netnews@wnuxb.UUCP (Ron Heiby) (11/30/84)
I own a Casio calculator watch that I received as a gift about two years
ago. I am very happy with it, so when the battery started getting weak
the other day, I went to the local shopping mall to get it replaced (the
battery, that is). (aside: You can tell that the battery is weak by
the lcd display starting to fade.) I visited about 5 jewelers. Most could
not or would not attempt to replace the battery. JC Penney said that they
could send the watch to an "authorized Casio repair location" and for about
$10 would get it done. Problem is that they quoted me 3-4 weeks, unless
they are busy. One jeweler (Page Jewelers, Northbrook Court, Northbrook, IL)
said that they could do it, but I would have to return on Monday, as the
person didn't work weekends. I returned on Monday and was presented with
a small, yellow piece of paper which read:
-------
CUSTOMER RELEASE BATTERY REPLACEMENT
The undersigned customer hereby releases Page Jewelers of any and all
claims arising out of Page Jewelers' replacement of a battery in the
customer's watch described below except for claims under Page Jewelers'
warranty that the replacement battery is in satisfactory condition and will
so test on any standard battery testing apparatus.
This release, without limitation, specifically releases Page Jewelers
from any responsibility for the performance of the watch or for scratches to
the watch case if the case is difficult to open or close.
-------
Is this becoming common? What it says is that if Page demolishes my watch,
leaving molten slag in my case, that it's my fault for picking them to work
on it in the first place. Can they get away with this? I returned to JCPenney
and am operating for the next month on my emergency backup watch.
P.S. I got a call from JCP the next day quoting me $41 to "repair" the fading
watch face. I pointed out that the replacement opf the battery for $10
would fix the problem and was told, "Oh!" RH.
--
Ron Heiby ihnp4!wnuxa!heiby or ihnp4!wnuxb!netnews
--
Ronald W. Heiby
AT&T Something (used to be Comp Sys Div, but don't ask me now.), Inc.
Lisle, IL (CU-D21) / ...!ihnp4!wnuxa!heiby or ...!ihnp4!wnuxb!netnewsandrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) (12/02/84)
With regard to changing the battery in a Casio calculator watch, it can
be a very difficult and risky procedure. For some reason, Casio
decided not to make it easy to remove the back of the watch. You have
to exert a lot of force to pry it out, but at the same time you have to
be careful about all the parts that can't take any force. One slip and
the watch is useless.
"Is this becoming common? What it says is that if Page
demolishes my watch, leaving molten slag in my case, that it's
my fault for picking them to work on it in the first place.
Can they get away with this?"
What do you mean, "get away with it"? The jeweler is saying that they
are not sure that they can open the watch without breaking it, but that
if you want to risk it, they'll give it a shot. What more would you
have them do -- promise to replace it, for the price of a lousy battery?
When you hadn't even bought the watch from them in the first place?
-- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!orca!andrew) [UUCP]
(orca!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay) [ARPA]dsn@umcp-cs.UUCP (Dana S. Nau) (12/03/84)
I don't know whether they'll do it for Casio watches or not, but about
a year ago Best Products replaced my Armitron watch battery, in the
store while I waited, in something like 10 to 15 minutes.
For those of you who don't know, Best Products is an East Coast chain
"catalog showroom" stores. Several other such chains exist; e.g.,
Brendle's, and W. Bell & Co.--perhaps they'll replace batteries too (?).
--
Dana S. Nau
CSNet: dsn@umcp-cs ARPA: dsn@maryland
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!dsntopher@cyb-eng.UUCP (Topher Eliot) (12/04/84)
> I own a Casio calculator watch that I received as a gift about two years > ago. I am very happy with it, so when the battery started getting weak > the other day, I went to the local shopping mall to get it replaced > . . . > I returned on Monday and was presented with > a small, yellow piece of paper which read: > ------- > CUSTOMER RELEASE BATTERY REPLACEMENT > > The undersigned customer hereby releases Page Jewelers of any and all > claims arising out of Page Jewelers' replacement of a battery in the > customer's watch described below except for claims under Page Jewelers' > warranty that the replacement battery is in satisfactory condition and will > so test on any standard battery testing apparatus. > This release, without limitation, specifically releases Page Jewelers > from any responsibility for the performance of the watch or for scratches to > the watch case if the case is difficult to open or close. > ------- > Is this becoming common? . . . BESTS replaced my Casio calculator watch batter with no such nonsense (but with a 2-day delay, they were "overloaded with work"). Cheers, Topher Eliot Cyb Systems, Austin, TX {gatech,ihnp4,nbires,seismo,ucb-vax}!ut-sally!cyb-eng!topher
faiman@uiucdcsb.UUCP (12/06/84)
I also own a Casio calculator watch (CFX 200) and successfully replaced the battery myself - cost between $3 and $4. It's not especially tricky, but it does require some care. The little booklet that comes with the watch should show how the back is to be removed - mine can be pried up with the tip of a pocket knife. The watch should be supported face down during this operation, so that nothing will fall out. The battery is typically held in place by one or two spring clips, which can be gently pushed aside to take out the old and insert the new. By the way, the booklet - I should obviously have said to begin with - also specifies what type of replacement battery to use. Try K-Mart. Why pay someone more than $40 to change the battery in a watch that you can probably replace in its entirety for less than half that sum? Even if you screw it up yourself, you're only $20 out of pocket, and think of the marvellous learning experience! Mike Faiman
ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (12/07/84)
> BEST replaced my Casio calculator watch batter with no such nonsense (but > with a 2-day delay, they were "overloaded with work"). > > Cheers, > Topher Eliot > Cyb Systems, Austin, TX > {gatech,ihnp4,nbires,seismo,ucb-vax}!ut-sally!cyb-eng!topher As a matter of fact, one day I came in with a year old Armitron watch that I had bought at BEST to get the battery replaced because the numbers went away when you tried to use the light. After replacing the battery, the problem didn't go away so he went in the back and fixed it. Close examination showed that he had swapped the watch guts with one from a new watch of the same model. Cost to me...nothing. This however is probably not a company policy. Anyhow, the beeper went out on it finally and the band broke so I went down to see what the latest in thirty dollar digital watches was. The result, a CASIO touch screen calculator watch. Looks fairly nice (none of those gawdy buttons on the front), it displays the date at the same time as the time, and puts the time up at the top when you are in one of the modes other than normal time or calculator mode. It also includes the obligatory stopwatch mode, count time timer, hourly feeper, and three alarms. It also switches between 12 and 24 hour time with the press of a single button, great for people like me who can't hack military time too easily (everything is fine until after lunch and then they start that hundred hours stuff). Using the touch screen takes a little practice but isn't too hard. It's a four banger with constant and it has a neat backspace key that will pop off erroneous key strokes, and will even undo the last operation. -Ron By the way...Best Products is called LaBelle's in Denver.
mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) (12/10/84)
While we're on the subject of calculator watches, let me tell you some unexpected things about mine. I shopped around a little and wound up getting the Armitron Wrist-Comp 101 for $25 at Service Merchandise. (The service there was terrible - after half an hour I got the attention of a man behind the counter who didn't know anything about the watch and didn't have a manual. But he did go back and swipe a manual from the warehouse, which I looked at and kept as I bought it, hoping the one I got would be the one with the missing manual. It was.) It turns out this watch is pretty impressive for $25. It has the usual calculator (4 function, 8 places, floating decimal but no E-notation, no memory or auto-constant) plus an alarm and optional 24 hour time. It also will remember up to 42 phone numbers, keyed by alphabetic name. It's kind of a pain to store the numbers, but the interface for looking up a phone number is very easy to use. Just type the first letter (a 2 key operation on its 16 key pad) and if it doesn't put up the one you want (because it's not the first number indexed under a name beginning with that letter) hit the 2nd key repeatedly until you see the one you want. The 8 character alphanumeric display is fairly easy to read (although the eights look like zeros due to a two segment horizontal bar in the center.) Here's what to look out for, however. The watch has no stopwatch. (No big deal to me.) It also has no backlight (what? I thought all LCD watches had backlights. Not this one!) And after wearing it 23.5 hours/day for a few weeks, I discovered that the buttons in the lower right corner were getting mashed down. The =+ key in the corner has to be hit just right to register. I guess sleeping in the watch tends to mash it in ways it doesn't like. I wonder if other calculator watches have the same problem?