Correspondence with Steinhart

[dr3amgawd]

Hi all,

Just though i share one of my email exchanges with Gunter. If you are not aware, Gunter Steinhart is the founder and president of Steinhart watches. I have been following his watches and company for sometime and i have found their watches to be of excellent quality and reasonable value. The intent here is not to draw comparisons but rather an insight into the man that brings us reasonable Swiss made watches.

I heard of him extending his warm hospitality to visitors to his shop in Augsburg (picking them up from the train station and sharing with them his vision and dreams for Steinhart)

Personally, i hope to make a trip to Augsburg one day to buy a watch in person from him

The correspondence started with me thanking him for making a great watch like the Grand Prix and here's an except from our conversation.

Btw if anyone is wondering, i am not paid nor an ambassador for Steinhart.

[email begins]
Hi ben…
Thanks for your mail again..

Yes this is what I want send for a message to the watch fan in the hole world…
We can produce a great swiss made watch and this for a honest price….

So you know my profit is small but I don’t care about this…. Important for me is..
That we all together have a great fun….on our watch hobby…

Oh yes If you can post some pic.. will be great and send me some too….

Thanks and I hope we stay in touch again….

Ciao.gunter..

Ps.. and important for me too is.. that my customers can talk an mail with me.. .. I am on the market.. you know..

And you know mr. breitling and mr. iwc .. you cannot call… and write… ha ha ha…..

Steinhart Günter
President
phon: +49 (0) 821 - 5433800
fax: +49 (0) 821 - 5433801
http:// http://www.steinhartwatches.de/
E-Mail: mailto:info@steinhartwatches.de
[email ends]

[fidoDido]

I recently bought a watch direct off their website and overall, my experience is below average.

I first email them to query about a bracelet compatibility. They said yes so I went ahead and purchase it.
Excited to see the package, lo and behold, the bracelet doesn't fit. Not only that, the watch came with defects. Wa lao.... It's a chicken and duck talking...
I emailed back asking to resolve the issue. Finally, ask me to send it back to them.
Thank God I work in the cargo area so it is convenient for me to go to Fedex directly. Shipping was covered by Steinhart so that's not an issue.
Finally the watch came back and the bracelet is replaced WITHOUT asking me for the alternative and the defect is resolved. Whether the watch is replaced or rectified, only they know.
The price difference is actually a double conversion. That is from Euro to US and then to SGD. This is the way credit cards does their conversion.

Overall, my price difference is slightly below S$200 so it's up to individual. To not be able to see the watch and get it cheaper OR
pay slightly more and can see and feel and reject it straight away if there is any defect.

You decide.

The correspondence is quite a torture. The guys replying the emails using the standard email id doesn't seem to understand our language. Only those with specific names user id understand our language better.

[Ed.YEO]

Communication with the German side is very the jialat and challenging one. First of all, you must always be prepared by their proficiency in English, even if you speak to them on phone, receptionist ladies like Anna and Katharina don't speak as well as we do. And slow.

Email leh???? Last time can lah. Nowadays, hard liao lo... If you had read my last purchase report on the Apollon, you can feel how hard i might be banging on my balls on the exchange of emails. It's not the clear understanding part for them to read on my email... it's the time of response they take to return you the reply! Once i sent them a mail, the reply comes only on the following week.

Nowadays Steinhart popularity cannot be ignored. With Gunter Steinhart putting on control of his working team number, such that the raise of the operational cost will not be transferred to the potential buyers, with addition of the pressure of the rising cost of the movements, we cannot blame them too much lah... suck thumb lor... @ least, compare to Stowa or Laco... Steinhart should be considerably better baa...