever again as a result of the costs.

This sounds dumb, but I just can't get over what a colossal waste of money this was. I should be happy, but I can't.

I don't know if I tell her how I feel or just suck it up and be happy?

Your concerns are reasonable. I would probably bring it up. There's nothing to be done about it now, aside from enjoy the results, but for future clarity you'd rather know if the price is going to be significantly more than expected.

If it was her father's watch, she may have been willing to pay that much for sentimental reasons. It probably means more to her than a simple time piece, and she may see meaning in having you use it.

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I don't care about sentimental stuff personally. I'd be just as happy with a new one rather than get this one fixed. Though that is not me acting like if it didnt get fixed she needs to buy a new one. I am grateful for the fact she gave me this watch and got it working again. Everybody is different in regards to sentimental stuff. I don't think he wore it all that often as it was discovered in box looking brand new, like it had never been worn. But maybe the sentimentality of it all was the main driving factor, I just can't say for certain it was.

I feel like what it is, she was trying to do something nice for me, which I definitely respect. But if you take my car out to get an oil change to be nice but spend 4x the value of the car doing so, I can't help but want to let you know softly that was a mistake.

Whether or not you value the sentimental reasons is irrelevant, I mean not everyone cares about this stuff but it probably means more to your mother.

So unless she is completely foolish with money and thought she was getting a great deal repairing the watch for $380 when a similar one costs about $100ish roughly. It was likely partly done for the sentimental reasons, this is not quite as big of a deal as say a ring passed down in the family for generations, but that would be a similar case in some aspects.

Probably tell this to someone who's a friend of you and your mom. Would probably get the point across to her without hard feelings.

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im going to tell her she overpaid $50 so she gets the hint but isnt upset

i wont even pay $100+ for a proper apple watch or wearOS watch, let alone almost $400 to repair a watch

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Will telling her accomplish anything positive? Unlikely. The sentimentality meant a lot to her, clearly. Chastising her is last thing you should do in response to what she thinks is a kind, sentimental gesture, even if you disagree with the money spent. The money is irrelevant to the point that it was your dad's.

Just wear the watch if you want.

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helIy posted...

i wont even pay $100+ for a proper apple watch or wearOS watch, let alone almost $400 to repair a watch

In todays world repairing something is usually far more expensive than just buying a new one. You can't beat the stupidly cheap low rates they pay their workers and how fast they produce 1 Watch or 1 Iphone or something.

Now with a minor problem maybe repairing it is no big deal and still feasibly financially. I just can't even imagine how much time, and effort it takes to repair a broken watch so many small parts.